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Training workshop: protocols, arguments, regulations

Representatives of the JINR University Centre and International Cooperation Department took part in the Model United Nations training workshop at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) for those interested in simulating the experience of working in a United Nations committee.

Participants prepare documents and statements, hold debates, vote, and adopt final resolutions. The worldwide popular game’s concept is outlined on the UN website. The idea to hold a workshop modelling an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) committee emerged during the collaborative work as part the JINR–RUDN cooperation programmes, resonating well with the university’s students and professors.

The students selected to participate in the Model UN were to choose the country they would like to represent, study the rules and procedures of the model, and explore the topic and agenda of their committee and the stance of the represented country on world issues. While developing the strategy of their delegation, the participants of the game studied the opinions of other countries, created coalitions, learned how to use arguments and communicate with other delegates.

The workshop’s sessions took place over three days, from 3 to 5 March. On the last day, the JINR employees were invited as observers to the simulated IAEA committee on potential nuclear safety threats in the Middle East and South Asia.

The students who represented the countries participating in the committee demonstrated a deep understanding of current world politics, knowledge of protocols and regulations for high-level events, and confident public speaking and debating skills. The final resolution of the model was adopted unanimously.

At the end of the committee’s work, JINR representatives, including a specialist of the Protocol Group of the International Cooperation Department Margarita Khvedelidze and UC Coordinator for Work with the JINR Information Centres Mariya Pilipenko presented certificates to the workshop participants. Addressing the RUDN students, they noted that the topic of nuclear safety is important for JINR, as it has been cooperating with the IAEA for many years. The participation of JINR’s employees as observers in a workshop simulating the mechanisms of international nuclear safety cooperation was especially symbolic, given the Institute’s status as an international intergovernmental organization and the vast positive experience of its interaction with other countries in nuclear physics.

The JINR representatives thanked the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia for the invitation to participate in the event and expressed confidence in further cooperation development.

JINR Press Office