Model United Nations

Like Franklin D Roosevelt in his first 100 days, Concord Students have been on a policymaking spree! But instead of battling the Great Depression, the students, posing as countries in the UN, tried their hand at addressing and debating ongoing, international issues ranging from the militarisation of space to the gender-based violence in refugee camps.

Other than the long lists of procedure, that’s really the core of MUN, which has enjoyed a fruitful tradition in the Concord Student Body. Recently, Concord enthusiasts of politics, history, and public speaking have taken part in 3 competitions – Kings MUN, ConMUN, and MUNCord; all in just a week!

KingsMUN

The week of MUN started off strongly with our competitior’s circle going to Kings Chester School as the delegation of China and the United Kingdom; after a day of debating with other schools, most of our delegates placed and our delegations won highly commended delegation and outstanding delegation. Not to get sentimental, but as one of the heads of the competitor’s circle, I am very proud of their achievements despite being unable to be there; specifically, I have fond memories of helping them prepare the week before by listening to their opening speeches and giving them advice. I remember helping one specific delegate shape their stance on the United Kingdom’s counterterrorism policy, which I had researched in my EPQ about the law; I did not expect my interest in law to transfer into other parts of my life, and hearing that he had placed the highest in his committee was very encouraging.

ConMUN

The week then progressed as the Secretariat team held our schools 5th Interhouse MUN competition, which has been in development for the better part of 6 months. As someone who has had experience as a delegate, a chair, and, now, someone working behind the scenes, I can confidently say that ConMUN has always been one of the most interesting, if my not one of my favourite, parts of the year. It has always been fun to see so many people in the school going out of their comfort zone to support their house, and the friendly environment the school has can lead to memorable moments within and outside of committees – I will forever fondly remember the 5 minutes before the conference started where we thought we had lost all of our paperwork (we found it). Though preparation was admittedly painful at times, seeing it all come together on the day made it worth it.

MUNCord

Finally, the week finished triumphantly with MUNCord, Concord’s external conference. Our second ever external conference, we were able to upgrade from a half day conference last year to a full day event this year; I had the pleasure of co-managing the General Assembly (GA), where all delegations gathered in theatre to debate clauses the Secretariat selected. My work involved explaining the GA to delegates, moving the debate forwards, and occasionally having to tell the delegates to be quiet when someone was speaking. It was a definitely a new experience – I have only been to one GA in my life, and I had to learn new software (shoutout of muncoordinated.io) to make it work. Furthermore, my partner and I needed to do a lot of thinking on the spot to estimate how much time we had left. Despite the challenges, it was an unforgettable experience, and I hope teams in the future will be able to build off of our successes and learn for our mistakes.

If it wasn’t evident, MUN has been a big part of my Concord life – when I first came as a little Form 4, it was the first extracurricular I picked up and dedicated myself to, and my work with MUN throughout the years has taught me many things about what is is like to be a researcher, negotiator, and leader. In a society that grows more divisive, I hope my involvement with MUN can help others learn more about the world we inhabit.

By Justine (6.2)