EYP

EYP stands for European Youth Parliament and it is an MUN-like organization but aimed mostly for teenagers. It is a non-profit organization which only encourages European youth to actively engage with citizenship and cultural understanding. It was first established in France in 1987 and growing ever since. As an Eurasian country, Turkey also hosts EYP sessions in Istanbul for years now.

Unlike MUN there is no country represented, there are only problems waiting to be solved. Generally it takes 3 or 4 days and you only separate with your committee members when you go to sleep. What is attractive is that you do not look only for solutions to world problems but you also make new friends. There are numerous EYP games which aim to bring people closer. That is the reason half of the first day generally is reserved only for these ice-brakers. As a new comer knowing no one, you might not understand the reason behind these games or it may sound silly to you but at the end of the day, people always realize how important is to play these games. As a whole, these games purposes to set a trust bond between delegates let everyone feel comfortable, respect each other and learn to wait for our turns to speak. Once all these games are played and it’s time to discuss everyone feels like they know each other for a long time so nobody feels shy and everyone is able to bring forward their point of view.

There are different committees just like in MUN and you can pick the one you are interested in. The organization targets to cover all issues in European countries therefore, there are committees focuses on environment, constitution, human rights, women rights, development, economy, employment, industry and many more. The EYP sessions divides into two, International Sessions and National Sessions. The conferences in Istanbul for example are national. Another thing that makes EYP so attractive is that when you attend to a National Session the jury of the board observes all the delegates. Once everyone is observed there will be some selected in order to attend to an International session. So there is brainstorming, learning, teaching and plus competing. International sessions are a whole other experience because there you gather with the selected delegates from all over Europe. I, myself, attended to three National Conferences. In the third I was honoured to be selected for an International session in Germany. These conferences will remain to be best memories. Once you start to be an EYPier, there is no end to this amazing journey. I strongly advise people who are interested to join. I loved it so much I organized two EYP-like sessions in my high school in order to show students what its like. I promise that you will not regretted at all 

MUN

MUN stands for Model United Nations and it is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda. It is normally a 3-day event and participants role-play diplomats, representing a nation for 3days. Each participant represent one country and it has to be different than their own. This way, participants have chance to search and have wide knowledge about a country rather than their own. Next, there are numerous committees with different subjects. Mainly these committees are listed as: The General Assembly Economic and Social Council Security Council International Court of Justice UN Children's Fund UN Environment Programme UN Development Programme UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Human Rights Council Disarmament Committee United Nations High Commission for Refugees World Health Organization World Trade Organization

As it can be understood from the committee names each committee discusses related current topics.During a conference, participants must employ a variety of communication and critical thinking skills in order to represent the policies of their country. These skills include public speaking, group communication, research, policy analysis, active listening, negotiating, conflict resolution, note taking, and technical writing. Each delegate come from different countries so besides representing a country people have a chance to interact with people with different nationalities. I have had a chance to represent The Democratic Republic of Congo in a session in Cambridge/England in 2010. My committee was 'United Nations Enviormental Committee' where we discussed all the enviormental problems. It was my first experience in a conference like this and it was a huge gain. Secondly, in 2011 I have attended to a conference in New York City and represented Luxembourg in 'United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime'

On the last day of these conferences, once everything is discussed and solved a 'Resolution Paper' is prepared. This paper is actually the summary of what has been discussed over 3 days. Every committee gathers in a same room and starts voting for these resolution papers. If it gets votes in favor more than rejection the resolution passes and goes to actual United Nation Offices. At first people don't expect a lot from these conferences but once you live the experience you realize that it is a serious event that should be taken seriously. Besides the things I have learnt about the world and actual problems that nations are facing, the most important thing I have experienced was visiting the actual United Nations Headquarters. .