“The future is in your hands, but now is the time to act.” This was the message that Makiko Taguchi, Agricultural Officer at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), conveyed in her video message to delegates during the opening ceremony of the Nagoya University Model United Nations (NUMUN). Held on May 31 and June 1, 2025, at the Higashiyama Campus, the conference was an opportunity for students to work together to solve some of the most pressing global challenges.
Popular at schools throughout the world, Model UN is an academic simulation where students play the role of delegates from different countries and negotiate solutions to international problems. This year’s event marked the fifth time that a Model UN conference has been held at Nagoya University. NUMUN is an initiative run by students with the support of the Nagoya University Global Engagement Center. Notably, Nagoya University does not have a team that travels around to other Model UN conferences; the students instead focus entirely on handling the logistics of the annual event at the university.
NUMUN 2025 delegates eagerly await the start of the conference.
Eighty-five delegates participated in this year’s conference. While most students came from within Japan, there was also a group that traveled from Indonesia for the event. What is it about Model UN that motivates students to participate despite the significant costs and time commitment involved? NUMUN Secretary General Edeline Luisia, a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Nagoya University School of Agricultural Sciences, said meeting new people plays a key role: “I also really think they like networking with other people, especially for Nagoya University Model United Nations, we have everyone coming from all over Japan. It is a nice chance to broaden your circle and learn something new.” She echoed this sentiment in her welcoming remarks at the conference, saying that she hoped this would be the “start of connections that shape our shared future.”
NUMUN Secretary General Edeline Luisia welcomes the delegates to Nagoya University.
For this year’s event, delegates applied to join one of four committees, each focusing on a real-world issue with which UN officials grapple:
- UN Women [Beginner] - “Challenging the Normal: Addressing and Valuing Women’s Unpaid Labor in the Invisible Workplace”
- UN High Commissioner for Refugees [Intermediate] - “Tackling Issues Surrounding Human Smuggling Along Refugee Migration Routes”
- UN Security Council [Advanced] - “State-Sponsored Misuse of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)”
- Food and Agriculture Organization [Japanese] - “Food Security in Gaza”
Before the start of the conference, each delegate is required to research and write a position paper that explains their assigned country’s perspective on the committee topic. It is not just the topics themselves, however, that are different. Each committee has a difficulty level—beginner, intermediate, and advanced—that impacts how the sessions are run. For example, while the committee chairs at the beginner level teach the delegates how sessions are run and regularly remind them of the rules, the committee chairs at the advanced level do their best to create a professional atmosphere where the operating procedures are strictly enforced.
I quickly noticed this difference during the opening moments of the first committee session. The chairs of the beginner-level UN Women committee had the delegates introduce themselves and then explained the flow of a typical session. Even a student who had never participated in Model UN would have felt comfortable. Just a few minutes later, as I entered a session of the advanced-level UN Security Council, one delegate was already giving an impassioned speech as ballots were being collected for the first vote of the conference. This structure allows students to take on new challenges as they gradually build up their communication and leadership skills through several conferences.
Delegates learn how to vote during the first committee session.
Model UN is a chance for students to develop their public speaking skills.
The Food and Agriculture Organization committee focused on the issue of food security in Gaza.
A unique aspect of NUMUN is that one of the committees is conducted in Japanese. At most schools that host a Model United Nations conference, the entire event is either in English or Japanese. This is the second year that a Japanese-language committee has been added to the conference at Nagoya, and the hope is that having both options will create a more inclusive conference. Several high school students participated in this year’s committee, demonstrating the widespread interest in addressing global issues.
While the committees debated, the students from Nagoya University who organized the event were busy checking whether all the equipment was functioning properly, setting up for the next break between sessions, and preparing for the evening’s networking event. These students, many of whom are enrolled in the entirely English-taught Global 30 International Programs at Nagoya University, worked to make sure that the delegates had a memorable experience. Secretary General Luisia also stressed how this goal could only be accomplished through generous sponsorships from Suntory Holdings Limited, the Nagoya University International Students Association, the Nagoya University Co-Op Foreign Students Association, and the support from the Nagoya University Alumni Association.
Akira Kanada from Suntory Holdings Limited addresses delegates at the closing ceremony. (Credit: Caleb Johann Candelaria)
The delegates pose for one last photo at NUMUN 2025. (Credit: Xu Tianzheng)
It was clear from the atmosphere of the closing ceremony that the Organizing Committee had succeeded in creating an unforgettable conference. Although the two days passed quickly, the students will take with them valuable skills that they can use as they work on becoming the next generation of global leaders. As FAO Officer Taguchi said, “I hope that this experience will fuel your interest to know more about the United Nations and global issues, and help you find your place in the world, as each of you have a role to play.”
Related Links:
- Nagoya University Model United Nations website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube
- Model United Nations website
- Nagoya University Campus Story: “Another Successful Year: Nagoya University Model United Nations 2024”
- Nagoya Universtiy Campus Story: “Hosting a Model United Nations at Nagoya University” [2023]