A Model United Nations is a simulation of the Committees’ works of the United Nations. Each participant acts as delegate of a member country of the United Nations, representing its positions and the legislative decisions in order to find common solutions, while having a debate with the other countries. 

When was it organized for the first time? 

The first simulation of an international organization occurred before the foundation of the United Nations. In the nineteen-twenties, some students took part in a simulation of the League of Nations. The schedule that nowadays regulates the MUNs actually derives from these early experiences, when it was first activated.

Who can participate? 

The popularity of the Model United Nations is continuously increasing and more than 400.000 students of secondary school and university level all over the world take part in these simulations every year. A great number of current political leaders participated in the Model United Nations during their academic career.

Who can be a Model United Nations delegate? 

A delegate is a student who acts as an ambassador at the United Nations during a simulation. The candidate does not need any experience in the field of international relations, everyone can actually decide to participate provided that he/she has the ambition to learn something new and to work with the other delegates to make the world a better place.

After two years in which we all experienced various difficulties due to the COVID-19 situation, OberMUN was able to express itself in the best way in 2023 for the second time after the pandemic.

Our delegates practiced extensively to prepare for the event held in Trieste from 31 March to 2 April; the success of these debates, in fact, was certainly positive as the topics dealt with various aspects of our society and all possible situations were taken into consideration, taking into account the different resources of each country to arrive at a more targeted conclusion, useful and realized but above all without resorting to the use of violence.

The delegates, the Chairs, the professors, the HOs and all those who actively participated in the organization made OberMUN 2023 a unique and special event.

Furthermore, a fundamental characteristic that each delegate acquires by participating in the debate is learning to listen to others and to defend the positions of their own country represented, thus coming into contact with the culture of the latter.

The event was held in various conference rooms in our city, Trieste, thanks to the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, the institutions and all the sponsors who helped us make this possible. The gala dinner was, however, a special occasion for everyone to get to know new people from other schools in Italy and other countries who participated in OberMUN 2023 together with our high school.

This project is, in fact, extremely educational as each role requires skills and abilities which, although referable to a school level, will be able to give a first example of a team work context with gradually increasing responsibilities depending on the tasks assigned.

OberMUN 2023, therefore, was a very productive event that left every single person with a vivid and unforgettable memory. We sincerely hope to have the same opportunities next year to be able to repeat this wonderful experience together.

The main goal of a MUN is to reach a resolution for every one of the topics presented. Therefore, below you can find last year’s edition resolution paper structured by the members of the OHCHR commission.

The Commission of OHCHR of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reached this resolution for the first topic: “International definition of the regulation of the power of the police forces on the citizens”, which was submitted by all the delegations and sponsored by the delegations of Russian Federation, Italy and France. The resolution stated that countries have to tackle the issue of abuse of power by police forces by implementing a detailed regulamentation, providing police forces with adequate training and establishing proper punishments for the ones who abuse power.

TOPIC A: International definition of the regulation of the power of the police forces on the citizens.

The states parties to the OHCHR committee:

1. Recognizing that some countries still do not have proper legislation for the use of physical force, special means and firearms;

2. Noting the stressful job that the police officers have, and the psychological pressure under which they are put daily;

3. Emphasizing the importance of the training and the education on diversity and to lay the proper foundations for law enforcement to deal with the most difficult situations;

4. Considering that many protests are organized without the government's consent and many of which become violent;

5. Acknowledging the need for punishments for misbehaviors by police officers;

6. Having regard to the importance of the sensibilization among the population in order to include as many ethnicities as possible;

7. Conscious of the usefulness of cameras to prevent and report cases of abuse of power.

The OHCHR committee has reached the following proposals: 

1. The implementation and the creation of a detailed regulamentation and legislation  for the use of:

   1. physical force,

   2. special means,

   3. firearms;

2. In order for them to be always ready and responsive to guarantee justice:

   1. provide mental and psychological support;

   2. do regular check-ups on mental health;

3. Giving the police forces adequate training, which will include:

   1. studying communication, negotiation and persuasion techniques, in order to avoid  unnecessary violent acts;

   2. regulations about when and how to use firearms, which will be when only strictly necessary;

   3. sensibilization about equality between different ethnicities and religious minorities when this is not going against the laws of the country;

   4. the usage of a warning system, so as to prevent unnecessary use of violence and weapons, especially firearms;

4. To stop violence from being used on crowds, it is suggested the NOT mandatory use of social media and the Internet to check on the development of illegal protests:

   1. to trace when and where these protests are going to take place and to estimate the number of participants;

   2. to then organize the tactics to disperse the crowd and to prepare the team of  police officers in charge at the protest, that have the aim of preventing the use of physical force, special means and firearms;

5. Creation of appropriate punishments for the police officers who abused their power; these punishments will not be managed on an international level, but by each  country on its own, in respect of every State’s different laws and regulations;

6. Creation of NOT mandatory campaigns among the population, in order to raise awareness about the diversity of the communities and to involve as many ethnicities as possible to take part in the police forces;

7. Implementation of the cameras in the street where necessary and also the NOT mandatory implementation of body cameras on the officers;

8. Acknowledging the need for punishments for misbehaviors by police officers;

9. Having regard to the importance of the sensibilization among the population in order to include as many ethnicities as possible;

10. Conscious of the usefulness of cameras to prevent and report cases of abuse of power.