"The UN is not just the product of do-gooders. It is harshly real. The day will come when men will see the UN and what it means clearly. Everything will be all right - when people, just people, stop thinking of the United Nations as a weird Picasso abstraction, and see it as a drawing they made themselves."

- Dag Hammarskjold, former Secretary-General of the United Nations

Model UN tries to make the United Nations relevant for young people in an innovative and exciting way. It encourages students to think of the UN not as an abstract entity, but as an organisation whose sphere of influence touches the lives of billions of groups and individuals around the world. It also supplements students' usual learning areas in social studies, English, language learning, drama and public speaking by teaching them research and writing skills, speech-writing and negotiation. Model UN also enables students to practise new skills they might not have the opportunity to learn at school. Through role-playing, students are put in an environment where cooperation comes through self-direction; without a teacher to intervene in the discussions, delegates rely on themselves to create solutions and reach compromise on global issues.

UNYANZ provides a range of free Model UN resources for teachers to conduct Model UN’s at their own schools. The New Zealand Model UN Programme is the repository of all Model UN resources owned by UNYANZ and is divided into the following parts:

• The Guide to Running a Model UN
• The UNYANZ Mini Model UN Programme
• The Model UN Experience 

The Guide to Running a Model UN provides step-by-step instructions and suggestions on how to run a successful Model UN. It covers all the major aspects of Model UN planning, including logistics, marketing, finances, registrations, personnel and delegate training and other conference tips. The Guide is also accompanied by a comprehensive Resolutions Database with sample resolutions on topics ranging from human rights and development to finance and the environment. The Model UN Resources section also contains all the resources needed to run a Model UN such as Rules of Procedure, chairing resources, placards, amendment forms, registration forms, regional grouping resources and much more.

This part of the NZ Model UN Programme has restricted access but it can be made available to teachers on request to the Vice-President (Model UN) via email at vp.modelun@unyanz.co.nz.

Of particular interest to teachers is the UNYANZ Mini Model UN programme. It helps to think of this as a smaller, more intimate but informal version of a regional Model UN. Schools can liaise with Regional Councils to arrange a suitable time to have a Model UN, which is usually only half a day long and on the weekend.

Mini Model UNs are especially helpful for new delegates, who have the opportunity to participate in a Model UN with their peers and to get used to Model UN procedures in a familiar environment. It is also a great opportunity to run workshops with delegates and to help them improve their lobbying skills, amendment writing skills and so on. Mini Model UNs also allows UNYANZ to build enduring relationships with schools.

The school is responsible for providing a venue, any multimedia that is necessary as well as advertising the opportunity to its students. It is desirable to have between 20 and 30 delegates, but this is not prescriptive, there just needs to be enough delegates to make the event worthwhile. The regional council is responsible for providing personnel (chairpersons and conference assistants), placards, amendment forms, resolutions, rules of procedure and other Model UN resources.

If you are interested in running a mini Model UN at a school, contact your nearest regional president in Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury or Otago.

The Model UN Experience is mainly targeted at delegates but teachers may also find the resources in this section helpful. This part of the Programme explains what Model UN advocacy is, how students can get involved in UNYANZ as well as an overview of the UN, research tips, a resolutions guide, a Model UN glossary and advice on effective debating, public speaking and negotiating strategies. The resources found here are useful to all Model UN enthusiasts but will be useful for anyone wanting to learn more about the Model UN process.

This section of the website is publicly available here. Please encourage your students to take advantage of the Model UN Experience!

If you use our resources, we ask that you use our logos and acknowledge UNYANZ appropriately. Any feedback, comments or suggestions would be welcomed. Please direct all Model UN related queries to the Vice-President (Model UN) at vp.modelun@unyanz.co.nz. UNYANZ is always looking for ideas to improve our Model UN Programme, especially to make it more accessible to teachers, so please do not hesitate to contact us!