Model United Nations
Last Thursday, the St. Clares Model United Nations' group hosted the third International Day at the Town Hall in
Oxford.
The day began with an inspirational address from Edward Canfor-Dumas, the chairman of the All Parliamentary
Group on Conflict Resolution. For the rest of the morning, students joined one of five committees, where
they played the part of a UN delegate. The role involved: making an opening statement outlining their
adopted country's view; debating; lobbying; drafting a joint resolution; and, voting.
The five committees and associated issues were:
- Finance: What should the UN do to reduce global poverty?
- Health: What should the UN do to increase the availability of affordable medicine?
- Environment: What should the UN do to protect endangered species?
- Human Rights: What should the UN do to improve the status and position of women?
- Nuclear: How should the UN respond to Iran's nuclear programme?
In the afternoon, a plenary debate took place in the main hall on the motion: The UN should call upon
Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza'. Hannah Woodfield spoke in favour of the resolution, and Maria
Beatriz Coelho spoke against it. The platform and the floor then embarked upon a passionate and informed
debate with a number of outstanding contributions from the students. The day concluded with a vote
the resolution was approved!
The planning of the day began back in September, and many students were involved in making the event
run smoothly. I would like to thank everybody for their contributions, from chairing committees to
making up country name badges. Special thanks need to go to Emma Harvey and Disha Banerjee-Bhattacharya
for managing the planning group.
The MUN Group hope to run a similar event next year I hope this advance notice will encourage people to
get involved in the MUN and prepare their outfits dressed up to the nines, some of the students were
almost unrecognisable this year!
Andrew Young, History and World Politics Teacher
November
