Seven College girls, two Year 11 girls and a plucky Year 10 took their online places in the Bath International Schools’ online Model United Nations (MUN) during the weekend.
117 online delegates from 13 different schools, across the UK, joined the online Conference. Despite some issues with internet connections and microphones, the Conference was a resounding success. The Mount girls represented Norway and Ethiopia.
“For most of the girls this was their first MUN. Despite feeling nervous they excelled in researching and representing their countries,“ said Mrs Fitzgerald, who organised The Mount’s participation.
Rosie (Year 11), who represented Ethiopia on the Environment Council, said, “I liked researching Ethiopia and what they were doing to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. I enjoyed learning how the United Nations make resolutions to help mitigate a problem. I also enjoyed learning about different world problems and hearing other people’s opinions on this and how the situation could be made better. I learnt some new initiatives which can be used to help combat different emergency scenarios.”
Congratulations to Phoenix (College II), who was on the Health Committee for Norway and was commended for her overall contributions to the debate topics. Phoenix said, “My favourite thing about the MUN is the challenging but rewarding process of refining a resolution so that it is agreeable to all (or at least most) delegates. In the Health Council, many delegates naturally disagreed about the topics of vaccine nationalism and anti-microbial resistance. However, we were nevertheless able to pass two resolutions due to a series of engaging debates and discussions which enabled us to find common ground and establish steps to tackle such major issues.
“I have learned so much from my two experiences of the MUN. By engaging in debates on complex international issues, I have become much more knowledgeable about and interested in world affairs. More significantly, I am able to recognise that questions of morality and politics are often narrated using an ethnocentric framework, which has forced me to engage critically with information in the media and consider its objectivity. Through attempting to embody another nation’s views, I have learned to appreciate other perspectives and try to understand (rather than simply disregard) ideas that disagree with my own,” said Phoenix.
This year was the 30th Bath International Schools MUN, and The Mount is invited every year.
“I look forward to next year’s MUN when, hopefully, we will be able to attend in person,” said Sophie in College I.