Information for Sponsors
The annual conference of the Model United Nations of Lübeck (MUNOL) is a simulation of the United Nations Organization. It introduces students from all over the world into the goals and challenges of international politics. In order to gain this kind of experience, the participating students act like delegates of United Nations member countries and represent their political interests and positions for the course of the conference.
The idea to simulate international organizations with students has been brought up as early as in the 1920s. At this point in time, simulations of the forerunner of the United Nations, the League of Nations, were already held. By now the idea of Model United Nations (MUNs) has spread all over the world and is carried out with a variety of focuses and target groups.
The Model United Nations of Lübeck is entirely organized by high school students. Business is conducted in English so students from different nationalities are enabled to participate. During the conference week, numerous committees of the United Nations are simulated; one will find the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Human Rights Council as well as other committees.
MUNOL’s Goals
The organizers of MUNOL pursue three main goals:
1. Acquainting the participants with the work of the United Nations and its aims, possibilities and challenges.
2. Advocating international understanding and cultural exchange by bringing young people from all over the world together.
3. Enhancing skills in the English language, particularly in the field of communication in business and political environments.
Participants and Venue
MUNOL aims to attract students from the age of 16. This is one of the fact making our conference unique among other MUNs in Germany since most conferences of this type are held for college students.
In the previous years, participants from Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands and many other European nations took part in the MUNOL congress. Over 450 people are involved in the conference annually.
Since the first conference in 1997 the main venue of the MUNOL has been the Thomas-Mann-Schule (English: “Thomas Mann School”) in Lübeck.
Conference Organization
The Model United Nations of Lübeck is entirely organized by high-school students. The team is reassembled every year as students graduate and responsibilities need to be passed on to future generations. The team’s scope of duties is divided into two main departments. The Conference Management is in charge of administration and organization, while the General Secretariat focuses on subject matters. It compiles the Issues on the Agenda, services guest speakers and trains chairpersons for the committees.
Usually students from the Thomas-Mann-Schule, who have not yet reached the required age for participating as delegates, attend the conference as supportive members who carry out minor administrative tasks. Thereby they are introduced to the operational procedures at MUNOL without bearing the responsibility of a delegate or an Executive Staff member.
The foreign participants are accompanied by teachers who play an active role in preparing and motivating their students. At the conference they serve as MUN Director taking care of proof-reading resolutions in order to ensure their linguistic correctness.
In the year 2003, members of previous organization teams founded the MUNOL Association. The incentive was to provide MUNOL with a legal basis in the form of a charitable society. In addition to its original purpose the Association today supports the conference conceptually by allocating a framework of rules. It also evaluates MUNOL sessions in order to constantly improve the quality of the conference.
The Model United Nations of Lübeck is made possible solely through voluntary dedication and financial contributions. We rely on external funding for infrastructure, catering, and office supplies; the secretariat for example – being MUNOL’s operational headquarters – requires miscellaneous equipment to fulfill its tasks: A copying machine and a capable office network as well as smaller items, such as printing paper, ink cartridges and pencils are essential.
Furthermore, we welcome other kinds of support, like advertisement, appointment of guest speakers or exhibitions so that the conference becomes more than just debating. We are proud of and grateful for having had the honor to welcome numerous representatives from embassies, consulates general, international organizations, and NGOs in the past.
If you think of MUNOL being event, which is worth your support – through financial contributions, by material expenses, or content-related inputs – please do not hesitate to contact the Conference Management. We would highly appreciate your support.
