2 Simply Outstanding Delegations

Author: Cassidy Tarkington | Major: Political Science | Semester: Fall 2022

For Model United Nations, I was selected to serve on the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) representing the People’s Republic of China, and my research targeted fostering sustainable and inclusive economic growth as well as addressing growing inequalities, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. My research centered around synthesizing solutions to these problems that aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2030. My name is Cassidy Tarkington and I am majoring in Political Science and Economics and minoring in Legal Studies.

This year, we attended the Washington D.C. conference. While there, I met with other students passionate about government and international relations. At the conference, each committee selects the top 10% of submitted position papers to be outstanding position papers. Position papers are a critical part of Model United Nations (MUN). They require delegates (students) to illustrate their knowledge of the agenda topics at hand, affirm the positions their country takes on these topics, and recommend courses of action to effectively address contemporary global problems. At this year’s conference, my partner and I’s paper was recognized as an outstanding position paper for our committee. Additionally, UARK won outstanding delegation awards for both countries represented (China and North Korea). Following the conclusion of sessions, MUN volunteer staff members recommend 10% of the delegations in their respective committees for delegation awards, based on performance throughout the course of each session. Finally, UARK had 9 outstanding delegate awards which are elected by fellow delegates in each respective committee, which my partner and I also won. This is the best result of the conference since its initiation in 2011.

This trip was a great experiment in learning how to network. I had no clue how to do it before I got to this conference, but it was easy to pick up once I was in a room full of other people trying to network. During the conference, there were many top graduate schools in the Washington D.C. area like Georgetown and George Washington University with recruiters for an array of degrees: Political Science, International Relations, National Security, United Nations, and United States Foreign Policy. I met over 200 people during this conference; I was intimidated by the size of the conference at first (the total in attendance this year was around 800 people, 75 global universities), but everyone has the same interests as you so conversation comes easy.  The dais of each committee consisted of two experts of Model United Nations who possessed a variety of other qualifications like Masters degrees, Doctorate Degrees, or other professional experience. The guest speakers this year were Ruth Mukwana, a Senior Humanitarian Affairs Officer, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), and Jacqueline E. Whitt, the Chief Learning Officer and the Director of the Organizational Learning Unit in the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, where she is leading the writing and publication of the first-ever doctrine for public diplomacy and leading a new unit to support learning for organizations and individuals for public diplomacy to remain relevant and adaptable in a complex and changing information environment. Listening to the two women speak was very powerful, especially when Ruth Mukwana spoke about her experiences working for the United Nations abroad and how important it is to promote global cooperation and participation.

At the conference, I gave two speeches, both about 90 seconds long. My speeches addressed how the COVID-19 crisis has led to significant economic and social disruption, namely increases in unemployment, impacting over 220 million. My second speech addressed alleviating the ongoing economic consequences of Covid- 19 and addressing areas for investment in job recreation by welcoming foreign direct investments (FDIs). I am not a fan of public speaking, but practice made me confident before the speeches.

The best advice I have for Model United Nations is to know your stuff. There is no other way to succeed in class and have fun at the conference. By the time the conference starts, it’s helpful to know what the country you are assigned has done and what other countries have similar goals as your country. While at the conference, it is critical for the integrity of the program that delegates vote and write resolutions in a way that mirrors their country’s modern-day policies. While being a notorious country like China, there were many countries that did not have goals that aligned with ours and it was difficult to find people to work with at first.

Currently, I plan on attending the Model United Nations in New York City at the end of April. Because our group of students was so successful at this conference, we have already received $5,000 in funding from the International Relations department and an additional $5,000 from the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. We will be representing South Korea and I will most likely serve on the General Assembly First Committee with research focused on youth for disarmament, non-proliferation, and peace, as well as addressing the illicit supply of weapons to non-state actors.