Since 2008 the MUNOG tradition has taken place every year at Goldberg-Gymnasium, without fail. Yesterday, on October 18, 2024, the 16th MUNOG conference occurred at Goldberg-Gymnasium. After this year’s team was introduced, Tabea Saile, the Secretary General, officially opened the ceremony. She explained the essence of MUNOG, delivering a speech that stood out for its passion and emotion. 

Next, everyone applauded Veronika Knüppel, the principal of Goldberg-Gymnasium, who claimed that MUNOG demonstrates to the world how peaceful discussions can lead to understanding. Ms. Knüppel also posed a daring question, adressed to special guest Prof. Dr. Harald Braun: „Is the work of the United Nations pointless?“. But before hearing from him, we listened to Dr. Bernd Vöhringer, the lord mayor of Sindelfingen, who spoke fondly of his designated city and its youth community council.  

Finally, the stage was given to Prof. Dr. Harald Braun, the former Vice President of the 71st UN General Assembly and former Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations, who once was a student of Goldberg-Gymnasium as well. First, he welcomed the international guests and shared his experiences in diplomacy. He explained the purpose of the UN, quoting from the United Nations Charter, which essencially states, that the UN’s mission is to maintain international peace and security. He then carried on to proclaim the Veto function, granted to the five permanent members of the General Assembly, was the biggest challenge on the way to global piece and thus proposed to abolish the Veto function in its entirety for this years event. Prof. Braun concluded his impressive speech with a quote from the second UN Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjöd: “The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven but to save humanity from hell.”

After his insightful speech, a lively Q&A session followed. When the applause subsided, Lilith Fais, the Deputy Secretary General, took the stage to introduce the committees and councils. To conclude, a few delegates, the Ambassadors of the United States of America, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of India delivered brief, but meaningful speeches, in which they stated their countries opinion on the matter. All delegates then went to their committee rooms, where they met for the first time as a complete committee. All in all, we can definitely look forward to what the next few days will bring!