The Harvard International Relations Council(HIRC) is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote awareness of international relations based out of Harvard University. As several semi-independent but centrally funded programs, the IRC focuses on a number of different outreach areas in an attempt to engage and inform people on international issues and policy-making. Programs within the IRC include:
Harvard Intercollegiate Model United Nations (ICMUN)
Harvard International Review (HIR)
Harvard Program in International Education (HPIE)
Harvard International Relations on Campus (IRoC)
Model Security Council (MSC)
The IRC is also the largest student organization at Harvard College, and the largest student nonprofit a registered 501(c)(3)[1] The organization is run entirely by undergraduate students, and it is an affiliated non-governmental organization with the United Nations Department of Public Information.[2]
Leadership
The IRC leadership is divided between a board of directors and IRC Central. The board of directors is a group of members that collectively oversee the 6 individual programs and manage the direction of the organization. Members include one program head from each of the six individual programs and a number of elected members by the IRC body. The board of directors then vote on the appointment of the IRC President.
IRC Central Staff is chosen by the IRC board of directors and hold their corporate position until the election of a new board of directors. These officers head operations that allow to promote international education and social impact, to manage its programs in a financially sound and sustainable manner, and to maintain its status as a non-profit corporation and an accredited NGO.
Harvard Model United Nations
Harvard Model United Nations (HMUN) is one of the oldest Model United Nations simulations in the world having been founded in 1953 when the Harvard student group that had been simulating the League of Nations since the 1920s decided to start a new simulation to reflect the new organization that had been established at the end of World War II.[3][4] Every year, students from around the world attend the conference, which is currently held at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The next session of Harvard Model United Nations will be the seventy-first session, and it will be held from January 25th to January 28th, 2024. Due to conference expansion, HMUN 2024 will be the largest conference in its storied history, with over 4,000 participants in attendance. As such, the conference will also hold committee sessions at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.
Like many Model United Nations simulations, HMUN offers committees in four main categories:
Specialized Agencies (SA), which include unique standing committees like the Security Council and also include crisis committees (centered around a developing crisis) and the Press Corps.
Delegates may be tasked to represent countries or role-play famous individuals and cabinet members, and must work to solve problems through debate and compromise to achieve policy-making goals while still representing the interests of their assigned role.
Staff
The HMUN 2024 conference has a staff of over 200 Harvard undergraduates.
Staff members are organized into three groups: the Secretariat, the Senior Staff, and the Junior Staff.[5]
Secretariat
The Secretariat consists of the top-level officers of Harvard Model United Nations who oversee all branches and activities of the conference.
There are ten Secretariat members: the Secretary-General, who is responsible for the conference as a whole, the Director-General, who is the administrative head of the conference, the Comptroller, who is responsible for conference finances, and seven Under-Secretaries-General in the various branches of the conference: Administration, Business, Operations, and the four Substantive organs which include the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Regional Bodies, and the Specialized Agencies. The DG, Comptroller, Administration, Operations, and Business organs comprise the executive organs.
The Secretary-General is elected annually in March by the Board of Directors of the International Relations Council and the outgoing staff of the previous conference. He or she is traditionally a member of the past year's Secretariat, along with the Director-General. The remaining Secretariat members are appointed by the Secretary-General in coordination with the Secretary-General of HNMUN. For HMUN 2025, Calvin Osborne will serve as Secretary-General and Nicholas Yang will serve as Director-General.[6]
Senior Staff
The senior staff, like the secretariat, includes both executive and substantive staffers.
On the executive side, senior staff are the direct deputies of their respective USG. Each organ has several senior staff filling various responsibilities:
Director-General Organ:
Deputy-Director-General: General assistant to the DG on hotel and tech-related issues. Officially in charge of the conference when the Secretariat is in meetings or otherwise unavailable.
Senior Director of Security: Manages security staff and operations.
Director of Technology: Manages computer labs and provides technical support.
Director of Special Projects: Occasionally appointed to work on long term conference-related projects.
The Administration organ has several directors of administration who are the immediate assistants to the USG and who respond to questions about the conference and manage conference registration, and the business organ similarly has several directors of business, responsible for ad sales and conference amenities like catering. The comptroller organ has two assistant comptrollers.
On the Substantive side, senior staff consists of committee directors, who are the substantive authorities for each committee and prepare the study guides that serve as the foundational documents for delegate preparation, and crisis directors, who coordinate crisis scenarios on continual crisis committees.
The Operations organ includes Technology directors, Directors of crisis and Multimedia who handle presentations, and Directors of Substantive support.
Junior Staff
Again, junior staff vary from organ to organ, and can be split into executive and substantive staffers.
On the executive side, each organ has specialized assistant directors (ADs):
the DG organ has several ADs of security,
the administration organ has several ADs of Administration,
the business organ has several ADs of Business,
and each of these ADs assist their respective senior staff and USG with their duties.
On the Substantive side:
moderators moderate debate and enforce the rules of procedure, and
assistant directors prepare supplemental research and assist committee directors with running each committee
The Substantive support organ has similar assistants to the committee directors.
Awards
Like most Model UN conferences, HMUN recognizes exceptional delegates and schools with awards at the end of the conference. Awards are given to the delegates who demonstrate strong preparation, excellent speaking skills, adherence to national policy, and exceptional abilities of compromise and negotiation, and they are awarded by the directors of each committee. The number of awards on a committee varies by size, but each committee gives out at least one of each of the following awards:
Best Delegate
Outstanding Delegate
Honorable Mention
Diplomatic Commendation
Unlike many conferences, HMUN does give Verbal Commendations.
Based on the number of delegates receiving awards, awards are then given to the delegations that represent the best collection of delegates.
Harvard National Model United Nations
Harvard National Model United Nations logo
Harvard National Model United Nations or HNMUN is the longest running college-level Model United Nations simulation in the world and among the largest in the United States.[7] HNMUN is an annual four-day event held in February, composed of three thousand university students of which half tend to be international students,[8] often from over 40 countries.[9] The conference is held every year at the Boston Park Plaza.[10]
Awards are conferred upon individual delegates in their respective committees and to delegations in the categories of best small, best large, and best international delegation.[11]
In 2012, a regional HNMUN was established, Harvard National Model United Nations - Latin America, held in a similar fashion as Harvard World Model United Nations.
There are three levels to the HNMUN staff structure: the Secretariat (consisting of the Director-General and the Under Secretaries General), which is led by the Secretary-General; the Senior Staff (consisting of Directors); and the Junior Staff (consisting of assistant directors).[13]
Senior and Junior staff is split into two branches: an executive branch and a substantive branch. The executive branch takes care of the Administrative, Business, Finance, and Operations side of the conference. The substantive branch creates the delegates' committee experience, and is divided into the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and Regional Bodies, and the Specialized Agencies.
Secretariat
As with HMUN, the Secretariat oversees the administration of the conference. The Secretary-General is similarly elected, and appoints his or her Secretariat in coordination with the Secretary-General of HMUN. There are nine secretariat members: the Secretary-General, who is responsible for the conference as a whole, the Director-General, who is the administrative head of the conference, and seven Under-Secretaries-General in the various branches of the conference:[14] administration, business, finance, and operations, and the three substantive organs, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council & Regional Bodies, and the Specialized Agencies. [15]
Staff Selection
HNMUN staff is made entirely of Harvard undergraduate students. The staff selection process for one year's HNMUN conference begins immediately following the previous year's conference. First, the Secretary-General for the next conference is elected by the experienced staff members of HNMUN and HMUN. The candidates for Secretary-General are generally members of the past year's Secretariat. Once the Secretary-General has been elected, former members of the HNMUN Senior Staff apply for Secretariat positions. After Secretariat has been chosen in late March, members of the former Junior Staff are welcome to apply for about 80 Senior Staff positions. Junior Staff (assistant directors and Committee Moderators) is then selected in the fall. Both Senior and Junior Staff are chosen by the Secretariat after a lengthy application and interview process. By late fall, the conference's staff is complete. The full staff reaches well over 200 students.
Committee Structure
Model UNs follow the general structure of the UN but for logistical and educational reasons, the structure differs somewhat. HNMUN's structure is similar to most Model UNs but there are a few important differences.
Only one resolution may be passed on each topic. This is meant to stress consensus and compromise between delegates. This is achieved by the fact that:
Resolutions cannot be sponsored
There are no "friendly" or "hostile" amendments, as there are no sponsors with whom to confer
HMUN China
In March 2010, with the help of WELAND International, HMUN brought a chapter of its conference to Beijing for the first run of HMUN China with 13 committees and over 1,000 delegates.
In 2011, HMUN China moved to Shanghai. For 2012, HMUN China returned to Beijing, hosted in the Beijing International Convention Center, with 15 committees and over 1,000 delegates.
In 2013, HMUN China moved across town to the Crowne Plaza Sun Palace, increasing the conference to 16 committees for 1,300 delegates. The conference brought in students from over 27 countries to participate in four days of debate. The 2013 session increased the number and diversity of its committees, running 5 Specialized Agencies and a range of present-day and historical Regional Bodies, including simulations of the Global Health Cluster, the Pakatan Rakyat, and the 1814 Congress of Vienna.[16]
Since 2015, HMUN has co-hosted with Alpha Partners Education. The 2016 session was held March 17–20 in Beijing.[17]
In August 2011, over 1250 delegates from across India and some other countries (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, etc.) took part in the first HMUN India session, which took place at World Trade Centre, Mumbai, India.
HMUN India 2012 - The Second Session
The second session of HMUN India took place at the Hyderabad International Convention Center in Hyderabad, India from the 16 to 19 August 2012. This was co-hosted by MUN Cafe- a brand of Worldview Education Services. HMUN India 2012 had over 900 delegates from 110 schools across 24 cities in over 15 countries. Karachi Grammar School, Pakistan was declared the Best Large Delegation at the conference.
HMUN India 2013 - The Third Session
The third session of HMUN India was recently held again at The Hyderabad International Convention Center from the 15th to 18 August. This was co-hosted yet again with MUN Cafe. The conference witnessed participation of over 1200 students from across 28 cities in 8 countries. The highlights of the 3rd session included the Speaker Series with an elite panel of speakers including the Key Note at the Opening Ceremony delivered by Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Nobel Peace Prize winner- 2007- The UN Inter-governmental panel on Climate Change. Karachi Grammar School, Pakistan retained its title as the Best Large Delegation at the conference.
HMUN India 2014 onwards
The fourth Session of HMUN was yet again held at the Hyderabad International Convention Center and co-hosted by Worldview Education. The conference saw a greater participation compared to its last session. This time the organizing committee experimented with something they called the Morning Plenary every morning for an hour wherein they re-capped what had been done the day before and showcased some of the entries for the HMUN India IMPACT awards - Videos of NGOs and groups working towards the accomplishment of the Millennium Development goals.
The Special Application committees in this session included
Harvard Intercollegiate Model United Nations (ICMUN) is Harvard University's traveling, competitive Model UN team. The team is composed of about 60 Harvard undergraduates who attend conferences across the United States throughout the academic year. In the past, the team was headed by a pair of head delegates usually elected to the position during the second semester of their sophomore year, but In 2019 the leadership structure changed to allow four head delegates who jointly manage the ICMUN program. The four head delegates serving for the 2024-2025 season are Liana McGhee, Omar Darwish, Alice Yang, and Daniel Ennis.
Harvard ICMUN has consistently ranked well among Model UN teams in the United States over the past several years.
Harvard International Review
The Harvard International Review is a quarterly journal and website of international relations published by the Harvard International Relations Council at Harvard University. The HIR offers commentary on global developments in politics, economics, business, science, technology, and culture, as well as interviews with prominent global leaders and reviews of books and documentaries. Founded in 1979 to "cover that middle ground between academic scholarship and journalism", the HIR is a widely distributed journal across the United States and around the world in more than 60 countries, boasting a readership of over 30,000. According to its mission statement, "The HIR features underappreciated topics in the international affairs discourse and underappreciated perspectives on more widely discussed topics. The HIR aims to serve as a trend-setter among similar publications by directing rather than following the public's attention."
The magazine is composed of the following sections: Features, Perspectives, Spotlight, World in Review, Global Notebook, Interview, Endpaper, and Correspondence. The website features exclusive content and active blogs on current events.
IRoC is the IRC branch that coordinates all of the IRC's on-campus outreach. IRoC builds links among undergraduates, Harvard's Weatherhead Center, and Harvard professors and fellows. IRoC conducts dinner discussions, study groups, and special events, and is responsible for putting on IR Week every Spring.
IRoC is currently led by Co-presidents Emma de Jong and Alexandra Oikonomou.
Harvard Program for International Education
The Harvard Program for International Education (HPIE) is a public service program run and staffed by Harvard undergraduates passionate about international relations. HPIE seeks to promote international awareness and education in today's youth. HPIE tutors teach from a standardized curriculum that they develop on-campus and distribute to students on-site. HPIE tutors go through the curriculum, which incorporates useful skills students can use in their other studies, over the course of eight sessions, with one class period each week. Previous curricula have included topics in immigration, nation-building, and the politics of clean water. Curricula culminate in a short conference that brings students together for HPIE Day, an exciting day of debate on the Harvard campus. HPIE Day allows students to demonstrate what their acquired skills.
Model Security Council
Model Security Council (MSC) is the organization in charge of student recruitment for all IRC programs. Though individual programs conduct their own recruitment and outreach events, MSC conducts IRC-wide promotion for all programs and communication with the incoming class of new students every year. It is in charge of running a series of events during the "Visitas" weekend at the end of April where admitted Harvard students can come to explore the campus in Cambridge, MA. MSC also refers to the one-day conference that the organization runs during the first week on September geared towards incoming Harvard freshmen but open and welcoming to all new members which includes a Model UN simulation and workshops about IRC programs. The conference gives participants a taste of the competitive and staffing sides of Model UN and an introduction to the business, technology, education, and debate opportunities available in the IRC. The conference is preceded by a Welcome Week that exposes incoming freshmen to the opportunities and events offered by the IRC, and has a special emphasis on creating communities for freshmen in many of their first years away from home.
The co-presidents of MSC are elected by the IRC board of directors and serve a one-year term where they manage the full-cycle recruitment of first-year students from "Visitas" to MSC proper. The organization divides itself into Administration, Business, Programs, Communication, and Mentorship divisions.
Model Security Council 2024 is currently led Co-presidents Victor Bowker and Lucia Gallo.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. The office was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 1993 in the wake of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights.
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 78th session, its powers, composition, functions, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and integration among its member states.
Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational model of the United Nations used for simulations in which students learn about diplomacy and international relations. At a MUN conference, each student works as the representative of a country, organization, or person, and must solve a problem with other delegates from around the world.
The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the United Nations. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the Secretariat, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Trusteeship Council.
The United Nations Secretariat is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the agenda for the deliberative and decision-making bodies of the UN, and the implementation of the decision of these bodies. The secretary-general, who is appointed by the General Assembly, is the head of the secretariat.
The United Nations System consists of the United Nations' six principal bodies, the Specialized Agencies and related organizations. The UN System includes subsidiary bodies such as the separately administered funds and programmes, research and training institutes, and other subsidiary entities. Some of these organizations predate the founding of the United Nations in 1945 and were inherited after the dissolution of the League of Nations.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing gender parity among legislatures, empowering youth participation in politics, and sustainable development.
YMCA Youth and Government (YaG), also known as Youth In Government, or Model Legislature and Court, is a program of the YMCA of the USA that allows middle and high school students to serve in model governments at the local, state, national, and international levels.
United Netherlands (UNL) is an educational student-led organization that focuses on the theory and practice of international relations and diplomacy. It is based at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
The Harvard World Model United Nations (WorldMUN) is an annual traveling model United Nations conference that is run by Harvard University and a local university team from a host city. WorldMUN moves to a new city each year and is regarded as one of the most prestigious international MUN conferences today. The Conference was first held in 1992. The Conference targets college students from all over the world who have a passion and interest to become a diplomat in the future.
The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is a United Nations intergovernmental advisory body of both the General Assembly and the Security Council that supports peace efforts in conflict affected countries. A key addition to the capacity of the international community in the broad peace agenda, it was established in 2005 with the passage of both A/RES/60/180 and S/RES/1645 Mr. Ivan Šimonović (Croatia) is the incumbent chair of PBC.
The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, California, United States. At this convention, the delegates reviewed and rewrote the Dumbarton Oaks agreements of the previous year. The convention resulted in the creation of the United Nations Charter, which was opened for signature on 26 June, the last day of the conference. The conference was held at various locations, primarily the War Memorial Opera House, with the Charter being signed on 26 June at the Herbst Theatre in the Veterans Building, part of the Civic Center. A square adjacent to the Civic Center, called "UN Plaza", commemorates the conference.
Model Arab League is an educational simulation in which students learn about diplomacy and international relations through debates in multi-regional model competitions, competing as representatives from the Member States of the Arab League. MAL was established in 1983 by The National Council on US - Arab Relations as a Youth Leadership Development Program.
The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs, part of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan to reform the UN as presented in his report to the General Assembly in July 1997.
Yale Model Government Europe (YMGE) is a constituent program of the Yale International Relations Association (YIRA) at Yale University. Founded in 2010 under the auspices of the YIRA Independent Initiatives Program, YMGE is now a registered civic organization in the Czech Republic. The inaugural conference, YMGE 2011, took place in November 2011 in Prague hosting delegates from around the world. The second annual YMGE in 2012 drew 300 students from 25 countries spanning four continents. From 2013 onwards, YMGE has been hosted in Budapest, Hungary, and has now risen to about 375 attending delegates each year. Beginning in 2019, YMGE has relocated to Lisbon, Portugal, where it has expanded its attendance to include delegates from across the globe.
Moscow International Model United Nations (MIMUN) is a Model UN in Russia, conducted annually in Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO – University). It is a combination of a scientific conference and a role play, where university and high school students simulate the work of different UN bodies in several United Nations official languages.
Model United Nations is a popular extracurricular activity for middle school, high school, and college students in the United States. The U.S. was where Model UN originated and was popularized, and is also where many of the world's most respected conferences are held. The U.S. has several regional centers of Model UN, each with its own distinct style.
Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (MUNUC) is a high school Model UN conference hosted by the University of Chicago in downtown Chicago, Illinois.
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