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After Ottawa, Mexico, Washington and Montréal, the North American Forum on Integration (NAFI),
in collaboration with ITESM-Campus Querétaro, invites you to Querétaro, declared a World Heritage
Site by UNESCO, for the Triumvirate 2009. This 5th edition will gather a hundred university students
from Mexico, the United States and Canada to participate, from the 24th to the 29th of May 2009, in an
international negotiation exercise in which they will simulate a parliamentary meeting between North
American political actors. The legislators will debate themes of a political, economic and
environmental nature, while lobbyists will attempt to influence the legislators’ decisions and the
TrilatHerald journalist team analyses the evolution of the debates.
OBJECTIVES
- To bring future Canadian, American and
Mexican leaders together in order to experience
and take part in an international negotiation
exercise.
- To allow participants to familiarize themselves
with the functioning of democratic institutions
as well as North American political, economic,
environmental and social realities.
- To develop the participants’ sense of belonging
to North America.
- To increase intercultural exchanges and promote
the creation of academia networks.
- To inform the current decision makers of the
priorities and concerns of North American
youth.
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Roles
Legislators
Legislators have to face the challenge
of representing a country other than
their own, which greatly contributes
to the development of knowledge.
They represent Congress at the
federal and federated levels, which
requires the participants to research
the strengths and weaknesses of the
entity they are representing. During
five days, they must debate and vote
in plenary sessions and legislative
commissions on resolutions that were
previously assigned to them. Daily
national caucuses allow the legislators
to define their strategies. Legislators
are also encouraged to take part in the
press conferences in order to share
their points of view with the media. A
final lobbying session allows them to
consolidate alliances and close deals,
a few hours before the final vote. At
the end of the week, participants fully
comprehend the challenges related to
international negotiations and better
understand North American
cooperation realities. |
Journalists
Daily, a team of journalist prints out a
newspaper during the simulation.
The TrilatHerald covers the
developments and evolution of the
debates, the press conferences, and
interviews with conference speakers,
legislators and lobbyists. The
newspaper is distributed to the
participants and the partner
organizations of the Triumvirate. It is
also available on NAFI’s website.
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Lobbyists
Lobbyists will have to ensure that the
amendments to the resolutions
respect the interests of the
organization they represent as well as
the confidential mandate which will
be assigned to them by NAFI. Each
lobbyist will have to present a
memoir within one parliamentary
commission; comment on the
commissions’ work during caucus
meetings; take part in the press
conferences, and publish an open
letter in the TrilatHerald. The
legislators will seek lobbyists´
support for the adoption of the
resolutions. |
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Conference speakers
The Triumvirate offers its
participants the opportunity to meet
distinguished North American
political and academic leaders. In the
three first editions, conference
speakers, such as former Canadian
Ambassador Raymond Chrétien,
Inter-American Development Bank
President Luis Alberto Moreno, and
Dr. Robert A. Pastor, Vice-Director of
the American University, helped
participants better understand North
American issues.
Selection criteria
Each participating university can send a delegation
of eight students and an accompanying teacher. The
selection process is at the university’s discretion but
should respect the following criteria established by
NAFI. Delegates:
- Must be graduate or undergraduate students
(exempt freshmen undergraduates);
- Must understand and speak English or Spanish;
- Must have an interest in North American
integration issues.
The North American Forum on Integration (NAFI)
3744, Jean-Brillant, bureau 581
Montréal (Québec) Canada H3T 1P1
Tel : 514-343-7874 | Fax : 514-343-7348
www.fina-nafi.org | info@fina-nafi.org
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