American School of Valencia is hosting the 11th annual edition of Valencia Model United Nations (VALMUN), the school’s Model United Nations Conference, from December 1 to 3, 2023. The opening ceremony took place on Friday, December 1, 2023 in the Athletic Center with over 200 participants including student-delegates representing seven registered schools, the VALMUN secretariat, the admins team, the UN keynote speaker and a number of members of the school community.
The Opening Ceremony
As is the VALMUN tradition, the opening ceremony hosted the keynote speaker to address delegates about the role of the United Nations in today’s world and describe one of its multiple areas and projects. This year, theUN keynote speaker was Mr. Claude Robillard, a Senior Analyst at the UN Global Service Center located in Valencia. Mr. Robillard, born in Canada, currently leads a variety of communication and multimedia projects for the UNGSC and other areas of the United Nations. The speaker talked about what he loves about working for the UN, which is”contributing to an organization which is really trying to save the world”, and encouraged VALMUN delegates to “find their own learning path” through their education and professional careers.
After the keynote speech, the Grade 12 student Alexandra D., Secretary General of VALMUN 2023, invited the Deputy Secretary Generals, Mar F. and Jorge B., to proceed to formally open the committees by distributing the traditional gavel to each president and chair.
Debates and Final Day at the UNGSC
Today, VALMUN committees will debate two topics in the morning and afternoon sessions. During the conference, each delegate represents a given country that must negotiate with other nations a solution for a global problem. These debates and resolution processes follow the same procedures used in the UN and the discussion encourages the use of critical thinking and communication skills.
Registered schools in VALMUN 2023 are: American School of Bilbao, American School of Madrid, Cambridge House British International School, Caxton College, ES American School (Barcelona) and ASV, as host school. Stay tuned to the development of the conference by following the ASV social media and the brand-new Instagram profile created for the VALMUN conference (@valmunconference).
