Sara Oswalt, representing the United Kingdom and the Model UN Conference in Washington, DC
Author: Sara Oswalt | Majors: International Business | Semester: Fall 2021
My name is Sara Oswalt and I am currently pursuing an International Business degree with a concentration in Finance and a Business degree in International Economics within the Sam M. Walton College of Business as well as minors in Mathematics and Spanish. This fall I had the pleasure of taking the course Nation Model United Nations, ECON 4173, with Dr. Stapp. This class is designed to advance the research skills of the students by requiring extensive background position papers covering various economic and social issues of their assigned committee and ultimately preparing resolution documents they develop during the conference. The conference took place November 5-7th in Washington, DC and I was a delegate representing the United Kingdom on the UN Women Committee.
In UN Women, delegates discussed Gender, Climate, and Security, including social and security accessibility for women impacted by climate change violence, evaluating the UN’s policies on women’s empowerment, job training programs for women, and women’s participation in all levels of discussion. The committee moved from discussing the topic of climate change and its general impact on the lives of women, to how this impact then translates to risks to global security. Some of my specific contributions to the committee was to update the requirements for refugee status to include women/people displaced due to climate change, to provide sanitation supplies, blankets, and tents similar to the Afghan refugee kits provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees including items to support displaced persons due to climate change, and create a gender-specific statistics database for all countries to submit data to. All of these ideas were adopted by the group as a whole and included in our draft resolutions. While at the conference, my partner and I won the award “Outstanding Delegate.” These awards are determined by popular vote of committee delegates. When voting for their peers, NMUN asks delegates to keep in mind that the conference believes outstanding delegates are those who cooperate and stay in the policy/character of their assigned member state.
This class and conference have allowed me to gain extensive international knowledge that will be invaluable in the future as I hope to attain a career in the international sector. By participating in this conference, I was able to practice my public speaking, become acquainted with global issues, develop skills in diplomacy and negotiating, and foster leadership within teamwork.
While in DC, our group had the privilege of meeting with Arkansas Senator John Boozman, Arkansas Representative Bruce Westerman, and Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe. These meetings were very informative and it was interesting to learn from actual senators and representatives that represent our state to the entire nation. We were able to talk about the current supply chain problems, the positive effects of planting trees for climate change, and current events affecting the United States in the news today.
My future job aspirations include either working with an international company that is based out of America or working abroad entirely. My hope is that I am able to use my knowledge and understanding of how countries interact with one another in order to make the best business decisions in the future. This conference allowed me to have the benefits of networking with peers to practice my ability of talking and negotiating with others, preparing me for future job opportunities and its accompanying interview. Therefore, I recomend Dr. Stapp’s Model UN course and the subsequent conference to anyone with the hopes of working abroad or with an international company!