Wanted: Board Members United Netherlands

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Mission Statement

United Netherlands aims to create a platform where talented, ambitious & motivated young people challenge each other to develop their full potential as global citizens. To this end the organization unites students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to reflect on international issues, provides students with the skills and knowledge required to deal effectively with global challenges and creates a network of driven young people with vision.

United Netherlands has won Best International Delegation at Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN) 2006 and Best International and Best Large Delegation at HNMUN 2007.

The Executive Board concerns itself with the organizational aspects of United Netherlands and its activities. The Executive Board exists from a President, a Vice President & Treasurer, a Director General RiMUN and a Director General High School Program. The Excutive Board defines the policy for the entire organization and coordinates all the aspects of the activities of United Netherlands. The Executive Board is supported by its Supervisory Board, which main task is to protect the United Netherlands Mission Statement. Currently, the following Executive Board positions for 2007-2008 are open:

Vice President & Treasurer
The Treasurer’s foremost task is to keep the organization financially sound. It is his/ her job to administer the financial expenses and cash flow properly. Furthermore, the Treasurer is responsible for obtaining funding from outside the university. At the end of each year, the Treasurer makes up a financial overview of the previous year. The Treasurer is also responsible of arranging the trips to Oxford and Harvard. In short, the treasurer is responsible for all the financial aspects of the organization, from funding, sponsoring and subsidies to budgeting. The Vice President is responsible for substituting the President during his/ her absence and represents the organization together with the President at public events. The President works in close cooperation with the Vice President concerning the general policy of United Netherlands.

Director General RiMUN
The Director General RiMUN is responsible for organizing both RiMUN conferences. He/ she is in charge of the organizational aspects of the conference and supervises the academic part of the conference, which is run by the Secretary Generals. The DG RiMUN carries the responsibility for both the logistic and promotional side of the conference, as well as the substance of it.

Director General High School Program
The Director General HSP is responsible for organizing the High School Program. He/ she is responsible for every aspect of the organization of the Program: the acquisition of schools, setting up the HSP course, the organization of the symposium and the conference itself.

Secretary
The Secretary’s primary task is to take care of all the general communication within and about United Netherlands. This involves inter alia that he/ she keeps the United Netherlands website up to date, makes regularly the United Netherlands Newsletter and also takes care of all the United Netherlands promotion material. A separate task of the Secretary is that he is responsible, together with the DG RiMUN, for the promotion of RiMUN and also the selection process of the United Netherlands Delegation. Furthermore, the Secretary has the administrative task of making notes after each meeting. The tasks of the Secretary are often divided amongst the other members of the Executive Board. We will accept applications for this position, however.

In the United Netherlands organization, the Junior Board of Studies concerns itself with the academic side of the activities. The two head delegates are in charge of the preparatory track for HNMUN. The three Secretary Generals work on the content of both RiMUN conferences. An MUN Trainer trains the United Netherlands Delegation in MUN related skills. The Junior Board of Studies is advised by a Senior Board of Studies, in which professors and teachers of the Radboud University take place. The Junior Board of Studies rapports to the Executive Board. Currently, the following Junior Board of Studies positions for 2007-2008 are open:

Head Delegate
The Head Delegate carries the responsibility of setting up the preparatory track (“United Nations and Multilateral Diplomacy: Theory and Practice”) for the United Netherlands Delegation and the training and coaching of the delegates towards the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN). He/ she is responsible of recruiting lecturers, giving trainings to the delegation and grading the delegates. The Head Delegate is also involved in the selection of the delegation: in the Summer Selection and Fall Selection he/ she is part of the Central Selection Committee who judges all the applicants.

Secretary Generals RiMUN
The Secretary Generals are responsible for taking care of the academic part of the RiMUN conference. This involves writing the study guides, making the conference guide and setting up the Rules of Procedure. The Secretary Generals decide together with the Director General RiMUN (and the rest of the Executive Board) about the theme of the conference. He/ she also has an important say in the recruiting of lecturers for the tutorials of the conference. Furthermore, the Secretary Generals are responsible for setting up the preparatory track for the intrauniversity RiMUN: the Month of the UN. He/ she in charge of setting up the complete program, from recruiting lecturers to giving trainings. One of the Secretary Generals or the team furthermore serves as the Secretary General for the intrauniversity RiMUN.

Activities of United Netherlands
National Delegation to Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN)
For motivated and talented students in the Netherlands, United Netherlands organizes, under supervision of Radboud University, a delegation to the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN), whose members attend the challenging preparatory course “United Nations and Multilateral Diplomacy: Theory and Practice” (UNMD). This course, which has a admissions procedure, is a theoretical and practical introduction to multilateral diplomacy and, more generally, tries to equip students with the academic, problem solving, strategic and communicative skills necessary to successfully engage in a Model United Nations. Participating students are not only educated in the fundamentals of international law, politics, and economics, but are also taught a broad range of practical skills such as lobbying, negotiating, and public speaking. In addition, personal effectiveness and group dynamics are an important theme throughout the program. After 18 weeks of preparations in the Netherlands and one intensive training week in New York, the students are ready for the highlight of this course: the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN) in Boston.

Radboud international Model United Nations (RiMUN)
United Netherlands organizes in cooperation with Radboud University’s Soeterbeeck Programme an international Model United Nations for teams of universities throughout the world. RiMUN’s mission is to pursue practical knowledge of international relations among students in a competitive setting with focus on content and reflection. Through placing the topics of the conference in an ethical, philosophical, and academic context, RiMUN wants to promote reflection among the participating students. This unique feature, that aims at creating a balance between idealism and realism, sets RiMUN apart from other MUNs.

Radboud intrauniversity Model United Nations (RiMUN Nijmegen)
Specifically for Nijmegen students, United Netherlands and the Soeterbeek Programme organizes RiMUN Nijmegen. This is a high-quality, intimate MUN aimed at introducing students from the Radboud University to the world of MUN.

Month of the United Nations
A preparatory track with lectures and trainings in international relations, -politics, -economics, -law and public speaking, negotiating, lobbying and resolution writing prepares RiMUN participants for an extraordinary experience during the RiMUN conferences.

United Netherlands High School Program
This March, United Netherlands has launched the “United Netherlands High School Program”. Through this program, United Netherlands wants to equip students who are in high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively deal with international issues. To see if the method United Netherlands applies for its Harvard delegates also works for high school students, United Netherlands has set up a pilot program, with "Global Youth" as its theme. Four high schools and over 70 students currently participate in this program. In three days of training by our Harvard delegates, the students are being prepared for the final MUN session in which they can compete with the other participating schools. In 2007-2008, United Netherlands aims to offer the program to 10-15 High Schools in the Netherlands.

Symposia
Finally, United Netherlands aims to organize one or two symposia each year where high level quality speakers give act de presence. The symposia focus on current and challenging topics and should offer a platform for dialogue. At the first United Netherlands symposium on the 26th of May 2005 former prime minister Dries van Agt en minister Alexander Pechtold spoke about the meaning of ‘courage’ in our modern society.

The Board of Recommendation of United Netherlands exists of the Rector Magnificus of the Radboud University Nijmegen, Mr. Van Agt, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Lubbers, former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Kok, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Mr. Van Mierlo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Netherlands. Organizations that have contributed to United Netherlands are amongst others the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Instituut Clingendael, various embassies, such as the American Embassy and various universities.

All the positions (except the position Secretary General) are full-time. We are looking for part-time project board members for the different aspects of the organization as well.

Please apply before May 1st 2007, by sending us a motivation letter and resume (in English). You can send your application to board@unitednetherlands.nl For more information, please visit our website (www.unitednetherlands.org) or contact us.