08/12/2022
DLSU NMUN bags top awards in Kobe meet
The De La Salle University delegation to the National Model United Nations (NMUN) in Kobe, Japan won top awards in the conference and elevated DLSU as the only university with all country representations winning Outstanding Delegation Awards. The delegation represented Australia, Eswatini and Ireland.
The conference was held from November 20 to 27. This was Japan's second hosting of NMUN which coincided with the 66th Anniversary of Japan's accession to the United Nations and the 76th Anniversary of the host university, the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies.
NMUN Japan 2022 was participated in by 400 delegates and faculty from 44 universities and colleges from 12 different countries.
Team DLSU was composed of 16 delegates with Britney Mae Paderes and Roschaela Gabrielle Oabel as Head Delegates. The other delegates were Gio Jerson Almonte, Jerik Adrian Bayon, Marc David Cuerpo, Samantha Ysabel de Leon, Marianne Era, Beatrice Cristina Gaite, Calista Dominique Garcia, Ysabel Garcia, Diane Therese Huldong, Alecxis Bianca Libang, Miko Jade Oberes, Jazzmin Krishna Padua, Kenhiro Tsumura, and Jan Christian Uy.
The accompanying DLSU trainers were Theodore Christopher Alberto and Benedict Rafael Mateo.Political Science faculty member Allen Surla serves as the group’s adviser.
The 16-member DLSU Team was divided into three sub-delegations that represented Australia, Eswatini and Ireland, and were distributed in four UN Committees. It is very rare in NMUN conferences for all three country-representations of one university to win Outstanding Delegation Awards, the highest awards in the conference.
The delegates representing Ireland in the UN General Assembly (GA) Committee, Calista Garcia and Samantha de Leon, were also chosen Outstanding Delegates in the GA Committee. The delegates representing Eswatini in the same Committee, Roschaela Oabel and Britney Paderes, along with the delegates of Australia, Miko Jade Oberes and Jerik Adrian Bayon, won Outstanding Position Paper Awards for the GA Committee.
La Salle also won in 2016 when it first joined the NMUN in Japan.
NMUN Japan 2022 is DLSU’s 6th gold award (Outstanding Delegation Award) since the university’s first participation in NMUN in November 2014. DLSU also bagged three silver awards or Distinguished Delegation Awards and another six bronze awards or Honorable Mention Delegation Awards in its participation in New York, Washington, D.C., and Europe.
NMUN is the world’s largest simulation of Model United Nations. University students from all over the world step into the shoes of diplomats and work feverishly to propose resolutions addressing disarmament, regional conflicts, peacekeeping, human rights, women and children, economic and social development, and the environment.
Awards are granted by the NMUN Secretariat in recognition of outstanding performance by delegations across all committees and their extensive preparation for the conference. Overall Delegation Awards (Outstanding, Distinguished and Honorable Mention) are based on work at NMUN. Outstanding Position Paper Awards are given to recognize pre-conference preparation of delegates who submit well-written policy papers that articulate the most effective solutions to pressing global issues, while Outstanding Delegates in Committee Awards are selected by vote of the delegates in each committee.
DLSU also participates in Model United Nations (MUN) simulations outside those hosted by the NMUN, the oldest US-based and UN-Accredited organization.
To spread model UN consciousness in the Philippines and abroad, DLSU likewise conducts Model United Nations international conferences. For the eighth consecutive year this year, it conducted the De La Salle Model United Nations Conference last May 6-8. (Contributed by Allen Surla)
