“A world without the United Nations or with a paralyzed United Nations would be far more costly to all of us and far more dangerous to peace and stability.” – Richard Holbrooke

Just as in previous years, a group of 17 students of the Thomas-Mann-School of Lübeck, supervised by their lovely MUN-directors Mrs Fraatz and Mrs Petzold made their ways to The Hague, the international city of peace and justice… and of course: THIMUN!

At this year’s THIMUN conference Rishabh Jain (Q1c) was the ambassador while the other 16 students represented delegates of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Carlo Hagen Martin (Q1e) had the chance of participating as the main chair in the fourth committee. Meeting up and preparing regularly, months before the actual conference, as well as participating at the Debating Club helped us being well prepared for the conference so that everyone was enabled to debate actively at THIMUN, The Hague International Model United Nations.

On Sunday the 25th January, 2020 , we started our trip early in the morning in order to catch the train (the first of several following afterwards) to The Hague.
We used this time to prepare for the debates and get to know fellow participants. Our group consisted of first-timers and experienced delegates; many of us did not know each other well as we were students ranging from the tenth to the twelfth grade, which made this trip even more delightful and pleasurable!

About nine hours later we reached our final destination, exhausted, but with hope and excitement in our minds; we eagerly awaited the next day!

On Monday morning we took the tram to reach the World Forum, where the conference took place. Mesmerized by the majestic look of the grand entrance and foyer and the crowd of students, we reached our committees.
Throughout lobbying on Monday we worked with around 4000 other students from all over the globe, and tried to amalgamate all the different, creative and innovative ideas of the delegations in resolutions, dealing with several issues pertaining 2020’s Conference Theme “Securing & Advancing Democracy – Every Voice Matters”.
After lobbying the official opening ceremony took place at noon, where inspiring speeches were held and a flag-parade, where the Cambodian Flag was waved proudly by our ambassador.
We were all fatigued, still amazed by this very first day, but the debate was still to come…

On Tuesday some of us held Opening Speeches in their committee; for many, it was the first time speaking in front of so many students, which made this experience thrilling!
At noon we had the opportunity to visit the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, where we even attended a gripping and fascinating hearing, thanks to our esteemed MUN-directors Mrs Fraatz and Mrs Petzold!
Thereafter, the actual, long-awaited debates began…

Discussing and attending debates at THIMUN is a unique experience as students and adolescents from all over the globe come together to merge, explain and defend their ideas and measures which tackle and may possibly solve certain international issues resulting in exceptional high-quality debates making this conference unexcelled, remarkable and outstanding!

On Wednesday, we had a free afternoon, which we used to explore the beautiful and historic city of The Hague and its beach in Scheveningen in small groups, visiting e.g. the ICC.
The International Criminal Court

We rounded off the beautiful evening with the “MUN-dinner” at an Italian restaurant, which has got a tradition and a part of THIMUN by now.

The following two days were fully packed with zealous and fiery debates, meeting and getting in touch with other adolescents from all across the globe, as well as memorable and remarkable moments.

On Friday late evening we took the trains back to Lübeck and despite some unpleasant incidents, we arrived home safe and sound.

All in all, this year’s THIMUN Conference was splendid, marvellous and lots of fun! We made new friends from several countries, such as Japan, Switzerland, Congo, Brazil and Ireland.

THIMUN is a fabulous conference where we can gain inspiration, many new experiences and also advance and improve our language and rhetorical skills; we would not want to miss future conferences! Hence, we, students and teachers of the Thomas-Mann-School of Lübeck, all are very grateful to our great and noble sponsors for making this trip possible.
Our sponsors are:
• Michael-Haukohl-Stiftung
• Possehl-Stiftung
• Schulverein of the Thomas-Mann-School
• Kulturmark of the Thomas-Mann-School

Furthermore, we would also like to thank Mrs Fraatz and Mrs Petzold for supervising and organising this excursion, as well as Mr Flittiger, our headmaster, for granting the participation and supporting us!
The last but not the least, we would like to extend gratitude to Mr Tietz (Schulverein of the Thomas-Mann-School) for supporting us to the fullest extent.

Thank you so much for all the support!

Text: Rishabh Jain (Q1c)
Photos: TMS-Participants at THIMUN 2020