The Model UN: learning about diplomacy

UN Chronicle, Dec, 1991 by Elsa B. Endrst

Every year, some 60,000 young people across the United States, as well as in many other places in the world, gather in gymnasiums, auditoriums and classrooms to participate in a unique international programme.

The Model UN is a simulation of the United Nations General Assembly, in which high school and college students assume the role of "ambassadors" to the UN and debate current issues on the UN agenda.

The UN Association of the United States (UNA-USA) provides a Model UN "Survival Kit" to teachers, students and organizations involved in this exciting project. The kit contains background material on UN issues and a guide to delegate preparation.

Beyond these materials, UNA-USA also conducts an annual Model UN seminar in Ney York each fall for faculty advisers and student leaders. The event attracts representatives from most major Model UN programmes worldwide.

For many participants, it heightens their appreciation of the complexities of international politics, with a chance to understand foreign countries better and to become aware of how political, economic and cultural misunderstandings cause war. It also helps broaden general knowledge of other nations. "They experience the thrill of accomplishment and the common frustration of politics", said James Muldoon, Jr., UNA-USA Director of Model UN Youth Programs.

The concept for the programme originated in the 1920s when a small group of Harvard University students organized a Model League of Nations.

The MOdel UN is based on two basic elements. First, students undergo an intensive preparation process, researching the countries they will represent, organizing positions, preparing policy papers and draft resolutions, and practising rules of procedure. In this way, participants obtain the information and have the skills needed for the second stage--the actual Model UN Conference.

In order to persuade representatives of other Member States, the student "ambassadors" must know intimately their country's policies. They must exercise persuasive writing and speaking techniques and demonstrate leadership and diplomatic qualities. The students become involved in caucusing, negotiating and consensus-building. As a result, they not only learn about the UN, but also develop a global perspective and an appreciation for the dynamics of our interdependent world.

"During my research period, I was stimulated to keep up with all international events, not only those that affect the United States but European countries as well", Reagan Moore, a high school student from Westminister, Maryland, wrote of her experience at a Model UN. It also furthered her own desire to pursue a career in the United States foreign service, she said.

Over the past eight years, Model UNs have literally spread like wildfire and, at the present time, are conducted in 40 of the 50 States, as well as in Canada, Europe and Egypt.

In March l988, the first Model UN exchange programme with the Soviet Union took place. Five students from the Moscow State Institute for International Relations participated in Model UNs in Boston and New York.

Such UN conferences range in size from fewer than 100 to more than 2,000 delegates. In addition, numerous classroom and "micro" Model UNs are conducted in schools throughout the world.

The Hague International Model UN has grown from a modest beginning 20 years ago to providing a forum for well over 2,000 high school delegates from throughout Europe and the United States. Mr. Muldoon notes that there is growing interest in Eastern Europe, as well as in Asia and Latin America.

At the most recent Model UN seminar organized by the UNA-USA, parcipants from as far away as East Africa came to New York to learn how to conduct model UNs.

Muldoon says that students continue to tell him that "the model UN is the most exciting and fun participatory educational activity for any age".