Alma College Model UN team helps organize conference in India

ourmidland.com

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For the third year in a row, Alma College’s Model United Nations team received a U.S. State Department grant to assist in organizing and directing the Presidium-Alma Model UN conference in New Delhi, India.

The conference attracted 350 students from grades eight through 12. For three days, students addressed the world’s most pressing problems, from events in Syria, to climate change, to terrorism and more.

Group “resolutions” that were agreed upon at the conference will be sent to the real United Nations for consideration. This year marked the first time the Presidium conference was endorsed by the United Nations.

Nine Alma College students were in New Delhi from Oct. 10 through Tuesday. They prepared for the conference by writing background guides, completing training sessions and learning how to manage each committee and help students move forward, negotiate and edit solutions.

Alma students began working with the New Delhi conference in 2013 when the State Department became interested in using Model UN to encourage younger Indians to be aware of the larger international arena and make a commitment to being a positive force in the world.

The State Department’s public diplomacy initiative gave the Alma College Model UN team a grant the first year to take seven students to the India conference.

Alma College received the grant again last year and was able to take 23 students. Over the past three years, the State Department has given $100,000 to the Alma College Model UN team to take students to India to work with student committees there.