Kazan, Russia - More than 100 students from schools all over Russia and other nations participated in the Third International Model UN 2013, which was held from Oct. 11 to 15, 2013, in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan.
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Model UNs combine a conference with an extended role-playing exercise in which university students and high school pupils simulate the work of UN bodies. Participants—both delegates and observers—act as official representatives of UN member-states as they discuss issues.
The Kazan Model UN 2013 took place at the Lyceum CFI Kazan, which is associated with Kazan Federal University. Participants came from the Russian cities of Moscow, Perm, Volgograd and Ulyanovsk, as well as from the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and the Kashmir region of the Indian subcontinent.
At the opening ceremony Ludmila Nagumanova, adviser to the rector of Kazan Federal University, and Dinara Garaeva, secretary-general of the Kazan Model UN 2013, welcomed the participants and thanked the conference organizers for their efforts. In his welcoming address Dmitry Samko, secretary general of UPF-Moscow, emphasized the importance of each participant and every small effort made for the sake of peace and mutual understanding. Marat Shafigullin, president of the Eurasian Club of Young Ambassadors for Peace, and Elena Kolesnichenko, a Young Ambassador for Peace, called upon the young participants to work hard, and conveyed warm greetings from the UN Information Center in Moscow.
Over the four days of the conference, the delegates engaged in active and vibrant work, sharing their experience and generating new ideas. There is no doubt that their voices will be heard in the near future. It is noteworthy also that on the last day, the delegates of the UNICEF Committee participated in a humanitarian project, visiting the Zdravushka rehabilitation center for disabled children.
In an interview, Dinara Garaeva said: “I would like people to change for the better. I wish them to get a chance to reveal their abilities, learn new ways, acquire new friends and spend their time fruitfully and … participate in such kinds of conferences helping people to see that it is possible to live differently, moving toward lofty targets. The main thing is not to be afraid of anything and always go forward!”