Model United Nation Conference
This project involved both an independent and a class effort to replicate a model UN session. Each student was assigned a country and had to write a policy paper on what their country's view on the North Korean possession of nuclear weapons and the Israel/ Palestine Right of Return issue, and also place forth two resolutions proposing a solution addressing the problems. At the exhibition, we made speeches about which of the four resolutions selected into the docket would be the best solution in the Israel and Palestine issue, and debated on which one to vote for. During this project we had to represent our country's opinion, and make decsions we thought our country would make. We learned about proper UN session language and the flow of the meeting.
- After this project, if another student asked me why the UN is important, I could easily explain. The UN is an international community created in 1945 after World War 2 with an aim to keep international peace. Anytime there is an issue larger than what the local government can handle or there is a conflict between two countries, the UN steps in to establish peace. Without the UN, there would be countless incidents of violation of human rights, in fact, the Declaration of Human Rights wouldn’t even exist. Countries would have no supervision therefore creating huge opportunity to take over other countries, create extremely dangerous weapons, and act out of conduct. The UN is immensely crucial to maintaining world peace and order.
- In the conference, I executed the HOHAM skill of advocacy and refinement. When someone made a speech that I disagreed with or used incorrect information, I advocated by commenting and asking questions that would support my resolution. In the final unmoderated caucus in the conference, I went around to every individual and asked them which resolution they were voting for. I advocated for my resolution and why it was the most valid, reasonable, and achievable. I used refinement when people made amendments to my resolution. If I hadn’t approved of these refinements, not nearly as many people would have voted for my resolution. The combination of advocacy and refinement efforts resulted in my resolution having the most votes and it passing.
- The greatest challenge in this project was the work load and the amount of time. I persevered and got all my work completed thoroughly and turned in on time. Often times I worked through lunch to finish in time. Not only did I meet all the deadlines, I got a 30/30 on my country policy and a 100/100 on my resolution that got selected onto the docket and got passes in the conference. Even though it was challenging and often times stressful, it is worth it to put such hard work into my writing.
- The most interesting speech by one of the delegates at the conference was made by Luke Stetler because he brought the attention to a possible one state solution while everybody else supported a two state solution. It kept the conference interesting because he brought something different to the discussion. I think his speech and resolution gave everybody a better perspective on the issue and maybe changed the opinion of some people.