Clubs & Societies

United Nations Association

The United Nations Youth and Student Association is the youth wing of the United Nations Association, a large and highly respected NGO based in London which acts to inform the British public about the work of the UN.

Likewise, at the Leeds UNYSA (more often called the UNA) we aim to educate not only the students of Leeds University but also in the surrounding schools through our education outreach programme. This year we are looking to assemble and train a team of our members for a special mission to raise awareness among the youth of our community!

For university students, we have Model UN training sessions, in which we teach the diplomatic protocols which govern debate at UN assemblies such as the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice among others. We aim to help our members practice their public speaking and debate skills, whilst encouraging conversation, brainstorming for solutions and allowing people a forum in which they can professionally and efficiently discuss important issues the UN deals with.

Along the way, we hold simulation sessions of these assemblies, which have proven very popular among students in the past!
Role play such as Model UN is used by organizations such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to allow new diplomats to understand "the other side" and prepare their arguments better against others.

We also participate in MUN conferences around country, the most popular among students being the London International Model UN which our society prides in always having a delegation ready in time to represent our university at the conference!

We organize visits to international organizations and in the past we have visited the World Trade Organization, the UNAIDS, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Red Cross and the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Last year we had planned a trip to Vienna, which somehow took us to Madrid instead, where we ended up having one of our most successful recreational UNA Leeds trips to date! This year we are planning to go to Vienna, for real this time, and plan to visit the UN Head Quarters there, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Commission, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe among others making this probably the most excitingly Nuclear trip to date!

We also have social events and fundraisers planned where members get to mingle over food, drinks and usually a fun itinerary for the evening.

Finally we organize debates and talks given by NGO officials, diplomats, journalists and writers alike on issues of international affairs.

A calendar for all our events will be made available at our society meetings that run every once a week, the Key is to ensure your address is on our mailing-list so that you definitely hear from us on the timings of all our gatherings!
This year we are looking to increase participation from students and are open to any suggestions for events that you might have; feel free to contact us on our society email adress.

To get on our mailing-list you will need to email us at unaleeds@hotmail.com with your name, student ID number and your email address!

We are also on Facebook , just look for United Nations Association – University of Leeds and JOIN!

We look forward to meeting all new members and we will work hard to ensure that you get the best out of the UNA experience.