NMH Students Achieve Model UN Recognition

Feb. 1, 2023  — Erika Jing ’23 received the recognition of outstanding delegate during the Harvard Model United Nations Conference. In addition, Gabrielle Alingog ’24 received an honorable mention for her work as a delegate.

Jing and Alingog were among 14 NMH Model UN students who traveled to Boston to attend the conference on Jan. 26–29. Model UN is a student organization that promotes diplomatic engagement through discussions of current global issues to help students develop their speaking and negotiation skills. This was the 70th year of the Harvard conference and the first year back at full capacity, with 4,000 students, in several years.

“It is hard to overstate the significance of these awards,” Tiffany Thiri, a faculty advisor to the NMH Model UN student group, said. “This committee is highly selective and is composed of delegates with a proven record of winning the highest honors at similar conferences.” 

Jing also led the NMH team as Secretary General. “She was able to leverage her prior experience at conferences, as well as her inimitable leadership skills, to train this team to perform at this high level,” Thiri said.

Jing said Model UN gives her the opportunity to “delve fully into a global, political, or historical issue that I would never have encountered or have the time to learn about in school. 

“At the conference, I got the chance to participate in China’s Provisional Republic crisis committee, where we had actors in costumes acting out skits,” she said. “Walking away with an award was also nice.”

“I saw firsthand how deeply invested NMH students are in the pursuit of their passions,” said Mohamed Hussein ’14, who is also a faculty advisor to the Model UN. “The 14 NMH students who had the pleasure of attending all displayed immeasurable tenacity and focus to achieve their individual and collective goals.”

This was the first university-led in-person conference that NMH students have attended since 2020, so it was a new experience for many of them, Thiri said. 

“All of our NMH delegates did a fantastic job,” Thiri said. “All delegates were actively involved in drafting working papers, and several successfully passed resolutions in their committees. This is a very competitive conference with highly skilled delegates from around the world.” 

At the conference, all NMH students except for Jing represented the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in the following committees: World Trade Organization (WTO), Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN), Special Summit on Globalization (SSG), Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL), Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM), Legal Committee, and World Health Organization (WHO). Jing represented Lou Tsou-Tsiang in a Specialized Agency, China’s Provisional Republic, 1912.

Alingog, who is new to Model UN, was a standout delegate in her very large committee, the Sixth General Assembly Committee (Legal). She said she enjoys the competitive yet supportive environment that Model UN offers. 

“It’s a great stepping stone to overcoming stage fright, developing speaking skills, and simply making new friends,” she said.