littleMUN 2023

On January 7th, students from Franziska Sandt's World Model United Nations course gathered in the Rosensaal to hold the second ever "littleMUN." During the hybrid "littleMUN," students represented different countries and simulated a UN Security Council debate. The topic up for discussion was the extension of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Prior to the start of the simulation, each student/delegate researched their country's viewpoints and wrote a position paper outlining their country's proposal for addressing the situation in Mali. That meant once everyone arrived to the Rosensäale on the 7th, students were able to immediately get into character and get down to the task at hand.

Over the course of the littleMUN, three main blocs formed. The first bloc, nicknamed A3 + Mali, comprised the three African nations on the Security Council (Gabon, Ghana, and Kenya) and Mali (who does not sit on the UNSC but was invited to attend since their country was the subject of debate). A3 + Mali stressed the need for "African Solutions for African Problems." To that end, they called on other nations to join the BAMAKO Plan, which would champion using regional, rather than international, organizations to address the situation in Mali. The second bloc of the US, the UK, France, and Ireland also sought to redirect focus in the Sahel region towards empowering regional organizations, but had reservations about working with the military government in Mali. The final bloc, made up primarily of Russia, China, India, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and Brazil, proposed that further intervention in Mali must work collaboratively with the government in Bamako and focus less on humanitarian monitoring.

After several hours of debate and the drafting of three working papers, the littleMUN ended with the signing of a resolution. This resolution was authored by the A3+Mali bloc and signed by all other countries present at the conference.

With that, the second official littleMUN at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena drew to a close. The students would like to thank Franziska Sandt and Ana María Gutiérrez Suárez for their hard work in putting this event together.