Model UN - Preparing for MUN at Lehigh

Countries & Committees:

Although March seems far off, we need to begin preparing for MUN at Lehigh.  We've been assigned the following countries:

• Canada (on Security Council)
• Spain 
• Finland
• Gambia 
• Guatemala
• Kuwait
• Vietnam

After you've selected a country, you'll choose ONE of the following committees.

• Security Council (restricted to 5 permanent members and 10 rotating members)
• Committee on the Rights of Women and Children
• Environmental
• Special Political
• Social and Humanitarian
• Disarmament and International Security
• Economic and Financial
• World Health Organization

Since we're running the World Health Organization, we'll need two or three people to act as committee chairs for this room.

Step #1: Country Research

You'll need to research the culture, history, geography, government, and economy of your country.  By the next meeting, you should UNDERSTAND your country well enough to act as a representative of the CURRENT GOVERNMENT at the United Nations.  It may be useful to create a GoogleDoc with other students who have chosen your country.

Here are some useful sources:

• Collecting Country Information (UNA-USA)
• How to Win Best Delegate (From a blog for teachers advisors of MUN.  A little wordy BUT it explains the objectives and goals of country research.)
• Questions to Ask About Your Country (Bloomsburg University - Includes links to useful websites.)

Step #2: Topic Research

You should also begin considering the issues that will likely be addressed in your committee.  For example, the World Health Organization will probably (and should) address ebola and HIV/AIDS.  

We'll get into more detail with this later but its a good idea to begin thinking about how your country might deal with these issues on the international stage.

Here are some useful sources:

• UN Committees (official United Nations page)
• UN Global Issues (overview of topics and related links)
• United Nations Bibliographic Information System (database for searching bibliographic records, speeches, and voting records)
• Researching Conference Topics (UNA-USA)

Please come to our next meeting prepared with your country research and a general understanding of your the purpose and goals of your committee.