For three days from 12-14 April, 150 students from 22 schools of Vienna, Lower Austria, Berlin and Geneva practiced United Nations diplomacy at the "Vienna Schools' Model United Nations" (VSMUN) at the Vienna International Centre.
The young participants of the UN-simulation conference took on the role of delegates of a chosen country, prepared resolutions on the different topics and voted on them at the General Assembly. In ten committees the High School Students discussed a range of issues including renewable energy sources, the right to water, violence against women, globalization, "blood diamonds", quotas for women in the workplace, democracy, hunger and AIDS.
This year's VSMUN was organized by Sonja Graf and Barbara Brandsteidl, two professors of the Bundesrealgymnasium GRG 19 Billrothstraße 73, with the support of the Academic Forum for Foreign Affairs (AFA) and the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Vienna.
"Model UN conferences present an exciting opportunity for students to learn more about the work of the United Nations and the global challenges of our time," explained Sonja Wintersberger, Officer-in-Charge of UNIS Vienna.
Sonja Graf was very pleased with the participation in the event: "It is great to see so many young adults are interested in world politics and are participating in the VSMUN in such a dedicated manner. Some of them prepared for the conference and the topics of the committees for several months ."
The students also had to prove their diplomatic skills: "The delegates need to demonstrate their negotiation skills and willingness to compromise with other Member States in order to come to a resolution," said Lukas Berger, President of the VSMUN General Assembly and student at the GRG 19 Billrothstraße 73.
At the closing ceremony of the conference Ambassador Helmut Böck, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations in Vienna, and Günter Russe, Director of GRG 19 Billrothstraße 73, congratulated the organizers and the participants for the successful event.
Each year, more than 100,000 students participate worldwide in the national UN Model conferences. Since 1995, the Austrian Academic Forum for Foreign Affairs (AFA) organizes Conferences for university students from all over the world in Vienna. Several hundred students from different parts of the globe are expected to take part in the Annual Global Model UN Conference, which this year will take place from 10 to 14 August in Incheon, South Korea.
