Japan University English Model United Nations (JUEMUN) 2021

The annual Japanese University English Model United Nations (JUEMUN) Conference was hosted by Kyoto University of Foreign Studies last weekend, June 25th-27th, 2021.149 student delegates from 12 universities (and coincidently 12 nationalities) took part in the event.

The Agenda theme was Appropriate and Resilient Development for Environmental Sustainability and the three meetings and committee topics focusing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9, 12, and 13, were as follows:

Meeting 1: Appropriate Infrastructure Innovation and Industry for Sustainable Development (SDG 9)

Meeting 2: Responsible Consumption and Production for a Sustainable Economy (SDG 12)

Meeting 3: Urgent Action to Combat Climate Change and its Impacts (SDG 13)

Because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic the event was held online, but due to the lifting of the state of emergency the three meetings were chaired in person on campus by students from Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, and Notre Dame Seishin University, Okayama. The chairs of these meetings met in building 2 on Friday and building 1 on Saturday and Sunday. KUFS chairs in these meetings were Naru Kosugi, Meeting 1, Momoka Kirihata, Meeting 2, and Ayane Maekawa (assistant chair) in Meeting 3.

Professor Emeritus Craig Smith of KUFS who was a co-founder of JUEMUN, and recently sadly passed away, was adamant that JUEMUN events should be student-run and student-led. As a mark of respect, JUEMUN 2021 closely followed Craig’s wishes. The Secretary Generals were Hibiki Maeda (4th year, Department of Global Studies, KUFS) and Niklaus Weigelt (4th year, Department of Global Studies, KUFS). Nik and Hibiki, along with Manami Miyatake and Naru Kosugi (also from the Department of Global Studies) worked tirelessly from as far back as July 2020 to create this event.

In order to stream the meeting online students from KUFS formed a technical assistance team led by Hibiki Maeda with support from Ruka Sasaki, Saeko Ito and Kazuto Morishita. Manami Miyatake organized hotel bookings for our guests from Notre Dame Seishin University, Okayama and Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, as well as ordering and collecting meals during the event, and arranging that all delegates receive a special SDG badge created by a local NPO.

The ZOOM meeting opened on Friday with an opening address from the Secretary Generals, Nik and Hibiki, to the delegates followed by two guest speakers, Kaoru Nemoto - Director, United Nations Information Center - Tokyo and Rev. Takafumi Zenryu Kawakami - Deputy Head Priest, Shunkoin Temple. The guest speakers addressed the pressing need to fully implement the UN SDGs in all their forms. Delegates then actively engaged in speeches, negotiation, resolution writing and debate for the next three days, finally voting on the finished amended resolutions in the afternoon of Sunday. The meeting closed with a message from students of Notre Dame Seishin University, Okayama who will host the meeting in 2022. Certificates were then distributed to all 149 delegates, prepared by Nik and Hibiki.

I would like to express special thanks to Prof. Angus McGregor who conducted the demanding JUEMUN course for KUFS as well as overseeing the technical and physical details of the event in countless meetings (online and face to face) and emails, a huge undertaking. Also special thanks to Ishihara Yumi of Soumubu who arranged for the meeting rooms and computers and did an amazing job in facilitating away the difficulties of holding such an event during a pandemic, and to Lori Zenuk-Nishide (Kobe City University of Foreign Studies), Donna Tatsuki (Kobe City University of Foreign Studies), Michael Hollenback (Kobe City University of Foreign Studies) and Tom Fast (Notre Dame Seishin University, Okayama) who all greatly contributed as faculty advisors on the JUEMUN 2021 organizing committee.

Despite all the difficulties posed by hosting an event during a pandemic JUEMUN 2021 was a great success and I would like to say an extra special thank you also to the wonderful students of KUFS from the Department of Global Studies and the Department of British and American Studies who actively took part and spent so much of their valuable time contributing to its success: Cygee Chavez, Thanavut Prateep Na Thalang, Carlo Yamano, Mizuki Shin, Miku Yokoyama, Hayato Tanimura, Ai Umeda,Yamato Wakai, Ryo Perez, Ryo Nakatsuji, Ranna Suzuki, Mayu Inoue, Ken Torito, Anji Yamasaki, Taro Baker,
Thank you all!

Prof. Ian Gibson
JUEMUN KUFS organizing committee

To raise greater awareness of the UN's sustainable development goals (https://sdgs.un.org/goals), Kyoto City and Minorinomori, Kyoto NPO (https://minorinomori.com) collaborated to create their own SDGs badges.

Because the UN badges with the 17 SDGs' goals were out of stock, Minorinomori made its own badges out of local wood and partnered with welfare facilities to work on them. In this way, they helped realize the principles relating to the environment and welfare contained in the 17 SDGs. Additionally, a portion of badge sales are used to support the welfare facilities and to improve overall welfare. To learn more and buy badges, please visit https://minorinomori.base.ec/about.

To create greater awareness and support sales, JUEMUN KUFS organizer and GS student, Manami Miyatake took initiative and arranged for the purchase of the SDG badges for all JUEMUN delegates. Further, Manami also recently launched sampai, an upcycling SDG-based brand that uses industrial waste from the traditional garment industries. Great job Manami. Please check it out!!

https://newscast.jp/news/0787991

https://sampai.theshop.jp/

JUEMUN will be back online

June 25th to June 27th, 2021
KUFS (Kyoto University of Foreign Studies)

Since its inception in 2010, JUEMUN (Japan University English Model United Nations) has grown to become Japan's premier English Model UN experience for university students all over the world.

JUEMUN will be back online in 2021! KUFS will host this annual event, giving participants an opportunity to collaborate to make the world a better place for more people. During this three-day event, the themes of SDGs 2021, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), and climate action (SDG 13) will be discussed.

Ms. Kaoru Nemoto, Director, United Nations Information Center-Tokyo and the Rev. Takafumi Zenryu Kawakami, Deputy Head Priest, Shunkoin Temple, will join the opening ceremony

Participating in JUEMUN will give delegates with not only a unique educational experience, but also a global perspective. Many GS students will be joining this amazing experience. The Secretary Generals of this year, Hibiki Maeda and Niklaus Weigelt, are both from GS. Please support them and help the global community in coming together!

When: June 25th–June 27th, three-day online event.
We will be posting videos and pictures on the KUFS website after the event.