Model United Nations Conference
On the 10-12th March, five of us (Xena Meksem, Jodie Carreon, Gabby Dickson, Mia Hinds and Gracie-Mae Hicks) took part in a Model United Nations Conference at Joseph Chamberlain College. The sixth form event was attended by over two hundred 16-17 year olds; which we only realised when having our picture taken! And they came from all over the country. Each group of five students had to represent the views and desires of a given country, ours was Germany!
Prior to the weekend we had to thoroughly research global questions, such as the integration of first generation immigrants to the claims of artic territory and write a formal resolution on the matter. We were thrown right into the deep end on the Friday, having to convince other ‘delegates’ to sign up to or merge their resolution with our own, straight away having to communicate with and lobby with students 3 years older than us. This was massively successful and exciting as we all managed to merge our resolutions, ready for debating at committee level on the Saturday!
After a great meal on the Friday, we came back on Saturday ready to read aloud, in front of 50 people, our aims for the conference and debate our resolutions. We also got to enjoy several performances from the Birmingham Royal Opera. Come Sunday the atmosphere was tense as the chairs of the conference got to pick which resolutions were debated and voted for in front of everyone. Three of us (Gabby, Mia and Xena) even stood up with the microphone and challenged delegates during the debate, which was exhilarating. Finally, three of our five resolutions got passed at General Assembly, not before a mass walkout and chair pushing during lively debates.
All in all, it was a fabulous experience and we would recommend and encourage everyone to go, we all feel more confident and better at communicating with people we do not know as part of a team!