Model UN PLUS

This initiative supports Model UN clubs across the country by creating free, online modules that deepen students’ understanding of international institutions such as the United Nations. Designed to enrich Model UN experiences and strengthen global learning, these modules equip students and educators with tools to explore global governance, examine pathways for reform, and connect international issues to local civic action.

Designed for teachers, Model UN clubs, and dedicated Model UNers, Model UN Plus modules provide step-by-step tools to engage deeply with the work of the UN and effectively prepare participants as UN delegates for Model UN simulations and conferences.

Designed for teachers, Model UN clubs, and dedicated Model UNers, Model UN Plus modules provide step-by-step tools to engage deeply with the work of the UN and effectively prepare participants as UN delegates for Model UN simulations and conferences.

No prior knowledge of the UN or Model UN is required, these lesson plans are designed to help anyone step into the role of a diplomat, whether you are a seasoned Model UN participant or completely new to international affairs. In addition to exploring UN issues, students engage in special reform committees that challenge them to rethink and strengthen the UN itself, gaining hands-on experience in institutional design. Along the way, the lessons build essential leadership, problem-solving, and public speaking skills.

A central component of this program will be a UN Charter Review module focused on Article 109, the procedural gateway for amending the UN Charter and convening a General Conference. This module will guide students through the legal foundations, historical context, and practical implications of Charter Review, enabling them to engage thoughtfully with one of the most significant mechanisms for UN reform.

These resources will empower Model UN clubs, conferences, and classrooms to run reform-focused committees, helping students explore how multilateral institutions can evolve through formal processes such as Article 109.

Development will begin in 2026, with a national launch in 2027.

In the reform committee, they were putting regional interests first, they were putting human rights first, and they were actually thinking in ways as a whole to work for a better solution.
Model UN Committee Chair
International Model UN Conference (MIMUN), Mexico City
I feel like this exercise truly blew the lid off the possibility that we have at MUN conferences.
Model UN Committee Chair
International Model UN Conference (MIMUN), Mexico City
Just being in Model UN really helped me with my confidence in speaking. I think knowing and learning about something and taking weeks to study this has really helped me as a delegate and as a person to be more politically active and to be able to speak better.
MUN Student
International Model UN Conference (MIMUN), Mexico City

Model UN PLUS in Conferences

For the past three years, high school students at the Central New Jersey Model UN Conference (CJMUNC) have adapted the Model UN PLUS program into their student-led conference. 

Their 2025 conference represented a major departure from the typical Model UN format by dedicating the entire conference, not just one or two committees, to the theme of institutional reform within the United Nations. Committees challenged students to step into the role of reformers, tasked with reimagining the systems that govern schools, cities, historical governments, and post-conflict societies, offering participants a rare opportunity to approach diplomacy not as crisis managers alone, but as architects of lasting change.

Students no longer simply represent nations in debate; they serve as reform architects, drafting policy briefs, and developing proposals that explore how a renewed UN Charter could better meet the challenges of the 21st century. Supported by CGS’s grant, they have continued to carry this work forward.

Students Engaged

Participated in the
Reform Committees

Participating Schools

At the CJMUNC
conference

Reform Committees

Created by
CJMUNC students

CJMUNC is emerging not only as a model for reform centered simulations but as a potential hub for expanding CGS’s impact across public education through teacher engagement and curriculum integration. The conference reveals a critical gap in U.S. civic education: few students are taught about the formation, structure, and early history of the United Nations or other international institutions. CJMUNC addresses this by offering a rare space for students to explore systemic reform and global governance with real-world relevance.