United Nations Model Conference

Two teams of students participated in a model United Nations Conference at St Patrick’s College last Friday.

The students became country ambassadors for China and Mexico and spent many weeks preparing for the conference topic, Climate Action.

The day started with all teams presenting their country’s position to the General Assembly.

During this time, the students had to take note of which clauses other teams supported or did not support in preparation for the caucus session.

During the caucus session, students were asked questions, sought clarification from other countries about their position statements and debated the Resolution and its clauses.

They had to ensure they were expressing their country’s views accurately before moving to draft, edit and finalise their proposed amendments.

During this session, there was a buzz across the room as students worked collaboratively with other countries to seek support for their amendments.

In the final session, the teams voted on which amendments to make to the Resolution.

Our students were quite proud that the amendments they helped put forward were the only two approved by the delegation.

"The model UN was a valuable experience. It allowed me to understand how United Nations conferences would really work and all the research and preparation behind them. Each team represented a country, and we all revised amendments and put forward ideas that would  better suit our selected country. During the conference, each team had to discover which other groups' goals aligned with our own. It was an enjoyable day, and I would recommend giving it a go next year! Abbey, Year 10