The Abingdonian 2019

22 The Abingdonian AbingMUN conference On 1 December, representatives from almost every country on the planet gathered in Abingdon to discuss the future of the environment, the global economy and human rights; the international order as we know it. This was Abingdon’s first Model United Nations conference, hosting nearly 150 students from schools across Oxfordshire. The idea behind MUN is a simple one. Each of the 11 schools involved submits around three delegations, each one representing a country. Then each student - usually around four per delegation - goes to a committee. For example, Tarik Kurkcu represented Turkey at the Economic and Financial committee, whilst Russia on the Human Rights committee was represented by a student from St Helen’s. The most important part, however, is that students debate said issues from the point of view of the country that they have been allocated. The student from Malvern St. James apparently had a lot of fun representing Saudi Arabia on the Human Rights committee, for example. It was a great success for our first conference, with praise pouring in from the heads of all the schools that attended. Advice from students that I’d met at other schools really helped. As it was our first conference we were a bit worried that we’d be unable to cope with all the coordination required. With this in mind we made sure to ask the students that we met at other conferences for advice on how to organise it. That, combined with multiple coffee-fuelled nights of troubleshooting, and the help Mrs Yarker and Mr James in helping to set up posters and banners on the day, meant that we were able to pull it off. The school was lucky enough to have in attendance Colum Wilson OBE, a civil servant who’d spent time in, among other countries, Israel and Zambia, and had helped to coordinate aid into Syria. His speech was very well received. We were particularly pleased with how well the actual mechanics of the conference worked, especially as this was our first conference. Eight committees, each debating different issues, were running at the same time. This meant that each of the two chairs in charge had to know exactly what they were doing, and be able to solve problems quickly and effectively. On top of that, we also had a committee type that no-one has tried before; a one-day simulation of the international court of justice where nations take each other to trial. No conference that we’d been to had ever done it before. It was completely new territory for all of us, and at one point we were so worried about it that we almost scrapped it. But thanks to the intensive work of Cara Shepherd of St Helen’s it went ahead as planned, and it was so successful that we hope to do it next year as well. The contributions of first and second year were also very hopeful, with students such as William Howat and Toby Pinnington helping to ferry messages and material from committee to committee. Another thing that went well was the appearance of the conference in order to raise the profile of the school. “We loved it.” said one of the sixth formers who came from far afield to attend. “We were a bit apprehensive, as it was Abingdon’s first conference, but the professionalism displayed in the conference and how it worked was definitely something that we’ll be back for next year.” One thing that didn’t go as well was printing out the necessary sheets of paper in time. In order to make sure that everyone knew where they were going, and what issues they were discussing, hundreds of documents and posters needed to be printed out. Due to a combination of misunderstandings and miscommunications, most of the briefing papers and posters were frantically printed out in the twenty minutes prior to the conference. Midway through we actually ran out of paper and had to cobble together blank A4 pages from around the school - not a situation that we wanted to be in. That’s definitely something that we’ll do well in advance of our next conference. A few of the seasoned MUNers tell me that the build up to the MUN conference offered something for everyone. “I’m in charge of our design team. I like taking part in MUN, but drawing and design is also something I’m interested in. The logo was designed by me.” said one fifth year, gazing proudly at the black griffin framed by laurel leaves and a globe. “The reason I enjoy the conferences is because of the awards at the end. I did so well that I won a certificate, and a little gavel to go along with it.” Overall, it seems that MUN attracts a variety of people, and can cater for a host of different interests. The thing that struck me most, however, was the open- minded attitude of everyone involved. To quote our Secretary General Alasdair Czaplewski: “It’s my firm belief that MUN not only offers something for everyone, but, as our conference has shown, also allows everyone the opportunity to achieve.” Lancelot Wilson, 6DTP