The Alabama International Relations Club is hosting the Alabama Model United Nations Conference today through Sunday.

High school students from Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Florida were invited to register delegates to serve on one of five committees based on their country assignments.

The committees will debate issues concerning the global community and draft resolutions to aid in solving these issues.

According to the ALMUN website, the five committees include the Disarmament and International Security Committee, which deals with disarmament negotiations, nuclear weapon use and regional security concerns; the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, which focuses on human rights, the advancement of women and the treatment of refugees; Special Political and Decolonization Committee which focuses on decolonization, Palestinian refugees and human rights; Security Council, which maintains international peacekeeping and authorization of military actions; and the International Press Corp, in which students act like the press in carrying out articles and creating broadcasts.

During the committee meetings, students will debate a variety of topics.

“Debate is structured like the United Nations, with students representing a country and collaborating to write resolutions in order to solve predetermined issues,” said Becca Benning, under-secretary general for communications.

According to Benning, students will be expected to work as teams. They will gain a better understanding of global issues, enhance communication skills, learn to collaborate ideas with other delegates and develop the ability to debate from different perspectives based on their country assignments.

“This year, students will be debating issues such as the legality of weapons in space, what actions could be taken against North Korea and if it should be allowed to continue its nuclear program, issues of gender equality, what efforts can be made to combat HIV/AIDS, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the changing nature of the United Nations peacekeeping operations,” Benning said.

Students will also be given a crisis situation related to their country that they have to work together to solve. The crisis situation is designed to force students to adapt to a rapidly evolving and serious situation, and they include anything from the collapse of a government to a wide spread terrorist attack, to biochemical or nuclear war, to extensive natural disasters, Benning said.