ACTIVITY 9: ROLE-PLAY: MODEL UNITED NATIONS SIMULATION
Understanding the United Nations
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
states that education “shall ... promote
the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of
peace”. A model United Nations, a simulation of the United Nations
system in which club members assume the roles of “ambassadors” of the
United Nations Member States, is a powerful educational tool to help people understand the limitations and potential of the United Nations.
Most model United Nations programmes are based on three
distinct steps:
1. Preparation: Participants research three basic subjects:
- The United Nations and its work;
- The Government, policies and interests of a United
Nations Member State;
- The global issues on the agenda.
The research and study should lead to the development
of a “position paper” or resolution and a negotiation
strategy for the assigned Member State.
2. Participation: The research comes to life as participants become “ambassadors” of Member States and practise
the skills of public speaking, listening, time management,
negotiation and consultation.
3. Evaluation: Careful debriefing and assessment is essential to bring the exercise to a close. Some criteria should be
developed for success in each aspect of the simulation
(e.g. research, presentation, negotiation).
The following is a simplified version of a model United Nations activity.
A Model United Nations Simulation
Select a few current issues of global importance for participants
to focus on. Assign individuals or groups of participants to represent
and research a variety of United Nations Member
States. Explain that the goals of their research are to understand
the assigned country and how it would regard the key
issues.
When participants have had time to complete their research,
ask each “ambassador” to write a resolution for the
“General Assembly” on one of the key issues of importance
in their country or region. The resolution should include a
detailed description of the problem and a plan to improve
the situation, including what role the United Nations should
play. Participants will need to convince others that their resolution
benefits everyone and deserves to be considered.
Encourage participants to compare their resolutions and begin
to seek supporters and/or co-sponsors. Explain that they
need to be prepared to amend their resolutions and build
consensus to get them passed.
Hold a mock United Nations forum. Seat participants in a circle
with the names of their countries in front of them. The
leader/teacher or a capable participant serves as “Secretary-General”.
Establish some rules of order for the forum (e.g. each person
is addressed as “The Ambassador from ___” ; no one may
speak unless recognized by the “Secretary-General”).
The “Secretary-General” calls for resolutions to be presented,
debated, questioned and voted upon. After discussion
on a potential resolution, anyone may move that the resolution
be put to the vote. For a motion to pass, it must be seconded
by any other “ambassador”. A two-thirds majority is
needed to pass a resolution.
Conclude the simulation with a written or oral evaluation,
including both a self-evaluation and an assessment of what
participants learned about the United Nations and its role in
world affairs.
The role of the leaders or the teachers is that not of an expert but a guide who
can assist participants with research and analysis.
See the resources following for helping in this task:
- The text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in more
than 300 different languages. http://www.ohchr.org
- A brief introduction to international human rights terminology
Excerpt from: Human Rights:
A Basic Handbook for UN Staff
What are Human Rights?
Human rights are commonly understood as being those
rights which are inherent to the human being. The concept
of human rights acknowledges that every single human
being is entitled to enjoy his or her human rights without
distinction as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political
or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth
or other status.
Human rights are legally guaranteed by human rights law,
protecting individuals and groups against actions that interfere
with fundamental freedoms and human dignity. They
are expressed in treaties, customary international law, bodies
of principles and other sources of law. Human rights law
places an obligation on States to act in a particular way and
prohibits States from engaging in specified activities.
However, the law does not establish human rights. Human
rights are inherent entitlements which come to every person
as a consequence of being human. Treaties and other
sources of law generally serve to protect formally the rights
of individuals and groups against actions or abandonment
of actions by Governments which interfere with the enjoyment
of their human rights.
The following are some of the most important characteristics
of human rights:
- Human rights are founded on respect for the dignity and
worth of each person;
- Human rights are universal, meaning that they are applied
equally and without discrimination to all people;
- Human rights are inalienable, in that no one can have his
or her human rights taken away; they can be limited in
specific situations (for example, the right to liberty can be
restricted if a person is found guilty of a crime by a court
of law);
- Human rights are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent,
for the reason that it is insufficient to respect some
human rights and not others. In practice, the violation of
one right will often affect respect for several other rights.
All human rights should therefore be seen as having equal
importance and of being equally essential to respect for
the dignity and worth of every person.
International Human Rights Law
The formal expression of inherent human rights is through
international human rights law. A series of international
human rights treaties and other instruments have emerged
since 1945 conferring legal form on inherent human rights.
The creation of the United Nations provided an ideal forum
for the development and adoption of international human
rights instruments. Other instruments have been adopted at
a regional level reflecting the particular human rights concerns
of the region. Most States have also adopted constitutions
and other laws which formally protect basic human
rights. Often the language used by States is drawn directly
from the international human rights instruments.
International human rights law consists mainly of treaties
and custom as well as, inter alia, declarations, guidelines and
principles.
Treaties
A treaty is an agreement by States to be bound by particular
rules. International treaties have different designations such
as covenants, charters, protocols, conventions, accords and
agreements. A treaty is legally binding on those States which
have consented to be bound by the provisions of the treaty
– in other words are party to the treaty.
A State can become a party to a treaty by ratification, accession
or succession. Ratification is a State’s formal expression
of consent to be bound by a treaty. Only a State that has previously
signed the treaty (during the period when the treaty
was open for signature) can ratify it. Ratification consists of
two procedural acts: on the domestic level, it requires
approval by the appropriate constitutional organ (usually
the head of State or parliament). On the international level,
pursuant to the relevant provision of the treaty in question,
the instrument of ratification shall be formally transmitted
to the depositary which may be a State or an international
organization such as the United Nations.
Accession entails consent to be bound by a State that has not
previously signed the instrument. States ratify treaties both
before and after the treaty has entered into force. The same
applies to accession.
A State may also become party to a treaty by succession,
which takes place by virtue of a specific treaty provision or
by declaration.
Most treaties are not self-executing. In some States treaties
are superior to domestic law, whereas in other States treaties
are given constitutional status, and in yet others only certain
provisions of a treaty are incorporated in domestic law.
A State may, in ratifying a treaty, enter reservations to that
treaty, indicating that, while it consents to be bound by most
of the provisions, it does not agree to be bound by certain
specific provisions. However, a reservation may not defeat
the object and purpose of the treaty. Further, even if a State
is not a party to a treaty or if it has entered reservations
thereto, that State may still be bound by those treaty provisions
which have become part of customary international
law or constitute peremptory rules of international law, such
as the prohibition against torture.
Custom
Customary international law (or simply “custom”) is the term
used to describe a general and consistent practice followed
by States deriving from a sense of legal obligation. Thus, for
example, while the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is
not in itself a binding treaty, some of its provisions have the
character of customary international law.
Declarations, Resolutions etc. Adopted by United Nations Organs
General norms of international law – principles and practices
that most States would agree on – are often stated in declarations,
proclamations, standard rules, guidelines, recommendations
and principles. While no binding legal effect on States
ensues, they nevertheless represent a broad consensus on the
part of the international community and, therefore, have a
strong and undeniable moral force in terms of the practice of
States in their conduct of international relations. The value of
such instruments rests on their recognition and acceptance by
a large number of States, and, even without binding legal
effect, they may be seen as declaratory of broadly accepted
principles within the international community.
Selected Organizations
United Nations organizations
- Organizations within the United
Nations system can provide
materials and other forms of
support for human rights education
programmes. The addresses of the
headquarters of a selected list of
United Nations organizations
follow; they will be able to provide
details regarding their national
presences/counterparts.
- Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR)
Web site: http://www.ohchr.org
- United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)
Education Sector
Web site: http://www.unesco.org
- UNESCO International Bureau of
Education
Web site: http://www.ibe.unesco.org
- United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF)
UNICEF House
Web site: http://www.unicef.org
- UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre
Web site: http://www.unicef-icdc.org
- United Nations Department of
Public Information (DPI)
United Nations Cyberschoolbus
c/o Global Teaching and Learning
Project
United Nations Headquarters
Web site: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus
- United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP)
Web site: http://www.undp.org
- Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO)
Web site: http://www.fao.org
- International Labour Organization
(ILO)
Web site: http://www.ilo.org
- United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP)
Web site: http://www.unep.org
-
Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Web site: http://www.unhcr.ch
-
World Health Organization (WHO)
Web site: http://www.who.int
Other organizations
The following organizations provide
primary, middle and secondary
school educators with information,
conference facilities, training and
materials about human rights
education. For complete and current
information on their activities and
resources, contact these
organizations or visit their web sites
on the Internet.
(Most of these organizations have
national chapters or counterparts,
which carry out human rights
education programmes and develop
related materials. Information on
national contacts can be obtained at
the following addresses.)
