It’s never too early to start engaging in diplomacy. 15 Model UN students: ages 13-18, along with 2 alumni and 2 teachers, traveled to the UN headquarters in Vienna this month to learn more about diplomacy in practice.
The delegation, comprised of Druze, Jewish and Palestinian students, first visited the Spanish Embassy in Vienna, where they met with the Charge d’Affaires and Deputy Permanent Representative, and learned about multilateral diplomacy with the OSCE as well as efforts at the UN to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, and promote cooperation in outer space. Later, they toured the historic city hall, and saw the hall where Vienna’s parliament meets.
The next day the students visited the UN, where they met with a public information officer at UNHCR and learned about the challenges that refugees face, and the work of UNHCR to help them, within the framework of international treaties. Later in the day, at a meeting with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, the focus was on public international law, and the intricacies of the Commission’s mandate and how its members work to carry it out despite an ongoing war.
At the Foreign Ministry of Austria, the delegation met the head of the Middle East unit and discussed the challenges facing Israel domestically, and in the Israeli-Palestinian context, as well as trends facing the MENA region as a whole.
At the US Mission to the United Nations in Vienna, the group heard from a panel of American diplomats about the dynamic work in the spheres of combating drug trafficking and organized crime; keeping outer space clean and peaceful, and limiting nuclear weapons proliferation while encouraging nuclear energy as a clean energy alternative.
Finally, the delegation met with Ambassador Natasha Meli Daudey, who also serves as the Permanent Representative of Malta to the OSCE and the UN in Vienna. The Ambassador highlighted the challenges of engaging in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy simultaneously, while also being part of a larger entity, the European Union, with its own foreign policy impact.
All of the students returned home with a heightened understanding of the nuances of international law and a greater appreciation for multilateral diplomacy. Much thanks to all of the diplomats, embassies and missions who took the time to meet the delegation.
Debate for Peace 