With 193 member states, the United Nations is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.
The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations and its founding Charter. This anniversary comes in a time of great disruption for the world, compounded by an unprecedented global health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with severe economic and social impacts. But it is also a reminder that times of struggle can become an opportunity for positive change and transformation.
The Model UN is a simulation of the UN General Assembly and its other multilateral bodies where students from high school and college perform an ambassadorial role while debating globally important topics such as climate change, gender equality, and global health.
As an undergraduate at Sam Houston State University, Texas, SMPA graduate student Victoria Makanjuola participated in the Model UN Her faculty adviser was Dr. Dennis Weng.
For this PDx episode, Victoria talks to Dr. Weng about the Model UN experience; learning how countries interact and engage at a multilateral organization.
>Listen to the PDx interview HERE.
Dr. Weng also emphasizes the importance of political science and international relations: “it’s not just a subject…not textbook knowledge. It’s life. (These) have a direct influence on (our) daily life because we are all connected.”
To learn more about Model UN, go to https://unausa.org/model-un/
To celebrate UN Day, an annual concert is usually held in the General Assembly Hall. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the concert will be prerecorded and screened in the GA Hall on Thursday, October 22, 2020, at 12.00 pm EST. This will be shown on UN Web TV (webtv.un.org), the UN Channel on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
