In AEGEE-Kraków, International Politics Working Group (IPWG) is not as popular as Public Relations Committee (PRC) or Human Resources Committee (HRC) but May will belong to them! Model of United Nations in Kraków is a project created and organized by IPWG in AEGEE-Kraków and is open for young people from over the world.
The era of wars, conflicts and misunderstandings seems to be averted and the world is developing based on agreements. However we do not know how it will be in the future. We need to make sure that the younger generations will be able to keep the peace. To achieve this, young people need to know how certain organisations work – what the work of a diplomat looks like, what qualities s/he must have in order to perform their function well. Although the job of a diplomat is a tough nut to crack, more and more young people want to educate themselves and broaden their horizons, to have an impact on the fate of the world.
The question is: how to gain valuable experience before entering the political arena?
IPWG members decided to take care of their own development and not wait until someone gives them a chance to train in the field of international politics. In May there will be an event about AEGEE Model of United Nations in Kraków. This is an international conference organised by the IPWG of AEGEE-Kraków in partnership with the United Nations Youth Associations (UNYA Poland) and the Oriental Academic Society of Jagiellonian University.
The participants, students from Poland and abroad, will play the role of delegates of UN Member States generating a common approach on the major issues of international politics. The project will consist of two simulations of United Nations meetings: one on the conflict in Mali and one on the issue of North African refugees’ rights in Europe. The conference aims to spread and share knowledge on problems of the modern world and UN’s role in solving them, and gives participants the opportunity to develop their diplomatic skills.
As delegates of the Security Council Member States or Observer States, they will do their best to defend the position of the state they will be representing. All the participants will follow the official procedure and chosen methods of negotiation in order to create together a resolution compatible with the ideas of human rights and peaceful conflict resolution and at the same time coinciding with the particular national interests of the state concerned.
As you can see, people who meet each other in a small working group can create a project that will affect the development of young diplomat’s careers. Apart from the UN meeting simulation itself, on the first day of the conference the participants will also attend a workshop during which rules of procedure will be presented, as well as some tips for a successful conference.
Written by Karolina Kubala, AEGEE-Kraków