Georgetown University: School of Foreign Service in Qatar

Doha, Qatar - On Sunday, January 27, the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar) concluded its Third Annual Model United Nations (MUN) Conference with a diplomatic lunch at the Marriott. The lunch brought together the 325 MUN student participants from 22 countries with diplomatic delegations to Qatar from 16 countries. The lunch was crowned by an awards ceremony which honored outstanding delegates as nominated by the chairs and co-chairs of their respective committees.

In the three-day international UN simulation, the high school students where divided into 8 committees representing international governing bodies such as the UN Security Council, the African Union, NATO and the Arab League. Each student assumed the role of a member country delegate on the governing body of his or her committee. SFS-Qatar students served as Chairs and Co-chairs of the committees.

Brendan Hill, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at SFS-Qatar considers the experience as a valuable lesson on how diversity can be a force of unity rather than separation. "Our students did a wonderful job chairing the committees. I think that the participating high school students gained so much from the expertise of our students. I was overwhelmed by how cordial everyone was," Hill commented.

Nicholas Nassar, a Freshman from SFS-Qatar and an MUN veteran, was keen that the high school MUN participants learned the language of the UN and legal terms used in international politics. In his opinion, the high school students learned how to work with each other and under pressure.

Tara Makarem, a Freshman from SFS-Qatar sees a strong connection between what she is learning in the classroom and the MUN experience. "A lot of what we discuss is actually based on understanding history and current global issues. History is very important in drafting resolutions because it tells us what has previous worked and what did not," said Makarem.

Throughout the conference, the students participated sessions in which they discussed a variety of pressing topics issues in the global arena. After concluding its final session, each committee held a final debrief where subject experts from embassies and Education City universities acted as observers. In these debrief sessions, the expert observer provided critique and evaluation of the discussion processes and the resulting resolutions.

The Model United Nations conference is organized annually by the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) to offer high school students the opportunity to build practical experience in international diplomacy. According to Mehran Kamrava, the Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies, “This lunch is a climax of three successful days where aspiring young diplomats put their skills to test and practiced the art and science of diplomacy. The expertise they take with them is invaluable in introducing them to the value of compromise, dialogue and understanding."