UNC-Wilmington Model United Nations Association

Welcome

Content and description of MUN is from the United Nations Association website.

Model United Nations Association
Picture of the U.N.

The Model United Nations Association (MUNA) is a student-led organization founded in the Spring of 2004, by an enthusiastic group of students. The MUNA's primary goal is to promote understanding of foreign governments, peoples, and international political institutions such as the United Nations. MUNA is a medium through which students increase awareness of global issues and also practice international diplomacy.

The ultimate goal of MUNA is to participate in Model United Nations conferences, which provide students the opportunity to participate in inter-collegiate simulations of real-world problems in governance and diplomacy.

What is Model United Nations?

Definition of "Model UN"

The Model United Nations is a series of programs run throughout the country and the world with the goals of furthering understanding about the United Nations, educating participants about world issues and promoting peace and the work of the United Nations through cooperation and diplomacy.

Students gather in groups of 15 to over 1000 to simulate member states representation in the bodies of the United Nations. Smaller simulations usually are of the Security Council and last several hours. Larger groups are held in convention centers, simulate many bodies of the UN concurrently and last several days. More than 160 Model UN conferences are held globally involving approximately 100,000 students each year.

Simulations at large conferences usually include several of the six committees of the General Assembly. These committees each have a different topic they specialize in for debates. Conferences may also simulate councils other than the Security Council, such as the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC.) They might also simulate any number of special committees the General Assembly has mandated in the past years including the Economic and Finance Committee (ECOFIN) or the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA.) Conferences sometimes simulate the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or a historical Security Council body reconstructing an especially turbulent year of history.

History of Model UN

The Model UN started as the Model League of Nations Assembly. In 1947 the Model League of Nations Assembly made the transition the League of Nations had made in 1945 and became the Model United Nations Assembly. The Model UN program, like its forerunner, has traditionally been a student-driven organization. The program has been and remains a collection of independent conferences. In the 1980's an important organizing force, the United Nations Association of the USA, (UNA-USA) recognized the momentum of the Model UN programs and founded its Model UN and Youth Department to coordinate and track the development of the Model UN on a global level. (Muldoon, 1995)

Goals

The purpose of the Model UN is to provide an interactive educational experience that teaches in an interesting and enjoyable way about the United Nations. The process affords participants an understanding of how the process of international debate and negotiation that we commonly call diplomacy functions. The simulations of the diplomatic processes are especially important in this post-Cold War period when the world is quickly becoming more interdependent. In this interdependent world, Model UN makes for informed global citizens who not only understand the decisions their nation makes but also how those changes effect politics nationally, regionally, and globally.

Determining the Value of the United Nations

The value of Model United Nations - simulating the United Nations - must certainly be determined in great part by the value of the United Nations itself. The United Nations' value as an international organization is evaluated by many people toward a number of different ends. Academics attempt to apply political science models to its workings to define it and it's impact on member states. Politicians confer differing value upon it dependant on the day and issue being discussed. Despite these differing evaluations, the true worth of the United Nations can be determined by simply analyzing the continuing existence of the United Nations as an important world body.

The Dedication of the World Community

The United Nations has the dedication of its member states. This dedication is due to recognition by member states that the role of the UN is “to provide governments with the ability to do together what they cannot achieve separately.?(Carlsson, p.2) Member states realize that the expanding problems of a planet know no national boundaries and understand that poverty, disease and pollution are a few of the plagues affecting citizens of all states. Some policies (official or non-official) of member states do not agree with the stated community goals of the UN. However, all members choose to remain members of the UN despite their differences - demonstrating the importance nations place on the institution. Theories on why states participate are gaining a new focus on the emerging global community and placing less emphasis on the state.