Last weekend, Exeter School took a team of five students to the 34th BISMUN Model United Nations competition hosted by Kingswood School in Bath. There were delegations from 30 participating schools, totalling over 300 students from across the UK, including N Ireland, and a school who travelled from Mexico. Our pupils represented Sudan extremely well and Henry (L6) received a ‘highly commended’ award for his efforts in the Political Committee.
MUN competitions ‘model’ the UN in the style of debate, the committees represented and in having a General Assembling, debating a ‘live crisis’. They are largely student run events, showcasing impressive levels of knowledge of international politics, debating and co-operation between delegations to pass resolutions.
Henry (L6) reflects on the experience:
Last weekend, I along with four other delegates went to the 34th Bath International School Model United Nations conference for a full weekend of debating, acting as the country of Sudan. On the first night we attended the opening ceremony, before lobbying other countries to sign our resolutions, before heading back to our accommodation late in the evening. Bright and early the next morning, we had breakfast and walked up the (very steep and long) hill back to the school. We then had an incredibly fruitful day of debating, with many resolutions discussed across all committees. In the evening, we all had a lovely meal out at Bill’s, before strolling around the city and having a very heated UNO game… On the final day, we debated one final resolution in our committees, before we had our first CRISIS! In my committee, the state of Israel stopped recognising Palestine with the support of the USA and as a group, we had to come together to present a solution to this. In the afternoon, we came together as a delegation of 5 and worked collaboratively in the General Assembly to solve the issue of Tensions in the Panama Canal – A great example of everyone working together to solve international conflicts, just as in the real UN.
I won Highly Commended delegate within my Political committee and everyone did extremely well in the quality of debate and their efforts.
