Another problem that delegates from Taiwan often encounter when participating in the international conferences is the obvious problem that they are not members of the UN and most international bodies. The most recent Harvard MUN conference held in Beijing highlights the problems they often face because Peking University, the host of the event, insisted that "National" be struck from the NTU's title.
"When we expressed our dissatisfaction to Harvard staff, they just shrugged their shoulders and said 'well that's politics,'" said Mu.
The real world
But Mu and the others take this kind of behavior in their stride versed, as they are in the minutiae of foreign affairs. What mystifies the NTUMUN is the lack of interest shown by the media, government and private corporations in their own country.
"The school and MOFA will sponsor this year's event. In the first two years we also received funding from the Taipei City Government but they cut our sponsorship this year," said Hsiao.
Because government and university funding are drying up, the club has turned to the private sector and NGO's to make up the difference. "We have contacted almost 50 foundations. We started searching for sponsors in July right up until now," said Hsiao, adding that "foundations such as Fubon Bank … have both been approached but they are only willing … to sponsor art."
With funding disappearing and sponsorship nowhere to be found, the organizers fear that only after three years of running the conference it may end due to a lack of cash.
Yang says there are two essential problems that the students from the NTUMUN face, the first of which is institutional because many government agencies don't have a policy for subsidizing these kinds of events and when they do it is only for a limited period of time.
"It's [also] a policy problem. They don't have this kind of vision and lack understanding of the importance as well as how to evaluate the importance of those activities," he said.
Ironically, the international community is taking the conference seriously but the domestic situation is quite different. But this is the kind of problem that UN member states encounter all the time, and judging by the intelligence and hard work of the conference organizers they will probably find sponsors to keep it going.
RSS