Moscow International Model UN (MIMUN) History

	Moscow International Model UN (MIMUN) History
	A Model-long road The Moscow International UN Model ranks an important place among the numerous UN models that have ever been held and are going to be held on our planet. But what is the reason for its success? What does the realization of such a compound and unusual event need? To begin with, in preparation for such conferences a tradition places a major role or to be more precise traditions such as the skill of organizing a large amount of people, establishing good relations and setting the right pace, the ability to deal with unexpected troubles quickly and effectively and the feeling of succession that is of no little importance. And after all "in order to grow a good lawn one should take care of it for a hundred years"! The more interesting it will be to study the chronicle of the oldest UN Model in Russia and to dive into the times when the Model was just an experiment and a novelty. As we know, it was the the beginning of the 20th century that the universities and colleges in the west started holding educational role plays. And the oldest UN Model was held in Harvard in 1953. And what about the USSR, the holding of such conferences before the perestroika was almost impossible. The problem was not only in the UN being the field of battle in the "cold war" but also in the playing nature of the Model which was sometimes taken biased by the "serious" organizations. But the perestroika brought new ideas and new tendencies that led to holding the first UN Model in Russia and in the whole post-Soviet territory in January, 1990. In order to organize the first Russian Model UN an initiative (a volunteer) group of students of the Moscow State University and Moscow State institute of international relations was created. Moreover a grant competition was held under the aegis of the UN Fund for Peace. The serious approach to the selection of candidates made it possible to hold a really high-quality game. About 3 hundred delegates took part in it, one in four being a foreigner, so the delegates were provided with a simultaneous interpretation. This first attempt was a success, so the Model UN movement in the USSR came into existence. Talking about MSIIR (MGIMO) in particular, the first Model UN was held there in 1999 – the UN Security Council was imitated. After that many delegates were willing to continue working in this sphere. The International relations, being the specialization of the university, and the enthusiasm of the organization team made its contribution to the next year’s conference, with 300 delegates participating, one for three of which was a foreigner. After the Model was held the “Izvestia” newspaper released an article about the Model UN April, 11 2000. The publication presented the new-born conference as a carefree student game, even though representatives from thirty Russian towns as well as from Bulgaria, Finland and Serbia participated in it. The warm atmosphere preserved in the conditions of a truly grown-up game was the fact primarily noticed by the reporter. Still, only few presupposed then that the Model UN movement in Russia was becoming more and more settled and that the Game was just at the beginning of its long life in our country. Since then MGIMO has been holding Models UN regularly, each year uniting more and more delegates and modeling new UN committees and councils. Gradually, the status of the Model was becoming more and more reputable. The cooperation with United Nations Association of Russia played an important role in this positive tendency. The visit of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2004 and of Secretary General’s deputy Kiio Akasaki together with Russian Minister of Foreign affairs Sergey Lavrov in 2007 was a striking illustration of the international recognition won by MIMUN. The official opening ceremony of the Model is annually attended by the President of the United Nations Association of Russia, president of the Moscow State University of International relations, Anatoly Vasilievich Torkunov. Moreover, in different years the opening ceremony was visited by such high-ranking guests as the Council of the Federation President Sergey Mironov, Mayor of Moscow Yuri Lugekov, permanent representative of the UN Development Programme in Russia Frode Mauring and deputy of the Minister of foreign affairs Alexander Yakovlenco. Today the Secretariat of Moscow International Model UN not only holds the annual conference, but also helps to organize similar activities in other Russian universities and schools. There is no doubt that such partnership contributes to the development of student games and attracts youths’ attention to the global problems – those “last questions” each of us has to answer in his or her life. Well, also MIMUN hasn’t yet turned 100, the Model movement has already proved itself. During 11 years of persistent work MIMUN has achieved great results (success), but what is more important – it has created a cohesive team of keen organizers and brought up strong, lasting traditions. That means that new victories and peaks await our Model UN.