Felsted MUN 2022

Felsted’s 12th MUN Conference took place on Sunday 27  – Monday 28 February, with over 200 students taking part.

This was the first formal MUN experience for many of our chairs and, thanks to the skillful training by both the Secretary Generals and Mr Pathak, they handled their committees both sensitively and with increasing authority. 

This conference encourages young people to think positively, and strategically about the relationships we hold with other nations, and inspires the next generation of potential United Nations Delegates.  15 state and independent schools, including Felsted Prep, attended together, with pupils representing different countries from across the globe, voicing the opinions of that country in order to bring about positive change. After the global pandemic, it was wonderful that Felsted could welcome back, and reunite so many schools and students. 

The debate in each of the committees was a little tentative to start with, but as time progressed and many inexperienced delegates familiarised themselves with the process, the discussion warmed up and issues were hotly debated. 

 

The introduction of the Historic Security Council this year was a resounding success and added an extra layer of challenge to the delegates, who needed to be certain of their dates when discussing the given topics. 

On Day 1, delegates had the opportunity to listen to an immensely engaging and inspirational speech from an extraordinary man called Ash Perrin, founder of the charity ‘The Flying Seagulls’. This charity consists of a troupe of entertainers who visit children in war-stricken countries and put on performances, play games and do arts and crafts to help make them feel safe and happy despite the chaos around them. They are a truly fantastic and inspirational group of people. Mr Perrin left delegates with a single idea, wanting them, as the emerging generation to ‘Stop stereotyping people by their geographical location, and rehumanise a global community, where we all have a connection as humans rather than economies’.
 


 

The morning session involved six committees having separate meetings, represented by a single delegate from each country. The Historic Security Council travelled back to 1979 to discuss the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, while the human rights committee discussed the imprisonment of children. Obesity was the first discussion of the Health committee, and over in the Ecology and Environment committee, trading of endangered animals was a significant topic for debate. After a restorative lunch, it was back to the BKA for the Economic and Social committee to talk about the foreign investment in developing countries. Possibly the most relevant topic discussed on day 1 was the Security council discussing the Russian threat to Ukraine, saying that their resolution and votes were mirroring the actual conference held by the UN.

Day 2 saw the introduction of the joint committees. The Human rights, Historic and Economic and Social committees met to discuss the legality of abortions. Meanwhile, Health and the Ecology and Environmental committees argued over vaccinations, another important topic in today's society. Delegates were fortunate enough to speak to Thomas Sparrow, a journalist who has worked for Deutsche Welle, a leading media broadcasting station in Germany. 
 


The Emergency debate consisted of the challenging subject of the threat of war in Taiwan from China, with the delegation of Ireland's resolution chosen for voting to pass or fail. After a great debate, with special mentions to the delegations of China and Syria who fought valiantly against the resolution as a whole, the resolution failed.


 

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