Wychwood at Model United Nations

Ten Wychwood girls attended the Magdalen College School MUN earlier this month including many who were attending an MUN conference for the first time. They joined young people from Oxfordshire and across the country coming together to debate issues of world concern. These ranged from the US – China trade war on the Economics committee, Female Genital Mutilation on the Human Rights Committee and Chemical Weapons on the Disarmament Committee. As usual our girls were amongst the youngest there, with 6 Upper Transits (Year 10), 1 Lower Transit (Year 9) and 3 Inters (Year 8). All performed brilliantly, moving amendments, making points of information and voting on the issues concerned. Two girls, Rebecca and Fern were even called to the Security Council as delegates of Venezuela to give their views on an Emergency resolution about Venezuela of which they had no advance notice. In fact 3 of our girls received awards: Bianca a Commended delegate on the Human Rights 2 Committee and Emilia and Carolina won Best Junior Delegate on their committees of Disarmament and Economics respectively.

The opening conference was addressed by Professor Eugene Ronan, Director of the Middle East Centre at St Anthony’s College Oxford. He gave the background needed to discuss the Emergency Debate on the Iran crisis held at the end of the conference, which dealt with (fictional but possible!) missile attacks by the USA and Iran on each other’s facilities.

As ever with MUN conferences, the girls enjoyed meeting all the other young people and really had a good time. They were a credit to themselves, their families and to Wychwood.