At the Conference
Scheduled Speakers at NY 2023 Session 2
Each year we are privileged to host an array of speakers at our NMUN conferences.
We encourage all delegates, faculty, and guests to take advantage of these unique educational opportunities.
Additional speakers will be added to this page as they are confirmed.
As a career diplomat, I have spent my entire professional life in public service, combining national duties with assignments received from various international communities. I had the privilege to serve as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations and as Head of Mission to Greece and the United Arab Emirates.
In various government service posts for my home country, I was responsible for security policy, multilateral diplomacy and human rights cooperation.
During my tenure in New York, I was honoured to be a co-chair of the intergovernmental process (Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals) tasked with producing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals at its heart.
I am grateful for the experience gained as Vice-President of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session.
As Director (State Secretary) of the Office of the President of Hungary, I had the duty and privilege to work alongside the President of the Republic in discharging his functions as a member of the High-level Panel on Water, co-convened by the Secretary-General and the President of the World Bank Group. I performed a similar role in the framework of the Water and Climate Leaders panel, co-convened by the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization and the President of UN-Water.
I am a founding member of the Hungarian Scientific Panel on Climate Change and a permanent invitee to the Presidential Committee on Sustainable Development at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the National Council on Sustainable Development at the Hungarian National Assembly.
Source: https://www.un.org/pga/77/about/biography/ UN Photo/Manuel Elías
Mr. Firas Kayal is currently the Senior Policy Advisor at the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
His service with the UN Refugee Agency spans almost 20 years working in many countries with large displacement operations including Iraq, Yemen, the Gulf Region, Sri Lanka, Sudan, as well as in UN headquarter locations including Switzerland and the United States. He also worked as Political Officer in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General at the UN Headquarters in New York.
In his current position with UNHCR Office in New York, Mr. Kayal works closely with UN agencies and departments, diplomatic missions to the UN, Security Council members and donor countries, on policy and advocacy matters related to refugees and displacement. He frequently speaks at public events and academic institutions on the global refugee crises.
Mr. Kayal holds a B.A. in Law from Damascus University (2000) and a Masters in International Law (LLM) from the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis (2003). He is also a Fulbright Scholar.
Delegate Seminar:
Career Opportunities at the UN Secretariat
Delegates, Head Delegates, Faculty, and Guests who were not able to secure a Mission Briefing at this time are all encouraged to attend.
Tuesday, 11 April, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
3rd Floor Hilton Hotel - Trianon Ballroom
Join us for a session with the Office of Human Resources at the United Nations Secretariat, open to all who want to learn more about professional opportunities at the UN. You will be able to hear from successful candidates and learn more about job opportunities that make a difference in the world and the value of adding the UN to your career journey. At the end of the session, there will be time for Q&A with the audience.
Please feel free to explore current vacancies at www.careers.un.org, and stay in touch by signing up for their UN Global Talent Pool. Check out their UN Careers Flyer and presentation slides.
Ms. Sojeong Jeong is the Associate Human Resources Officer of United Nations Department of Management Strategy, Policy, and Compliance. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Jeong obtained two Master’s Degrees in Republic of Korea and in France in International Development Policy and Business Management and built her professional expertise in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development in the private sector for 4 years in Paris and in Shanghai. She also worked for a non-profit organization and government research institutes for 2 years in Korea. Ms. Jeong joined the UN through Junior Professional Officer (JPO) Programme in Feb 2022. Since then, she is working for Strategic Talent Management Service, for the organizational mandate to achieve equitable geographical distribution and gender parity in the workforce of the UN.
Karen J. Vogel Faculty Seminar:
Internationalism in the Balance: Is There a Need for a New UN?
Faculty, Guests, and Head Delegates not assigned to a committee are encouraged to attend.
Wednesday, 12 April, 3:00-4:00 p.m.
2nd Floor Hilton Hotel - Morgan
Join us for this interactive presentation with John Moore and Jerry Pubantz.
John Moore is Emeritus Professor of History, California State Polytechnic University, where he taught for over four decades. For a third of a century, he was faculty adviser for the university’s National Model UN program, and for many years he served as Director of the Virginia and Douglass Adair Symposia, for which he organized conferences and academic meetings and edited proceedings into published anthologies. He has realized some seventeen published books, numerous articles (several refereed), and, since retiring from the classroom, has continued his research and writing, and attends and participates in academic conferences. He has served two Fulbright assignments: Senior Fulbright Lecturer/Scholar in Finland and László Országh Distinguished Chair of History in Hungary. At Cal Poly Pomona, Moore received the Distinguished Teacher Award, the Outstanding International Scholar Award, an Outstanding Advisor Award, and the George P. Hart Leadership Award. His other honors include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the United Nations Association, and—with co-author Jerry Pubantz—an “Outstanding Academic Title for the Year 2000” commendation from Choice Magazine for their first of eight books, To Create a New World? American Presidents and the United Nations.
Jerry Pubantz is Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and founding dean of the university’s Lloyd International Honors College. He holds degrees from Duke University and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is the co-author or editor of nine books on the United Nations, including, most recently, U.S. Presidents and the United Nations: Internationalism in the Balance and the third edition of The New United Nations: International Organization in the Twenty-first Century for Routledge Press. His other writings include works on the Middle East, American foreign policy, and human rights. His articles have appeared in the International Encyclopedia of Political Science, ArabiesTrends, and the Turkish Journal of International Relations among other periodicals. For thirty years Dr. Pubantz served as a faculty advisor to NMUN delegations. He is the former President of the North Carolina Political Science Association. His fields of research and publication also include Russian and Middle East political history and politics. He is recipient of an “Outstanding Academic Title” award from the American Library Association’s Choice Magazine.