The VUBMUN students won the ‘outstanding delegation award’ and four individual awards. Zoélie Prickartz Lewkowicz and Nena Mgbokwere, both on the VUBMUN board, sat down with us to give us some background to the team’s extraordinary feat.
The Model United Nations (MUN) is a simulation activity where take on the role of a United Nations delegate from an assigned country, or organisation (e.g. the IMF). The delegates are put in various UN committees, where they need to write and pass a resolution with concrete policy proposals regarding a designated theme. It allows students from across the world to gain experience in diplomatic and international relations. VUBMUN is the VUB Model United Nations and is one of the oldest Belgian Model United Nations societies around*.
The VUBMUN 2026 group is very diverse. Out of the 12 participants, 7 are international (from Finland, Norway, Pakistan, Germany, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, and Portugal), and the rest are Belgian. It just so happens that the three board members, Lara, Zoélie and Nena, are Belgian. And their study fields are equally diverse.
“Contrary to popular belief, the VUBMUN is not only for students studying political sciences, international or European law, or international relations. It is open to all students from all disciplines,” Nena explains. “One of our current students is doing her degree in biomedical sciences. And guess what? She’s one of the people at ParisMUN who received an Honourable Mention! It’s amazing. You see, you don’t need any ‘pre-knowledge’. VUBMUN is an amazing way to hone universal skills all students will need throughout their future careers: presentation skills, public speaking, negotiating, translating science or technical information towards a lay audience, you gain self-confidence, etc.”
ParisMUN2026 success
On 23-26 March, 11 VUBMUN delegates went to Paris for a three-day conference where the 200 attendees were split up into four different committees. The VUBMUN delegation was assigned to the ECOSOC committee (economic & social committee) and given the theme "Preventing disruptions in the global supply chain through secure maritime trade". The students were designated as representatives from the following countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Costa Rica, Pakistan, Qatar, Kenya, South Africa, Cabo Verde, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Tanzania. All the students compete on an individual level, meaning the 11 VUB students were going up against each other, as well as students from across the world.
“The three-day event starts with an opening speech from each country/participant, and that’s followed over the next day or two with formal and informal sessions. The main difference between those is that the formal sessions don’t allow for any disruptions, rules and timing must be followed, and it’s all managed by the Chair; the informal sessions on the other hand are full of disruptions, discussions, even fights, and it’s mostly where alliances are formed,” Zoélie explains.
The end goal is to arrive at a (or several) resolution(s), put together through consensus and agreed by all. On the last day, the various resolutions are submitted and voted on. In the case of ParisMUN 2026, all were passed, and were actually written predominantly by VUB students.
The VUBMUN delegation won the ‘Outstanding Delegation Award’, and the following VUB students got awards:
- Mascha Elizabeth MacNeil- Costa Rica - Outstanding Delegate Award
- Andre Moreira - Qatar – Distinguished Delegate Award
- Dorsa Claeys - Cabo Verde - Honourable Mention
- Arslan Muhammad - Sri Lanka - Honourable Mention
The work continues: CampusMUN in April at VUB
But, no rest for the wicked! The work is now fully focused on organising CampusMUN at VUB on 24-25 April. It’ll be held in the LIC and will again feature four committees. It’s open to all VUB students (and some from outside VUB). The committees and themes are: the UN Security Council (the Iran conflict), the EU Council (humanitarian aid), UN Women (gender-based violence in conflict), and the ASEAN Committee (Asia response to international conflict). The focus is clearly again on very current global issues.
However, all work and no play makes for dull events and student lives, so there is also a social agenda, with an evening panel + Q&A with the French Ambassador to Belgium, followed by a reception on 24 April, and the closing ceremony in Pilar Box with dinner and drinks on 25 April.
Nena: "We still have some spots open on the EU Council committee and the ASEAN committee for any VUB student who is interested in participating; they can apply and register via this link.”
A very big congratulations to the VUBMUN 2026 team for these outstanding achievements, and good luck with the CampusMUN event, and the exams afterwards!
More info on VUBMUN is available on their website.
* It has been ranked 10th in the list of best Model United Nations delegations in the world according to International Education Company Best Delegate