Unaisah Quazi, Nuralhoda Elsaid and Karin Farag
Karin Farag and Unaisah Quazi, both seniors from County Prep High School in Jersey City had their heads down and were reviewing their notes. They were about to represent the Dominican Republic on the Commission on the Status of Women committee. The topics they planned to discuss were “The Practicing of Sharia Law in the West” and “Review of the 1984 World Population Plan of Action.” They had spent the past few months reading articles on their position and planned to convince the other delegates to make decisions in their country’s favor at Saint Peter’s High School Model United Nations (HSMUN).
This year’s HSMUN, organized by the Guarini Institute for Government and Leadership and Michael Verile ’19, secretary general, was the most successful to date. Nearly 500 participants from 27 high schools represented 32 nations at the event, which provides a forum where students simulate actual United Nations operations. Students take the roles of ambassadors from their assigned countries and debate important issues such as vaccination, militarization and sustainability. Students receive hands-on experiential learning in diplomacy and international relations. This global movement engages over 400,000 from around the world every year.
“Model U.N. is great experience because you get to learn about the points-of-view of different nations. We get to discuss a lot of topics that you might not think about on a daily basis,” said Farag.
The event serves to start a conversation between students about world issues.
“How many of you have a mobile phone? These things are great. I love mine. I can use it to get work done, to connect with people, to read and learn—but what you will do today will be even more powerful than what you can do with a tool like this. You will have the opportunity to talk live, in-person and face-to-face about some of the most important issues on our planet. You will have the opportunity to share your research, thoughts and ideas and take in the research, thoughts and ideas of your fellow delegates. That is how things really get done. That is really powerful,” said Ginger Gold Schnitzer, executive director of the Guarini Institute for Government and Leadership.
The main goal of the event is to open up dialogue between students about different world issues. Saint Peter’s University aims to educate and engage future world leaders who come to the event prepared to defend their country on a variety of issues.
“I researched the laws from my assigned country, and then I critically thought about how I can back them up and how it can involve other countries who don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye,” said Nuralhoda Elsaid, a junior from Rising Star Academy. “It forces you to come up with a way to compromise to make sure everyone is happy. It raises your awareness about real topics in the world.”
The high school students were assigned a committee; each committee had two topics of discussion. The committees were led by Saint Peter’s University student chairs Nadia Rashid ’22, Khawlah (Lulu) Nazzal ’20, Kevin Pardo ’21, Jesse Resurreccion ’22, Ibelmis Minaya ’21, Ripunjay Singh ’21, Desiree Armas ’21, Gineen Abuali ’20 and Gail Steward ’21.
“Model United Nations has always been an important event for me. I have been participating since high school, and now in college, getting the opportunity to be a chair, not only allowed me to show my concern about the issues of the world, but also direct other people towards the right decisions,” said Singh, chair of the Security Council of the United Nations committee.
After the committees met, the students were able to hear from Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, permanent representative of Peru to the United Nations. Meza-Cuadra is a career diplomat with 30 years in Peru’s Foreign Service. He represents Peru before the Security Council (term 2018-2019), chaired by him in April and presides the Counter-Terrorism Committee. He held various positions in the Foreign Ministry and his service overseas included postings at the United Kingdom, France and the United States. He holds a master’s degree in international public policy from Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., a Master of Arts in diplomacy and international organization management from the University of Paris and a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from the Diplomatic Academy of Peru.
Meza-Cuadra spoke about his time in the United Nations and candidly answered questions from students including general advice for going into politics.
“This [High School Model U.N.] is the best thing you can do. It gives you the opportunity to exchange ideas from all different people. In politics, you have to negotiate with those that have completely different backgrounds and beliefs than yourself,” said Meza-Cuadra.
The experience at HSMUN allows Saint Peter’s University students to mentor those who will become influential thinkers, while at the same time developing their own skills and making connections with important thought-leaders in New Jersey and beyond. The high school students receive mentorship and are encouraged to share ideas face-to-face through in-depth conversations about real-world issues. Overall, the event encourages real-life discussions about important topics.
For more information about upcoming Guarini events, click here.
