MUN Conference 2022

Last weekend Watson’s held a Model United Nations Conference which welcomed pupils from St George’s and Castlebrae. This was the first time the MUN conference was held onsite since 2016. The event was organised by Mr Walls and supported by Ms McNaught, Ms Horstman and Ms Walker. Ms Walker said:

“The Conference was very much a collaboration between staff and students. Hours were spent in preparation - from learning how to write position papers to filming the emergency news announcement for the General Assembly. Our younger students overcame their nervousness to excel in their various committees and our senior students led by example by successfully running the various activities throughout the day. It was the perfect way to end what has been an exceptionally busy MUN term!”

We caught up with our MUN participants Will, Robert and David (S5) to hear what they had to say about the weekend:

Will: Our conference attempted to address modern issues such as human rights in China or the War in Ukraine but from an international perspective. I was given the opportunity to hear the views of pupils from Castlebrae and St George’s as well as those from Watsons.

Robert: As well as helping to get the conference set up, I participated as a delegate of Iraq. As part of preparing for the conference, I had some input on a number of areas, and I was able to see how many people were doing amazing work to get the conference ready and make it as efficient and effective as it was, as well as helping the amazing Aaron Rashid film the breaking news report announcing a nuclear submarine crash, which set us up for the General Assembly’s topic. This was only a small proportion of Aaron’s incredible contribution to the conference, which made it so accessible and engaging for every delegate, so thanks so much to Aaron. It was great fun working on this group effort, and when it came to the day, I have to say I was very impressed by the delegates’ maturity, eloquence, and outgoingness, with some very impressive contributions and hotly contested clauses.

David: The conference was largely organised and delivered by Watson's students, who are also senior members of the club. This group of students, myself included, has hosted the club during lunchtime meetings consistently for months to prepare for the conference. Finlay Kenney, the secretary general, was particularly instrumental in orchestrating the conference and he also chaired our lunchtime meetings and devised much of the itinerary. Finlay, Ciar Mconnel and I also chaired the general assembly. Mr Walls also plays a role in the running of the club - he communicated with the other schools, organised the GWC team, and he gave us the use of his classroom for conference prep. Ms McNaught and Ms Walker also helped us a lot during the preparation process and on the day, Ms Mcnaught starred in our slightly melodramatic news briefing before the general assembly. 

Well done to all involved to make the weekend such a success!

Model United Nations (also known as MUN) is an academic or recreational activity in which pupils assume the roles of national ambassadors or representatives to debate and seek to solve global issues. 

MUN is a popular club across many schools as it enables pupils to understand international affairs and global politics. They are encouraged to ‘step into the shoes’ of world leaders and assess unfamiliar perspectives, allowing them to develop their knowledge, understanding, empathy and other key life skills which will benefit them beyond their school years.