Model UN Club Off to a Strong Start for 2024-25

St George's Model United Nations club has had a very successful start to the 2024-25 session! 

After only a few weeks back at school, we kicked off with a conference at George Watson's College where twelve St George's students from U5-U6 represented the countries of the USA, Mexico and Uganda. Our twelve delegates took up their country's agendas in the Security Council, Human Rights Committee, Cyber Committee and Environment Committee, debating wide-ranging issues such as the civil war in Myanmar, cyber-attacks on the British military, the human rights implications of the Congolese Conflict, and the climate-induced refugee crisis. Pre-conference research ensured all delegates were extremely knowledgeable in their topic areas and could use their newly found expertise to contribute confidently to committee debates and to write and present their own resolutions. 

During the second half of the day, the delegates spent their lunchtime writing and getting signatories to their country's resolution for dealing with a breaking news story – the discovery of a new element which could be used to enable nuclear proliferation. The USA delegation gained the highest number of signatories for their resolution and were able to debate its merits in the ensuing emergency debate with delegates from schools across Scotland. We are delighted that two of our delegates won awards. Ashmita (L6) won the award for the Best Delegate on the Security Council representing Mexico, and CJ (L6) won the award for Highly Commended Delegate on the Security Council representing the USA. Ashmita has been an active member of the club for several years and CJ is currently one of the Model UN Secretary Generals.

In school, the Model UN Club members have on a weekly basis been honing their skills through debating resolutions on key world issues, written by members of the club. With a large number of U4 and L5 students joining the club this session, time is being devoted to understanding Model UN debating etiquette, learning how to write and debate resolutions, whilst also practising speaking in public, and gaining a greater awareness of global issues. 

The next conference in November will provide some of our newer members with the opportunity to participate in a conference and debate alongside a myriad of highly skilled and experienced delegates from a wide range of schools. Whilst it can be a steep learning curve, participating in these events is the best way to learn the skills to become an expert MUNer!

It is also great fun, exciting and gives you so much confidence in all areas of life!

Written by CJ (L6)