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UNA - Russia |
From April 14 through the 18th, the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), together with the UN Association of Russia (UNA-Russia), organized the latest Moscow International Model UN. The opening ceremony was overseen by Professor Anatoly Torkunov, Rector of the MGIMO and Chairman of UNA-Russia. Taking part in the opening of the student forum were A. Meshkov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; and A. Borisov and G. Kovrizhenko, Deputy Chairmen of the UNA-Russia.
The greetings to the forum were sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
As the President of the Russian Federation noted in his greeting,
the idea of multilateral cooperation in the fight against new threats to stability
around the world lies at 
the
heart of Russia’s foreign policy strategy. This is the reason why Russia has
consistently upheld the central role of the UN in ensuring international stability
and security, and in implementing global projects in the socio-economic sphere.
"The fact that young people from different countries worry about how we can
and should resolve problems that affect the interests of the majority of the
Earth’s population, using the time-tested multilateral mechanisms embedded in
the United Nations," emphasized Mr. Putin, "is itself a cause for satisfaction."
Kofi Annan in his greeting said that today, each and every young person can play an important role in carrying out the efforts to combat terrorism, violence, the proliferation of nuclear arms, poverty, and mankind’s other global problems. The attitude of young people around the world toward these essential problems is vital. For this reason, the work of the Model UNs is important – to shape the consciousness of the young people who plan to join their lives to politics, he concluded.
The Moscow Model UN simulates the adoption of political resolutions by all of the UN’s working organs: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Human Rights Commission, and the Economic and Social Council. The work of the International Court, which settles international disputes and issues non-binding decisions, is also duplicated. During role-playing sessions, the delegates discuss the issues on the agenda, and vote in strict observance of the UN’s standard procedures.
The delegates represent countries belonging to the UN, and participants are prohibited from representing any country of which they are citizens. It is the delegates’ task to represent the official position of "their" government as fully as possible, and subsequently to obtain the adoption as favorable a resolution as possible. The main goal of the Model’s work is the passing of resolutions. In the assessment of the forum’s participants, the resoultions adopted as a result of the Model’s work were skilfully crafted and well thought-out.
The country’s first Model UN was organized in 1990. Since 1998, it has reached a new qualitative level, thanks to the efforts of Analtoly Torkunov, UNA-Russia Chairman and Rector of the MGIMO. As a result, the latest Moscow Model UN was the largest in Europe, and set a record for the number of those taking part in it: 772 delegates from 112 institutes across Russia, the CIS, and Latvia. Students from the UN Association of Canada took part in the Model’s work as well.
It is gratifying that the guests from Russia’s other regions are preparing to adopt the experience of the MGIMO and hold similar Model UN’s at their own institutions. Meanwhile, the organizers of the Moscow Model UN are not about to rest on their laurels: more Russian regions need to be involved (the Russian Far East has yet to take an active part), along with more foreigners.
Aelita Baichurina,
Student, MGIMO
