Schools apply, not individual students. A school applies for a delegation, and the conference grants it one or more countries to represent.
Each country gives the school one delegate seat in each General Assembly committee. So, a school grants one country one delegate to each General Assembly. No two schools represent the same country.
Security Councils and Special Committees are handled separately and are for experienced delegates. A school can send extra delegates in addition to its General Assembly delegation. Those country assignments are decided later, not at application time.
Below are examples of how many delegates a school can bring, based on the number of countries they are allocated.
Imagine a conference session with 4 GA type committees:
Number of Requested Countries | Number of Requested Special/Security Council Committee Delegates | Maximum Total |
|---|---|---|
2 | 3 | 11 |
3 | 4 | 16 |
Once a school is accepted, the teacher leading it decides which of their students goes to which committee.
In MEDIMUN, applications open in mid-to late September and remain open for about 4 to 6 weeks. They are made in MediBook. See Delegation applications.
If your school has never taken part, the school needs to first apply to be added to our school list. This is done by an authorized teacher through MediBook. School applications are open in parallel with the School Director applications. A student cannot open the application. See School director applications. School directors need to reapply each year to keep their role. If you submit a school application that is later approved, you will still need to apply as a school director.
Preparation is where a conference is won or lost. It has three parts.
Research: A delegate learns the country they represent and the topics their committee will debate. The aim is to be able to answer any question the way that country would answer it.
The position paper. A delegate in most types of committees writes a short paper outlining their country's position on each topic. Chairs read it and give feedback.
A first draft. Delegates arrive with draft ideas for clauses, ready to merge with other delegations.
In MEDIMUN, position papers are written and submitted in MediBook, and chairs review them there. A paper sent as a PDF, by email, or on paper is not accepted. It will not be read, and it will not be marked.
See Position paper rules.
A delegate who submits a position paper late cannot receive an award. This is done in order to push delegates to submit position papers. School Directors of a delegate can see the process of each of their delegates' position papers, deadlines, and feedback.
In MEDIMUN, lobbying starts online before the conference. You can find your allies before you arrive.
See the lobbying process.
The conference runs for three days.
Delegates register on arrival. There is an opening ceremony, and then everyone goes to their committee room.
Day one is mostly lobbying. Delegates move around the room, find the delegations that want the same outcome, and merge their drafts into shared resolutions. Chairs move between the groups, read the drafts, and answer questions.
In MEDIMUN, lobbying begins on day one via the call feature in MediBook, and every alliance must be declared there. See Forming and declaring an alliance.
Day two is debate.
The chairs pick which resolutions the committee will debate. For each one, they set a reading time so delegates can read the text and prepare, then they set the debate time.
The main submitter speaks first on their own resolution. Other delegates speak for it and against it. Delegates ask each other questions, which are called points of information. Delegates propose changes to the wording, which are called amendments, and each amendment is debated and voted on in turn.
When debate time runs out, the committee votes on the resolution as a whole.
A committee can get through more than one resolution across the two days.
Day three is a half day.
Many conferences finish with a plenary session. The General Assembly delegates leave their own committees and come together in one room to debate there.
The conference ends with a closing ceremony and awards.
In MEDIMUN, there is usually a Plenary Session on the last day. All the students representing the same country sit together, debate, and act as one delegate. See The Plenary Session.
Non-GA delegates do not attend the plenary session.
The resolutions debated during the plenary are selected by the Secretariat.
There is no requirement for a resolution to pass or for it to be previously debated in its original committee, for it to be debated in the plenary session
Security Councils and Special Committees operate differently from the General Assembly. They debate clause by clause rather than resolution by resolution. See Security Council procedure.
Certificates are issued after the conference digitally in MediBook. There is no separate award certificate, and awards are additional pages of the participation certificate.
Our certificates can be verified digitally at medimun.org/verify.
We do not offer printed certificates.
All certificates, including past ones, of a delegate can be downloaded by their school director.
A person without a MediBook account does not, and will not receive a certificate.
At the start of every day, and again after breaks, the chair takes a roll call. Each delegate answers "present" or "present and voting", and that answer sets what they may do in a vote later.
Present means the delegate may vote for, against, or abstain.
Present and voting means the delegate may vote for or against, and cannot abstain.
Absent means the delegate cannot vote.
In MEDIMUN, all roll calls are taken in MediBook. There is also a separate morning register. It scans delegates in by QR code at the start of each conference day. See the morning register.
A delegate who arrives after the roll call has been taken must tell the chairs so they can be added.
A delegate cannot request to be treated as absent if they are physically present in the committee room.
Your first conference, if you have never been to one.
Who is who at a conference, for the roles.
What you need to take part, for the practical list.