HLISMUN is one of the largest international High School Model United Nations conferences in London, and has been running for over 12 years. HLISMUN aims to provide young people from a variety of backgrounds with the opportunity to become familiar with politics, real-world issues, and debate. Model United Nations conferences foster many hard and soft-skills in young people, such as, public speaking, debating, research, formal writing skills, and socialising.

Every year, our conference aims to have a variety of different subjects covered accross different councils, much like the real United Nations. Our conferences represent almost every member state of the United Nations, and we offer councils for debaters of all skill levels.

HLISMUN was founded in 2013, with its first conference hosted in June of that year. Eight London schools attended the inaugural conference, which catered for 60 students in three rooms: The Security Council, Environmental Committee, and Disarmament Committee. The conference was opened by Baroness Julia Neuberger, a life peer in the British House of Lords, who shared anecdotes about her time in government and her work in Northern Ireland. After this, a day of active ad-hoc debate took place and fun was had by all. Since this initial conference, we have grown tremendously, hosting an excess of 150+ students yearly.

Halcyon Model UN has always been a space to realise the great international issues and this year is no different. The conference will focus on moving the global political space from a culture of rhetoric to action, fostering multilateral cooperation to create and preserve peace, move towards sustainability and continue on a global course of economic and social development. We hope delegates keep this in mind during the debate, supplementing the conference with high, optimistic spirits.

This year will be our twelfth annual conference. We aim to keep expanding the conference, taking delegates and chairs from schools in both the state and private sectors, from the UK and abroad. The conference will run for two days from 13th to 14th of March, 2025.

Attending HLISMUN really made me realise my potential for debating and how much fun it really is.
— Melvil-Meddour Steiger, G8