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Previous achievements
Haarlem Model United Nations has a long-standing tradition that shaped it into the conference it is today. The conference was first created back in 1998 as a local debate initiative by Phillip ter Wiel. This initiative was created under the strong hopes of connecting motivated teenagers from all over the world. Mr. ter Wiel kindly opened our doors for all and welcomed delegates into the beautiful city of Haarlem. Throughout the years Haarlem has opened itself up for future politicians and policymakers. It takes a respectful and close community to make these delegates feel welcome. Therefore, we decided to name our conference Haarlem Model United Nations (HMUN). Under this name, the conference continued and developed. This spirit of cooperation and eagerness to change the world has stuck with us ever since. These strong principles that were carried from Executive Staff upon Executive Staff created the backbone for our dear conference. A conference that is always adapting and changing but doesn’t take its origin for granted.
One of the core values of our conference are the traditions that shape HMUN. One of those traditions are the bright orange suits are Executive Staff wears during the weekend. With these suits we want to symbolize approachability, charisma and friendliness. The color, a bright shade of orange, is also recognizable and refers to the national color of the Netherlands: orange. Another aspect that we’re known for is the variety of committees for experts. We have two high level debate committees: the International Court of Justice, simulating the real court with positions like advocate or judge available, and the Expert Committee, a committee where the
delegates with the most experience get the chance of adopting the identity of diplomates, CEO’s or even historical figures whilst taking part in a passionate debate. Many traditions have been held intact and are still a key part of how we organize HMUN.
One of our greatest prides is the quality of our keynote speakers, guest speakers and workshops. We always ensure that we provide our delegates with inspiring guest speakers whilst also being informative. If you want to learn more about our selection of guest speakers click here.
At HMUN we’ve had the honor of welcoming many moving keynote speakers. For example, we welcomed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in 2022. Mr. de Hoop Scheffer is a Dutch politician, diplomat and jurist who served as Secretary General of NATO from 2004 until 2009. De Hoop Scheffer has lots of experience with issues in the area of peace, law and security and also lectures in the field of international politics and the practice of diplomacy. He started his political carrier by serving as the Netherlands’ permanent delegation to NATO in Brussels until 1980. Subsequently, he headed the private offices of four successive Dutch ministers of foreign affairs until 1986. During de Hoop Scheffer’s tenure as Secretary General, he pushed for more assistance from
NATO’s European leaders in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the alliance assumed the lead security role in Afghanistan in October 2006. NATO joined with the African Union to assist with peacekeeping missions in the Darfur region of Sudan and Somalia. After his retirement, De Hoop Scheffer continues to advocate for more European integration and improved Transatlantic relations. De Hoop Scheffer is known for his abilities as an effective negotiator and proficient manager.
As a longstanding nonprofit organization, we could not host our conference without the amazing support of all our past sponsors. In 26 years of history, we have got the opportunity to work with many amazing institutes that support our visions and beliefs. We want to thank some past names like Neyenrode University, ING and Dopper. We also have some sponsors to thank who have provided us with supplies that complete HMUN. We’ve had the chance of collaborating with Tony Chocolonely who have supplied us with over 350 bars of fair-trade chocolate. Every year we have a greater collection of sponsors to thank and so we can’t thank every sponsor who has helped us over the past 26 years, we do encourage you to look at the sponsors that make HMUN 2023 possible via our site.
When HMUN was founded back in 1998 it consisted out of only one location which is still the main location of HMUN: The Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem.
As the school affiliated with our conference the SGH has been the welcoming home for over 26 years. The SGH Haarlem is over 634 years old making it one of the oldest secondary schools in the Netherlands. The SGH has two buildings facing each other with a large hortus in between. The SGH is located in the historic center of Haarlem. Sadly, at HMUN 2023 we will only use one of these buildings due to a recent renovation on the other building. We have expanded past the capacity of only one building in the last years and that’s why once again HMUN will
be hosted along several historical state of the art locations throughout Haarlem. These locations include the Palace of Paviljoen Welgelegen (as seen in the picture), Frans Hals Museum, Teylers Museum, the Sint Bavo church and the city hall. You can learn more about all the locations of HMUN 2023 via our site and social media accounts.