Committees
General Assembly
The General Assembly (GA) of the Winthrop Model UN runs very much like the General Assembly of the United Nations, which is comprised of 192 Member States. The GA is the main body that debates policies and discusses issues that affect all Member States. Winthrop's GA will consist of all states listed on the Country Preference Form that have a college delegate, with the exception of single delegate coutnries of the Special Committee - Qatar, Yemen and Algeria.
Legal Committee
The Legal Committee at Winthrop's Model UN Conference runs much like the General Assembly. There will be set resolutions, written by high school delegates, to discuss and a straw poll vote will decide which one to talk about first. Each resolution will be discussed until it is voted on or tabled. In the United Nations, the Legal Committee, known as the "Sixth Committee" or GA-6, focuses on aspects of the law at the international level, international terrorism, the administration of justice, and the protection of peacekeepers and diplomats abroad.
Also, please see Legal Committee Resolutions (pdf - 44 KB).
Political and Security Committee
Winthrop MUN's "PolSec," is modeled after a combination of the United Nations' General Assembly First and Fourth Committees. These committees deal with subjects pertaining to decolonization, peacekeeping troops, nuclear weapons, disarmament, and matters of war. This committee is essential in keeping international peace and security.
Also, please see Political and Security Committee Resolutions (pdf - 29 KB).
Security Council
Often considered the strong hand of the UN, the Security Council consists of 15 Member States, five of which are Permanent Members and 10 non-permanent members who serve two-year terms on the Council. Each Council member has one vote; but if a Permanent Member (China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US) votes "no," they invoke the "power of veto." "Veto power" is given only to the Permanent Members (P-5) and just one can strike down any resolution to be passed, even if all other Council Members vote "yes."
The Security Council at Winthrop actually writes resolutions, rather than debates pre-written resolutions. This body is given the duty to determine threats against and maintain the peace, recommend action, use military force against aggressors; the Security Council ("SecCo") is the only UN body allowed to take punitive action against a Member State. More details about the workings of the Security Council are available on the Delegates page.
Social and Humanitarian Committee
Sometimes called "SocHum," the Social and Humanitarian Committee is the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. This body focuses on social problems, humanitarian aid, and human rights issues with help from the Human Rights Council. Issues under the realm of GA-3 are indigenous rights, elimination of racism and discrimination, rights of women, rights of children, refugees, and prisoners of war. A very useful resource for this committee would be the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Also, please see Social and Humanitarian Committee Resolutions (pdf - 128 KB).
Special Committee
This year we will be hosting a special committee different from the ones we have had at Winthrop before: The Summit of the Americas. The Summits of the Americas are institutionalized gatherings of the Heads of State and Government of the Western Hemisphere in which leaders discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values, and commit to concerted actions at the national and regional level to address continuing and new challenges faced in the Americas. The Summit will run similar to the Security Council in parliamentary procedure and with an open agenda (no country in the Summit will have veto power).
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Drug Trade
- Human Trafficking
- Sustainable Development
- Free Trade Zones
- indigenous Rights
- Paramilitary Groups
- Transnational Organized Crime
- Connectivity in the Americas
- US-Cuba Relations