Oakham a “leading international” Model United Nations school

Published by Oakham School on Tuesday 10th of May 2016

Oakham School students involved with Model United Nations (MUN) have won high praise from the Director of the St Andrew's International Model United Nations conference in Dublin. William Hehir, who is Director of one of the many MUN conferences that Oakham School attends annually, commented that “Oakham is one of the leading international MUN debating schools”, a huge accolade considering that Oakham’s students were debating with over 600 students from 50 different schools from around the world. The St Andrews International Conference in Dublin was an excellent opportunity for Oakham students to debate at international level. Oakham’s seven delegates represented Chile and served on committees tackling health care, global warming, and the Syrian refugee crisis. The team’s chosen ambassador, Felix, addressed the entire General Assembly - over 600 students and advisors - on behalf of Oakham’s delegation. Additionally, Sixth Former Eleanor was selected as a judge for the Model International Court of Justice; she and her fellow judges presided over arguments to reach a decision in a recent international court case. Eleanor sat as a judge in the matter of Bolivia vs Chile, a case which is currently pending before the actual International Court of Justice. This conference followed on from another successful MUN debating conference in Edinburgh. Oakham sent a different delegation to George Watson College, Edinburgh, who had the honour of representing a permanent member of the UN Security Council, illustrating the high calibre of the School’s reputation for MUN debating. The purpose and nature of Model United Nations conferences are to replicate the real United Nations. Delegates are assigned to a country and a committee, and are required to play the roles of diplomats. Students debate on a range of issues facing the global community today, including the threat from Islamic State, the situation in Ukraine, the protection of endangered species, weapons of mass destruction, and cybersecurity. MUN aims to promote an awareness of current global issues, as well as encourage tolerance, understanding and compromise.