1200 young people from over 100 countries came to Rome for the 4th Model United Nations (RomeMUN), which simulates the work of the United Nations General Assembly.
For five days young people “role play” as representatives of the UN’s 193 member states, discussing international issues such as fighting hunger and poverty, women’s rights and sustainable development. Participants will also meet experts such as environment minister Corrado Clini; the Deputy Director General of the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Eve Crowley; and Luis Jimenez-Mcinnis, special adviser to the President of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Millennium Goals and the quest for solutions to international challenges
The event is sponsored by the UN’s food and agricultural organisations in Rome (FAO, IFAD and World Food Programme (WFP)), by the Foreign Ministry and by the European Commission’s Italian office. Its aim is to involve young people fully in the simulation and to seek solutions to international challenges. They are also encouraged to express their opinions on the “Millennium Development Goals” which the UN member states have pledged to achieve by the end of 2015.
The Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Staffan de Mistura, made an important contribution to the event. He told the young people of the early days of his long international career, working for the United Nations in numerous theatres of war. The Under-Secretary underscored the training and educational value of the RomeMUN initiative.
