24st of September, 2023
Dear Sir, Madam,
On behalf of the executive staff of HagaMUN 2024, it is my great pleasure to invite you to the thirteenth annual session of the Haganum Model United Nations.
This year’s conference will take place on the 8th, 9th and 10th of March 2024, at Gymnasium Haganum, located in the heart of The Hague, which for many decades now has been known as the international city of peace and justice.
The Hague hosts many international summits and is home to various embassies, UN organs and international organisations, especially in the fields of international law and diplomacy.
Examples include the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the headquarters of EUROPOL. This allows us to invite guest speakers from organisations that are internationally recognised. Besides the international involvement of The Hague, the city is also the seat of the Dutch government, the parliament, the Council of State and the Supreme Court. The Hague has a truly international atmosphere which makes this city a perfect venue for an MUN-conference.
At an MUN, participants simulate the United Nations. This raises awareness among students about both past, current and future global issues. It gives students with differing nationalities, religions and cultures the opportunity to share their opinions and connect. The youth of today work towards finding the best solutions for current problems by lobbying and debating during conferences. These solutions, of course, may be realised in the near future.
Every year in March, enthusiastic students from Gymnasium Haganum join forces to organise a high-quality MUN conference. This warm and welcoming environment will hopefully lead to interesting debates and realistic solutions. Every year, HagaMUN proves challenging enough for both experienced and first-time participants. Thanks to the MUN programme, the youth of today will be confronted with current world issues, which helps them improve the world of tomorrow. HagaMUN is known for its friendly character, which is shown through its appreciation for every single participating voice in the hosting of fruitful debate.
The executive staff has chosen “Climate justice and global health equality” as the official theme for the 2024 conference. Our conference provides an opportunity for us to come together and tackle some of the most pressing global issues of our time.
The urgency of our chosen theme cannot be overstated. Everyday we are a witness to the devastating impacts of climate change and the deep-rooted inequalities that it exacerbates. While the recent pandemic has shed light on the disparities in healthcare access worldwide, results of climate change further impede our progress in reducing the inequities that prevail in healthcare infrastructures.
Climate change presents a multitude of issues, of which most are overlooked. Deteriorating air quality could bear carcinogenic properties and may lead to various lung complications. Extreme and varying weather may obstruct farmers in their work, as well as cause heat- or cold-related illnesses, such as heat strokes or hypothermia. Lastly, the most impactful of them all: the increasing numbers and intensities of natural disasters.
The world we know is currently facing an unprecedented crisis in which extreme weather and natural disasters disproportionately affect vulnerable communities, who often need to face the consequences of both climate change and limited access to proper healthcare.
It is our moral imperative to confront these issues head-on, and the HagaMUN will attempt to provide all that is necessary to assist in taking these first steps. The secretariat at HagaMUN 2024 has thus decided that the conference will be fully engaged and committed to unfolding this year’s theme. The HagaMUN commits itself to sustainability at the conference and will reflect that through digitalisation, the usage of durable materials, and efforts to source said materials responsibly. Furthermore, we will work together with a charity for additional support for those in need.
By providing comprehensive and relevant issues, we encourage all participants to explore innovative solutions, engage in discussion and formulate resolutions that aim to mitigate the effects of climate change and to rectify the imbalances in global healthcare, to make way for equitable and accessible healthcare for all.
This First Mailing contains all necessary information regarding our upcoming conference. For an impression of a typical HagaMUN conference, please have a look at the HagaMUN Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/hagamun2021. You can find pictures and videos of previous conferences on this page. On our website, www.hagamun.org, you can find more details on every aspect of our conference.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to our school and to The Hague, our bastion of international cooperation. This year registration will be possible both through MyMUN (using the following link: https://mymun.com/conferences/hagamun-2024), and through the links below or on our website, www.hagamun.org. However, we strongly urge you to register through our site.
The deadline for registration is the 17th of November 2023.
Of course, we are more than happy to answer any questions or inquiries that you may have, so please feel free to contact us any time at hagamunsecr@gmail.com.
We hope to see you all at HagaMUN 2024!
Yours sincerely,
Laetitia Kim, Secretary-General at HagaMUN 2024