BISMUN MiniMUNs

About MiniMUNs Project

“MiniMUNs – Think Globally, Act Locally” is a project launched by BISMUN Association during mid-October 2011 which is intended to take place during the entire academic year 2011-2012. The main objective of the project is to promote UN values and to promote awareness regarding the UN institutional system, the UN goals, the UN functions within the international relations sphere through small-scale Model United Nations simulations which will be organized in highschools and universities from 21 Romanian cities (Bucharest, Constanta, Targoviste, Ploiesti, Pitesti, Timisoara, Arad, Resita, Brasov, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca, Sighisoara, Iasi, Bacau, Focsani, Suceava, Galati, Craiova, Drobeta Tr. Severin, Slatina and Rm. Valcea).

Simulations of UN Comittees, known as Model United Nations Conferences, have a longstanding history at prestigious universities and highschools worldwide, being recognised as important forums for debating and offering solutions to the current problems on the international agenda, as well as delivering alternate responses to historical challenges in the global arena. Since the first academic simulation of UN bodies was organized at Harvard University, in 1952, the MUN phenomenon has spread worldwide and attracted an ever-increasing number of students, especially from the fields of political science, international relations, law, cultural studies, economic studies, cultural studies, etc.

In Romania, as well as in the majority of Eastern European countries, Model United Nations Conferences have only become popular in recent years, the largest such Romanian academic simulation being the BISMUN Conference, which will be at its 4^th edition in 2012, organized by BISMUN Association every year at the end of March. Aside from BISMUN Conference which attracts between 150-180 participants per year, the Association also organized two other MUN Conferences in Romania in 2011 – Banat Regional Model United Nations in Timisoara (6-8 May 2011) and Transilvania Regional Model United Nations in Brasov (13-15 May 2011).

The concept of MiniMUN which will be implemented during the course of this project has a similar nature from a substantial point of view with a typical MUN Conference, however it differs in both structural and temporal dimension. A MiniMUN is first of all smaller in scale than a typical MUN as it only simulates 1 or 2 Committees (mostly Committees frequently simulated at MUNs such as the Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Human Rights Council, General Assembly, 1^st Committee of the GA) and second of all smaller in length as it generally lasts 2 days, out of which the largest part of the first day is dedicated to trainings and presentations regarding the UN, its mission, its structural and functional components, the concept of MUN, the rules of procedure and resolution writing as well as mock sessions constructed in order to familiarize the participants with the usage of the rules of procedure and the second day is dedicated to the simulation itself.

During the actual simulation the participants, which are refered to as delegates, will each play the role of representatives of states conducting diplomatic negotiations on their behalf. A wide variety of skills are developed during such simulations, as the delegates are required to give speeches, engage in debates with fellow delegates, negotiate positions, respect diplomatic conduct, elaborate working papers and resolutions, amend articles of resolutions and vote upon resolutions, thus developing their rhetorical skills, negotiating skills, argumentative and debating skills as well as their command of the English language, as all the simulations will be held in English. Aside from these activities which will take place during the simulation itself, the delegates are also required to do research regarding the states they represent, the Committee simulated, the topic discussed and the position of their state via the topic under discussion therefore developing their researching abilities as well as their knowledge in these fields.

The 13 MiniMUNs from Bucharest, Constanta, Targoviste, Ploiesti, Pitesti will be organized by the central structure of BISMUN Association, while the other 18 MiniMUNs will be organized by the Regional Offices of BISMUN Association. Thus, the MiniMUNs in Timisoara, Arad and Resita will be organized by Regional Office Banat, the MiniMUNs in Brasov, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca and Sighisoara will be organized by Regional Office Transilvania, the MiniMUNs in Iasi, Suceava, Bacau, Focsani and Galati will be organized by Regional Office Moldova and the MiniMUNs in Craiova, Drobeta Tr. Severin, Slatina and Rm. Valcea will be organized by Regional Office Oltenia.