Model United Nations

Rotary District 5340’s Model United Nations Program trains high school students to be effective negotiators and diplomats by debating current-day international issues that are presently being addressed by the United Nations. The Model United Nations Conference basically simulates a United Nations General Assembly Conference and is held at the University of San Diego, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice.

 

The Rotary Model UN Conference is a non-competitive event where students become “ambassadors/delegates” of foreign countries and have to argue their country’s position on two resolutions that deal with pressing global issues that the real UN has been recently addressing. In 2017, we debated the complex issues surrounding the UK’s pending withdrawal from the European Union (“Brexit”) and the continuing unresolved issues with global climate change and the Paris Agreement. The focus of our program is to teach students about international affairs, and more particularly, how to effectively negotiate, peacefully resolve conflicts, publicly present one’s positions, and engender and achieve consensus-building among divergent interests. The Model UN program is open to all students in secondary grade levels 9-12. Please see the website at www.modelun5340.com. We have students from about 25 different San Diego County high schools who participate in the MUN program. This year we also had 10 international teams attend the Model UN Conference: from Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and British Colombia, Canada.

 

Sponsoring Rotary Clubs

 

Kevin Cahill, Chair