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We Belong to the UN Family-The 5th
PKU MUN Conference
By Zhang Huishu
PKU NEWS 2005--12-14
http://ennews.pku.edu.cn/news.php?s=134614713
Peking University, Beijing, Dec. 14th, 2005: The 5th Peking University MUN (Model
UN) Conference was held in Hongji Building on Dec. 11th, from 9: 00 a.m. to 5: 30
p.m., hosted by PKU MUN Society and supported by the League Committee of PKU
as well as that of School of International Studies. About 150 university students from
Peking University, Tsing Hua University, People‘s University and International
Relations College, etc. have participated in it, all dressed up in formal suit as
―diplomats.‖
The conference consisted of three committees: SC (Security Council), ECOSOC
(Economic and Social Council) and UNEP (United Nations Environment
Programme). The working language in SC and ECOSOC was English, while in
UNEP it was Chinese. Since the topics covered a wide range – from politics,
economy and culture to environment and human rights, etc., many students from
different backgrounds were attracted to take part in the conference and thus greatly
diversified the content. What‘s more, a special live crisis management was set in the
SC sessions, which compelled the delegates to discuss and debate on the situation
of Israel and Palestine and to solve the problem then and there. It was a huge
challenge for them and a crucial test of their grasp of background knowledge,
conference rules and academic research on the topics as well as their English skills.
In the un-moderated caucuses of ECOSOC, delegates from different countries hotly
discussed the topic of ―Human Rights of the Refugees,‖ exchanged their opinions
and, negotiated with each other from the perspective of the nations they represented.
―Exhausted but excited,‖ ―Spain‖ said happily after the afternoon session.
According to Zhang Haibing, Prof. of School of International Studies and expert at
international organizations, this era called for the youths to study the international
systems and to communicate with the international society, while the function of
MUN was to train the youth how to cooperate with each other and how to deliver their
speech, at the same time to offer them a global view. Just as Kofi Annan said, the
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