On November 17 the UN Department of Public Information and the Yerevan State University jointly organized Model UN Conference within the framework of the Plan of Cooperation between the University and the UNDPI.
This year, Model UN was a simulation of the UN Security Council session with the agenda item “The UN Membership Status of Palestine”, dedicated to the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The delegates were the students of the Yerevan State University each of them representing a delegate of one UN member state.
As the press service of UN office in Armenia reports, before the conference several trainings sessions were held to further educate the participants on the UN values, the functions and structure of the UN Security Council as well as its Rules of Procedures. An experienced trainer from the Armenian UN Association and two other experts guided the participants’ research and distributed specially designed guidelines.
UN Department of Public Information Representative Maria Dotsenko opened the conference. Ruben Markosyan from the Yerevan State University said: “We appreciate our fruitful cooperation with the UN. I am impressed with our students’ passion and enthusiasms with which they approach research and debates, the dedication they bring to drafting their comprehensive statement and the spirit of international diplomacy with which they approach their fellow delegates.”
During the conference the delegates discussed not only the matter of Palestine membership to UN but the peacekeeping process in general. As the delegate of India noted, “The negotiation process initiated by the U.S. and Israel over Palestine failed, and now it is time to find a different way for the resolution of the problem.” The delegate of China noted that Palestine membership to UN will show that UN values are real and there can be equality between countries. Moreover, as few delegates noted Palestine membership will contribute to the peacekeeping process in the Middle east.
Even though the views on the Palestinian issue varied, but the delegates noted that it is time to stop just talking about the issues that harm the peaceful life of the citizens, and there is the need to start finally acting.
