NEWS

On Saturday, January 7 and Sunday, January 8, 2023, RITMUNC, a chosen Extracurricular Activities Type B: Selected Project, hosted Model UN at APU. In addition to APU students, participants included international students from 3 other schools* , totaling 54 students from 24 countries and regions.

The theme was “Rethinking the SGDs 2030 UN Agenda in a war-torn world.” In the Opening Ceremony, participants listened to lectures by APS Professor Rothman as well as alumnus and Human Rights Officer for the UNHCR, Morse Caoagas Flores. After that, they were broken up into the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council members. Acting as representatives of their given countries, the students debated and delegated the issues.

In the afternoon of the first day, all the members of the different committees were suddenly gathered in one place and informed through press releases about various world events that could trigger war. After that, the representatives of each country came together to actively discuss and delegate to avoid war.

In Model UN, participants often are appointed to be representatives of countries other than their own. This time, the individuals researched their countries’ situation, political background, history, and issues in preparation for the day of. Understanding their countries` political policy as well as its relationships with other countries, the participants strived to convey information.

Over the 2 days, 2 resolutions from the United Nations Economic and Social Council and 1 resolution from the United Nations Human Rights Council were selected, indicating the high-level of the competition. In the closing session, the chairman of the conference proposed to hold the conference next year, and the proposal was unanimously approved.

It is essential for students to debate world issues in today's world, where we are aiming for multicultural coexistence. This kind of opportunity for students from multiple universities to gather and discuss was a great learning experience for all participants.

*Ritsumeikan University (1 participant, 1 judge), Oita University (2 participants), Kyoto University of Advanced Science (1 judge)