Our Partnership with the Cleveland Council on World Affairs

The Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA) was founded in 1923 as a women's organization that worked to promote peace. However, since then the CCWA has expanded and now both men and women work in unison to promote peace through international relations. For almost 70 years, the CCWA has been organizing some of the longest-running Model United Nations conferences in Cleveland. According to their website, students from 37 different high schools and middle schools participate. There are also many different programs that exist along with Model United Nations: Council’s Speaker Program, Bridges to the World, and the International Visitors Leadership Program. The CCWA is also an affiliate of the World Affairs Council of America. The CCWA works as a resource, partner, and informer.

CLEIMUN is the result of a partnership between St. Edward High School and the CCWA. This partnership has developed growth and increased awareness of Model United Nations at St. Edward and its surrounding communities. The CCWA and St. Edward have created an interactive program that empowers students and calls them to become involved with CLEIMUN. Michael Perrins, the Director of CLEIMUN, chose to work with the CCWA because of their long history of success, saying, “A natural partner for our endeavor was the CCWA, which has a remarkable history of promoting MUN and staging MUN Conferences in Northeast Ohio, right back to the first in 1945, shortly after the creation of the United Nations itself in the shadow of the end of World War Two.” Together, the CCWA and St. Edward have created an environment that promotes diplomacy, awareness, communication, and understanding. As a result, the CLEIMUN mindsets have impacted hundreds of students in the region.