History Board years 2003-2005 In 2003, David Vermijs and Tjeerd Tim prepared the first ever Dutch delegation to ever attend the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN). After attending HNMUN, they agreed that Dutch students would greatly benefit from an intensive preparatory track and hence the second United Netherlands delegation (2004-2005) enjoyed lectures in international law, economics and politics and trainings in public speaking and the rules of procedure of MUN. They won two individual awards at HNMUN. In this process, the United Netherlands foundation was officially erected in January 2004. Board year 2005-2006 Due to the overwhelming interest in the delegation — which unfortunately cannot be larger than some thirty students — the organization decided in 2005-2006 to broaden its scope as to include events that are open to as many students as possible. In particular, 2005 saw the birth of the first United-Netherlands Veerstichting Symposium on Courage and Politics and the first MUN on Nijmegen soil: RiMUN Nijmegen. In 2006, the first international MUN in Nijmegen, RiMUN international, was organized. Building on the experiences of last year, United Netherlands also decided to intensify the preparatory track for HNMUN and specifically to give more attention to teambuilding, paper writing, debating and negotiating. The results were unequivocal: the 2005-2006 delegation came home with eight individual awards and the award for Best International Delegation — a feat that no European delegation had accomplished in the last five years. Board year 2006-2007 Next to winning 22 individual awards, the United Netherlands Delegation to HNMUN achieved what no other European delegation managed to achieve in the history of the conference: winning both the prize for "Best Large Delegation" and "Best International Delegation". At OxIMUN, awards were won in 7 out of 8 committees. With over 250 students participating and 22 nationalities attending, the RiMUN conferences were bigger and more internationally orientated than ever. Two new United Netherlands activities were also launched in 2006-2007: the Month of the UN, a month long preparatory course for RiMUN, and a pilot version of the United Netherlands High School Program, a programme specifically designed for youngsters. 4 high schools and 72 students participated in the very first edition of the UNLHP. Furthermore, the United Netherlands alumni association Amunli was set up, and an agreement on structural cooperation was reached with Radboud University Nijmegen. Board year 2007-2008. The results of 2007-2008 were achieved with a hard-working, enthusiastic team of ten board members. First, the UNMD course was continued and concluded with a prize winning Outstanding Delegation at HNMUN 2008, where the United Netherlands delegation represented la France. Second, the RiMUN conference took place in April 2008 and grew in participant numbers from a hundred to over two hundred. Furthermore, the RiMUN-affiliated MOTUN program had its third and fourth edition in November 2007 and April 2008, the latter preceding the conference. Third, the High School Program had its second pilot year to make it ready for professional implementation in the consecutive year. Finally, what put the cherry on the cake for the 2007-2008 board year was the fun and success had in winning the bid to host the Harvard World Model United Nations conference in The Hague in 2009! It was a wonderful time made possible by the cohesion and enthusiasm of the entire board. |