Siberian Federal University

The annual Moscow International Model United Nations was held in April 13-17, 2009 in Moscow. It was organized by the United Nations Association of Russia, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia under the aegis of the World Federation of the United Nations Association.

More than 500 students from 30 different countries took part in the MIMUN-2009.
Maksim Lyubchenko and Elvira Serova, 5-year SibFU Law students were invited to participate in the MIMUN-2009 due to the results of the preliminary position paper contest.

At the opening day of the MIMUN-2009, Kiyotaka Akasaka, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information pointed out that he also took part in the Model UN in his studentship thus defining good prospects for his future career.

Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about civics, effective communication, globalization and multilateral diplomacy. In standard Model UN, students take on roles as diplomats and participate in a simulated session of an intergovernmental organization. Participants research a country, investigate international issues, debate, deliberate, consult, and then develop solutions to world problems. During a conference, participants must employ a variety of communication and critical thinking skills in order to represent the policies of their country.

SibFU Law students represented the policies of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of the Congo.

The Model UN showed activities of the following organizations:

• The General Assembly: armed conflict advance notification (in Russian);
• Security Council: Afghanistan trial (in English);
• Economic and Social Council: globalization and correlation, corruption advance notification and illegal money transfer, fight against corruption in terms of UN Convention (in English);
• UN International Court: pulp-and-paper mill construction on the river Uruguay, Argentina (in English);
• Economic and Social Council Committee for Sustainable Development: facilitation of use of alternative and renewable energy sources (in Russian);
• The 1st Committee of the General Assembly: international security support, development and stability of the Southeast Europe (in English);
• International Agency for Atomic Energy: consolidation of international cooperation and coordination of efforts to explore and minimize consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe (in Russian).

The sessions of the UN Organizations were held in terms of International Procedure Regulations. The first plenary session was traditionally opened with a minute of silence for prayer or meditation. After that, the UN Organizations started their work. Participants made 2-or-3-minutes presentation of their country policies and answered the questions afterwards.

Acting like a staff of the international organization, students worked on the project of the UN GA Resolution. During the conference, 2 Resolution projects were analyzed and one of them was resolved on a vote of 130 to 17.