Doha, Qatar: Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) recently brought together 180 passionate and talented university students and their advisors from across the region to participate in a Model United Nations (MUN). The event, centered on the theme “Building Global Unity and Peace in Areas of Conflict: Empowering Peace Through Agency,” provided a platform to practice diplomacy, collaborate, and share solutions for developing a new generation of regional leaders.
The student-led event welcomed participants from ten local and ten regional universities spanning Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Morocco. “This experience was really eye-opening for me because I met so many different delegates from so many different Arab cultures,” said American University in Cairo student Farida Mardini, adding: “I think this really helped enhance my diplomacy skills overall.”
“I got to meet interesting people from many different universities around the world,” reflected Abdulrahman Al Mansoori, a AFG College, University of Aberdeen student in Qatar, “It helped me view the world with many different perspectives.” His teammate Gabor Lengyel, added: “I was surrounded by more than 150 people from this region, and this was spectacular…I felt like I was supercharged by them, I was lifted by them—it was the best MUN opportunity of my life.”
In addition to the student deliberations, GU-Q organized a full day of workshops for university faculty and administrators accompanying the student delegations. Through dynamic learning sessions, the educators shared best practices and new advancements enhancing the student experience in the areas of accessibility, experiential learning, and artificial intelligence.
“As we celebrate 20 years of Georgetown’s presence in Qatar, we are doubling down on our commitment to advancing interregional dialogue and equipping future leaders with the skills and perspectives necessary to build a more peaceful and united world,” said Dr. Ken Grcich, Associate Dean of Students, who facilitated a session on enhancing student experience tailored to the highly diverse global campuses unique to the region. For Dr. Hussain AlShroufi, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics from Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait, the experience paved the way for closer interaction between universities in the region. “It has been a wonderful experience, and hopefully in the future we can organize something in Kuwait, and GU-Q can honor us with their presence on our campus as well.”
GU-Q’s MUN program reflects the university’s mission to inspire informed and ethical engagement on global issues, making it a hub for critical conversations and transformative experiences. It welcomed more than 800 local high school students to its fall event, and is set to welcome hundreds more from across the globe at its signature event in February 2025.
