Welcome!
The association Deutsche Model United Nations e.V. (DMUN) encourages political education with regard to the United Nations. Target audience to the association's activities are pupils as well as young people to which the access to other political educational opportunities is hindered.
In order to fulfil this purpose, DMUN e.V. hosts, amongst other working groups and smaller projects, the two largest German language Model United Nations Conferences, Model United Nations Baden-Württemberg (MUNBW) in Stuttgart and Model United Nations Schleswig-Holstein (MUN-SH) in Kiel.
The association
DMUN e.V. was founded in March 2003 under the name of MUNBW e.V. in order to become the responsible body of the simulation of MUNBW. After the association had also taken over the responsibility for the newly set up MUN-SH in the summer of 2005, it was renamed to DMUN e.V.
According to the founding articles, the purpose of the association is “the encouragement of national education and vocational training”. The purpose of the association is accordingly achieved “through the organisation and hosting of UN-simulations, e.g. Model United Nations Baden-Württemberg (MUNBW) and Model United Nations Schleswig-Holstein (MUN-SH), in which pupils and students simulate different bodies of the United Nations and thereby become familiar with the setup, functioning and system of international politics”.
DMUN e.V. is registered as a non-profit association at the district court. The association is—as well as its projects—member of the Junges UNO-Netzwerk (JUNON) Deutschland e.V. (United Nations Youth Association Germany).
Support and Membership
Simulation games like MUNBW and MUN-SH can naturally not be carried out without any financial support from outside. We would therefore especially like to thank our members and all supporters of the association as well as the direct co-operation partners and sponsors of our simulations!
Support us by joining the association!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Model United Nations (MUN)?
Model United Nations Conferences (MUNs) are simulations in which participants slip into the role of delegates of the United Nations. In simulated bodies like the Security Council or the General Assembly, delegates debate on issues of international politics, look for compromises and adopt resolutions.
Each participant represents a state in the position with which he has familiarized himself before the conference. It is not the personal opinion that counts; the clear objective is rather to represent the official opinion of the state that is represented as realistic as possible.
The work within the bodies consists on the one hand of formal debates on the ground of rules of procedure which are based on the actual rules of the UN and their Charter, and on the other hand of informal caucus time, in which delegates can negotiate in dialogue and work out common drafts for future resolutions.
By this, delegates do not only become familiar with the functioning of international politics but can also train the rhetorical skills and prove themselves in situations of negotiation.
There are MUNs all over the world in many different languages and for different age groups. In Germany, there are quite a lot of large conferences for pupils and university students which are mostly organized annually and of which the official working language is either German or English.
Moreover, there are several groups in Germany that take part in international MUN Conferences together as a delegation on a regular basis.
Each conference has its own specifics—however, they share the aim to give their participants an understanding of the work of the United Nations, as well as to strengthen their interest in and the appreciation of foreign cultures and to offer an exciting, enriching experience.
What is National Model United Nations?
The term NMUN stands for the world's largest and best known simulation of the United Nations in New York. Various UN-bodies are simulated during a 5-day-period twice a year in the headquarters of the UN in New York. Approximately 1500 young adults take part in each session. Half of them mostly come from the United States; the others are flown in from all over the world. Delegates travel there as state delegations and represent their assigned state during the sessions within the bodies. The discussions are on changing topics from the areas of social, human rights, environmental, economic and security policy.
What is Deutsche Model United Nations (DMUN) e.V.?
DMUN e.V. was founded in March 2003, originally as “Model United Nations Baden-Württemberg e.V.”. The association was supposed to become the responsible body for MUNBW in Stuttgart in order to limit the financial and legal liability of the organization team.
Meanwhile the association has been renamed to DMUN e.V. and is carrying out other projects too, such as Model United Nations Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel.
Our aim is to communicate the idea of the United Nations, especially to pupils but also to other young people. In order to get closer to our aim, we organize large UN-simulations for pupils and young students twice a year. Besides that we're supporting similar projects with material and know-how as well as other projects which help young people to get in touch with the United Nations.
What is DMUN e.V. doing exactly?
DMUN e.V. is currently the carrying body of three larger projects. Two of them—Model United Nations Baden-Württemberg (MUNBW) and Model United Nations Schleswig-Holstein (MUN-SH)—are MUNs as described above. Both simulations, which are seated in Stuttgart (MUNBW) and Kiel (MUN-SH), are designed to allow pupils aged 16 or older a closer look at the complicated workflows of international politics in general and at the workflow of the UN in particular.
Having about 400 participants during each conference, those two simulations are the largest of their kind in German language. Although MUNBW only came into existence in 2002 and MUN-SH even later in 2005, both projects can meanwhile build on large support by politics, the economy and the media.
The third project of DMUN is still in its initial phase. The concept arranges for young people to get the chance to take part in the world's best known and largest simulated conferences of the United Nations—in National Model United Nations (NMUN) which takes place in the headquarters of the UN in New York.
This offer is especially designed for those candidates who would not have the possibility to get there otherwise, e.g. as member of a university group (for the reason that they are not students). The first such delegation is scheduled for spring 2011. In spring 2009, a first delegation of DMUN e.V. was sent to New York in order to make the experiences with regard to organization and content which are necessary to guarantee an ideal carrying out of the project in the future.
Besides those three large projects, the voluntary helpers of DMUN have increasingly been supporting smaller MUN-projects that were for example carried out in schools as well as projects of the Junges UNO-Netzwerk Deutschland e.V. (JUNON). JUNON is a union of various groups of young people that are somehow related to the United Nations.
Delegations to international MUN conferences
Members who intend to participate in international MUN conferences are organized in a working group within DMUN e.V. The delegations usually differ in members and size. The experience from the participation in those international conferences is gathered, and thus the knowledge directly contributes to the successful organization of the projects MUNBW, MUN-SH, and the delegation to NMUN.
Global Model United Nations (GMUN) 2009 (August 3rd–7th)
In August 2009, the United Nations Department of Public Information organized its first Model United Nations in the Palais des Nations in Geneva and DMUN sent three delegates to it. About 600 university-level students from all around the world met to discuss about the Millennium Development Goals in the four committees of the General Assembly. The organization committee aimed to hold a very international conference with students from all over the world. Therefore, less than 20 students from Germany took part in GMUN.