Artyom Ohanyan and Areg Petrosyan, Master’s students of the I and II years of study in International Relations at the Institute of Law and Politics of Russian-Armenian University, took part in the Istanbul International Model of the United Nations. The event was held on January 6-9 in Istanbul, Turkey.

During the UN Model in Istanbul, Artyom Ohanyan acted as a representative of the Republic of Armenia at the simulation of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on the topic "UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030". In turn, Areg Petrosyan was a delegate from Armenia within the framework of the Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), the topic of discussion of which was humanitarian and military assistance to Yemen.

The two RAU students managed to successfully present the position of the Republic of Armenia, developed during the working meetings, and to address the questions.

 

"Participation in such events for us, students, is a good experience in terms of the practical application of our Model. UN has become a synthesis of a scientific conference and a role-playing game, where participants apply diplomatic and negotiation skills within the framework of the Charter of the United Nations and UN committees. In my opinion, this is an excellent foundation (both psychological and practical) for further development and personal growth in the diplomatic realm. I am convinced that the development and involvement in the practical side of the diplomatic realities of the modern world by students from different countries for the exchange of experience and connectedness is an excellent program that we are seeing all over the globe today. The UN models take place in many countries of the world and, of course, we are already thinking of implementing something similar at Russian-Armenian University," - noted Artyom Ohanyan.

According to Artyom, the Republic of Armenia is moving steadily and positively in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 program: "Of course, the 17 goals that the UN noted in its program are far from ideal in our country, but the volunteer staff of the organization releases a report year after year on how the implementation of the program is progressing: significant progress has been noted in Armenia in various fields, in particular, in the field of renewable energy, overcoming global poverty, as well as in the field of economic stability." He is confident that ''The UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030'' program is a positive agenda that should be given due attention.

Within the framework of Istanbul International Model of the UN, Areg Petrosyan was a member of the Human Rights Committee, where Yemen-related issues were discussed: "Issues such as Yemen's internal instability help to get acquainted not only with the peculiarities of the conflict, but also to share the experience of this country, which can be useful for achieving greater effectiveness in understanding conflicts."

It should be noted that the Istanbul International Model UN-2022 gathered about a hundred young specialists from more than 20 countries of the world. The main purpose of the Model is to form a platform where young people from different countries can feel like diplomats, discussing global political, economic and other issues, as well as promoting the peace agenda in an environment where they can feel all the responsibility that falls on world leaders’ shoulders.