model un conference no empty role-playing exercise, Secretary-General says

in message to participating students, faculty

 

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the fifteenth annual Model United Nations Conference hosted by Kyunghee University in Seoul, from 1-4 July:

I extend warm greetings to all the students and faculty participating in the fifteenth annual Model United Nations Conference hosted by Kyunghee University.  I thank the UN Association of the Republic of Korea for sponsoring this gathering.

The word “model” has a number of meanings.  In the context of the Model United Nations, it is commonly understood as “a small copy”.  But I prefer another of its meanings:  “a praiseworthy example to be copied”.

As you participate in this Model UN, you will get a taste for the complexity of international relations and of the problems we face.  This exercise is no empty role-play.  Half the world’s population is under 25.  You are their representatives.  Many of you will move on to positions of real leadership.  All of you, by your choices as consumers, by your decisions as voters, will assume real power to shape and change our world.

I encourage you to keep in mind both meanings of the word “model”.  Hopefully your time at this Model United Nations will help you become the models the world needs to fulfil the ideals of this indispensable organization.  I myself participated in a mock-UN debate when I was a freshman in college.  So I advise you to take this opportunity very seriously.  You never know where it may lead!

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For information media • not an official record