This spring, a group of students from St. Dom’s who have an interest in global affairs will be participating in the annual Model United Nations at USM in Gorham, ME. This is St. Dom’s first year doing the program, but the students are eager and ready to prepare for the debates, deliberations, consultations, and preparations for peaceful agreement.

Model United Nations is most simply a simulation of the United Nations General Assembly for students. Each school is assigned a country, and the students of that school, acting as global ambassadors, are required to each prepare a position paper on issues affecting that country. Students must also prepare speeches and practice for debates, all with the purpose of maintaining or acquiring peace while advocating for the school’s country.

The subdivisions in the Model UN include: the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, the Global Summit on Environmental Sustainability, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe. Most of these divisions focus on current crisises of today and allow the students to propose viable resolutions that promote peace.

The United Nations, headquartered in New York City, is successor to the League of Nations founded mainly to mitigate conflict between countries and therefore prevent war. It also deals with global issues, such as public health, labor, and energy conservation.

Model UN is a growing organization. It was made famous to many young people in the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movie, Winning London (2001). Over 90,000 students take part in Model UN in the United States. The chapter from St. Dom’s is anxiously preparing to be part of that number.