The United Nations – A Brief History

After the horrors of WWI, United States president Woodrow Wilson sought to create an institution where nations from all over the world would come together to resolve issues, disputes, and problems they might have against one another in order to prevent another war.  Although these many countries signed on to what came to be called The League of Nations, the institution was ineffective and failed to achieve its goals.  In 1945, after WWII, the nations of the world tried once again to unite to promote international peace. Members from fifty nations met in San Francisco, California on the 25th of April 1945 to create the United Nations Charter.  This charter was signed the 26th of June 1945.  On October 24 of that year the United Nations was officially formed, with the ratification of the charter.  Currently the United Nations is headquartered in New York City, USA and involves several committees which have expanded its goals for the improvement of the world.  There are 192 United Nations member states.  The United Nations is financed by the member states themselves based on calculated as well as voluntary contributions. There are six official languages of the United Nations: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic.

Differences between SALMUN and Other MUN Conferences

SALMUN consists of a different approach than most Model United Nations conferences.  Though the objective of discussing in order to find solutions to our global issues is not altered, the structure of caucuses instead of traditional UN committees and even some of the ways of debating is.
PASB MUN directors and caucus leaders, for ten years, have agreed to divide caucuses according to region, rather than dividing them in ECOSOC, Political Committee, Human Rights Council and other UN committees.  Our model consists of caucuses representing Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and two other Special Committees: the Security Council and the UNHCR (High Commission for Refugees).  Even though we are aware that this is not the way the real United Nations functions, our Model has worked tremendously well and has encouraged us to maintain this unique format.  The benefit of separating countries by regional caucuses is that debate can be held on different issues of concern to the same region.  For instance, in one caucus, delegates will be able to debate resolutions concerning politics, human rights, environmental issues and more, instead of focusing on one of these topic areas.   This works especially well since PASB incorporates MUN into our English and Social Studies curriculum. Having a variety of resolutions stimulates delegates to know more about diverse topics and teaches them how to approach this in caucuses—in short, our delegates are able to understand a broader spectrum of global politics. 
Besides caucuses, our conference also has a more in-depth General Assembly than many conferences.  Resolutions approved in caucuses are passed on to the GA, where, similar to the actual UN, all countries are present and vote.  Different from some other UN simulations, PASB has organized a schedule of 2 days of caucus debates and 2 days of General Assembly.  By doing this, we allow for more students to speak during GA given that we try to cover resolutions from different regional caucuses, providing students with equal opportunities to debate.
We start caucuses by giving delegates time to lobby, which consists of talking to other countries, finding allies and merging resolutions.  After this time, caucus Chairs and co-Chairs reinstate order and the moderated debate begins.   The Chair calls upon the first submitter/submitters to request for the floor in order to present their persuasive speech as well as to read the operative clauses of their resolution.  When the speaker is done, he/she can be open to points of information or not.  Chairs are told to strongly encourage the delegates to make use of the right to reply in order to further explain the resolution and clear up any doubts.
As soon as the speaker has finished answering the points of information, the chair will open time of debate in favor or against the resolution. During this time, delegates can request for the flow in order to express their country’s opinions regarding the resolution at hand.  When the delegate is finished with his/her statement, the Chair will ask if he/she is open to points of information.  A debate is flowing, amendments to the resolution can be submitted to the Chair.  If the Chairperson validates the amendment, he/she will call upon the submitter to ask for the floor in order to address the amendment to the committee.  When the discussion regarding the amendment is over, the house will move into voting procedures for the amendment and then for the resolution.
Topics are chosen by delegates with the help and guidance of caucus leaders.  We believe that this inspires delegates to research and to write resolutions on issues of interest to them.  Visiting delegations will, with some exceptions, be writing resolution on these 5 or 6 topics, which will later on be merged in the unmoderated caucus time for lobbying.  Normally, there are 5 or 6 topics per caucus. Even though there are more countries.  Once countries are given to students, they immediately need to register on our SALMUN online discussion forum. 
Please go to the forum.  There you will find instructions on how to register: http://salmun2009.forumbrasil.net or go to pg 8 of the SALMUN handbook.  This forum is a source of aid for delegates. There they can talk to Chairs, begin debating controversial issues and exchange information for discussions.  If you have any further questions regarding the above or about how our model is different, the forum is the right place to address those.

Sincerely,

Beatriz Martinelli
SALMUN 2009 Secretary General