Harvard World Model United Nations
WorldMUN · Harvard International Relations Council · Rotates internationally
Harvard World Model United Nations (WorldMUN) is the college-level international MUN conference run by the Harvard International Relations Council in partnership with a different host university each year. Founded in 1991, WorldMUN is the largest and most globally diverse college MUN conference — its delegation pool routinely spans 100+ countries, and its rotating international location is the conference's defining feature. Recent host cities have included Edinburgh, Madrid, Sydney, Lima, Tokyo, and Panama City.
History
WorldMUN was founded in 1991 to internationalize Harvard's MUN program. Unlike HMUN (high-school, Boston) and HNMUN (college, Boston), WorldMUN was designed from the start to rotate annually so that the host community itself becomes part of the experience.
The host-team partnership model means WorldMUN is co-organized each year by Harvard's IRC and a local university partner. This is logistically harder than running a single-city conference but produces a genuinely international product.
Format and committees
WorldMUN runs college-level GA, ECOSOC, specialized, regional, and crisis committees. Procedure is generally closer to traditional ROP than to U.S.-style fast crisis, in part because the delegate pool spans many MUN traditions and a common procedural baseline matters.
The conference also includes Press Corps, ICJ, and innovative formats that have varied year to year. Background guides are typically published well in advance and tend to be substantive.
Who attends
WorldMUN's delegation pool is the most international of any major MUN conference. Schools from every region attend, and delegates often meet peers from countries they would not encounter at any U.S.- or Europe-anchored conference.
Cultural and social programming is a large share of the experience — WorldMUN treats the host city as part of the conference, with a Global Village, opening/closing ceremonies, and organized cultural events.
What makes it distinct
Two things: the international delegate pool and the rotating host city. No other major conference matches WorldMUN on either dimension. Awards from WorldMUN circulate through international IR programs and are read in early-career hiring at multilateral institutions.
For delegates planning to work internationally — at the UN, at NGOs, at think tanks with regional offices — WorldMUN's network is uniquely valuable.
How to prepare
- Read the host-city guide — WorldMUN expects delegates to engage with the local context, and committees often weave host-region issues into the substance.
- Plan visa logistics early. International host cities mean visa timing can determine whether you can attend at all.
- Don't assume U.S.-style fast crisis ROP. Procedure tends to be more traditional, and chairs from different MUN traditions run committees differently.
Dates, registration, fees, committees, and background guides for the current edition live on the conference's own site. We don't mirror them — they change.
Prep with Atlas
Research your country, draft your position paper, and prep for committee.
Ask Atlas about WorldMUN