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The ANU-RD participates in the sixty-seventh session of the 2020 Harvard United Nations Model Conference
February 5, 2020The United Nations Association of the Dominican Republic (UNA-DR), the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) and its sister institution in the U.S., Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) have joined forces to support the work and principles of the United Nations in the Dominican Republic this year, offering a unique opportunity to a group of high school students to participate in the sixty-seventh session of the Harvard Model United Nations that was held from Thursday, January 30 to Sunday February 2, 2020 in Boston, MA.
This is the first official delegation that represents the United Nations Association of the Dominican Republic in such as prestigious conference. The opportunity arose from an agreement signed last year between UNA-DR, GFDD and the Harvard International Relations Council. The group was directed by Mrs. Katy Polanco Berndt, the liaison for these institutions in Massachusetts.
The sixty-seventh session of the Harvard Model United Nations gathered more than 4,000 high school student representatives and their educational advisors to tackle some of the most pressing challenges around the world. Together with some personnel of more than 250 university students from Harvard University, the representatives assumed the role of international decision-makers, they negotiated in matters of international crisis and identified innovative political solutions.
In the session, the representatives were from more than 57 countries, which transformed the HMUN conference into the largest and most international high school model UN in the world. The international character of this conference is important due to the delegates’ opportunity to learn from the informative history guides and fact sheets that are thoroughly investigated, although the biggest value of the conference comes from knowing and interacting with hundreds of other young leaders from radically different backgrounds.
The Dominican delegation was recognized with an honorable mention for “Diplomatic Commendation for Disarmament and Security Council”. The delegation represented Antigua and Barbuda. Sarah Cohen and Victoria Luciano oversaw training the students from Santiago Cristian School in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
The Dominican delegation was made up of 11 high school students and 3 educational advisers; Victoria Luciano, Sarah Cohen, who instructed the students, and Katy Polanco Berndt, liaison from GFDD in Massachusetts.