UC3MMUN 2015

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) has for the fifth consecutive year hosted UC3MUN, the largest model United Nations in the Madrid Region.  The event took place during the first week of March and was organized by the United Nations and International Law Association (Anudi) of this institution, with support from the Vice Chancellor of International Relations of the University.

Between March 3 and 6, UC3MUN drew more than 300 students from a dozen different countries to the Getafe campus, according to organizational data.  The event, in the words of  its organizers, is “an international experience based on diplomatic activity, which is held in the different committees of the United Nations Organization.” During these events, participants represent diverse countries and defend their interests in this simulation.

Greece, Italy and Morocco are some of the countries of origin forming part of the UC3MUN.  Participation has grown by more than 30 percent in comparison with last year’s event.  Accordingly, students from diverse international institutions took part, coming from the University of Maastricht (the Netherlands), the University of Mannheim (Germany), etc., as well as the Universidad Complutense de Madrid  and the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain.

An up-close look at diplomacy

One of these students is Margarita Kotti. A product of the University of Athens, and a member of the organizing committee for this event, she is an example “of how our Model is increasingly international”, the organization asserted. According to Kotti, the attractiveness of UC3MUN  lies in the fact that it  “is an experience that joins people from different countries who have the same purpose:  to simulate to what happens in the UN institutions, embark upon relations  within this context, and offer an up-close view of international diplomacy. ”
The secretary general of this model United Nations, Alba Gavaliugov, highlighted that forming part of the of  UC3MUN foments integration of international students as well as serving to perfect one’s English.   “It is an opportunity to live the diplomacy experience,” she emphasized.

The “added value” of this year’s event derived from the participation of several experts in this area: the diplomat, Inocencio Arias; the international journalist, Anna Bosch; member of the UN International Rights Commission, Concepción Escobar; and the head of the UNESCO UC3M Chair, Alicia Cebada. In the opening ceremony, Emilio Pérez de Ágreda, the deputy director of the School of Diplomacy in Spain, and diplomatic representatives from countries such as Cuba, Malaysia, Palestine, Pakistan and Switzerland were also among the participants.

UC3MUN official page: http://www.anudi.org/#!uc3mun/c1ylq
Link to  Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eventosuc3m/sets/72157651214731326/