ADVISOR RESOURCES

At NAIMUN, our top priority is promoting the educational value of not only individual committees but our conference as a whole. The success and longevity of Model United Nations would not be possible without the work of advisors and teachers in introducing their students to these types of programs. One of the most difficult steps in training your delegation is taking the materials discussed in their committees and expanding it to the greater context of current affairs. Whether your delegates engage with Model UN in a classroom setting or through a club, we encourage advisors to use the specific topic abstracts available on each committee page to help teach their students. Here are some of the suggestions we have for implementing these materials:

  • Discuss the Guiding Questions. These can be found at the beginning of each Topic Abstract, and are a great way to open up a classroom discussion about your delegate’s specific committee and the United Nations as a whole.

  • Conduct research on the nations your delegation will be representing. For UN-based committees, most schools will receive the same country assignments for several of their delegates. Because of this, it can be extremely helpful to give miniature lessons about the political, demographic, social, and economic background of these nations.

  • Focus on each topic individually and then compare. For both GA-Style and Crisis, each committee will have two to three topics being discussed. While it’s important to study each topic on its own, it can also be useful to find similarities between the other topics in the committee as well as connect topics being discussed in your other delegates’ committees.

  • Utilize the Questions to Consider for Further Research. In the abstract, each topic will have its own set of specific questions. These are great for further exploring specific concepts, and can also help focus classroom discussions.

  • Explore the Resources for Further Research. Beyond the information provided in the Topic Abstracts and Background Guides, these academic resources are great to begin research for position papers!

  • Give delegates the opportunity to learn about their peers’ committees. Whether it be through class discourse or mini presentations on your students’ respective committees, this can be a great way to make connections between topics and further expand their knowledge on the United Nations.

Here are some additional resources we recommend looking over if you want to learn more:

  • Best Delegate: The Best Delegate website offers a variety of resources for advisors to learn how to run a Model UN conference or train delegates to succeed. It even provides sample activities for educators. 

  • UNA-UK: The UNA-UK offers in-depth lesson plans for teaching your students about the United Nations. This is a great resource to help give your delegates more background information!

  • CIA World Factbook: The CIA World Factbook offers critical information about every country. The Factbook can be extremely helpful in giving your delegates the basic information about the nations they’re representing.

  • United Nations: The United Nations offers phenomenal resources for advisors on how to teach Model United Nations and prepare delegates. This also includes detailed information on how to host your own Model UN conference.

For more technical knowledge on parliamentary procedure or position papers, we encourage advisors and delegates to read our Delegate Training Guide. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Secretary-General Jasmine Yazid at naimunsg@modelun.org.