Five TUFS’ Students Participate in the 2021 National Model United Nations New York Conference as Japanese Delegates and are awarded Outstanding Delegation Award

April 27, 2021

Five TUFS students took part in the 2021 National Model United Nations New York Conference held from March, 28 to April, 1, 2021 as members of the 38th Japanese Delegation where they won the Outstanding Delegation Award which is the highest award of the competition. Members for the Japanese Delegation were chosen from nationwide university students who take part in Model United Nations activities.

The TUFS’ students who participated are as follows.

ISHII, Sayaka (School of International and Area Studies North America Region third year)
SAIGO, Yukino (School of International and Area Studies Oceania Region second year)
FUJIHARA, An (School of International and Area Studies Middle East Region third year)
DOKUSHIMA, Shunki (School of International and Area Studies North America Region third year)
MIYASHITA, Kyosuke (School of International and Area Studies West-South Europe Region third year)

Additionally, Ms. Ishii and Ms. Saigo received the Outstanding Position Paper Award for the position paper they presented on the stance of Sweden— the country they represented.

About the National Model United Nations New York Conference:
The Model United Nations is a simulation activity where participants take the position of ministers of different countries and simulate a United Nations conference. This activity is widely conducted all over the world with the New York Conference being one of the biggest Model Conferences as more than 5000 participants gather from all over the world. The conference usually takes place around March in New York. This year, however, the conference was held online due to the ongoing pandemic. Further, the Japanese Delegation was in charge of Sweden in this year’s conference. Participants were divided in groups where they debated over certain topics for four days.

About the Japanese Delegation to National Model United Nations New York:
It is a student association who chooses students to participate in the above conference each year. 　This marks the 38th year in which they do so. The Japanese Delegation is made of second year delegation members and third year management members and has currently 18 members among the two. Of the 18, 5 members (1 delegation member and 4 management members) are TUFS students.
Japanese Delegation to National Model United Nations New York website:https://nmun-jpn.jimdo.com/

Comments from the Participants

ISHII, Sayaka (School of International and Area Studies North America Region third year)（United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE）

Seeing many students my age argue about how to make a better world at this conference was very inspiring. What I remember most is everyone arguing respectfully no matter each participant’s nationality, gender or mother tongue. On the other hand, I was amazed by other’s English speaking abilities to the point I could not actively speak my own ideas which I regret. Through this experience I realize that I can only contribute to the debate by speaking my mind as I cannot make a change by being silent. I am thankful for this experience and I wish to take into practice what I learnt from it.
SAIGO, Yukino (School of International and Area Studies Oceania Region second year) （United Nations Development Programme, UNDP）

Debating with students from all over the world in this New York Conference was an extremely precious opportunity. I am very happy to have been able to take part in the discussion as we were able to reach an agreement by sharing our constructive opinions together. There were many non-native English speakers in the conference and I was surprised and astonished by their speaking speed and wording choices. I will treasure the experience of being able to participate in this event and the people I met. I am very thankful to those who made this event possible. I will make use of this experience in the remaining of my university years.
FUJIHARA, An (School of International and Area Studies Middle East Region third year) （United Nations General Assembly Third Committee）

What impressed me most in this New York Conference was the attitude of the participant while debating. No one was disregarding of each other and everyone endorsed each other’s good points. Further, everyone made sure to create an environment where everyone could participate. Native English speakers were thoughtful of non-native speakers which I think contributed to the making of a constructive debate. I strongly felt the importance of hearing each other out and being respectful of each other in order to solve a problem. I was also able to see the points where I need to work on like my passivity and low English abilities which made this experience even more precious.
DOKUSHIMA, Shunki (School of International and Area Studies North America Region third year) (Head Delegate)

I participasen in the Japanese Delegation as the leader in this New York Conference. Therefore, I was mainly in charge of the preparation of the event and organizing the delegation but I was still able to learn a lot from this. Almost all participants were native English speakers which meant we could not win over them in terms of fluency and writing skills. I felt that it is important to find your own strong points and make use of them in such circumstances.
Further, this time we participated online which I think gave more value to this event as the world keeps going online and increasing foreign affairs will be taken care online. I am very thankful for this opportunity and I wish to make use of it from now on.
MIYASHITA, Kyosuke (School of International and Area Studies West-South Europe Region third year) （United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, PBC）

Although the event was held online, it was more than enough to debate over international issues with people with differing backgrounds. With actual conferences being held online, being able to simulate a conference in detail so as to make it closer to the real experience was an extremely precious opportunity. There were things that did not go as planned, but I was able to take a look at myself and my own abilities in an environment where almost everyone were native English speakers. I am extremely thankful to have been able to participate in an event like this. I will take advantage of the findings I made through this New York Conference in remaining student life as well as my future.