Finally, it was there – the moment (or rather the days) we had been waiting for. When we sat in the opening ceremony on Sunday, March 24th, overviewing a grand ballroom in which hundreds of people were chatting excitedly, we felt that this was what we had been preparing for since octobre.
After the opening ceremony, our delegates immediately went into their first committee sessions. Speeches were held, votes cast and finally the agendas were set. The small committees, as well as some of the larger ones, even got as far as forming the first working groups and brainstorming ideas for possible resolutions.
Monday found our delegates bright and early in the morning at the Bahraini mission in New York, where a real Bahraini delegate took time from her schedule and answered all of our questions on Bahrain and its position on various topics – e.g. the close relationship of the Bahraini government with civil society and the balancing act of supporting the local economy and creating living space for the people. She also gave our delegates and overview about the work of a diplomat at the UN in general.
Tuesday proved to be the longest day at the conference, with three 
intervalls of approximately three hours in committee. The day turned out to be psychologically and physically straining, but also very rewarding, since we got a lot of work covered. Especially those working papers who were told to merge by their respective chairs and directors were actually grateful for the long and numerous committee sessions scheduled for the day.
Wednesday marked the last official day in committee and thus the last opportunity for a final sprint towards the allegorical finish line. Frantically typing we finished the last sentences on our working papers, in order for them to be accepted as draft resolutions. Once the papers got accepted, they were open for all of the other members of the committee to read. During the last official hour of the committee sessions we voted upon the presented draft resolutions. Almost all of them were accepted by their respective committees as resolutions – the hard work definitely paid off!
On Thursday we visited the UN in New York, where the closing ceremony took place. There, all our work was rewarded when the delegation of Bahrain, respresented by the University of Tübingen, was recognized with an Honorable Mention Award for excellent diplomatic conduct. Furthermore, we want to extend our congratulations to all of those who also won an award for their position papers or a peer award for their outstanding diplomatic work!
What is left to say is that overall, the experience was very challenging, since it was necessary to adjust to a variety of characters, to stay in our role as delegates, and to negotiate resolutions that were beneficial both to our own countries as well as our cooperation partners. But on the other hand, we gained a lot of experience – the close proximity brought us as a delegation closer together as a team and we got to know people from all over the world.
Since this will be most likely the last post from the 2018 delegation, we want to seize this opportunity to thank our faculty advisor, Bettina, as well as our head delegates Nora and Jovana for all the advice, patience, and knowledge they lent us. We do know that all three of you put a lot of work and effort into the project – we really appreciate all that you have done for us and are grateful for the elaborate preparation preceding the conference (as well as the sweets you brought us during the committee sessions in New York 🙂 ). Thank you!
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