The students of the Ignite Junior Extension Programme participated in a Model United Nations summit that dealt some swift results…

A day of problem solving and critical thinking lay ahead for the two-to-three-member teams as they arrived in the library, dressed in their best business attire. They had been assigned United Nations member countries to represent at the full-day Model UN, with time in advance to research their country’s political positions. All decisions, opinions and negotiating strategies had to be made based on the political priorities of their assigned countries, which was a good challenge for some!

The initial topic at hand was the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the UN calling on Russia to withdraw all troops forthwith. The Model UN format required each country to make an introductory speech on the topic at hand, after which a resolution was proposed, a caucus (or discussion amongst countries) was held, amendments made and final voting on the resolution completed. After the initial speeches were made, heated debate and negotiations occurred. The final results were a good demonstration of the UN in practice:

• “Call for the “swift and verifiable” withdrawal of Russian troops and Russian-backed armed groups from the entire territory of Ukraine.” This was approved.

Additional recommendations included:

• USA proposed: “The immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukraine and a support programme for Ukrainian refugees and civilians for a year so they can live comfortably again.” This was approved by the caucus.

• Russia then proposed: “We recognise that Ukraine joining NATO is a threat to Russian borders. So we propose that if NATO stops pursuing Ukraine to become a member and will deny any future requests for Ukraine to join NATO, this will be the first stop to ending conflict and Russia will begin the process of removing troops in the context of protecting our borders.” This was also approved.

Some of the students were most put out by the seeming contradictions of the resolutions and the lack of ability to force any country to abide by the UN’s recommendations - a good lesson in politics as a whole!

The students went on to debate a resolution on the phasing out of coal power, which was passed, before a Zombie Apocalypse was announced with a countdown of seven days. This really put the students through their paces since they had to come up with an emergency response plan themselves. As they debated and negotiated, the timeline was shortened thanks to an acceleration in the spread of the disease. It revealed some interesting ethical choices on the part of some countries, and ignited such debate that the countries were eventually left to fend for themselves due to an inability to agree within the required timeframe. Once again, a salient lesson on the positives and perils of politics.

The winners for the day were:

Best Year 9 Speaker:
Phoenix Sanson

Best Year 10 Speaker:
Jumana Fouda

Best Overall Speaker:
Jumana Fouda

Best Year 9 Negotiating Team:
Sweden - Eli Morgan, Melinda Montante and Alisa Sok

Best Year 10 Negotiating Team:
USA - Jumana Fouda, Kali Keeley and Emma Bowyer

Best Year 9 Team Overall:
Poland - Sophia Bankers, Frances Clarke and Michelia Tanner-Stott

Best Year 10 Team Overall:
Russia - Charlize Fourie and Isa Dobbins