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União Norte-riograndense dos Estudantes de Direito Internacional

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Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Economic and Social: Atomic Energy Biodiversity Business and Industry Citizenship and Governance Climate Change Crime Prevention Criminal Justice Decolonization Development Disarmament Drug Control Energy Environment Extreme poverty Governance HIV/AIDS Human Rights Humanitarian Affairs Indigenous Peoples International Law Justice Labour Law of the Sea and Antarctica Least Developed Countries Migration Minority Rights Peace and Security Refugees Science and Technology Social Development Sustainable Development Technical Cooperation Torture United Nations Reform Violence Water Women/gender Equality Youth Population: International migration Population distribution and internal migration Public Administration: Governance and Public Administration Social Development: Conflict Disabled persons Indigenous issues Poverty Youth Sustainable Development: Biodiversity Climate change Desertification and Drought Energy International cooperation for an enabling environment International law Marine Resources Oceans and seas Protecting and managing the natural resources Rural Development Sustainable development in a globalizing world Trade and environment Waste (hazardous) Waste (radioactive) Waste (solid) Waste Management
Geographic scope:	International
Country of activity:	Brazil
Millennium Development Goals:	Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and empower women Ensure environmental sustainability Develop global partnership for development
Mission statement:	The International Law Students' Union from Rio Grande do Norte (ILSURN) – based in Natal, Rio Grande Norte, Brazil – is a nonprofit students’ association, created in 2006 by the Law students from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte). As it is stated in the ILSURN Statute, it was born under the purposes of promoting the studies and scientific research of International Law and International Affairs, highlighting the importance of international organizations and negotiations; promoting the understanding and knowledge of the principles of International Law, encourage the experience of simulations of negotiations as a pedagogic tool in the scenario of Law and International Affairs. Since its creation, one of the main roles of the ILSURN is the promotion and development of one the most recognized Model United Nations conferences in Brazil: the SOI –Simulação de Organizações Internacionais (International Organizations Simulation, in English), held every year in Natal, since 2001. The Model UN conventions are events generally promoted by college students that consist in the reconstitution and simulation of different international organizations of many kinds of purposes and activities. During these conferences, college-level (and even High School-level) students play the role of diplomats, judges, specialists, Heads of State and many others in a crisis or consensus scenario, always focusing on the development of the skills of negotiation and caucusing. The importance of these events are irrefutable, as it is recognized as the most pedagogic academic experience in the areas that involve international negotiations. Committed to the trend of multidisciplinarity and diversity, the SOI promotes, every year, a combination of traditional and unconventional committees, attracting students from different areas and opinions. Related to the conference, the ILSURN also promotes different academic events regarding International Law, always trying to connect these activities to the topics of the committees of the current year. Thus, the Union will be the responsible for holding important deeds such as lectures about environment with Brazilian authorities, Juridical English classes, debates regarding nuclear security, Human Rights classes for High School students, information sharing of international labour standards and lectures about the systematic of the international press. Also, the organization promotes different mini-courses to the public of the event and interested students in general, each one promoted by one of the current committees. Through the year, the body is also responsible for gathering students, between its members, to compose a delegation that will represent the ILSURN in national and international Model UN conferences. This way, the Union is always present in important national conferences held in cities such as Fortaleza, João Pessoa, Brasília and Belo Horizonte. Recently, the ILSURN was also present in the Harvard National Model United Nations – Latin America, held in January in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Year established:	2001
Year of registration:	2006
Organizational structure:	The basic structure of the ILSURN is based on the division of active and inactive members. The active members are those who were acting under the activities of the organization during the last twelve months. This way, the members of the Union that don’t act on behalf of the ILSURN still compose the body as inactive members. So, we have members that currently play important roles in the international scenario, such as diplomats, international organization’s lawyers and professionals working in bodies such as the Organization of American States (OAS). The administrative board of the ILSURN is the Board of Directors, elected for a one-year term, being composed by six members. The first one is the President, role currently played by Mr. Rafael Marques. The second one is the Vice-President, Mr. José Carlos Marques. Also, we have the First-Secretary and the Second-Secretary, respectively Ms. Nathália Fidelis and Ms. Luma Pacheco. Finally, we have the First-Treasurer and the Second-Treasurer, currently Ms. Bárbara Patriota and Mr. Marcelo Rocha. These members have been elected last October, and their mandate runs until October, 2012. This six members, alongside with other four Administrative Directors (Ms. Rafaela Romana, Mr. Renato Guerra, Ms. Ana Beatriz Barbalho and Mr. JúlioAlves), compose the Secretariat of SOI. Besides, the ILSURN has another 51 active members, reaching a total of 61 members in activity – all of them exerting roles in the promotion of the SOI, in the Secreteriat or as Academic Directors. Four of these members compose the Audit Committee, responsible for the inspection of the elections of the Board of Directors and the activities of the elected ones during the year. This body is currently composed by Ms. Gabriela Borba, Ms. Lara Costa, Ms. Sylvia Bonifácio and Ms. Julliane Pinto. The Academic Directors has an important role on the organization of each edition of SOI and the other academic events promoted by ILSURN during the year. They compose the academic material elaborated by the ILSURN and prepare the committees of SOI to the debates on each thematic chosen. In this sense, this year the SOI conference will hold nine committees. There are seven committees reserved to college-level students: the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Security Council (only English-language committee of the conference) and the International Press Committee. The High School students will now have the opportunity to take part in two different committees: the United Nations General Assembly, and the historical United Nations Security Council, held in the 1973 scenario. This way, the public expected to be present in this year’s edition of SOI is estimated in 450 academics – delegates, directors and the Secretariat. Finally, during these six previous years, the ILSURN reached a great level of organization in the academic scenario, achieving good means of articulation of the promotion of activities regarding the studies of International Law.
Number and type of members:	The ILSURN has about 250 members among its structure. From these, 61 are current active members of the organization, participating and promoting the academic activities of the body during 2012. The other members are inactive, and include the ones that currently play important roles in the international scenario, such as diplomats, international organization’s lawyers and professionals working in bodies such as the Organization of American States (OAS). The active members are responsible for the promotion of the organization and are divided as President, role currently played by Mr. Rafael Marques, Vice-President, Mr. José Carlos Marques, the First-Secretary and the Second-Secretary, respectively Ms. Nathália Fidelis and Ms. Luma Pacheco, and finally, we have the First-Treasurer and the Second-Treasurer, currently Ms. Bárbara Patriota and Mr. Marcelo Rocha. These members have been elected last October, and their mandate runs until October, 2012. This six members, alongside with other four Administrative Directors (Ms. Rafaela Romana, Mr. Renato Guerra, Ms. Ana Beatriz Barbalho and Mr. JúlioAlves), compose the Secretariat of SOI. Alongside with the other 51 members of the organization they compose the ILSURN personnel, working for the promotion of International Law and the United Nations principles and rules.
Funding structure:	Fees for education and training services Donations and grants from domestic sources

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