A Model United Nations is a simulation of the Committees’ works of the United Nations. Each participant acts as delegate of a member country of the United Nations, representing its positions and the legislative decisions in order to find common solutions, while having a debate with the other countries. 

When was it organized for the first time? 

The first simulation of an international organization occurred before the foundation of the United Nations. In the nineteen-twenties, some students took part in a simulation of the League of Nations. The schedule that nowadays regulates the MUNs actually derives from these early experiences, when it was first activated.

Who can participate? 

The popularity of the Model United Nations is continuously increasing and more than 400.000 students of secondary school and university level all over the world take part in these simulations every year. A great number of current political leaders participated in the Model United Nations during their academic career.

Who can be a Model United Nations delegate? 

A delegate is a student who acts as an ambassador at the United Nations during a simulation. The candidate does not need any experience in the field of international relations, everyone can actually decide to participate provided that he/she has the ambition to learn something new and to work with the other delegates to make the world a better place.

The delegates

Delegates debate the MUN topics and issues: each school sends a number of delegates who will participate in the committees together with the delegates of the hosting school. The main body of the MUN consists of committees dealing with various topics, formed by different delegates, each representing one Nation or an NGO. The main goal of the debate is to come to proposal agreements or solutions regarding the issues discussed and to formalize them in a Resolution Paper. The debate is led and moderated by the Chairs, and all the participating delegates must adhere to a strict protocol in order to maintain a diplomatic and respectful behaviour during the discussion and allow each delegate to speak and state the position of their country.

The delegates’ voices:

“OberMUN has been an event in which I have gladly chosen to participate three times during my Oberdan career. I would therefore strongly recommend taking part in it to any student that, being fluent in the English language, is willing to accept a challenge and meet new people in an engaging experience.”

- Andrea Stoppani

“After participating in OberMUN, I can say that it has contributed to raise my awareness regarding both intern and foreign politics. I learned that it's always necessary to look deep in the position of every party to fully understand the issues we want to tackle and ensure the most optimal decisions.

On the personal level, OberMUN has been instructive especially in managing private discussions thanks to the procedures written in the flow of debate. It is no surprise for me that MUNs are the ideal getaway especially for students who have the intention to study international law.”

- Federico Suran

“Personally, OberMUN was a great opportunity to get out of my comfort zone by doing something I’ve never done before. The whole staff was just amazing. Moreover, the project gave me the chance to represent a country that has a completely different point of view from mine, because of this, by the end of the event I was more open minded than before”.

- Irene Giuressi