Belgium has for the twelfth time won the World Student Diplomacy Championship. The championship, in the form of a competitive simulation of the United Nations, took place in the Philippine capital Manila. 

Every year, Harvard WorldMUN (Model United Nations) organises the World Championship, which is modelled on the procedure used by the United Nations. During the five-day conference, 1,000 to 1,500 youngsters from about a hundred countries step into the shoes of diplomats and defend the interests of the country they represent. 

The winning MUN Society Belgium team, with students from universities across Belgium, during the competition represented the countries China, Colombia and Egypt. “We represented China and Colombia respectively within the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC) on the topic of internal displacement and violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” explained Simon Bruneel, a law student at Ghent University, and Zoë Lardinois, a European and International governance student at the Brussels VUB university. 

“Given the sensitivity of the subject, it was not always easy to reach compromises with countries pursuing opposite policies,” they added. “Nevertheless, after five days of intense debates and negotiations, a joint resolution was adopted.”