Malvern St James Pupils Excel at MUN Cheadle Hulme

Published by Malvern St James Girls' School on Tuesday 15th of November 2011

Malvern St James sent its largest ever delegation to a Model United Nations Conference in October.

One of the aims of the MUN is to broaden young people's awareness of the problems facing the world and see things from another country's point of view, in order to help produce a more peaceful and mutually sympathetic world.

19 MSJ girls representing Bahrain and Columbia sat on Committees of about 40-50 delegates ranging from Health, Middle East, Africa, Human Rights, Economic, Environment, Youth, Disarmament and Ethical. One of our Year 13's was a guest chair of the Youth Committee and one was on the elite Security Council.

Congratulations to Miley Wang in the Middle East Committee representing Bahrain and Zoe Hutbar in the Human Rights Committee representing Columbia, who were both given Highly Commended awards.

From a committee of about 40-50 delegates, 2-3 delegates in each committee would be recommended for this award. They would have spoken from the front many times and put forward resolutions and amendments. Credit is also given for the ability to deal with a barage of points from the floor, accompanied by detailed knowledge of the issues which should be discussed with wit and originality.

MSJ are very proud of all the girls who represented the School at Cheadle Hulme MUN. Most of the girls were attending the MUN for the first time. They all spoke in their committees. Many from year 10 up, spoke from the front and held their own against more experienced delegates. We would also like to commend the year 13 MUNers especially Naomi Hoggett, Victoria Jackson and their team (some of whom were unable to attend the conference because of other commitments) who tirelessly helped girls prepare resolutions and trained them up for the conference.

The feedback from the girls who attended was really positive and some comments are included here:
'The vibe in the MUN conference really makes you want to read up more and not just for the sake of sounding smart and having all the facts, but to really try to understand and solve the issues, as they are real life issues that our generation has to deal with sooner or later. It also gives you a rough standard of your speaking level, because if you always assume you are really good but never compare yourself with a target, you won't know how to improve. It's not about being inferior, but about getting better. I look forward to improving my standards.' Zahidah Zukifly (new delegate).
'My first MUN conference was an entirely different and unexpected experience for me. Unlike standard debating, your point of view will not be heard unless you fight for it with competitive alliances and almost aggressive tactics, in a room full of very articulate people with similar goals. Admittedly, this deflated me at first, but taught me to push harder. I have learnt more about issues in the world as a whole, rather than narrow minded policies, through hilarious debate and have admired the skill of other speakers. I leave the conference with an enlightened view of politics and current affairs and I am determined to adapt my knowledge of debating for future MUNs. I have really enjoyed the weekend.' Sarah Carrington (new delegate).