Understanding the United Nations is key to modelling it. These resources introduce delegates of all skill and experience levels to major themes and ideas in global governance and international relations.
Lesson: Introduce key concepts in international relations and the UN as a story so students understand how they are interconnected
Foundations of the UN
- History: WWI, League of Nations, WWII
- UN Charter: purposes and principles, mandates
- Concept of sovereignty
- Binding vs. Non-Binding
- UN is not a world government (Member States have power)
Treaties, conventions, resolutions = international law The UN System Today
- 193 Member States: universality and equality + ○ Interesting facts: offices, languages
- 5 Stages of UN Decision-Making: Debate, Negotiation, Action, Implementation, and Reporting
- Decisions made by: Consensus vs. unanimous vs. majority vs. veto
- 6 UN Organs: GA, ECOSOC, ICJ, Trusteeship, Secretariat, SC
- Many UN Agencies
- Security: sovereignty vs. R2P, enforcement mechanisms Answer any remaining questions about the United nations the class has.
Activity: Split the class into 3-6 groups, and play a round of “UN Jeopardy” to check for understanding. Whichever team raises their hand first gets the first chance the answer the question. Correct answers win the points associated with the question, however incorrect answers get subtracted from a team score.
United Nations Presentations
Understanding the United Nations (Locked)
Worksheets
UN Purposes and Principles Worksheet (Locked)