This year marked the 19th installment of LEBMUN, an MUN conference hosted by the American Community School Beirut (ACS) at the official UN House in Lebanon, UN-ESCWA. The conference took place from February 24-26th, and was open to participants ranging from grades 6-12. This year, the conference had over 200 participants from public and private schools in Lebanon along with students who flew in from Jordan, Kuwait, and France. Taking over 10 months to organize, LEBMUN is a student-led MUN conference, run by highschool students at ACS. This year’s conference was led by Evanour Hamadeh, and it was a huge success!
The keynote speaker was Diana Moukalled, the co-founder of Daraj Media in Lebanon. She is a journalist, documentary producer, media trainer, and active feminist, and she delivered the keynote address during the conference’s opening ceremony on the importance of perseverance.
The theme of LEBMUN ‘23 was Test of Time, to emphasize the urgency and imminence of ongoing conflicts, and to encourage the students to pass resolutions that are able to persevere in the long run. A total of 25 resolutions were passed across 7 committees on topics ranging from Women’s Rights in Afghanistan to the Russo-Ukraine war, all carefully thought-out and negotiated.
The conference ran for 3 days, where students debated global issues and diplomatically produced resolutions, as each participant is a delegate representing the voice of a country. Delegates had to keep their own country’s best interests in mind while debating with the other delegates. This year, ACS also hosted its first social night for all participants during the night of the second day at the ACS Beirut campus. Participating in LEBMUN ‘23 and attending social night allowed the students to build connections and strengthen their interpersonal, communication, and debate skills.
