Participants at Model UN at Ain Shams University, Cairo
The first half of April marked Model UN “season” in major Egyptian universities, sponsored by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Cairo. The Model UN conferences, which were held on 1-9 April 2009, were dedicated to discussions of a wide range of international issues such as Cyprus, nuclear disarmament, child soldiers and internally displaced persons, with a particular emphasis on the current economic crisis.
Alongside already established Model UN conferences such as those of the AUC, Model UN in Egypt witnessed further enrichment through the launch of a new Model UN at Misr International University and the second successive Arabic Model UN at Ain Shams University.
Misr International University students dedicated their Model UN to human trafficking, biofuels and the food crisis, Darfur and the economic crisis. The inaugural session of the Model UN conference was attended by Prof. Mostafa Tolba, former United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director.
Through debates and deliberations of the UN General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Security Council and the International Court of Justice, Cairo University students considered the questions of Cyprus, the conflict between Russia and Georgia, the economic crisis and the nuclear disarmament.
UNIC Cairo took the opportunity to highlight the Global Model UN to be held in Geneva on 5-7 August 2009 by the Department of Public Information and to call for strengthening the Model UN experience in Egypt both by extending the experience to other universities throughout the country and involving departments other than law, economics and political sciences.