What is Model United Nations (MUN)?

Model United Nations was founded as an educational organisation based on a simulation of the United Nations international system. It has been in existence as long as the UN itself, and in its former incarnation was known as the Model League of Nations. It involves universities and high schools from all over the world and motivates students to become involved in recent international issues and get familiar with the structure of the United Nations.

How does it work?

Students from high schools all over the world come together at Model United Nations Conferences to find out about the mechanisms, opportunities and limitations of such an organisation. Delegations from different high schools represent one country each. No delegation shall represent its own country, but rather adopt a different country's views and beliefs for a couple of days. That also means that from time to time one has to represent beliefs that are not one's own, examine their background, reasons and get familiar with them.

 

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Each delegate sits in a committee that also exists in the real United Nations; topics under debate are chosen to reflect the current discussions in that committee. The whole working process of the committee is simulated including the setting of the agenda, the informal debate, the formal debate in session, the drafting of resolutions and the passing of resolutions in a voting procedure. During the formal debate the positions of each state will be laid out, whereas in the informal debates the heavy negotiations between delegates concerning details take place. The ultimate goal of a Model United Nations is to write a resolution that is accepted by the committee (by simple majority in most cases, but by special rules in the Security Council) and tackles the problems presented to the committee.

 

 

 

 

What are the benefits of Model United Nations Conferences?

Participants of MUN Conferences can:

 

More general/personal benefits for them is that they can:

What is KarMUN?

KarMUN is a Model United Nations conference that is hosted by the Karinthy Frigyes Bilingual Secondary School (Gimnázium) Budapest each year, started in 2005. The school has offered the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme since 1992, so a major international event is not alien to them at all. Key topics of the conferences have been e.g.: ”Children”, ”Tolerance”, ”Education” and ”World Economic Crisis”.

 


KarMUN 2011..

10-12th March

 
Opening ceremony of the KarMUN 2011 Conference in the Assembly Hall of the House of Lords of the Parliament Building


(from left) Dr. Karátson, Dávid keynote speaker, Mr. Hutai, László Head Teacher, Mr. Kucsák, László Member of Parliament, Deputy Mayor of the XVIII. district of Budapest; and Dr. Bognár, Anikó Deputy Head Teacher


Mr. Kucsák, László Member of Parliament, Deputy Mayor of the XVIII. district of Budapest is welcoming the participants with Ms. Missori, Norina acting as interpreter.


Mr. Mark Canning Head of Department of the Embassy of the USA is delivering his key-note speech.


Dr. Karátson, Dávid, Head of Department of the Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest is delivering his key-note speech.


r. Széles, Tamás - President of the General Assembly; Ms. Jelencsik, Kitty - Secretary General of KarMUN and Ms. Tóth, Alíz - Vice Secretary General of KarMUN  on the pulpit


Students working in committees


Worinkg hard up to the last minute


Closing assembly in the assembly hall of the school.


Plenary of the closing assembly


KarMUN 2010..

12-14th March


Opening ceremony of the KarMUN 2010 Conference in the Assembly Hall of the House of Lords of the Parliament Building (from left: Mr. Hutai, László Headtecher of KFG; Mrs. Mogyorósiné Dr. Pécsi, Ildikó Chair of theEducational and Cultural Committee of the XVIII. District of Budapest; Dr. Mester, László Member of Parliament, mayor of the XVIII. district of Budapest; Dr. Bognár, Anikó Deputy Head of KFG; Professor Medgyes, Péter, Ambassador, keynote speaker of the General Assembly of KarMUN; Mr. Weston, Steven, Head of the Economic Section of the Embassy of the USA in Budapest, keynote speaker)



Ms. Anna Csíky with Mr. Steve Weston, the Head of the Economis Section at the US Embassy  in Budapest, one of the keynote speakers of the General Assembly of KarMUN  and Mr. Stephen Graham, teacher from the American International School of Zagreb.



The General Assembly



Ms. Szobolits, Andrea member of staff of the High Commissioner of the United Nations in the Economical and Social Council in KFG



Haruhiko Tanaka, professor emeritus of University of Hirosima, Japan giving a talk in the Environmental Committee 



Ambassador André Erdős speaker in the Disarmament Committee



Working in the committees





Closing session of the KarMUN 2010 Conference

participants:

students:                                       407 (17 only hosts)  

from Karinthy:                            197     

from abroad:                               148 (43 from international schools)

            from other Hungarian schools:       62

 

Teachers:                                          43 

from Karinthy                               13

from schools in Hungary               7

from international schools:               7

from schools outside Hungary:      16

 

schools:                                          19 

Hungarian:                                   6

international:                                5

outside Hungary:                         8

 

Foreign PARTICIPANTS: from    9 countries:

Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, UK, USA and students in international schools from several other countries

  

SPEAKERS:

     WELCOME SPEECHES IN THE OPENING CEREMONY IN THE UPPER HOUSE OF THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING

·   Dr. Mester, László    Member of Parliament for the district of the  Gimnázium and  Mayor of the Budapest XVIIIth District                       Municipality

·  Mr. Széles, Tamás    President of the General Assembly of Kar-M.U.N.

·  Mr. Hutai, László Principal of Karinthy Frigyes Gimnázium

   

    Key-note speakers:

·        professor Medgyes, Péter,  ex-ambassador: “Public speaking, education and a non-member state” with Q&A session

·        Mr. Weston, Steven, head of the Economic Section at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest: “After the Economic and Financial Crisis:                        Recovery and Reform” with Q&A session

 
·        Ms. Demeter, Adrienn, Secretary General of Kar-M.U.N. and MS. Jelencsik, Kitti, Deputy Secretary General of                                  Kar-M.U.N.

 

 SEssions:

Crisis Committee:

Mr. Poór, István, teacher at KFG

 

Disarmament Committee:

Mr. Erdős, André, ex-ambassador to the UN

 

Economical and Social Council:

Ms. Szobolits, Andrea, representing the High Commissioner of the United Nations,


Environmental Committee:

Mr. Haruhiko Tanaka, professor emeritus of the University of Hirosima

 

Human Rights Council:

Mr. Taylor, Jon, teacher at the British International School Budapest 

Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee:

Dr. Uwe Pohl , Head of the English Language Pedagogy Department at the ELTE University of Budapest

 

Special Conference:

Mr. Marton, Péter, teacher at the Corvinus University of Budapest


KarMUN 2009
The opening ceremony in the Upper House Hall of the Building of the Parliament
5th of March

 


Mr. Mandur, László Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly with Liptai, Dorottya student of KFG as interpreter

 


Participants of the General Assembly of KarMUN in the Upper House Hall of the Parliament Building.

 


(from left) The Vice Secretary General of KarMUN - Kósa, Krisztina; the President of the General Assembly - Bezeczky, Balázs and Secretary General of KarMUN - Demeter, Adrienn on the pulpit



Mr. Hutai, László, Head teacher of KFG is delivering his speech

 


The Vice Secretary General of KarMUN - Kósa, Krisztina and Secretary General of KarMUN - Demeter, Adrienn prepared and presented a speech together

 


Ms. Martin, Bettina delivering her keynote speech

 


Plenary session in the assembly hall of the Karinthy Frigyes Gimnázium

 


Participants in the General Assembly at KFG

 


Working hard in the committees

Thank You Letters


KarMUN 2008

The Opening Ceremony and Session of the 2008. conference took place in the Upper House Hall of the Hungarian Parliament and was opened by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and the Member of Parliament for the district of the Gimnázium (just like in 2007).


Mr. Mandur, László Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly with Schwégel, Zsófia student of KFG as interpreter


The Secretary General of KarMUN, Boros, Eszter and Vice Secretary, Demeter, Adrienn on the pulpit and the President of the General Assembly, Páll, Orsolya in the chair of the Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament


Dr. Mester, László Member of Parliament for the district of the Gimnázium and Mayor of the Budapest XVIIIth District Municipality is greeting the participants

 

As a special treat, at the end of his speech Dr. Mester asked all the male participants to help him hand over a marzipan rose to every woman there - as it all happened on the 100th anniversary of the international women's day.


The big bustle is not a plot in the Parliament but giving flowers to women - thanks to the kindness of Dr. Mester.

About the participants (cca.):
190 delegates
chairs of committees - 12
teachers - 19
organizers - 20
administrative staff - 50
hosts of foreign students/teachers
More than 190 students from Karinthy participate one way or another.

Guests/participants from the following countries:
Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, the Netherlands, the UK, Vietnam.

 


 

KarMUN 2007

Several foreign students participate from abroad like the neighbouring Serbia to the United States or from Estonia to Lebanon, and several students come from the best Hungarian secondary schools, too - altogether some 200 participants. The Opening Session of the 2007. conference took place in the Upper House Hall of the Hungarian Parliament and was opened by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and the Member of Paliament for the district of the Gimnázium.

 

From left: Hajdúné Giron, Éva (Director of the Education and Sport Office of the Budapest XVIIIth District Municipality),

Dr. Mester, László (Mayor of the Budapest XVIIIth District Municipality and Member of Parliament for the district of the Gimnázium.),

Mandur László (Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly),

Hutai, László (Head of the Karinthy Frigyes Gimnázium),

Dr. Bognár, Anikó (Deputy Head of the Karinthy Frigyes Gimnázium),

Dr. Náthon, István (ex-ambassador of Hungary to the UN)

 

 

 


 

KarMUN 2006

Speakers:

At the Opening Ceremony:

Welcome speech:
- Mr. Sándor Szaniszló - Deputy Mayor of Budapest XVIIIth District, the hosting
municipality of Budapest,

 

Key-note speeches:
- Ambassador Klára Breuer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ms. Andrea Szobolits representing the High Commissioner of the United Nations,

 

Speakers in committees:

- Mr. Márk Fodor - Director of Amnesty International
- Mr. István Lakos - from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Lieutenant Colonel Miklós Szabó - Head of Department of the Ministry of Interior
- Counsellor Dóra Kulauzov - Ministry of Environment and Water
- Mr. Ádám Mészáros - Associate Professor of Szolnok College


Participating students:

- from abroad: 88 students, e.g.: the Czeck Republic, Germany, Poland, the UK, Spain, Serbia-Montenegro

 

General Assembly and debate

Presentations of delegates

 

 


 

 

 

KarMUN 2005

Even from the streets of the district one can see that there is an international conference in the Karinthy Gimnázium

 

 

 

GREETING LETTER TO THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE KAR-M.U.N.
FROM

MR. MOLNÁR, LÁSZLÓ
AMBASSADOR OF HUNGARY TO THE UN

2005.

"IT IS MY GREAT PLEASURE TO WELCOME ALL THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE FIRST MODEL UN PROGRAM EVER ORGANIZED IN HUNGARY. AS THE FORMER AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF MY COUNTRY TO THE UN IN NEW YORK, WHERE I COULD HAVE HAD THE HONOR TO SERVE AND REPRESENT THE INTERESTS OF MY COUNTRY TILL THIS SPRING, IT IS ESPECIALLY GRATIFYING FOR ME TO SEE THAT SO MANY YOUNG REPRESENTATIVES FROM 4 COUNTRIES GATHER IN BUDAPEST, AT THE KARINTHY GIMNAZIUM / HIGH SCHOOL, IN ORDER TO PROMOTE THE IDEALS OF THE UNITED NATIONS.

I AM FULLY CONVINCED THAT THE NEED FOR STRENGTHENING THE PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT BODY OF MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY, I.E. THE UNITED NATIONS, IS OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE TODAY. THE UN IS FACING AN ENORMOUS CHALLENGE THESE DAYS. THIS IS THE YEAR WHEN ALL MEMBER STATES HOPE AND BELIEVE THAT A REAL BREAKTHROUGH COULD AND SHOULD BE ACHIEVED FOR A GENUINE REFORM OF THIS INDISPENSABLE ORGANISATION AND IT IS OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE THAT THE FUTURE GENERATION OF THE NEW POLITICIANS, DIPLOMATS SHALL JOIN IN AND EXPRESS THEIR DEDICATION TO THIS NOBLE GOAL. YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE MODEL UN PROGRAM TODAY IS A CLEAR AND RESOUNDING EXAMPLE OF YOUR READINESS TO TAKE AN ACTIVE PART AND WORK IN THIS DIRECTION IN THE FUTURE AS WELL, IN ORDER TO ENABLE THE UN TO SERVE THE UNIVERSAL GOALS AND INTERESTS OF ALL THE PEOPLES OF OUR WORLD IN A MORE EFFECTIVE MANNER AND WITH A RENEWED CONFIDENCE."

MOLNAR LASZLO
AMBASSADOR TO THE UN

www.karmun.org