Every year, the youth arm of the United Nations Association of New Zealand (UN Youth) hosts the New Zealand Model United Nations Conference at Victoria University in Wellington.

This year I was fortunate enough to be selected to attend. This is a four-day event involving around 300 high school students from around New Zealand and a small Australian delegation. These students then represent countries and newspapers as delegates in committees, attend workshops and listen to guest speakers. I was selected to represent the nation of Peru at the conference.

In committees, delegates are put into rooms of about 15 to 30 people and given a mock resolution. The delegates then have to give try and amend the resolution to align with their country’s interests. However, all decisions are made by vote so delegates have to achieve their goals by convincing and persuading other delegates to support them through impromptu speeches and negotiation.

There were two workshops at the conference which occurred within our regional groups. In the first we were split into two groups, the Indian and Sri Lankan Governments, told it was 1987 and that we had to resolve the Sri Lankan Civil War through negotiation. The second was an ethics workshop which got very deep as we discussed the topics such as the trolley problem.

The first guest speaker was Kylee Black, an advocate for the disabled, who spoke to us about the issues those with disabilities still face in our society and how further support and awareness of disabilities can easily help people live better lives and contribute better to society saying, “It is not my impairment that disables me, it is my environment”. The next day, we heard a panel of three speakers; David Farrar, a political activist and blogger; Athol McCredie, a historical photographer, and Tim Corballis, a science fiction author. Each of them talked about how their respective professions affect society and gave us a wide view into the different ways we can affect society ourselves.

The conference was a growth experience for me. The committees were a perfect opportunity for me to develop my public speaking and negotiation skills. Peru is an almost developed nation meaning that I had to try to amend resolutions to combat the world’s issues, while negotiating with developing nations so that the amendments did not put too much pressure on them. I developed similar skills in the workshops. However, the guest speakers also had a great effect on me as they opened my eyes to different issues in society, and the different ways that we can work to affect society other than through government. These skills and messages are ones that will stay with me as I leave school and try to better the society I am entering.

NZMUN was an amazing experience that was truly unforgettable. I learnt a lot, developed my ‘soft skills’, met amazing people and made new friends. NZMUN inspired us to make the world a better place and it empowered us to start doing so. It presented us with issues and got us to wrestle with them, work with others and make a stand. NZMUN took 300 high school students, opened our eyes a little wider and gave us some tools to work with. And for that, they have my gratitude.

P.S. Conference highlight: I got to meet Andrew Little after the opening ceremony!