COMMITTEES
United Nations Programme for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
(UN Women)
Established in July 2010, “to advance women’s rights, gender equality, and the empowerment of all women and girls”, UN Women serves as the global champion for gender equality, operating under a unique "triple mandate" that allows it to work at the political, coordination, and community levels simultaneously. In this edition, delegates will seek to navigate the intersection of technology, medical commerce and bodily autonomy, creating innovative legal protections.
TOPICS
AI-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence and Discrimination
With the rise of AI, misogyny has been weaponised through “deepfake” pornography and algorithmic biases that deny economic opportunities. According to various deepfake monitoring reports, over 90% of deepfake content online is non-consensual pornography, and nearly 100% of victims are women. Delegates can expect to debate the legal liability of private tech giants and establish international standards for victim redress, balancing innovation with the need to detect and remove systemic gender-based abuse.
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International Regulation and Protection in Surrogacy Practices
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The booming cross-border surrogacy industry often operates in a legal grey zone, leading to Reproductive Tourism that risks exploiting women in the Global South. Delegates will need to distinguish between ethical assistance and the "commodification of the womb," crafting a universal framework to prevent trafficking and resolve complex issues regarding the citizenship and parentage of children born from these arrangements.
United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
​The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), established in 1945, is the United Nations’ main body for coordinating international economic, social, and development policy. ECOSOC monitors progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), facilitates dialogue between member states, and coordinates the work of UN agencies to tackle global challenges. Uniquely ECOSOC, all decisions are made collectively by its 54 members, with resolutions reflecting consensus and multilateral cooperation. Your negotiations and recommendations will help shape policies towards sustainability as the council nears the projected date of completion of the 2030 Agenda.
TOPICS
Thinking beyond GDP: examining the role of SDGs in economic sustainability
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In recent years – since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 — the concept of economic sustainability has been key in international discussions. While the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has provided the global economy an operational definition, certain disparities have arisen between these textual definitions and common sense notions of “sustainability”. Globally, countries and committees have long measured economies with one central indicator: the GDP. In the process, socioeconomic indicators, human rights and inequality, even exploitative practices become secondary, or even viewed as “trade-offs” for a flourishing economy. Yet, as the international economy progresses efforts towards economic sustainability, these factors begin to show reciprocal relationships with pure economic “growth”. As we approach a great milestone check for sustainability, it is now up to ECOSOC members to think beyond the GDP and explore ways to truly incorporate SDGs into our pursuit of economic sustainability.​
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Question of digital access in building a socially sustainable society ​
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In today’s digital age, digital platforms and technology have become a prerequisite for comfortable living. Integrated into all aspects of daily life — education, employment, entertainment, health, transportation — the ability to access digital infrastructure has inevitably become core in our conversations of building a socially sustainable society. Even in the implementation of the SDGs, the extent of access to digital infrastructure has impacted the achievement of social SDGs, such as Quality Education (SDG 4), Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3), and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10). However, with the rapid pace of digital development, gaps have also formed in digital access across communities, populations, and countries. Cross-border challenges like technology transfer and domestic struggles such as digital literacy have led to unequal living between citizens, posing yet more challenges for the international committee to address: social exclusion of vulnerable populations, inequality in access to online services, restricted participation in civic and political life and more. In these dire times of widening inequality due to digital access, it is now the responsibility of ECOSOC to take on the challenges and propose necessary policy changes, regulations, and governing frameworks to ensure a sustainable future for all global citizens.
Paris International Conference on Cambodia (PICC; Historical)
“The wheel of history is inexorably turning: he who cannot keep pace with it shall be crushed.”
~Khmer Rouge
TOPICS
The Cambodian Crisis​
The year is 1989. Two protracted decades of conflict exacted a devastating toll on Cambodia, perpetuated by clandestine proxy intervention. 2.7 million tons of American explosives during the Vietnam War catalysed a ruinous humanitarian and political crisis. Under Communist China's auspices, the Khmer Rouge rose to power during the Cambodian Civil War, systematically persecuting millions of innocents with impunity. Years later, the Vietnamese invasion toppled Pol Pot’s dictatorship, establishing another oppressive regime that met intense nationalist resistance.
Following the progressive dissolution of the USSR, the Cold War’s haunting spectre gradually lifted its shackles over Cambodia. Thus, the PICC was convened to cease this abominable conflict for the greater good of South-East Asia. Within the gilded halls of Paris, the Cambodian factions, P5, ASEAN, and NAM assembled, mandated to achieve a comprehensive political settlement. However, the PICC’s impetus is fraught with challenges: the irreversible trauma etched into the nation’s psyche, deep-rooted mistrust between Cambodian factions, and the parochial foreign policies of external stakeholders.
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Will the international community answer this honourable call to arms, or doom the Cambodian populace to further discord?
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
Established in 1945 under Chapter IV of the UN Charter, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) constitutes the UN’s principal deliberative, policy-making, and representative organ, presently convening its 80th session. Hosting all 193 member states, it is tasked with considering a broad scope of international issues as prescribed by the Charter. Despite lacking a legally-binding mandate, the UNGA’s resolutions wield significant normative, political, and symbolic clout, influencing the progressive development of international law and state conduct.
TOPICS
Countering Technological Threats in International Terrorism
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Emergent technologies face increasing exploitation by terrorist actors globally, transcending conventional counterterrorist paradigms. Encompassing cyberterrorism attacks, AI-powered weaponry, and digital financial flows, technology amplifies the pernicious impacts of terrorist actions worldwide. Hence, a coordinated response by the Assembly is urgently necessitated to confront this evolving threat, safeguarding the security of future generations.
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Enforcing Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change
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In July 2025, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark Advisory Opinion on the ‘Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change’ with unanimous support, vis-à-vis UNGA Resolution 77/276. Facing the looming global threat of cataclysmic climate destruction should inaction persist, the onus lies on the Assembly to implement the Opinion’s complex international environmental law doctrines. From lex specialis to evidentiary thresholds of attribution & causation, from climate financing requirements to common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR); may a new era of international cooperation be trailblazed amidst this existential threat.
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations, under the auspices of ECOSOC. Functioning as a normal UNGA council in this iteration of SMUN, the IMO bears primary responsibility to ensure the safety, security, and environmental soundness of global shipping. With a broad mandate to set international maritime standards and apply technical standards and measures under UNCLOS, the IMO will address the questions of freedom of navigation and maritime responsibility, as well as the question of decarbonising global shipping.
TOPICS
Freedom of Navigation and Maritime Responsibility
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Freedom of navigation is a cornerstone of international maritime law, being enshrined in UNCLOS. However, contested maritime claims pose challenges to safe passage. While commercial shipping tends to avoid disputed areas, naval operations, such as Freedom of Navigation Operations, risk raising tensions in such areas. In this topic, delegates will be required to address the legal ambiguities in international law surrounding freedom of navigation.
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​Decarbonising Global Shipping
​Meanwhile, shipping accounts for more than 80% of global trade by volume, making decarbonisation important but complex. In 2023, the IMO set an ambitious target to decarbonise shipping by 2050. However, challenges arise in ensuring equitable burden sharing, harmonising regulations, and developing decarbonisation technologies. In this topic, delegates will evaluate the economic and technological challenges of decarbonising global shipping.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO, is a military and political alliance of 32 North American and European States. Founded in 1949, it guarantees the security of its member states through collective defence, a concept enshrined under Article 5 of its treaty. As the world’s foremost collective defence organisation, NATO has long been a cornerstone of European defence and transatlantic security.
TOPICS
European Leadership of NATO
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The United States has historically accounted for the largest share of defence responsibilities, providing 38% of combined manpower and accounting for two-thirds of defence spending, with a 47% contribution to NATO burden sharing in 2017. Recently, however, the US has set a 2027 deadline for a European-led NATO defence, warning that it may withdraw from certain defence commitments if European countries do not meet this target. Meanwhile, some Eastern European and Baltic states remain sceptical of Europe’s readiness to assume leadership of NATO, fearing a gap in deterrence against Russia. Delegates will hence have to navigate alliance dynamics while grappling with the shift in burden sharing that this change brings.
Russian Aggression
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has heightened NATO’s security concerns, particularly regarding the Baltic states, which lie on the frontline of potential Russian aggression. Any attack on the Baltic states, which are NATO members, would trigger Article 5 of the NATO treaty, obliging all member states to respond militarily, and hence risking escalation with Russia. With the ongoing conflict in Ukraine continuing to demand assistance from NATO, and the constant threat of a Russian invasion in the Baltics looming, delegates will have to balance resource allocations amid conflicting priorities.
Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO)
The Food and Agriculture Organisation is a specialised organisation of the UN providing technical support and policy advice for agricultural development to its 195 members, being funded through mandatory and voluntary contributions. While the FAO cannot issue legally binding resolutions of its own, it functions as a forum where treaties on agricultural development can be negotiated.
TOPICS
Preserving the Land for Future Generations
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In the topic of Preserving the Land for Future Generations, delegates will debate the pros and cons of artificial fertilisers and organic farming. Many countries wish to achieve food self-sufficiency, even if it is not naturally sustainable. Key points of contention are national resilience and environmental protection – the core issue being whether the world owes a greater responsibility to those alive now, or to future generations. It is agreed that a transition to sustainable agriculture is needed, but the when and how is the subject of debate.
Sustainable Fisheries and Responsible Fishing
The topic of Sustainable Fisheries and Responsible Fishing focuses on balancing national and global interests. Industrial-scale fishing is detrimental to fisheries due to its large scale, but decreasing food production is untenable for many. Similarly, aquaculture damages water quality, but the FAO promotes it as wild fish populations are unaffected. Nations are not obligated to preserve fisheries within their Exclusive Economic Zones, which has negative ramifications on global fish stocks. Delegates must find solutions to protect global fisheries without overstepping the FAO’s mandate as the topic goes beyond fishing policy and into the realm of sovereignty under UNCLOS.
United States Senate
(USS)
Born amidst the revolutionary fervour of 1789, the United States Senate stands as the upper chamber of a bicameral legislature designed to restrain excess, bestow equal state representation, and provide sober “advice and consent” on matters of national consequence. Conceived as a ballast against tyrannical governance, the Senate was entrusted with the power of the purse, treaty ratification, and legislative oversight of the Executive. Through mechanisms such as filibusters, congressional committees and cloture, the deliberative body is steeped in tradition. Yet, its constitutional ideal weathers in modern days due to increasing polarisation, eroding its capacity to meaningfully constrain executive power. What was once a stabilising keel of governance now stands as a stymied body.
TOPICS
Commerce and Foreign Agreements
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The repeated invocation of national emergencies to justify reciprocal tariffs marked an apotheosis of Trumpian hegemony. Where proponents cite restored geopolitical leverage and the correction of long-skewed current account deficits, detractors decry the destruction of multilateral institutions, and the spiral of retaliatory trade wars that stoke inflation and hollows America’s manufacturing resilience. The Senate stands cleaved between the ideals of laissez-faire free trade and economic nationalism, united only by shared unease over the capacious invocation of “national security”. Beyond debates over the distinction between taxes and tariffs, Presidential authority invested in Article II has further expanded through the proliferation of unilateral executive agreements, entrenching informal practices untethered from constitutional precedent and eroding Congress’s prerogative over treaty ratification. In the absence of systematic senatorial scrutiny, and amid the shift from centuries-old, value-based to blunt interest-driven diplomacy, the Executive has been empowered to drift with diminishing moral constraint. A stalwart for democracy and a bastion of international humanitarian norms, the Senate must anchor debate not in procedural mechanisms, but to first principles – clarifying what the Land of the Free stands for and pursues abroad, lest ambiguity calcifies into the “zone of twilight” where unchecked executive power thrives.
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GENIUS Act (2025)
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As the United States’ first bipartisan federal framework for regulating payment stablecoins, aptly dubbed a “Currency of DeFi shadow banking”, the GENIUS Act sought to separate stablecoins from traditional banking by prohibiting yield-seeking behaviours. However, it failed to meaningfully constrain secondary-market speculation or mitigate traditional bank-run liquidity risks, threatening credit contraction within regulated banks. Divergences between federal and state frameworks, regulatory arbitrage, opacity across Centralised and Decentralised Exchanges, and balance-sheet obfuscation across financial vehicles create fertile ground for moral hazard. Moreover, the Act implicitly challenges monetary sovereignty whilst weakening the enforcement of sanctions. Allegations of conflicts of interest involving the Trump family and a lack of stringent AML/CFT measures have only continued to erode public trust in the Act. As such, the Senate must decide if the Act merely codifies a nascent structure. It must also deliberate about the feasibility of stronger consumer protections, transparency requirements, and systemic risk controls, with the Schumpeterian Innovation Theory arguing that the Act hinders financial innovation.
United Nations Security Council
(UNSC)
Established after two World Wars, the United Nations Security Council has the crucial responsibility of “maintaining international peace and security”, pursuant to the UN Charter (1945). As the sole UN institution with the mandate to impose international sanctions and authorise peacekeeping missions, the UNSC aims not to create an international utopia but to limit the scale and consequences of conflicts – “to save us from hell”. Notwithstanding, the UNSC has acquired a reputation as “paralysed” and “toothless” as its structure was a compromise to ensure that no one Great Power could dominate the international order. Thus, the UNSC is, by design, constrained.
TOPICS
Reforming the United Nations Security Council
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Critics and proponents of the UN have both called for reforms since the 1990s, ranging from complete abolishment to strengthening it into a world government. Through the Pact for the Future (2024), the UN has symbolically declared its support for various reforms; however, it has stopped short of any Charter-level actions. Thus, the UNSC ought to review these structural issues, including its composition, working methods, and enforcement instruments.
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Sudanese Civil War (2023–Present)
Keenly welcomed by the international community, Sudan’s adoption of its Constitutional Declaration (2019) signalled a planned democratic transition and general optimism for sustainable peace. However, what reigns today in Sudan is a civil war between two armed forces. Despite two UNSC resolutions in 2024, the civil war is still ongoing, with reports of “a blood trail that is visible from space”. The UNSC must consider more substantive measures, such as sanctions and a national arms embargo, rather than its current status quo of condemnation without action.
United Nations Environment Assembly
(UNEA)
The United Nations Environment Assembly, the world’s supreme decision-making body on environmental affairs, draws its modern mandate from the 2012 Rio+20 Conference. Serving as a unifying force in confronting the triple planetary crisis, the biennial Assembly stands at the crossroads of diplomacy and environmental stewardship, catalysing systemic change, strengthening international environmental law, and serving as a conduit to channel multilateral resolve toward safeguarding the planet’s fragile equilibrium.
TOPICS
Equitable Coal Phase-Out for Emerging Economies
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The global race toward renewable energy surges ahead, yet its path remains uneven. For EMDEs who rely on newly built coal-fired power plants as pillars of energy security and economic stability, the promise of a green and just transition is often overshadowed by developmental constraints despite the guiding principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities. Hence, UNEA should ameliorate geographically divergent concerns – coordinating targeted climate finance to bridge Asia’s economic and investment gaps; advancing just transitional frameworks to safeguard Africa’s socio-economic web; while paving the way for Oceanian coal-linked circular economies.
Geoengineering Technologies
As anthropogenic climate change accelerates, geoengineering has emerged from the margins of theory into global limelight. Yet governance remains fragmented. Carbon Dioxide Removal and Solar Radiation Management technologies exist within a legal grey zone, stitched together by strands of informal memoranda, precedents, and contested interpretations of the precautionary principle. Under the banner of scientific progress, experiments edge moral confines, casting shadows over atmospheric systems, hydrological biodiversities, and indigenous ecosystems. Hence, UNEA ought to confront the growing spectre of unilateral geoengineering with transboundary repercussions whilst addressing the moral hazard inherent due to technological allure that deprioritises emissions mitigation and climate adaptation.
World Health Organisation
(WHO)
Established in 1948, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is a specialised agency under the United Nations responsible for coordinating responses to international health issues and emergencies. With an ultimate objective of “the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health,” the WHO is a platform for discourse and collaboration between its 194 member states, each represented by its respective appointed delegate. As the global order commences into the digital age of health amidst ongoing changes to the agency’s financial systems, the WHO is under immense pressure to adapt to the new world order. In this committee, delegates will examine current developments and engage in discourse to derive solutions towards sustainable healthcare under the WHO. Your proposals will impact the future of the WHO in a world where global health is seeing a decline in importance.
TOPICS
Addressing AI usage in medical diagnosis​
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In recent years, Large Language Models (LLMs) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been on the rise and increasingly integrated into medical diagnosis and healthcare. From LLM-assisted diagnosis to chatbot-based consultations, AI has promised improved accessibility and efficiency. However, vulnerabilities in digitalised healthcare – such as misleading “AI therapy” and ambiguous data protection terms – also raise significant concerns regarding medical accuracy, ethical responsibility, and unequal state capacity. As AI systems increasingly influence medical decision-making, the WHO faces the challenge of guiding their integrations without undermining patient safety, privacy, or health equity. This topic calls on delegates to critically assess the appropriate role of AI in medical diagnosis, balancing innovation with caution to ensure that technological progress aligns with the WHO’s principles of equity, accountability, and universal access to quality care.
The Question of Sustainable Health Financing amidst Global Budget Cuts
In recent years, global health financing has entered a period of increasing uncertainty. As states grapple with economic slowdowns, shifting geopolitical priorities, and prolonged crisis fatigue, funding for international health initiatives has faced significant reductions. These cuts emerge at a time when global health demands are rising – such as pandemics and humanitarian emergencies – placing immense pressure on the WHO. These cuts are especially detrimental to areas with significantly reduced funding and regions in need of external health support, like the global South and conflict zones. Considering how international health frameworks have long relied on predicable donor support to address these challenges, current financing models reveal growing vulnerabilities. Hence, for the WHO to continue serving its role in coordinating predicable funding, delegates must critically reassess how global health is financed, weighing the sustainability of existing models and exploring alternative approaches.
1950s Taiwan
(Crisis)
The Crisis Council is one of the 3 specialised council types widely available in the MUN circuit. In most councils, the situation and context of the world is set in stone before the council begins, whereas in crisis, the world is constantly changing; influenced by the actions of the delegates themselves. Delegates do not represent a country, but a person, and have a set of powers which they can use to better the country or themselves.
TOPICS
The First Chen Cheng Cabinet
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The Kuomintang has just lost Hainan island, and the civil war has entered a period of relative calm. The Kuomintang will need to rebuild the island’s economy into something functional after the war. At the same time, pro-democracy movements are rising, and there is a constant threat of Mao Zedong and his CCP across the strait.
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Delegates will be playing members of the cabinet as well as other influential figures in 1950s Taiwan, such as generals, ministers, and possibly even others. They can expect to learn how one is supposed to build up an economy from scratch, balancing military priorities, economic growth and political stability.
Press Corps
(PRESS)
“[Edmund] Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all.”
– Thomas Carlyle in On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841)
Cutting through clouded processes and muddied negotiations, the Press Corps is the People’s sword of clarity. Through their reporting, news agencies expose the true nature of reality to reduce ignorance. The Press has exposed scandals, toppled governments, and reshaped public consciousness. Especially in these times where public opinion is king, the influence of the Press is perhaps at its peak.
Keeping the public informed is not merely to report, it is to uphold the boundaries of truth itself. Through real-time news reporting, editorials, and press conferences, Delegates can expect to apply journalism in the geopolitical context. Whether aspiring journalists or Delegates interested in strategic communication, the Press Corps enables participants to develop their writing skills while influencing high-stakes decision-making in these diplomatic arenas.
