Normandale students from the Politics and Law Club participated in the National Model United Nations Conference (MNUM), a Model UN simulation for college and university students, in New York from March 24-28.
The Normandale student delegation, which was led by Politics and Law Club Faculty Advisor and Political Science Instructor Elizabeth Klages, included Mascuud Ali, Alex Blanco, Hope Durenberger, Tenzin Gyaldastang, Leandro Duarte Idiarte, Aiden Lanas, Andrew Leong, Gregor Tobias, and Mya Weirich.
Normandale was one of four community colleges participating among approximately 250 different colleges and universities and colleges from around the world as part of the two sessions of the conference.
The students represented Ireland at the conference on five UN committees and also attended a policy briefing at the Irish Mission to the UN, where students spoke with several diplomats on important issues and learned about current aspects of Ireland’s UN advocacy.
Normandale students received an Honorable Mention award for their dedicated work as the delegation from Ireland across all the committees in which they participated. The students representing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) committee also received an Outstanding Position Paper award. Congratulations to Andrew Leong and Gregor Tobias for their work on the IAEA committee.
Throughout the week, the students engaged in discussion and negotiation on important world issues, including protecting displaced and refugee children; the promotion and protection of the rights of children in conflict; the relationship between disarmament and development; maintaining and strengthening emergency preparedness and response; and eradicating rural poverty to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs).
Prior to the conference, the students conducted extensive research on the country of Ireland outside of their normal Normandale classes in order to submit their Position Papers before the conference. At NMUN, students honed their skills in public speaking, diplomacy, and the art of consensus-building, demonstrating their dedication and commitment to solving world problems.
The largest and oldest ongoing intercollegiate Model UN in the world, NMUN participants represent more than 250 colleges and universities globally. Fifty-seven percent of participants come from outside the US, from 107 countries; Forty-three percent are from the US, representing 47 states.
Students participating in NMUN discuss current global issues in a real-world context. NMUN NY offers 16 simulated UN committees and uses procedural rules developed with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). The first closing ceremony attended by Normandale students from March 28 can be viewed here - http://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1j/k1j1g5qlx6
The students were able to attend NMUN due to funding from Student Life, as well as a generous contribution through the Normandale Foundation from the Kopp Foundation.
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