The General Assembly (GA) of the Winthrop Model UN runs very much like the General Assembly of the United Nations, which is comprised of 193 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.
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.
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.
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 debating 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.
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.
The Human Rights Council at Winthrop's Model UN Conference runs much like the General Assembly. There will be set resolutions, written by high school delegates, to discuss. A straw poll vote will then decide which one to talk about first. The council is comprised of 47 member states, who will discuss each resolution until it is voted on or tabled. In the United Nations, the Human Rights Council is responsbile for stregthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.
