MODEL UNITED NATIONS

Date: 13 – 17^th February 2012

Model United Nations (MUN) is a programme oragnised by the United Nations for students who are interested in debate and public speaking. This was an opportunity for me to improve my oratory skills as well as an extension to my current involvement in public speaking and debate. Another advantage of this programme is the exposure we students attain by actually attending conferences at the United Nations headquarters in Nairobi. Students are allocated different countries who then debate real life situations from the perspectives of their respective countries. This happens over a period of 5 days.

Day 1:

This day is known as “Lobbying”. Students are given the resolutions that are to be discussed. A resolution is a report that addresses the problem that particular country has chosen to work on and a list of solutions to that problem.

The day starts off with a series of speeches from various heads of different United Nations’ sectors. These are then followed by speeches from chosen students, usually those who chair the debates. These speeches comprise of how debates will be conducted for those who are new to this programme, announcements for the day and some encouragement for the participants. This is then followed by about an hour of ‘lobbying’ where all the students try persuading other students who belong to different countries to debate for their resolutions. They present their case and the other student decides whether or not to vote and talk for the resolution. This was the first time I experienced something like this and found it interesting to actually talk about the resolutions before they have even been debated.

The day ended early on this first day and I was eager for the debates that would commence the next day. I was the ambassador for the country of Mauritius. MUN debates are held in four different conference rooms which are categorised accordingly into four committees. These are the Economic, Political, Ecological and Human Rights committees. As well as being the ambassador for Mauritius, which involves overlooking my colleagues in the same country but in different committees, I was also part of the Economics committee. I chose this because I was well acquainted with Economic problems and possible solutions as I also study it at the Higher Level in IB. For this reason, I was able to debate well throughout the week for resolutions of the Economic committee.

Day 2 – 5:

These four days were a time of serious debate and thinking. I had to carefully analyse resolutions to decide whether or not they were worthy of being voted for them. This was difficult as it was quite easy to miss out on key problems with the resolutions and if I missed those problems which make the resolutions void, my vote for the resolution would not be very strong and my argument would be very weak.

This particular task taught me how to think and read critically about things. Furthermore, seeing other, more experienced students debating taught me more on how to look at things from a different perspective.

That was not the hard part. Finding the courage to raise your plank card to go and speak in front of hundreds of students was arduous. I got picked to go and speak on the podium twice and thankfully, it was actually a confidence booster and the second time I went up, I had no problem relating my point for the resolution. This way and also seeing others speak taught me to speak in a more formal manner without the least possible hint of impoliteness or informality.

Another challenge that I overcame during these four days of debate was the fact that after voting procedures for or against the resolutions, countries were randomly picked by the chairs of the debates to state how they voted and why they voted in that manner. For this, I was only chosen once and it was quite a shock. It was nearing the end of the day so I was not expecting it. To my great surprise, I was able to give a good argument as to how I voted and why I did so in that manner.

Therefore, this was an eye-opening experience and I learnt more than what I expected to before the beginning of the conference. The months of training by our teacher, Ms. Nichols had paid off due to her insistence on reading and analysing the resolutions before the conference so that we are actually able to participate during the week of 13^th February.

Apart from increase in oratory and debating skills and general knowledge on issues that countries around the world are facing, I got to make new friends because almost schools in the region participate in this conference. In addition, I got to wear a suit every day. This was certainly a worthwhile experience and I am also planning to pursue it at university level which would further assist me in my future endeavours.