What is the Model UN (United Nations) all about?

I'm participating in the International Model United Nations Conference and I was wondering what it's all about. What is the purpose of the United Nations? What usually goes on during the conference? How does the MODEL UN work? Is it like a competition?|||The Model UN programs provide a diverse group of students and faculty a forum for addressing global concerns in a "real world" context. Conferences address important issues including regional conflicts, peacekeeping, human rights, women and children, economic and social development, and the environment. The aim is to provide student participants with a better understanding of the inner working of the UN as they build skills in diplomacy and compromise.





"Model" means to make something to be like something else. Thus the Model UN is a conference that's organized to discuss issues faced by the real United Nations. It is not a competition but a learning experience.





As for the real UN, it's an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions.





There are currently 192 member states, including nearly every sovereign state in the world. From its offices around the world (with its headquarters in NYC), the UN and its specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings held throughout the year.





The organization has six principal organs: the General Assembly (the main deliberative assembly); the Security Council (for deciding certain resolutions for peace and security); the Economic and Social Council (for assisting in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development); the Secretariat (for providing studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN); the International Court of Justice (the primary judicial organ); and the United Nations Trusteeship Council (which is currently inactive). Other prominent UN System agencies include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program WFP) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).





The UN's most visible public figure is the Secretary-General, currently Ban Ki-moon of South Korea, who attained the post in 2007. The organization is financed from assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, and has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.