Currently celebrating its 52nd year, the National High School Model United Nations (NHSMUN) Conference has established itself as the premier conference on the high school Model UN circuit. NHSMUN prides itself on having the largest and most diverse attendee base in the world, and the conference has hosted participants from more than 130 countries throughout its history. NHSMUN is known for its talented, prestigious attendees, world-class staff, proven substantive excellence, and accurate, engaging committee simulations. The conference exposes students to high-profile, relevant United Nations figures, including the possibility of visiting the ambassadors or representatives of the Permanent Mission of the countries they are representing.

During recent conferences, NHSMUN has welcomed speakers ranging from UN, government, and international affairs experts to UN humanitarian programme directors or celebrity advocates. Recent speakers include:

• President Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States
• Vice President Kamala Harris
• Nobel Peace Prize Laureates María Corina Machado and Malala Yousafzai
• Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed
• Presidents of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis and Csaba Kőrösi
• US Secretaries of State John Kerry and Mike Pompeo
• US Senators Cory Booker, Mitt Romney, and Sheldon Whitehouse
• US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel
• Governor of New York Kathy Hochul
• Ret. US Generals Stanley McChrystal and David Petraeus;
• OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro
• Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba
• Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix
• US-UN Ambassadors Jonathan Cohen, Christopher Lu, Samantha Power, Susan Rice, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield
• US Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci
• FAO Director Guangzhou Qu
• UN Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner
• Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General Jeffrey Sachs
• Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff
• Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass; NYC Commissioner Penny Abeywardena
• Actors Demi Lovato, Joe Manganiello, Mandy Patinkin, and Rainn Wilson

We take pride in the high level of debate in our committees, which provide students with an unparalleled opportunity to experience the theory and practice of international relations firsthand. Subject to availability of space at the UN, students attend opening or closing ceremonies in the UN General Assembly Hall, where actual diplomats convene every year.

Students also have opportunities to interact with global leaders in their committee rooms. We host 60 subject matter experts throughout the conference who speak on the topic being debated and take questions directly from the students. Our recent committee speakers include:

• US Secretary of Homeland Security Rand Beers
• Ambassador and Permanent Representative of  Barbados to the United Nations Matthew Wilson
• Permanent Representative of Malta to the UN and Security Council President Vanessa Frazier
• UN-OHRLLS Under-Secretary-General Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu
• United Nations Military Observer Group in India & Pakistan (UNMOGIP) Chief of Mission Support Nester Odaga-Jalomayo
• Director of UNEP NY Jamil Ahmad
• Executive Director of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack Lisa Chung Bender
• Founder of Peace One Day Jeremy Gilley
• Scientific Advisor to the UNEP Dr. Christian Voigt

These speakers’ insights leave an indelible mark on our eager-to-learn students.

The goal of NHSMUN is to provide a professional and engaging conference, creating an atmosphere most conducive to learning. By utilizing engaging educational tools and resources in and out of our committee sessions, NHSMUN is committed to IMUNA’s mission of “education through simulation.” NHSMUN strives to enhance delegates’ learning experiences in an impactful and enjoyable way through its conference programming. Aside from top-quality United Nations body simulations, as part of its focus on the experiential learning experience, NHSMUN offers a robust series of educational programming to expand the delegate and faculty experience, ranging from engaging guest speakers, mission visits, and skill-building workshops, all of which use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a lens.

Our location in New York City, surrounded by offices of Permanent Missions to the United Nations as well as the United Nations Headquarters itself, provides the perfect backdrop for an incredible international affairs experience and a broadening of global issues awareness. NHSMUN presents an opportunity for students to discover their future as true global citizens. Our visiting experts program will allow delegates to understand how the contemporary global issues discussed in their committees apply to real people and situations across the world and will encourage them to take action to make a difference in their local communities after the conference. Our Committee Directors strive to connect delegate debate and solutions to real-world events and communities through a variety of multimedia and educational tools.

In addition to learning about the best ways to address global issues, NHSMUN challenges its delegates to experience the power of generosity and service in resolving problems by participating in a service learning project prior to and during the conference—uniting behind specific issues and organizations that are directly related to topics discussed in committee. These extensive programming options allow our delegates to truly engage in their role as model diplomats and global citizens.