Following the opening plenary meeting, delegates broke off into their designated committees to begin debates on their appointed issues. I had the opportunity to interview delegates and chairs from the General Assembly and the FAO committee respectively. Following the six interviews I conducted, the main takeaways from the plenary were issues surrounding Israel and Gaza, sustainability, and overall inspiration from secretariats’ speeches. Chair Walter Scheldorf of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization Council) said, “[Though] the chairs are unbiased parties within MUN, I feel that following Wes Rist’s speech, I will make sure my council is taking everything seriously and [really] applying themselves to the issues at hand.” Wes Rist’s speech on maintaining the accountability of nations’ policies and actions regarding human rights issues seemed to inspire many delegates. He emphasized the importance of human rights issues as a worldwide problem rather than an individual problem each nation must solve internally. Within the General Assembly, focus is currently on genocide and mass atrocities, directly relating to Wes Rist’s speech. Delegate Anna Gaber from Myanmar said, “Though everyone is just getting started, focus is heavily focused on genocide in Israel and Gaza. Everyone seems to be trying to get their own mass atrocities known, that are typically not portrayed too well.”

Following the opening session, the focus has, unsurprisingly, shifted towards Israel and Gaza. As the conference continues, will we see a sudden change in stances on the issues presented, or will they continue to gravitate towards topics surrounding genocide in Gaza?

Michaela Appiah
World Press Reporter
Weber State University