Where will the National Tournament be held?

The National Tournament will be held in Cape Town, ZAF.

When does the National Tournament take place?

The National Tournament is scheduled to run from the beginning of May until mid-May.

What is the primary location for the National Tournament?

The primary location for the National Tournament is the city of Cape Town.

National Tournament 2027

May 2–6, 2027Cape Town, South AfricaIn-person

The National Tournament is scheduled to take place in Cape Town, ZAF, offering a platform for participants to engage in discussions and activities. This event provides an opportunity for individuals to convene in a significant regional hub, fostering interaction and exchange over a period of days. The tournament aims to bring together diverse perspectives within a structured environment. The setting in Cape Town, ZAF, underscores the event's connection to a dynamic and culturally rich locale. Participants can expect a program designed to encourage collaboration and the development of skills relevant to the tournament's focus.

Committees & topics

Security Council 1 (UNSC)
The Situation in Sudan
Security Council 2 (UNSC)
Cybersecurity and the Protection of Critical Infrastructure
Committee on Digital Affairs & Sovereignty
Committee on Digital Affairs and Sovereignty
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Sovereign Debt Restructuring in Developing Countries
UNESCO
Protection of Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict
UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Negotiating a Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution
World Health Organisation (WHO)
Implementation of the Pandemic Agreement
Human Rights Council (HRC)
Human Rights in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Why it matters

The National Tournament in Cape Town, ZAF, holds significance as it convenes participants in a prominent city within the African continent. Such gatherings are crucial for fostering dialogue and collaboration on a national scale, addressing pertinent issues and promoting shared understanding among various groups.

Events of this nature contribute to the development of critical thinking and diplomatic skills among participants. By engaging in structured discussions and activities, attendees gain practical experience in negotiation, public speaking, and problem-solving, which are invaluable for future leadership roles. The tournament's location further highlights the growing importance of regional centers in hosting events that draw national attention and participation.

Furthermore, the tournament serves as a barometer for current trends and challenges, providing a forum where emerging leaders can articulate their perspectives and contribute to potential solutions. The interactions between participants from different backgrounds can lead to a more nuanced understanding of complex issues, promoting a cohesive national discourse.

How to prepare

To effectively prepare for the National Tournament, participants should focus on developing a robust understanding of the topics likely to be discussed. This involves thorough research into current affairs and national policies relevant to ZAF. Engaging with materials that offer diverse viewpoints will be crucial for constructing well-rounded arguments and anticipating counter-arguments.

Participants would benefit from honing their public speaking and debate skills. Practicing clear, concise articulation of ideas, along with active listening, will be essential for impactful contributions. Understanding how to engage constructively with differing opinions, as explored in lessons like "Engagement Strategies," can significantly enhance performance. Additionally, familiarizing oneself with the cultural and political landscape of ZAF will provide valuable context for discussions.

Strategic preparation also involves an understanding of stakeholder dynamics. Lessons such as "What Is Stakeholder Mapping?" and "Hidden Stakeholders" can provide frameworks for identifying key actors and their interests, which is vital for navigating complex discussions and forming alliances. Developing a flexible approach to problem-solving, informed by a "Dynamic Analysis" of situations, will allow participants to adapt to evolving scenarios during the tournament. Considering "Gender Dynamics Across Cultures" can also offer insights into diverse perspectives that may arise.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

South Africa

As the host nation, ZAF plays a central role in facilitating the tournament and setting the stage for national discourse.

Role in topic

ZAF provides the geographical and cultural context for the National Tournament, influencing the themes and discussions. Its national policies and societal dynamics will likely be central to many of the debates and simulations, reflecting its position as a significant regional actor.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Security Council 1 (UNSC)

The Situation in Sudan

Sudan's civil war erupted in April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ('Hemedti'), collapsed into open warfare in Khartoum. The two had jointly overthrown civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in 2021, derailing the post-Bashir democratic transition, but disputes over RSF integration into the regular army triggered a violent rupture. Fighting has since spread to Darfur, Kordofan, and Gezira, with credible reports of ethnically targeted massacres reviving memories of the early-2000s Darfur genocide. The war has produced the world's largest displacement crisis, with more than ten million people uprooted and famine conditions confirmed in parts of Darfur. The Security Council's existing Darfur sanctions regime under Resolution 1591 (2005) has proven difficult to enforce, and a 2024 UK-drafted ceasefire resolution was vetoed by Russia. External actors—including the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran—have been accused of supplying arms or political backing to one side or the other, complicating mediation efforts led by the US, Saudi Arabia, and the African Union. The Council now confronts an enforcement gap between humanitarian rhetoric and operational reality: arms continue to flow, cross-border aid access via Adre remains contested, and ICC investigations into Darfur atrocities have advanced without state cooperation. Delegates must weigh expanded sanctions, a broader arms embargo, civilian protection mechanisms, and the political architecture of any eventual transition.

Key players

Security Council 2 (UNSC)

Cybersecurity and the Protection of Critical Infrastructure

State and state-aligned cyber operations against critical infrastructure have escalated sharply over the past decade, from the 2015–2016 attacks on Ukraine's power grid, to NotPetya in 2017, to the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware incident, and to a wave of intrusions targeting water utilities, hospitals, undersea cables, and satellite networks during the Russia–Ukraine war. While the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) reports of 2013, 2015, and 2021 endorsed the applicability of international law to cyberspace and articulated eleven voluntary norms of responsible state behavior, implementation has been thin and attribution remains politically contested. Negotiations have since shifted to the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on ICTs, which is due to conclude its mandate in 2025 and feed into a permanent UN mechanism. Major fault lines persist: Western states emphasize existing international humanitarian law, voluntary norms, and capacity-building, while Russia and China have pushed for a new binding cybercrime-style treaty and greater state control over information content. Developing states focus on capacity gaps and the digital divide. The Security Council's role is unsettled. It has held thematic debates on cybersecurity since 2021 but has never adopted a binding resolution. Delegates must consider whether attacks on critical infrastructure—particularly hospitals, nuclear facilities, and undersea cables—warrant Council action under Chapter VI or VII, how attribution standards should be handled, and how to reconcile sovereignty claims with cross-border incident response.

Key players

Committee on Digital Affairs & Sovereignty

Committee on Digital Affairs and Sovereignty

The question of 'digital sovereignty' has moved from a niche European policy concern in the 2010s to a central axis of global governance. The Snowden disclosures in 2013, the EU's GDPR in 2018, China's Cybersecurity and Data Security Laws, India's data localization push, and the cascade of cross-border platform bans—from TikTok restrictions to X suspensions—have together fragmented what was once imagined as a single global internet. The 2024 adoption of the UN Global Digital Compact under the Pact for the Future created the first UN-wide framework on digital cooperation, but its implementation lags behind the pace of AI deployment and platform consolidation. The core dispute is over who governs the digital layer. Liberal democracies generally favor a multistakeholder model centered on ICANN, IETF, and platform self-governance with rights-based guardrails. Russia, China, and a growing bloc of states press for a multilateral, state-led model, often routed through the ITU. Meanwhile, the Global South increasingly frames the debate around digital industrial policy: data as a national asset, sovereign cloud and compute, and the right to tax or regulate foreign platforms. Generative AI has sharpened all of these questions by concentrating frontier capability in a handful of US and Chinese firms. The committee must navigate overlapping agendas—platform regulation, cross-border data flows, AI governance, submarine cable and semiconductor security, and the digital divide—without duplicating the work of the ITU, UNESCO, or the proposed AI Scientific Panel. Key tensions include reconciling free expression with content moderation mandates, balancing data localization against trade commitments, and ensuring developing states are not locked out of the AI value chain.

Key players

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Sovereign Debt Restructuring in Developing Countries

Developing-country debt distress has reached its highest level since the HIPC crises of the 1990s. The combined shocks of COVID-19, the post-2022 interest rate hiking cycle, the strong dollar, and commodity volatility have pushed Zambia, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Ethiopia, and others into default or restructuring. The G20's Common Framework, launched in 2020 to coordinate Paris Club and non–Paris Club creditors (notably China), has been criticized as slow and procedurally opaque, leaving distressed sovereigns in prolonged limbo while interest costs crowd out spending on health, education, and climate adaptation. The creditor landscape has fundamentally changed. China is now the largest bilateral lender to many low-income countries, private bondholders hold a growing share of external debt, and traditional Paris Club mechanisms no longer reflect the underlying creditor structure. African and Latin American states, supported by UNCTAD and the UN Secretary-General's SDG Stimulus, have called for a UN-led sovereign debt workout mechanism and a reform of the international financial architecture, themes carried into the FfD4 conference in Seville in 2025. ECOSOC's challenge is to bridge the technical financing debate and the political demand for a more equitable system. Delegates must consider proposals for debt-for-climate and debt-for-nature swaps, automatic standstills during climate disasters, credit rating agency reform, and the role of MDBs in providing concessional liquidity. The unresolved question is whether reform can occur within Bretton Woods institutions or requires a new UN-anchored framework.

Key players

UNESCO

Protection of Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict

Since the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its 1999 Second Protocol, UNESCO has been the principal multilateral guardian of heritage in war. Yet the past decade has seen unprecedented destruction: ISIL's deliberate demolition of Palmyra, Nimrud, and Mosul's heritage; damage to Ukrainian cultural sites including Odesa's historic center; strikes on Yemeni and Syrian old cities; and damage to heritage sites in Gaza. The 2017 Security Council Resolution 2347 explicitly recognized attacks on cultural heritage as potential war crimes, building on the ICC's landmark Al Mahdi conviction in 2016 for the destruction of shrines in Timbuktu. Despite these legal advances, enforcement remains weak. UNESCO's emergency safeguarding mechanisms rely on state cooperation, satellite monitoring has limits in active conflict zones, and the illicit trafficking of looted antiquities continues to fund armed groups. Disputes also persist over the politicization of World Heritage listings—most visibly around sites in occupied or contested territories—and over restitution claims for colonial-era acquisitions held in European and North American museums. UNESCO members must consider strengthening the Enhanced Protection regime under the Second Protocol, expanding cooperation with INTERPOL and the WCO on the illicit antiquities trade, accelerating digitization and documentation of at-risk heritage, and clarifying the legal status of heritage protection during occupation. The deeper question is whether cultural heritage protection can be insulated from the geopolitical disputes that drive its destruction.

Key players

UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

Negotiating a Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution

In March 2022, the UN Environment Assembly adopted Resolution 5/14, mandating an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Global plastic production has more than doubled since 2000 to over 450 million tonnes per year, with only around 9 percent recycled. Plastic pollution is now documented from the Mariana Trench to Arctic ice, and microplastics have been found in human blood, placenta, and breast milk, making this one of the fastest-moving environmental negotiations since the Paris Agreement. Five INC sessions have been held, culminating in INC-5 in Busan in late 2024, which failed to produce a final text. A 'High Ambition Coalition' led by Norway, Rwanda, the EU, and small island states pushes for binding caps on virgin plastic polymer production, bans on specified chemicals of concern, and harmonized product design rules. A bloc of major oil and petrochemical producers—including Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran—prefers a downstream, waste-management-focused treaty without production limits. The US position has shifted across administrations, and major plastic-consuming emerging economies such as China and India have pressed for differentiated obligations and financing. UNEP's task is to support resumed negotiations toward a workable instrument, addressing financing for developing-country implementation, just transition for waste-picker communities, scientific assessment mechanisms, and the chemicals annex. Delegates must reconcile production controls with trade rules, intellectual property, and the legitimate development needs of petrochemical-dependent economies.

Key players

World Health Organisation (WHO)

Implementation of the Pandemic Agreement

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep failures in the existing International Health Regulations (2005), particularly around early warning, equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics, and the politics of pathogen sample sharing. In December 2021, the World Health Assembly established an Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft a new pandemic instrument. After more than three years of contentious negotiations, the WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted at the 78th World Health Assembly in May 2025—the first new WHO treaty since the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003. The Agreement establishes principles on prevention, surveillance, One Health, and equitable access, but key operational elements were deferred to follow-up negotiations, most notably the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system, technology transfer arrangements, and the financing mechanism. Developing countries, led by the Africa Group and a number of Latin American states, secured language on a target allocation of pandemic products (vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics) to WHO for equitable distribution, but the modalities remain unresolved. Pharmaceutical-producing states and industry have raised concerns about IP and competitiveness. The WHA now faces the implementation phase: finalizing the PABS annex, agreeing on financing, aligning the Agreement with the amended IHR (2024), and preparing for the next pandemic threat—whether H5N1, mpox, or an unknown 'Disease X.' Delegates must also address non-state actor engagement, the role of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin, and how to sustain political commitment as memory of COVID-19 recedes.

Key players

Human Rights Council (HRC)

Human Rights in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence

The rapid mainstreaming of generative AI since the 2022 release of ChatGPT has raised acute human rights concerns spanning freedom of expression, privacy, non-discrimination, labor, and the right to an effective remedy. The OHCHR's 2024 report on AI and human rights highlighted risks from biased training data, opaque content moderation, deepfakes used in elections, automated decision-making in welfare and immigration systems, and the use of AI in surveillance and policing. UNESCO's 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of AI and the Council of Europe's 2024 Framework Convention on AI represent early normative steps, while the EU AI Act, adopted in 2024, provides a binding regional model. At the UN level, the General Assembly adopted two consensus resolutions on AI in 2024—one US-led on safe, secure and trustworthy AI, and one China-led on capacity-building—and the Global Digital Compact created an International Scientific Panel and Global Dialogue on AI Governance. The Human Rights Council has appointed a Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy who has addressed AI, but proposals for a dedicated Special Rapporteur on AI and human rights remain under discussion. Civil society has pressed for human rights impact assessments, red lines on biometric mass surveillance, and accountability across the AI value chain. Delegates must consider how the ICCPR—particularly Articles 17 (privacy) and 19 (expression)—applies to algorithmic systems, what due diligence obligations apply to AI developers and deployers under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and how to ensure the Global South is not merely a recipient of AI risks without a voice in governance. The deeper question is whether existing rights frameworks suffice or whether new instruments are needed.

Key players

Resources

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Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

Frequently asked questions

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Why it matters

How to prepare

National Tournament 2027

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

The Situation in Sudan

Cybersecurity and the Protection of Critical Infrastructure

Committee on Digital Affairs and Sovereignty

Sovereign Debt Restructuring in Developing Countries

Protection of Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict

Negotiating a Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution

Implementation of the Pandemic Agreement

Human Rights in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Resources

Frequently asked questions

National Tournament 2027

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

The Situation in Sudan

Cybersecurity and the Protection of Critical Infrastructure

Committee on Digital Affairs and Sovereignty

Sovereign Debt Restructuring in Developing Countries

Protection of Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict

Negotiating a Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution

Implementation of the Pandemic Agreement

Human Rights in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Resources

Vaal Italian Podcast High School Debate Competition 2026

2026 High School National Debating Championship

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Vaal Italian Podcast High School Debate Competition 2026

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Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

Vaal Italian Podcast High School Debate Competition 2026

2026 High School National Debating Championship

2027 All Boys Debating Championship

Frequently asked questions

Related conferences

Vaal Italian Podcast High School Debate Competition 2026

2026 High School National Debating Championship

2027 All Boys Debating Championship