Cambridge Model United Nations (CamMUN) 2025

What Is CamMUN?

A three-day event during which participants research a country's position on current topics and faithfully represent its viewpoint throughout debates, with the goal of passing resolutions and discussing on-going global issues.

It is an excellent opportunity for students in Years 10-13 to gain hands-on experience with public speaking, international affairs and teamwork.

WHAT IS MUN?

Event spanning two days (Friday and Saturday) during which participants research a country’s position on current topics and faithfully represent its viewpoint throughout debates, with the goal of passing resolutions and discussing on-going global issues.

It is an excellent opportunity for students in Years 10-13 to gain hands-on experience with public speaking, international affairs and teamwork.

How do such simulated UN debates work?

When a potential delegate signs up to an MUN they are assigned a country to represent. Together, delegates from the same country form a delegation. Each delegate from every delegation represents the country’s position in one committee.

Each committee is run by a Chair and a Deputy Chair. They lead the debates. There are debates on various topics and delegates vote for or against a resolution. By the end of the debates each committee draws up a final resolution and presents it at the General Assembly. These resolutions, coming from all the different committees, are voted on by everyone. 

KEY TERMS

• Delegate – a participant of the MUN conference that represents a specific country
• Committee – a group of delegates, together forming a body that debates issues of a similar nature, like the environment or global trade
• Resolution – a written agreement between countries
• General Assembly – “the principle deliberative body of the UN in which each member nation is represented and has one vote” (UN official definition)
• Position paper – a written paper written by a delegate describing the position of the country they represent on a specific topic

This year’s conference theme is: ‘Rethinking Global Solidarity: Including the Excluded’

For most of recorded history, the vast majority of the world’s population has not had meaningful influence over policies and decisions. This has inhibited progress towards a society of equal opportunities and thus, a large number of innovative ideas have been lost which could have benefited humanity as a whole.

International crises face us from every corner of the world. As many of us know, the United Nations cannot help solve these crises without changing the approaches that we have inherited. Confidence in the resilience of institutions such as the UN is perilously low, due to the climate collapse and tears in the fabric of international law. The United Nations needs to regroup to form global solidarities of the willing, including all those who are affected by these conflicts. Against the nationalist tendencies that seek to preserve existing privileges, the United Nations recognises that global peace is the cornerstone of global prosperity.

While sustainability threatens to become only a meaningless word, global sustainability requires international cooperation and lasting peace. The nations of the world need to urgently find new models for peace, prosperity, and economic justice. These new models will only succeed if they take meaningful steps towards including all those who have previously been excluded from the benefits of international trade, finance, education, and healthcare.

The United Nations should be able to evolve and adapt beyond the scope of its founding charter. However, it can play a part in building new frameworks, institutions, and networks as well as standing up for the inclusion of the excluded and bringing substance to the phrase, “the rules based world order”.

Nowadays however, there are more resources available and we have the ability to enable anybody who is willing, and competent enough, to propose fresh insight to various issues, whether regional or global. There are several headwinds such as the economic climate, instability, and bad faith actors who are fighting against the greater good of humanity across the globe; however, if we can overcome our disagreements, there lies infinite potential for improving all of our lives to be happier, healthier, and longer; we will be able to pursue all of our dreams and goals.