Newsletter November 2022
Distinguished Delegates,
Christmas is approaching and the semester is drawing to a close.
With this newsletter, we want to reminisce about the last month and venture an outlook for the rest of the semester.
Second Topic Block
We are reaching the end of the 2nd topic block of this semester, “Responding to the effects of climate change on indigenous peoples”. The topic block started off with many strong speeches, advocating for the rights of the indigenous peoples, with many nations calling to action. Delegates of island nations have been especially vocal. With the threat of their nations being submerged into the ocean, it is no wonder that they wish to do all that they can to save not only their people, but the indigenous people that reside on the islands.
With the third weekly session, two working papers were introduced. As is usual in MUN, one working paper has a majority backing and was written by many delegates. The collaborative process that occurs in our sessions never ceases to amaze me. The other working paper that has been introduced will have an uphill battle if they wish to pass it as a draft resolution, but this is a challenge that many are confronted with in the United Nations as well. I look forward to seeing how this topic block will unfold, and how it will conclude.
- Melkon Yengibaryan, Head of Operations
Recap Halloween Party
On Saturday, October 29th in the spirit of the spooky season we held our first-ever official Halloween party with great success. We were staggered by the number of people that showed up and blown away by all the great costumes worn by our members. The judges of our costume contest had a difficult time deciding on an ultimate winner. From distinct pop culture references to obscure advertising figures there was a broad spectrum of characters present, but ultimately an authentic and equally spooky recreation of Pennywise from the movie “It” clinched victory. A trivia quiz also got our members testing all of their Halloween knowledge and it was well after 1 a.m. (past witching hours) that we finally wrapped up for the night.
A massive thank you goes out to everyone who came and our board members Deniz and Aurora for planning and organising everything. We hope that everyone enjoyed this event as much as the board did and we look forward to next year and a hopeful return of this newly established tradition. Until then we will be working on our costumes!
- August Norup, President
Karaoke Night with ETHMUN
About last Thursday… We did it again.
After a long break MUN Team UZH went to sing Karaoke in Downtown Zurich. But this time we didn’t go all by ourselves. ETH MUN organised this event with us and we were also joined by members of MUN Basel. Many members went on stage to sing some of their favorite songs. They were cheered on by the others who sang along and danced to the music. We all truly rocked the bar together. New friendships were made as well and existing ones were strengthened to the tunes of Queen, The Killers, Abba, Stromae, Rihanna and many more.
If you missed this event don’t worry it won’t be the last one like this this year. A special thanks to Varun and Vincent from ETH MUN who helped organize this event with me and to Toro Bar for hosting us.
- Deniz Yildirim, Head of Events
Rookies takeover Bonn!
Two of our Rookies, Eleah Paetsch and Eli Kupiec, will be attending their first international conference in Bonn. We had the opportunity to ask them some questions about their expectations for their first conference.
What committee will you be attending at BIMUN 2022?
Eleah: ILO, which is an advanced committee. I was a bit concerned when I heard that I have this committee but now I am really happy since it’s something I’m not really into in my daily life so it’s something new.
Eli: Same for me! I really look forward to the socials and just the breaks in between to talk to people and meet people from different countries and talk about the topics already being discussed.
Do you feel that weekly sessions have prepared you for what is to come?
Eli: Absolutely! I think in terms of the discussion I feel like that our team's sessions are very active. There is actually a lot of back and forth that actually keeps you on your toes and gets you a little more prepared to think on the spot as opposed to writing one speech in advance and eventually checking out for the rest of the session.
Eleah: I feel the same.
Do you think MUN has already made an impact on your public speaking?
Eleah: Yes! It was really good for me. I am not a person that really likes to step in front of a lot of people, especially strangers. It really helped me to be more confident. Speaking and hearing English at a very high level every week is really good for me.
Eli: Same for me. Ironically, as much as I love debating, I have always been a very bad public speaker. I think that the opportunity of being asked questions and having to think on the spot really helped further that part of the brain that thinks about formulating sentences – which is still something I am working on.
Are you looking forward to joining our MUN Delegation with people from the team?
Eli: The part I am looking forward to the most is strengthening the team spirit – especially seeing that there's so many rookies this year. In general, I look forward to making great friends with all the rookies! Even just the train rides and being in a city with all the other delegates will be a very fun experience.
Eleah: I'd second that.
We look forward to a joyful last month of the semester and an interesting last topic block. Stay tuned!
See you soon,
Your Board
August, Darya, Tajana, Melkon, Sebastián, Deniz, Humberto and Aurora
Copyright © *2022* *MUN Team UZH*, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
info@mun-uzh.org
We would like to thank Swiss Re
for being our main sponsor this year!
