Our flagship conference in New York City is the world’s most diverse high school conference and has been routinely recognized as having the best quality substantive program available to students. We are excited to bring that same outstanding experience to Mexico City. Our conferences feature the best-trained staff on the circuit, made up of MUN experts from leading colleges and universities across the globe, each of whom has undergone IMUNA’s accredited and rigorous training courses. Because NHSMUN conferences are attended by some of the most talented MUN delegates from around the world, they consistently feature some of the highest-level debate on the MUN circuit.

Although our first conference will be virtual, it will still explore the vibrant and growing center of global diplomacy and culture that is Mexico City. Delegates can experience rigorous debate with other bright young leaders while also learning from some of the world’s top experts in diplomacy and sustainable development. The solutions that the students agree on will then be shared with those same experts, providing delegates with a voice on the global issues that affect their everyday lives.

However, the NHSMUN experience isn’t just created by the staff. At the conference, delegates also have the opportunity to meet and befriend students from dozens of other countries. Sometimes these students are from the country they are representing at the conference! Here are five reasons why you might enjoy NHSMUN:

1. The Students – NHSMUN promises a diverse mix of attendees who can provide insightful perspectives and new ways of thinking: exposure to which most students are not accustomed on a frequent basis. The conference represents the global mindset required in today’s society and the future generation to come.

2. The Staff – Our Directors and Assistant Directors spend hundreds of hours throughout the year researching their committee topics to provide relevant background and research information for our students. In order to ensure that debate during the conference is robust and realistic, the dais for every committee produces an extensive background guide to assist the students with their preparations. They also engage the students prior to the conference by requiring a position paper and providing detailed feedback for each delegation. Whereas university-run conferences only recruit staff from their own university, NHSMUN is privileged to recruit some of the most talented MUN experts from the world’s leading universities. Having such an experienced and passionate staff is what has earned us consistently high ratings for substantive excellence from our delegates and teachers.

3. The Committees and Topics – While many other conferences are becoming almost entirely crisis-focused and adding a plethora of non-traditional UN committees, NHSMUN-MX commits to traditional United Nations bodies and committees which stress substantive debate of the most pressing issues in the world today. We believe that students benefit most from such debate and real-world topics, and that NHSMUN-MX provides the perfect environment for serious and informative discussion on a global scale. We further believe that MUN should be about diplomacy and cooperation rather than competition. As such, we prioritize the educational aspects of the MUN experience, not an environment where students are only focused on “winning” the competition. Our students from NHSMUN-NYC, often years or even decades later, tell us that the learning experiences they had at our conferences were transformative in their lives and helped them develop the skills they needed to identify their areas of passion and pursue their future careers.

4. Deep Immersion into the UN System – NHSMUN-MX offers deep, immersive exposure to the UN system. First, each of our topics is taken from the agenda of the bodies that delegates are simulating, and our research materials frequently refer delegates to actual UN reports and press releases. Delegates at NHSMUN-MX will have unparalleled access to Mexico City’s wide array of professional diplomats and NGO executives who are available to teach students about the issues they are studying. Our staff works around the clock to arrange meetings between students and the actual embassies of the countries they represent at the conference. We also arrange for each committee to receive at least one briefing from a UN or NGO expert who takes live questions from delegates and works with them to craft realistic, authentic draft resolutions. At our previous conferences in New York City, we were honored to host representatives from UN organizations including UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNHCR, as well as NGOs including the Thirst Project and Médecins Sans Frontières. NHSMUN also engages students through a Service Learning Project, in which we partner with a non-profit organization which shares our goals of improving the global community.

5. The NHSMUN Experience – Our conferences are perhaps best known for the “NHSMUN Experience” for which delegates and faculty return year after year. This experience captures the many ways in which NHSMUN is more than just another weekend debate event. From the time that students receive their country assignments to the final rap of the gavel at closing ceremonies, NHSMUN teaches students valuable critical thinking and public speaking skills and prepares them for success in a myriad of fields — all while forming valuable friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. NHSMUN offers a very personal experience for both our delegates and faculty. Our staff is extensively trained throughout the year to cultivate open and inclusive environments in their committees so that all delegates are encouraged to participate. We also offer an extensive training program before debate begins with specialized sessions tailored to both brand new and highly experienced delegates. This way, all students can come to NHSMUN-MX to improve their craft at the level most appropriate for them, with beginners and experts alike being pushed to the next level by the talent of their peers. For faculty, our administrative team works around the clock to quickly address any questions or provide support for each school participating in the conference, and our team is here to help at each step of the way. In a recent review of NHSMUN, one advisor said, “As a brand new school among hundreds of others, you made us feel like we were the most important team here. This level of service is a major factor for us in choosing conferences.”