Model United Nations (also
Model
UN or
MUN) is an academic simulation of
the
United Nations that aims to
educate participants about civics, current events, effective
communication, globalization and multilateral diplomacy. In
standard Model UN, students take on roles as
diplomats and participate in a simulated session of
an
intergovernmental
organization (IGO). Participants research a country, take on
roles as diplomats, investigate international issues, debate,
deliberate, consult, and then develop solutions to world problems.
More recently, simulation of other
deliberative bodies has been included
in model united nations, even if they are completely unrelated to
the UN or international affairs as a whole.
Simulations
During a conference, participants must employ a variety of
communication and critical thinking skills in order to represent
the policies of their country. These skills include public
speaking, group communication, research, policy analysis, active
listening, negotiating, conflict resolution, note taking, and
technical writing. However, school delegation formats vary from
region to region and Model UN will never live up to the standards
of policy debate.
Most Model UNs are simulations of a body in the
United Nations system, such as:
Many conferences simulate other IGOs including:
In addition, solely national organizations such as the
United States National
Security Council are often simulated, with delegates
role-playing specific people (e.g. the
Secretary of State or the
Secretary of
Defense) rather than representing countries. This may be taken
one step further, having the delegate represent merely the
interests of his/her office, or role-play a specific holder of the
office (e.g.
Hillary Clinton). Such
committees are typically "crisis committees;" that is to say, they
do not begin with a fixed topic but rather are forced to deal with
issues as they come up. A team of conference organizers (known as a
crisis staff) thinks up new situations and informing the committee
of changing events on the ground, to which the committee must
respond; in addition, individual delegates are typically allowed to
take certain actions on their own, without committee approval,
subject to the interpretation and agreement of the crisis staff.
However, the correspondence between single-country and crisis
committees are not perfect; for instance, the UN Security Council
and some NATO bodies are typically run as crisis committees, and
some national cabinets are fixed-topic committees.
More
unusual committees abound at the collegiate level; for instance, a
college conference may simulate the Greco-Persian Wars via a committee of the
Greek poleis,
have a committee simulating the National Football League's annual
owners meeting, as held at George Mason University
MUN in 2009, or even have a committee simulating
President David Palmer's
cabinet from the TV show 24,
simulated by the University of Pennsylvania
Model UN Conference in 2007.
Many conferences also run crisis simulations in which hypothetical
real world factors are included in the simulation, including
representatives from various groups such as member states that are
not members of the simulated committee. These can take the place of
rapidly-changing Security Council simulations, historical
simulations, hypothetical simulations set in the future, and war
games (typically conducted by
War
Cabinets, either standing alone or with two Cabinets running in
parallel). Some conferences substitute research topics for a crisis
which can span all the committees of the conference.
Model UNs are often run using basic
parliamentary procedure. This allows
all delegates to be active participants. Common activities in MUN
involve giving speeches to the committee and writing resolutions
concerning a given topic. Additionally, at the end of longer
conferences, awards are commonly given to either individual
delegates, delegations, or both. The judging of this varies.
For
example, American
conferences
on the West Coast,
such as BMUN, give delegates points for every action they perform,
which are added. At the end of the conference, awards are
given to the highest point scorer. On the other hand, conferences
on the
East Coast
such as the
Harvard National Model
United Nations, delegates are judged in a more holistic manner,
but perhaps to the detriment of objectivity and transparency.
Giving awards is less common at smaller conferences. In addition,
many larger conferences do not give awards at all, feeling that
competition detracts from the simulation experience.
Participants
Model United Nations groups are usually organized as either a
club, conference, or class. A class can be a
full semester class called "Model United Nations" or just one class
period devoted to a short simulation; secondary schools may often
incorporate the club of Model United Nations with the class of
AP Comparative
Government and Politics. Meanwhile, a conference is a
school-wide, local, regional or international gathering of Model
United Nations students who come together over a period between one
and five days.
In the
early days of Model United Nations, participants were mostly
students at select colleges in the United States of
America
. Today, Model United Nations has greatly
matured and expanded. It is now practiced all over the world in
classes, clubs, and conferences. Model United Nation participants
are elementary, secondary, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral
students. Recently even university alumni and professionals have
taken part. Participants come from public and private schools and
universities, and they live in city, suburban and rural
areas.
Over 90,000 students take part in Model United Nations Conferences
in the United States. The
United
Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA)
has the most comprehensive calendar of Model United Nations
conferences: the 2003-2004 edition lists 400+ conferences in 48
countries.
Some simulations are small, including members of only a single
class. For example, 20 students can do a one-hour simulation of the
(15-member) United Nations
Security
Council in their classroom. Other simulations can be very
large, involving many committees and taking place over the span of
several days. The majority of conferences generally involve
anywhere from 50 to several hundred delegates, with most students
living around that one region. The largest conferences can have
thousands of participants from many different countries. Each
simulation and conference varies greatly in number of participants
and their involvement.
The concept of Model United Nations has grown substantially all
across the world, with various third-world and traditionally
non-English speaking nations joining in. One example of this is
Pakistan where at least seven universities (IBA, SZABIST, LUMS,
FAST University,PAF-KIET, the Lahore School of Economics and the
University of the Punjab, Lahore) have a developed platform of
Model UN.
The Dominican Republic is the only country to have incorporated the
concept of Model UN into its official high-school curriculum. This
is in large part due to the efforts of the United Nations
Association of the Dominican Republic, which has harbored
substantial support from the government despite being completely
apolitical.
Position papers
A
position paper is an essay that is
written by participants of some models. It describes the detailed
position of a certain country on a topic or issue that the writer
will debate in his committee. Position papers are not always
required, but certain conferences do enforce that each delegate
send his own before the opening.
Format
Conferences have different format and styles for position papers.
Nevertheless,
UNA-USA established a format
that has been adopted widely throughout the Model UN community. It
consists of a heading with committee, topic, country and delegate
information and body which explains in detail the position of the
author's country.The position paper usually includes 3-4 pages
outlining:
- Background of the Topic
- UN Involvement
- Your Country's Position
- Possible Solutions
Purpose
Position papers should explain an issue from their country's point
of view. It's also good practice that they include statistics about
the issue that would support the cause they defend. The paper would
also try to convince the other countries of the committee to their
view of the issue. It would have ways to solve the situation.
Many conferences require delegates to submit a copy of their
position paper, as a means to ensure that the delegates research
important topics and construct strong and well-informed positions
on those subjects.
History
Model and civic simulation education are older than the United
Nations. Records indicate that as early as the 1920s students in
the United States of America were participating in collegiate
simulations of the
League of
Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations.
The modern day
National Model United
Nations in New York
City
and Harvard
Model United Nations both began as simulations of the League of Nations in the 1920s.
Harvard National
Model United Nations is the world's oldest continuous College
Model UN conference, founded in 1955. The National Model United
Nations is one of the world's largest conferences with over 5,000
participants and is most unique with a part of the conference held
at the United Nations in New York City. As the League of Nations
was dismantled and the United Nations was born in 1945, simulations
of the League of Nations were transformed into Model United
Nations. Some conferences still perform historical simulations,
however, including League of Nations crisis situations. These
simulations now have grown to over 3000 and 2000 annual
participants.
Languages
Simulations are conducted in many languages, including the six
official languages of the UN. Because MUN was created in and the
majority still take place in the USA, most simulations are in
English. Some conferences, however,
are conducted in two or three languages.
For example, in
Mexico
, Colombia
, Venezuela
and the Southwestern United States, many
conferences are run in both Spanish and English.
In
Canada
, both French and
English are used.
Some
conferences, like those in the Dominican Republic
, offer up to three languages. In Brazil, in
spite of Portuguese being the country's official language, some of
the most important MUN conferences in the country are held in
English.
In the Arab world,
especially Egypt
, Lebanon
and the Maghrib states, most
MUN conferences are allowed to be conducted in Arabic, and English and French, since French and English are widely
spoken and understood.
Support
Model UN is supported by many organizations, private groups,
non-governmental organizations, inter-governmental organizations
and national governments. United Nations Associations around the
world and its international organization the
World Federation
of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) have supported MUNs for
decades. WFUNA organized the first collegiate MUN in China and
works with MUNs all over the world. In the USA the main support is
given by
UNA-USA's Global Classrooms program
. Global Classrooms offers professional development workshops for
educators and four curricula on peacekeeping, human rights,
sustainable development, and the Economics of Globalization.
UNA-Dominican Republic introduced MUN to the DR and now it is a
part of the national education curriculum. In Europe the main
support is from THIMUN, which has affiliate conferences through out
Europe and around the world. MUN International has just created a
new global membership association to help "expand and increase MUN
activities" , the MUN International Network and has aided
conferences in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa
and the US. Rotary International chapters around the world support
many MUNs, e.g. the first international MUN in Hong Kong was
organized and funded by three local Rotary Chapters.
Many intergovernmental organizations also support MUN activities.
The EU published a policy paper just for MUN participants. The OAS
actually oversaw the earliest Model OAS conferences. NATO often
provides speakers and experts to Model NATO conferences. The United
Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) supports Model
United Nations in four key ways:
- the Model United Nations Discussion Area on the United Nations
Cyber School Bus
- the Public Inquiries Section in New York
- the United Nations of the United Nations conferences to use its
rooms for committee space.
The CyberSchoolBus is the on-line education program created by the
United Nations. It features a Model United Nations Discussion Area
and a list of Model United Nations Experts who answer inquiries as
well as excellent research tools for country research. UNA-USA
offers an online guide to the UN CyberSchoolBus.
The Public Inquiries Section at UNHQ assists by helping Model
United Nations groups to find speakers and it arranges briefings in
its New York offices.
UNICs in Argentina
, Mexico
, Panama
, and the
UK
have been
extremely involved in Model United Nations activities helping with
research, Model United Nations support, and sometimes with
facilities. United Nations offices in The Hague
, Netherlands
; Nairobi
, Kenya
; Istanbul
, Turkey
; Vienna
, Austria
, and Geneva
, Switzerland
, also support Model United Nations and serve as
hosts for at least one conference each year.
The
Organization of American
States
has been involved from the very beginning in the
support to international civic simulations. North
Atlantic Treaty Organization
annually supports the Model NATO conference in
Washington,
DC
, USA
, with
speakers, consultations and advisers. Other IGOs provide
research assistance to simulations, conferences and students.
Additionally, many UN Missions and Embassies support Model United
Nations activities. Many mission and embassy websites have recently
added sections created specifically for Model United Nations.
Embassies and Consulates will often invite groups to discuss
country positions or send a speaker out to speak to Model United
Nations clubs, classes, or conferences. The overall support of
simulation education activities by the international community is
increasing rapidly every year.
Additionally, national governments support or sponsor MUN programs.
The US Department of State has been working in Washington, DC
public schools for over 15 years as well as providing speakers to
MUN conferences around the world.
In the Dominican Republic
MUN is part of the national education
curriculum. Embassies and UN Missions around the world have
been providing consultation, speakers, research documents for over
40 years. Many have even reviewed student's MUN resolutions for
policy accuracy.
Notable conferences
Conference |
Location |
Founded |
Details |
American Model
United Nations International |
Chicago, IL |
1990 |
Major international collegiate level conference in Chicago, IL
each fall, with over 1,400 participants from 100+ schools over four
days. AMUN is an official NGO affiliated with the UN Department of
Public Information and provides a variety of MUN resources for all
levels. |
Berkeley Model
United Nations |
University
of California, Berkeley |
1952 |
First high-school-level conference to simulate the United
Nations in the United States preceding Harvard MUN by a few months.
. Run by
UC Berkeley undergraduate students. |
Geneva
International Model United Nations |
Geneva , Switzerland |
1998 |
Held
annually at the Palais
des Nations . Guaranteed access to all UN offices and
allowed to report to the UN Economic and
Social Council upon being granted Special Consultative
Status.
|
Ivy League
Model United Nations Conference (ILMUNC) |
Philadelphia , Pennsylvania |
1984 |
Attracts around 2,000 delegates gathering for four days in the
heart of Philadelphia. Run by University of Pennsylvania undergraduate students. Continuing its
Franklin Legacy program, ILMUNC XXV is partnering with the World Food Programme's Fill the Cup Initiative to provide meals to
hungry children. Hosted by the International Affairs
Association.
|
McGill Model
United Nations Assembly (McMUN) |
Montreal , Quebec |
1991 |
Attracts around 1450 delegates gathering for four days in the
heart of Montreal every January. Run by McGill University undergraduate students, McMUN is the largest
collegiate conference in Canada and frequently attracts some of the
strongest delegates from around the world for the high level of
debate and entertainment. Hosted by the International
Relations Students' Association of McGill.
|
Mexico Model
United Nations (MEXMUN) |
Mexico City , Mexico |
1990 |
Attracts around 500 delegates gathering for three days.
Run by
undergraduate students of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and
Higher Education, Mexico City .
|
Model United
Nations of the University of Chicago |
Chicago , Illinois |
1988 |
Attracts around 2,400 students annually. Run by University
of Chicago undergraduate students.
|
Milan
International Model United Nations |
Milan , Italy |
2006 |
Attracts over 400 students annually. Run by Bocconi
University students. |
Montessori Model UN (MMUN) |
New
York , New
York |
2005 |
Attracts more than 1000 student delegates, teachers and parents
from around the world at its annual conference which is held at the
United Nations. Plus Regional and International Conferences;
partnership conferences not limited to Montessori students.
exclusively and includes social action projects. Based on a
collaboration model as opposed to the standard competition model.
Attracts more than 1,000 student delegates, teachers and parents
from around the world at its annual conference held at the United
Nations Headquarters with UN Ambassadors participating. |
National High
School Model United Nations |
New York, New York |
1973 |
Attracts over 2,600 participants. Run by a staff of 80-100
undergraduate and graduate students from around the world, this
conference hosts its opening and closing ceremonies in United
Nations Headquarters. Its sponsoring entity, the International Model United
Nations Association is an NGO with Special Consultative Status with
the United Nations conference of Non-Governmental Organizations
(CONGO). |
National Model
United Nations |
New York , New
York |
1923 |
Founded as a simulation of the League of Nations; adopted current form in
1946 after the founding of the United Nations. Opening Ceremony and
Closing Session take place in the United
Nations Headquarters . |
North
American Invitational Model United Nations |
Washington DC , Washington DC |
1963 |
NAIMUN attracts over 2800 high school
participants. Traditionally held at the Hilton hotel in Washington
DC in the month of February. Sponsored by the Georgetown
International Relations Association GIRA. Run by students from Georgetown
University . |
Paris Model United Nations (PAMUN) |
Paris , France |
2001 |
Attracts nearly 1,000 high school participants from across the
world. Hosted annually at the UNESCO building
in the month of December and mostly run by students from the
American School of
Paris. |
Rome Model United Nations (RomeMUN) |
Rome , Italy |
2010 |
Rome Model United Nations (RomeMUN is the first international
Model UN conference hosted in Italy. Attracts nearly 1,000
participants from universities across the world (undergraduate
study, graduate study, PhD study). Opening and closing ceremonies
will be held in institutional buildings. |
The Hague
International Model United Nations |
The
Hague , The
Netherlands |
1968 |
Attracts around 4,500 delegates. Held annually at the
World Forum in The Hague ; holds roster consultative status with UN ECOSOC.. THIMUN is the largest MUN conference
in the world. |
UNA-USA
Middle School Model UN |
New York , New
York |
2005 |
Sponsored by the United
Nations Association of the United States of America.
Hosted at
the United
Nations Headquarters , with opening and closing ceremonies in the
United Nations General Assembly
Hall . UNA-USA Middle School Model UN Conference
is the largest and most diverse Model UN conference dedicated
solely to Middle School students. |
UNA-USA Model UN |
New York , New
York |
1999 |
Sponsored by the United
Nations Association of the United States of America.
Hosted at
the United
Nations Headquarters , with opening and closing ceremonies in the
United Nations General Assembly
Hall , as well as Saturday committee sessions in the
UNHQ's various meeting rooms. The conference traditionally
hosts 2,400 students from New York City public high schools,
various High Schools in the Northeastern US, and numerous schools
from around the world. |
UNIS-UN |
New York , New
York |
1976 |
Sponsored by the United
Nations International School . Held annually in the General Assembly Hall of the
United
Nations Headquarters . |
Yale Model
United Nations |
New Haven, CT |
1974 |
Sponsored by the Yale International Relations Association; run
by Yale students. Held annually in the winter on Yale's
campus. |
|
See also
References
- http://www.dgvn.de/pdf/MUN.pdf
- Model UN Calendar | UNAUSA.org
- UNA-USA: Position Papers
- UNA-USA: How to write a position paper
- UNA-USA: Global Classrooms
- Expresan estudiantes ideas de cambio en MEXMUN
2009
- |url = http://www.montessori-mun.org | accessdate =
2009-09-05}}
- UNA-USA: UNAUSAMUN
External links