HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL MODEL UN

Kiyotaka Akasaka, UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, briefed the press this morning on the first-ever annual Global Model United Nations Conference; the first UN simulation organized by the UN itself. The conference is taking place in Geneva at the Palais des Nations, from 5 to 7 August 2009.

Mr. Akasaka said that the UN Department of Public Information was organizing this Conference. There had been hundreds of Model United Nations around the world and it was estimated that about 1 million students at high school and university level had participated in such simulations around in the world. These simulations ranged from big to small scale.

The UN had sometimes been asked to support such Model United Nations Conferences, said Mr. Akasaka, who added that he had been a “Model UNer” himself in his teenage years. He had also visited some of the simulations himself in recent years. He thought that if the UN itself organized a “Model UN” it would stimulate youngsters and make its organization a model of best practices.

Nearly 400 students from 57 countries were selected by various organizers of the existing Model United Nations to attend the Global Model United Nations Conference, said Mr. Akasaka. The selected students were amongst the best and brightest. The UN was not creating anything new but was building on the current practices and experiences of Model United Nations.

Mr. Akasaka said that the students were enthusiastic to address a number of issues dear to the UN. The main theme of the Global Model United Nations were the Millennium Development Goals, but other priority issues such as peace and security, disarmament, human rights and economic development would also be addressed.

Hannah Moosa, Global Model United Nations Secretary-General, said that it was an honour for her to be serving as the Secretary-General of the first Global Model United Nations Conference. She had been participating in Model United Nations debates for almost a decade. She had started as a high school student in South Africa and had attended several Model United Nations around the world. She also represented South Africa in an international Model United Nations conference in New York in 2002.

Model United Nations were an opportunity for youth to learn more about what it really meant to be a part of the UN and what the UN was actually doing. There were a lot of misconceptions around the world about the UN. A lot of youth felt disheartened that the UN did not serve the purpose that it really should be serving to the international community. Ms. Moosa said that Model United Nations were an extremely important educational tool for youth.

Ms. Moosa said that the Global Model United Nations would definitely serve as a model of best practices as they were trying to bring the hundreds of Model United Nations organizations around the world under one umbrella, trying to streamline their practices and make them represent more closely what happens at the UN.

Mr. Petri Cozma, Global Model United Nations General Assembly President, said that his involvement with Model United Nations had started when he was a loud teenager in high school and his history teacher had recommended him to direct some of that energy towards Model United Nations and international affairs. This had been one of the best pieces of advice he had ever received and he would never take that decision back.

They had an exceptional group of young leaders present at the Conference, said Mr. Cozma. There was an incredible amount of knowledge, of vision and drive. It was important to have some of that transferred to the grassroots level work and to get young people involved in non-governmental organizations.

The floor was then opened to questions from journalists.

Answering a question by a journalist on the difference between this Model United Nations and all the others around the world, Mr. Akasaka said that for the Global Model United Nations they had introduced a new set of rules of procedures that more closely reflected the procedures that were actually used at the UN. Another feature was that students were given unprecedented access to senior UN advisors and officials, who briefed the students on various issues. To prepare for the conference, a total of 18 live web chats had also been conducted with a wide-range of UN officials, experts and diplomats. This Model United Nations was organized, assisted and supported by the UN Family and the Secretariat in particular.

Turning to a question on the financing of the conference, Mr. Akasaka said that the UN had not had any budgeted financial resources for the organization of this conference. They had had to rely on a number of sponsors, which included the Swiss Government, the UN Foundation and the UN Credit Union and other UN family members, such as the United Nations Development Programme.

A journalist wondered what would happen with the outcome of the Conference. Mr. Akasaka said that the UN Department of Public Information would make the outcome of the Conference, such as resolutions and recommendations, available to the press and public. He also said that he would very much like to see that the recommendations and resolutions be somehow channelled into the preparatory work for the 2010 Millennium Development Goals Summit.