A session at the last year’s Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) annual Model United Nations (MUN) conference in Doha.
DOHA: Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) is taking its annual Model United Nations (MUN) conference out of the country this year — to India’s capital Delhi.
Over 250 high school students from 31 Delhi-area schools will take part in the long-standing tradition of academic simulations of the UN to gain insights into effective negotiation and global conflict resolution.
The conference will be the first time any campus of Georgetown University, which was founded in Washington DC in 1789, will host an MUN in India.
GU-Q Dean, Dr Gerd Nonneman explained the move to India as a natural extension of the school’s global perspective.
“Since the 2005 establishment of the Georgetown University campus in Qatar, we have embarked on the exciting journey of bringing internationally ranked liberal arts and international affairs programme to new communities and new students in Qatar and the region.
“As part of the fast-developing web of relations between countries across the globe, India’s regional and global roles have also grown increasingly complex, which is why we particularly look forward to hosting an MUN in India for the first time and engaging future generations of global citizens from this dynamic country,” he said.
The MUN will focus on issues and topics to be covered by actual UN committees, such as transnational water resources and human rights, state-building, pollution and development, the debt crisis, and sectarian violence in Myanmar and Iraq.
Beyond the working sessions, the conference will feature a diplomatic reception to give students the opportunity to meet and interact with Delhi’s diplomatic community.
The conference will also include an ‘Explore Georgetown’ evening where participants can learn more about Georgetown’s history and campus life for its students in Education City.
Taking advantage of its India visit, the university is also organising an alumni event, with a reception for Georgetown graduates living in India. “All programmes at Georgetown strive to create well-rounded graduates who are uniquely poised to address complex global issues,” said Dr Nonneman. “Our MUN programme has proven very successful in Doha: It presents an outstanding platform for high school students to debate global questions and we are proud to take it to India.”
Earlier this year, GU-Q hosted its eighth MUN conference at the Qatar National Convention Center, where some 350 high school students representing 20 local and 40 international schools from at least 25 different countries took part.
The Peninsula
