To Whom It May Concern,
It is our utmost pleasure to invite you and your students to the twenty-first session of the Leiden Model United Nations. The conference will take place at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in the Netherlands from the 1st until the 3rd of December 2023.
We, once again, would like to express our gratitude for the commitment of the schools that have attended LEMUN in previous editions. We understand how difficult it is to prepare your delegates for a Model United Nations, and therefore we hope that you will continue making this effort for our upcoming conference. Still, we must note that in the event of there being too many applications, we will be forced to set a maximum of students per school wishing to participate.
After very successful conferences in previous years, we are planning on making this year’s LEMUN another unique experience for all participants. Since there is much interest in our conference, we strongly urge you to fill out the attached registration forms as soon as possible. Registration before the 15th of May will ensure preferential treatment. We cannot guarantee participation if your school registers after the 15th of May. Additionally, we would also request your consent to our Data Protection Policy.
The Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden is, with its well over 700 years of documented history, one of the oldest schools in the Netherlands. It is situated just outside the ancient city moats of Leiden, the city known for the Spanish siege, the cloth industry, and the painter Rembrandt. Leiden is only half an hour away from Amsterdam and other historical cities such as Haarlem, The Hague, and Delft. Traveling to and from LEMUN is quick, safe, and easy, owing to the numerous daily flights which are offered by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and our convenient railway system.
LEMUN is recognised internationally and affiliated with The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN). With no more than 450 delegates, our primary goal is to guarantee each delegate’s full involvement and active participation. LEMUN is all about bringing different kinds of young people from all over the world together, so they can practice debating, public speaking, diplomatic and rhetorical skills. We hope to give them the opportunity to learn and discover the exciting world of MUNs and to experience the opportunity to develop themselves and share their knowledge. We currently live in a turbulent world in which international relations and politics are being challenged. We, as future global leaders, have to be a step ahead and think about ‘fresh ideas, new solutions’.
The entire conference will in general be structured similarly to and based on the actual United Nations; the leading language is English and the debates are formal and constructive. Delegates in all committees are expected to arrive at the conference thoroughly prepared. This preparation includes making Policy Statements on every issue and writing at least one resolution. In case of an ad-hoc debate, several clauses should be drafted on each issue, to be able to fully participate in the debates.
The conference will be divided into multiple fora, such as three General Assembly Committees, an Economic and Social Council, a Human Rights Council, the Group of Twenty, a Security Council, a Crisis Committee, and a unique Historical Committee.
Note that the debates in the Security Council, and the Crisis Committee are challenging. It is important for delegates in these committees to be experienced in MUN conferences.
The Historical Committee focuses on the period leading up to and after the outbreak of the First World War. Delegates, working in a pair of the same school, will represent one of the seven major powers in Europe and try to achieve military success or reach political and diplomatic goals. The committee’s focus lies on lobbying and negotiating. Delegates will be provided with a summary of the Rules of Procedure, adapted from the serious board game “Diplomacy”, and a reader with articles as a primer of the research.
The Crisis Committee has been one of LEMUN’s greatest successes over the last couple of years. In this committee, students take on the role of diplomats solving an ongoing fictional crisis developing before them, which can range from riots to earthquakes and from war to epidemics. Delegates have to be well-prepared and familiar with all the details of their delegation to respond adequately to the crisis at hand. The Crisis Committee Headquarters (CCHQ), a team of LEMUN veterans, will provide input for the committee, making the Crisis Committee a unique interactive experience for the delegates. We urge you to only select experienced delegates for this committee.
We, moreover, would like to invite the participation of Student Officers from a variety of countries. We would, therefore, like to ask you to select your most qualified MUN students and support them in applying for a Student Officer position. These students should have a good understanding of MUN procedures and be capable of presiding over a debate in which up to forty delegates may participate. The Student Officers will be briefed before the conference and they will receive an instruction booklet including all official rules of procedure and other necessary information. They will also have to write research reports regarding the issues, which will be discussed in their committees.
Furthermore, we would like to inform you of the possibility for students to participate as Press Officers. Press Officers are part of LEMUN’s delightful press team, which publishes daily newspapers (LIMEs) about what is happening in and around LEMUN. Being a Press Officer is a suitable position for any enthusiastic student with a passion for writing, with or without experience in MUNs, and a captivating way to experience our conference from a different perspective.
Students interested in either the position of Student Officer or Press Officer will have to apply individually before the 15th of May. you can access the registration forms by clicking the link at the bottom of this letter.
The conference fee is €45 for delegates, Student Officers, and Press Officers. This includes entrance to the conference, lunch on Saturday and Sunday, and access to the party on Saturday night.
LEMUN offers a limited housing program for foreign schools from Thursday evening until Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, we are only able to accommodate schools that have received housing before, due to the lack of host families. If your school is eligible and wishes to partake in our housing program again, please declare this in the registration form.
The subsequent mailing for those who applied to LEMUN 2023, is anticipated in June. This mailing will include the delegation assignments and information on this year’s theme. Our Programme of Events and all other additional information will soon be available on our website, www.lemun.org.
If there are any remaining questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by email at info@lemun.org. We will gladly provide the requested information.
We sincerely appreciate your positive and constructive remarks during and after our last conference, and we will consider these in this year’s preparations. We are committed to making the twenty-first edition of LEMUN an even more memorable experience and we hope to see you in Leiden upcoming December, for what we hope will be the best LEMUN yet!
Yours faithfully,
Aisha de Groot
Deputy Secretary-General for External Affairs
LEMUN 2023
info@lemun.org
Click here to access the registration forms page