Last month, the Bilkent Model United Nations (MUN) Society hosted MUNBU 2020, a model United Nations conference, on the Bilkent campus. The conference, which took place January 20–23, attracted 450 high schoolers and university students from across the country. The United Nations representative in Turkey, Alvaro Rodriguez, attended the opening ceremony; sponsorships and partnerships with NATO and UNICEF were also established for the event.
At MUN conferences, participants play the roles of delegates sitting on UN committees, where they debate issues and vote on draft resolutions. MUNBU 2020 delegates were divided into eight committees with a wide range of agenda items.
While one committee dealt with the issue of armed drones, another discussed the problems experienced by women around the world. WHO committee participants looked at digital addiction as a health issue, while Greenpeace committee members focused on environmental problems related to forests and oceans. UN Security Council delegates debated the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, and three open-agenda committees discussed current real-world problems or historical issues.