The Maroc Model United Nations conferences of 2017, or MaMUN for short, were held between January 19th and January 22nd. After careful selection procedures by our head supervisor, about 30 students from Malraux, we had the opportunity to participate in this session of MaMUN, representing several countries such as Argentina, Egypt, South Sudan and Syria.
The first day of the MaMUN conferences took place at “Maroc Telecom” Headquarters. It was honestly breathtaking to see all of the invited students across Morocco gathered in one place wearing the same type of formal outfits as if it truly were a United Nations’ hearing. Once inside the building, we each got our identity badges as we headed to the amphitheater where introductions awaited us. The President of the General Assembly, alongside her Vice-President and her Secretary General welcomed us to the MaMUN conferences in an honorable way with much respect and cheerfulness, before asking all of the pre-designated Ambassadors to have their opening speeches in front of all present delegations. When all Ambassadors had finished taking in questions (for those who had accepted to answer any), the opening ceremony took an end, and we were asked to ride on our appointed bus to have a formal meet-up with our soon-to-become Chairs at Rabat American School. When we arrived, each delegate followed their Chairs to their respective committee room to greet fellow delegates with whom we would spend the following two days debating on two chosen topics. The first day was exhausting to say the least, but the hard days were yet to come…
The second and third days of the MaMUN conferences were spent at Technopolis University at Rabat among all of the college students who studied there. Each committee had their own classroom in which the delegates took part in two intense and fiery debates animated by the Chairs. The experience was thrilling: all delegates interacted with each other with a burning zeal to convince and persuade their fellow comrades to join their side so as to close the case, naming one side of the “alliances” the overall winner of the debate. Of course the determination of the delegates could be foreseen as we were also marked as students by our supervisors who roamed across campus from one classroom to the other without you ever knowing they were there (moreover, making a good impression on our teachers was a necessity if one sought out full satisfaction). Even though these two days were very stressful, they were without the shadow of a doubt a worthwhile experience that we would be ready to have all over, as it forged us into charismatic people who analyze what is said and counter with facts and statistics, a well sought-out quality in students nowadays.
The final day was held at the National Library of Rabat, where the closing ceremony took place. It was no joke actually, the closing ceremony started with the gathering of all delegations of all committees in one big amphitheater where another blazing-hot debate occurred, only this time it was taken in charge by the President of the General Assembly herself, and her two right hands (the vice-President and the Secretary General). This debate lasted three full hours before reaching an end, to which a round of applause echoed throughout the chamber. The MaMUN conferences of 2017 approaching its final moments, awards were handed out to the most worthy of delegates who brought forth to their committees the most effort, showing off charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent. We thanked each staff member for their hard work as a video presentation showcased the best highlights of the MaMUN 2017 experience, and in yet another round of applause, even louder than the first one, we bid farewell to our comrades, and to the conference, before each heading out our own separate ways.
This long-lasting fruitful experience was in all honesty one of our best moments outside of school, and it couldn’t have been done without those who accompanied us and helped us in making this experience unique and memorable, in particular our head supervisor and her trustworthy assistant without whom this opportunity would not have been possible, and to whom all of our gratitude goes to.
