Following the success of The First Oman Model United Nations Project (OMUNP),
The Sultan’s School, in association with The Oman Ministry of Education, is proud to announce the launch of The Second OMUNP – with exciting plans to invite leading schools from overseas to join the project and create Oman’s first major annual international student conference.

Most of you will have read about the first OMUNP in these pages and in the national media last year. To get the project off to a flying start, with the kind assistance of our sponsors SWISS International Airlines and Khimji Ramdas / 'Fromagerie Bel', four students from The Sultan’s School travelled to The United Nations in Geneva to participate in The Students’ League of Nations, a prestigious international conference held at the Palais des Nations itself. Students mixed with real UN delegates as they aimed to gain insight into a range of international issues through the medium of a Model United Nations General Assembly.

These students subsequently used their expertise to help lead the second phase of the project, right here in Oman. Over 100 students from 11 different Oman Capital Area schools joined The First OMUNP, culminating at The Sultan’s School in February with a Model United Nations General Assembly, attended by students, parents, teachers, the media, and visiting dignitaries such as our guest speaker, His Excellency Ambassador Talib Miran A’ Raisi. The educational benefits were felt throughout three different sectors of the population in Oman, with students from Omani, Community and Indian schools all taking part in the project.

Following one success with another is always difficult, but we aim to do just that. Firstly, we aim to consolidate our achievements from last year by building up to the Oman conference in a similar way. In recognition of the success of last year’s project, four of our leading students have once again been invited to travel to The United Nations in Geneva, and will again return as leading lights of the OMUNP. To gain selection, our students had to pass through a rigorous application procedure which included two auditions and a one to one interview with a panel of three MUN teachers – and the four students who impressed the most are pictured below – all girls! Take note, boys, you will have to do better next year . . .

The consolation prize for the boys is inclusion in the Oman MUNP, and here there are also plans for exciting new developments. With respect to the format, last year’s conference was based solely around a Model UN General Assembly, and ran for one day only. This time around, the conference will run for a day and a half, and this will enable us to run a session with students sitting in Model UN Commissions as well – a development which will further enhance our students’ understanding of the United Nations.

Where our partner schools are concerned, we are delighted that all ten of our local partner schools have rejoined the project, but our partnership with other schools won’t stop there. We are now in the process of sending out invitations to a number of leading international schools in the Gulf Region and beyond, inviting them to help us create Oman’s first major international student conference. Excitingly, we already have interest in the project from as far afield as Canada and China, so we hope that our students will soon be mixing with leading students from all over the world. To have the top students from so many quality international schools coming to Oman can only be good for our students and good for Oman. This also gives us an ideal opportunity to build links with other IB schools worldwide to ensure that our students receive a genuine international education that will stand them in good stead whatever their future aspirations.

Today Oman, tomorrow the world . . .