World Health Organization (WHO) in Model UN

The UN's health agency since 1948, steered by a World Health Assembly where every member state votes.

  • 80 open now
  • 157 upcoming conferences
  • about 20 delegations
Find a WHO conferenceHow it works

Similar: UNICEF · UN · UN · Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and UN Women

  • 1 country: on 92% of seat lists
  • 19 more seats in a typical simulation of 20

WHO applications closing soon

43 conferences close applications in the next 30 days. These close first.

More WHO conferences

151 more upcoming

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Browse all Model UN conferences

Where and when WHO conferences run

Poland, the United States and Greece host the most. December is the busiest month.

In 40 countries and online

Upcoming by month

32 in December 202620 open for applications now

68 of the 157 are for school students only and 11 for university students only; 51 are free. See all high school MUN conferences or university MUN conferences.

Most WHO conferences are in Poland, the United States and Greece.

How the WHO works in Model UN

The World Health Organization has been the UN's agency for health since 1948, and every year its member states send delegations to the World Health Assembly in Geneva to set its policies. A Model UN WHO committee sits as that Assembly: you represent a country and draft resolutions on health.

Who it suits

A WHO committee rewards you if you like working from data: your position can start from your own country's figures. It suits you if you are drawn to medicine, public health or science, since the Assembly can take up any health question within WHO's remit.

What it is

Member states take their decisions in the World Health Assembly: each sends a delegation, and together they set the Organization's policies, appoint the Director-General and approve the programme budget.

How it runs in Model UN

Each member state has one vote, and what you pass decides how far it reaches. A convention binds each state that accepts it and needs two thirds of the members present and voting. A regulation, on matters such as preventing the international spread of disease, binds every member that does not reject it in time, and a recommendation binds no one; both pass by simple majority. The International Health Regulations (2005) are regulations of that kind.

The Assembly splits its agenda between two main committees, Committee A for programme and budget matters and Committee B for administrative, financial and legal ones, and the plenary then adopts their texts. That is how the WHO Pandemic Agreement went through: 124 votes in favour, none against and 11 abstentions in committee, then adoption by consensus in the plenary on 20 May 2025.

Resolutions carry the session's number. WHA78.5 of 27 May 2025, on lung health, urges member states to act and asks the Director-General to report on progress to the Assemblies of 2027 and 2028. Write your draft the same way, with some operative paragraphs aimed at governments and others at the Director-General.

How to prepare

  1. 1

    Start from your country's own figures. Pull them for your topic from the Global Health Observatory, then work out the politics (allies, blocs, past votes) with the guide to researching your country.

  2. 2

    Find what earlier Assemblies decided. WHO's governing bodies documentation holds the texts on your disease or programme. Note what each one urged governments to do and which progress reports the Director-General still owes.

  3. 3

    Lead with one national figure. Take it from the Observatory and put it in the problem paragraph of your position paper, straight after the sentence that states your stance. The earlier Assembly texts then fill the record paragraph.

  4. 4

    Draft your paragraphs the way WHA78.5 is drafted. Open each operative paragraph with a capitalised verb such as URGES or REQUESTS, and take the others from the list of opening verbs and their meanings. Before the final vote, check what a simple and a two-thirds majority mean in the MUN glossary.

Tip

The Pandemic Agreement is only the second agreement ever negotiated under Article 19 of WHO's Constitution; the first was the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, adopted in 2003. Propose a convention and you are asking the Assembly for something it has done twice.

WHO topics in Model UN

Of 1,069 WHO topics on mymun, 73% are about health and pandemics, 6% about cyber and AI and 6% about women and children. Rising this season: cyber and AI (9% of topics this season, up from 5%).

ThemeShare of topics
  1. Health and pandemics 73%

    Example: Strengthening Mental Health Services for Young People, Open Relations and Engagement Model United Nations

  2. Cyber and AI Rising6%

    Example: Promoting adolescent health and wellbeing in an increasingly digital world, VNMUN INPSS Abu Dhabi

  3. Women and children 6%

    Example: Addressing the maternal death spikes in conflict zones, Towarzystwo Edukacyjne Vizja Model United Nations

  4. Climate and environment 5%

    Example: Debate on Public Health and Ethical Governance of Climate Intervention Technologies, Mahapanchayat MUN - Ekklesia

  5. Crime and drugs 4%

    Example: Establishing potential regulations regarding drugs leading to rapid weight loss, Tricity Model United Nations

Recent WHO topics

  1. Combating Misinformation During Public Health Emergencies: Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy, Anti-Science Movements, and Strengthening WHO’s Authority to Counter False Health Claims

    Unify Model United Nation
    Health and pandemicsCyber and AI

  2. Strengthening Mental Health Services for Young People

    Open Relations and Engagement Model United Nations
    Health and pandemics

  3. Responding to an Emerging Global Pandemic Amid the Collapse of Health Infrastructure, Digital Systems, and Equitable Access to Life-Saving Treatment

    Soluna Model United Nations
    Health and pandemicsCyber and AI

  4. Cholera Crisis (1947)

    Karlsruhe Model United Nations

WHO countries in Model UN

China appears on 92% of WHO seat lists on mymun, and the United States, France, the United Kingdom and India on 83 to 87%. The World Health Assembly seats every member state, an Executive Board of 34 members prepares its agenda, and the United States left WHO on 22 January 2026.

  • 1 country: on 92% of seat lists
  • 19 more seats in a typical simulation of 20

Most often seated

CountryShare of seat lists
  1. 1China92%
  2. 2United States87%
  3. 3France86%
  4. 4United Kingdom86%
  5. 5India83%
  6. 6Germany80%
  7. 7Russia77%
  8. 8Brazil77%
  9. 9Japan74%
  10. 10Canada67%
  11. 11South Africa63%
  12. 12Australia62%

Most requested

CountryShare of applicants
  1. 1United States8%
  2. 2France7%
  3. 3United Kingdom7%
  4. 4Germany6%
  5. 5Canada6%
  6. 6China6%
  7. 7India5%
  8. 8Japan4%
  9. 9Australia4%
  10. 10Brazil3%
  11. 11Russia3%
  12. 12Sweden3%

Often still open

CountryStill open
  1. 1Haiti12 of 12
  2. 2Hungary11 of 11
  3. 3Benin10 of 10
  4. 4Brunei Darussalam10 of 10
  5. 5Burundi10 of 10
  6. 6Cyprus10 of 10
  7. 7Dominican Republic10 of 10
  8. 8Eritrea10 of 10
  9. 9Kazakhstan10 of 10
  10. 10Maldives10 of 10
  11. 11Paraguay10 of 10
  12. 12Somalia10 of 10

How the WHO compares

The WHO runs at more upcoming conferences than the committees below. Its rooms seat about 20, against 22 in UNICEF.

CommitteeUpcomingOpen nowRoom sizeSchool onlyMost debated
World Health Organization (WHO)157802043%Health and pandemics
UNICEF70402244%Women and children
UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)142812144%Economy and development
UN Environment Programme (UNEP)123702045%Climate and environment
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and UN Women149842034%Women and children

WHO in Model UN: questions and answers

How many delegates are in a WHO committee?

The real World Health Assembly seats every member state. WHO simulations on mymun seated about 20 delegations.

Can the WHO make binding rules?

Yes. The World Health Assembly can adopt regulations that bind every member unless it rejects them in time, and conventions that bind the members that accept them: the 2003 tobacco convention and the Pandemic Agreement adopted in May 2025.

Is the WHO a good committee for beginners?

Yes: country positions are quick to research, because WHO publishes health data for each country in its Global Health Observatory.

What topics does the WHO debate in Model UN?

Top themes in 1,069 WHO topics on mymun: health and pandemics (73%), cyber and AI (6%) and women and children (6%).

Can school students join a WHO?

Yes. 146 of the 157 upcoming conferences with a WHO take high school delegates, and 68 are for school students only.

Prepare for your WHO committee

Updated Nov 15, 2026