University for Peace Model UN Conference 2003

UPMUNC 2003 was the first annual University for Peace Model UN Conference, which was held at the University headquarters in Costa Rica on Friday, 16 May, and Saturday, 17 May 2003.

The Conference provided participants with the opportunity to simulate actual bodies of the UN System as realistically as possible, using UN rules of procedure and format of meetings, and producing documents by the end of the simulation, which were equivalent to UN General Assembly (GA) and Security Council (SC) resolutions.

This year we simulated a GA debate on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in relation to the fight against HIV/AIDS. Unfolding events required participants to work toward drafting a SC resolution to keep up with an unfolding civil war that threatened to spread to the wider region.

» View the UPMUNC 2003 Photo Gallery
Informals - China discusses with Australia and US their SC draft resolution	AIDS Working Group - Chairman (Costa Rica) with Director of UNAIDS and USG of DESA	GA opening meeting - Foreign Minister of Pakistan makes last changes to his speech

Addressing these issues in the context of our simulation allowed students to gain some first hand insight into the operation of the UN System and the actual mechanisms and processes it uses for the maintenance of international peace and security. Although the first UPEACE MUNC suffered from a lack of time to prepare because it was launched as a trial version on short notice, the participating UPEACE Faculty and students expressed great satisfaction after two exhaustive days of negotiations. The experience collected in this first MUNC will allow UPEACE to organize even better simulations in the coming years.

Participants in the UPMUNC 2003 came from fourteen countries and represented ten States in the simulation. The majority of participants were students and faculty of the University for Peace. However, participants from other institutions also played a role in making up some State Delegations.

The academic supervision of the simulation lay with Gudmundur Eiriksson (Iceland), the Director of the International Law and Human Rights Programme at the University for Peace, whose professional career experience includes positions within the UN Secretariat, Legal Advisor and Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Member of the International Law Commission (ILC) and a Judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

List of Participants of the MUNC 2003
Students, Interns and Young Professionals

Alejandra Salazar (Mexico, Universidad para la Cooperación Internacional, San José)
Christian Dorsch (Germany, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
Federico Martinez (Costa Rica, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
Joseph Schumacher (New Zealand, Peace and Conflict Monitor, UPEACE)
Karina Hanganu (Canada, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
Linus Malu (Nigeria, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
Martin Nkuna (Malawi, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
Matt Whalen (Canada, Visitors at UPEACE)
Meredith Stelling (United States of America, NRSD Programme at the UPEACE)

Nick Reader (United Kingdom, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
Renaud Richard (France, Earth Charter, UPEACE)
Shabeeh ul-Abbas (Pakistan, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
Sunyata Choyce (Canada, Visitors at UPEACE)
Suzanne Hunt (United States of America, NRSD Programme at the UPEACE)
Tamara Sundberg (United States of America, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
Usha Nataranjan (Australia, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
Yeshi Abebe (United States of America, ILHR Programme at the UPEACE)
UPEACE Faculty
Abelardo Brenes (Costa Rica, Professor in Peace Education)
Donald Snedeker (United States of America, Special Consultant)
Gudmundur Eiriksson (Iceland, Director of the ILHR Programme)
Martin Lees (United Kingdom, Rector)
Matt Norton (United States of America, Academic Coordinator of Peace Studies)
Rolain Borel (Switzerland, Director of NRSD Programme)
Simon Stander (United Kingdom, Professor in Peace Studies)