Baku, 5 April 2019 – The 3^rd National Model United Nations MilliMUN opened in the Azerbaijani capital Baku today, bringing together more than 230 young enthusiasts with strong interest in international diplomacy, conflict resolution and the United Nations values. Over the next four days, young delegates will have a chance to step into the shoes of diplomats and negotiate solutions to real world challenges at the mock United Nations committee hearings. Held every year, the MilliMUN is traditionally organised by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The 3^rd MilliMUN is held in the framework of a two-year project funded by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and implemented by UNDP which was signed last year to help support youth engagement in global policy debates and encourage innovative solutions to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The project also seeks to further promote and advance the Model UN traditions in Azerbaijan, with focus on strengthened youth participation and volunteerism.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Azad Rahimov, hosted the 3^rd MilliMUN with participation of senior officials from the Ministry of Education, Ecology and Natural Resources, Transport, Communications and High Technologies, and by the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs.

Noting an immense importance of Model UN simulation programmes for Azerbaijani youth, Mr. Rahimov told young delegates: “I trust that the knowledge and skills you will gain and further improve during the 3^rd MilliMUN will help you earn confidence and capabilities you need to represent our country and the youth both at the national and international levels no matter where you decide to pursue your career in the future.”

Speaking at the opening ceremony, UNDP Resident Representative a.i., Mr. Alessandro Fracassetti, said: “We are partnering with the government to support its effort to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 SDGs, each of them covering one global challenge of our time, from poverty to quality education, decent work, gender inequalities, environmental pollution and climate change, and many more.”

“In all these areas, —Mr. Fracassetti added addressing the MilliMUN youth delegates — “we can benefit from your ideas and enthusiasm. It is incumbent on all of us to help create more compassionate, inclusive and peaceful societies where No One is Left Behind.”

The 3^rd National Model UN will offer four days of excitement to university students and graduates who will be tasked to assume the role of UN diplomats at the mock General Assembly, UN Security Council and UN committees.  Simulations this year will include a broad range of topics, from a discussion of the political situation in an African country to reducing the gender pay gap for men and men, to transitioning to digital citizenry and measuring the impact of the textile industry on environment.

The first ever Model UN Conference in Azerbaijan was organised by UNDP together with the Ministry back in 2013. In 2014-2016, following the successful cooperation between UNDP and Government of Azerbaijan, a new project was launched aiming to create the national platform for the Model United Nations –MilliMUN. The year 2016 saw the first edition of the national chapter of the Model UN, followed by the second MilliMUN in 2017.

The result of all these joint efforts was that over years, Azerbaijan saw three national Model UN Conferences, a MUN Conference in Nakhchivan, two Model UN Summer Schools in Ismayilli and Dashkesan, while UNDP and the Ministry of Youth and Sports also supported an impressive array of university-level MUN conferences led by enthusiastic youth groups at various MUN Clubs. Earlier in 2018, the new project also launched the first ever cohort of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Youth Ambassadors in Azerbaijan, each representing one global goal. The SDGs Youth Ambassadors will support the work of the state institutions involved with the SDGs, assist in spreading information about actions taken at the local, national, and international levels and will contribute to the preparations of national reports on SDG implementation.

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Contact information:

For media inquiries, please contact Arzu Jafarli, Communications and External Relations Analyst for UNDP in Azerbaijan at arzu.jafarli@undp.org