When OLMUN took place for the very first time in 2001, hardly any of the people involved back then would have imagined it to develop into the large-scale event it has since become: We have introduced more and more committees, welcomed more and more guests from all over the world and steadily professionalised our internal workflow.

As we are not only increasing in participants but also in members of our Inner Circle, the shape of OLMUN has evolved and so have the challenges we’re facing. While our values — including especially fairness and respect in political and social interactions, and gender equality — remain unchanged, we must constantly adopt our policies if we want to stay true to those values.

Our most recent landmark policy shift has been the implementation of our awareness concept which mainly includes the creation of a team of Trust Persons led by two Ombudspersons and which aims at ensuring OLMUN remains a safe space where all of our guests can feel comfortable. Wherever many people of different backgrounds, with different experiences and different ideas come together; wherever discussion and controversy are encouraged, conflicts can arise that might spread from the “professional” to the personal level. Wherever there is power, wherever hierarchies exist (and a large-scale event such as OLMUN does need hierarchies to a certain extent), there is a potential risk of misuse of power. Such misuse can happen consciously and even unconsciously. But we do not want it to. And this is where our Trust Persons can intervene.

Feeling lonely during an evening activity? Go talk to our Trust Persons!

Feeling uncomfortable during the conference? See one of our Trust Persons!

In need of help in whatever situation? Do let us know — we’ll be happy to figure out a solution alongside you without judgement!

We want OLMUN to be a place of intercultural exchange where everyone feels welcome, where international relations and, eventually, friendships are forged, where democracy and pluralism are promoted and where international understanding is encouraged. This is why we have a zero-tolerance policy to address and prevent violence and misuse of power.

In this way, we want to locally showcase the change we would like to happen globally, and we hope to inspire the young and promising minds who stay with us every year to make this change possible — a change for a world with global justice and positive peace.