RETHINKING
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offers a committee experience centered on long-term strategy, institutional design, and the challenge of translating global ambition into practical outcomes. Unlike many General Assembly committees that focus on broad declarations, UNDP requires delegates to confront the structural constraints that shape development outcomes and to design solutions that are both ambitious and implementable within practical limits.
At HarvardMUN Canada 2026, UNDP places delegates in the role of long-term planners responsible for shaping sustainable development across national contexts. Delegates must navigate complex trade-offs involving governance capacity, financial limitations, technological access, and environmental risk. Success in this committee depends on the ability to think holistically and to align international goals with domestic realities.
In an era defined by overlapping crises and persistent inequality, this committee challenges delegates to rethink development as a collaborative, adaptive process rather than a universal formula. UNDP at HarvardMUN Canada is ideal for delegates interested in policy design, systems-level thinking, and the practical mechanics of international cooperation.
TOPIC A: Designing Post-Conflict Development Packages for the Russia-Ukraine War
TOPIC B: Post the SDGs: Designing a New Global Development Framework
COMMITTEE DAIS
HONORARY CHAIR
HONORARY CHAIR
HONORARY CHAIR
Dr. Robert Ventresca
Dr. Robert Ventresca leads King's University College at Western University with a historian's conviction: that understanding the past is inseparable from acting responsibly in the present. As President of King's, he guides an institution built on the belief that education is preparation for lives of meaning, integrity, and service. A scholar of genocide, human rights, and modern Europe, he has built a career at the intersection of rigorous research, transformative teaching, and public engagement.
His research on the Holocaust, modern Europe, and the Catholic Church has been published by Harvard University Press and Cambridge University Press, with his commentary appearing in The Washington Post and on CNN. He serves on the Committee on Religion and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
At King's, Dr. Ventresca has taught courses on genocide, human rights, fascism, and the intersection of history and public policy — challenging students to move from understanding the past to shaping a better future. He is an Emeritus Member of the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. As Honorary Chair of HarvardMUN Canada 2026, Dr. Ventresca brings the conviction that knowledge, critical thinking, and civic courage are not merely academic virtues — they are tools for changing the world.
Dr. Alistair D. Edgar
Sarina Harjani
SENIOR AD
Colin Niu
JUNIOR AD
Jasmeet Singh Saini
DIRECTOR
Sarina is a freshman studying Government and Sociology at Harvard, and she is originally from Chicago, Illinois. She has been involved in Model UN since ninth grade, competing and directing at conferences throughout all four years of high school. At Harvard, Sarina has continued her Model UN journey by joining the Intercollegiate Model UN (ICMUN) team during her first semester at the College. She attended two conferences last semester and is excited to compete at more in the future. Sarina is also looking forward to staffing HNMUN and HMUN Boston 2026, as well as directing at HMUN Canada 2026. Her favorite Model UN memory is attending her first winter formal with her teammates. Beyond Model UN, Sarina is involved with the Harvard Institute of Politics (IOP) and the Harvard Club Tennis and Pickleball Teams.
Dr. Alistair D. Edgar is Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Dean of the School of International Policy & Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada. He served as Executive Director of the Academic Council on the UN System (ACUNS), 2003-2008 and 2010-2018 and is a series editor for The ACUNS Series on the UN System (published by Edward Elgar Publishers). His current research interests include post-conflict transitional justice after mass atrocity crimes, with a focus on Afghanistan, Cambodia, Kosovo, and Uganda; governance and leadership in the UN system, with an ongoing research project examining the President of the General Assembly; and Canadian defence and foreign policy. Outside of his scholarly activities, he serves as the President and Chair of the Canadian Landmine Foundation.
Dr. Sorpong Peou
Dr. Sorpong Peou is a Professor of Global Peace and Security Studies at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University; Member of the Eminent Persons Group at the Asian Political and International Student Association; Fellow of McLaughlin College, York University; Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Cambodian Institute for Peace and Cooperation; Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Cambodian Development Research Institute; President of Science for Peace, based at the University of Toronto; Chair of the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Toronto; Chair of the Department of Political Science, University of Winnipeg (Manitoba); and Chair of the Advisory and Recruitment Committee for The Manitoba Chair of Global Governance Studies – a joint program between the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba. Before the above academic appointments, he was a Professor of International Security at Sophia University in Tokyo (Japan); a Canada-ASEAN Fellow, and a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Singapore). He has written extensively, including 7 single-authored books, several edited books and special journal issues, and approximately 80 book chapters and journal articles.