Model for democracy.

• Author: Klinger, Irene
• Position: OAS - Model OAS General Assemblies helps students to get engaged in political issues

How do you get the youth of the hemisphere actively involved and engaged in political issues? The OAS has been doing just thai for over twenty years through the Model OAS General Assemblies (MOAS) for high-school and university students. Just recently, the OAN Department of External Relations and the Universidad del Norte (UNINORTE) hosted more than 300 university students at the XXIV MOAS, field in Barranquilla, Colombia, October 22-26, 2006.

The MOAS began in 1980 in Washington D.C. as a joint initiative with Georgetown University. It is a simulation of the OAS General Assembly where students research a country, take on the role of a diplomat, investigate regional issues, debate, consult, and then develop solutions to hemispheric problems by issuing mandates and adopting resolutions on current issues affecting the Western Hemisphere. This program also enables students to become familiarized with the mission and work of the Organization of American States and its political bodies. It is open to students from across the Americas and is particularly beneficial and rewarding for students of political science, international relations, diplomacy, international law, international economics. Latin American and Caribbean studies, government, or history.

In Barranquilla, students from Colombia. Canada. Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic--under the general guidance of approximately 25 professors, OAS specialists, and technical advisors--practiced their communications, critical thinking, diplomatic, and negotiation skills to defend and advance the policies of the OAS member states they represented. By the end of the sessions, the students had approved 70...