AMMAN -- The 12th Annual Amman International Model United Nation conference, hosted by the Amman Baccalaureate School (ABS), starts later this week with the participation of schools from Tanzania, India, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Sudan, as well as several Jordanian private schools.
The Model United Nations (MUN) is an academic simulation of the work of the UN that seeks to educate students about current events, international relations, diplomacy and the workings of the UN system, according to an ABS statement sent to The Jordan Times.
Student delegates act as ambassadors for their assigned country or representatives of various UN-related NGOs and standing committees, councils and organisations.
They must represent that nation or body's policy during debate, which requires them to do extensive research, gaining "invaluable" insight in the process, the statement said.
A key agenda item which is always on the table in Amman, is the "question of Palestine".
A student delegate representing the Palestinian Authority in the General Assembly, Human Rights Commission or even on the Security Council, will have spent many weeks researching and understanding the issue to be debated with regards to the occupation of Palestine.
Agenda items on this issue may range from the treatment of prisoners in the occupied territories, to the question of Palestinian statehood, the right of return or even the distribution of water and other natural resources.
This year, other agenda items to be debated range from "Eliminating Pollution on the High Seas Through International Cooperation" and "Terminating Disparities in Wealth and Development in the Horn of Africa" to "Tackling the Issue of Child Mortality in Accordance with the Millennium Development Goals, and with specific focus on the Central African region".
Every year, the conference hosts the Friends School Ramallah, providing accommodations and waiving participation fees for student delegates and staff.
With 450 student delegates and student organisers, the Amman international conference is one of the "premier" MUN conferences in the Middle East, the statement said.
The ABS student leadership team is responsible for organising all aspects of the conference's logistics, with students also chairing the debates in each forum.
The event "offers the dual benefit of the academic exercise of research, and confidence building through debate and public speaking", the statement said.
The students also benefit from the business experience of negotiating with "hotels, bus companies, restaurants and a range of suppliers to make the conference viable and professionally run".
© Jordan Times 2013
