Mock United Nations Assembly

Newcastle Herald

Thursday June 9, 2005

By HANNAH ENGLAND

ON Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14, St Joseph's H.S., Aberdeen competed in the annual Mock United Nations Assembly (MUNA), sponsored by the Muswellbrook Rotary Club and held at the Muswellbrook Council chambers.

This event featured 14 schools from the state whose role was to take on the position of a nation in the UN as delegates from a country. Some of the countries represented included the USA, the UK, Australia, France, Mexico, Indonesia and Italy.

Like the United Nations, the MUNA program holds council, run by the honourable secretary general. This allows students to actively contribute to the debates put forward through resolutions. After the debate, nations then have a chance to see resolutions passed or not passed in the assembly.

Hannah England and Lauren Farrell, of St Joseph's H.S., Aberdeen, represented the nation of The Union of Myanmar (formally known as Burma).

The girls felt it difficult to adopt the stance of their nation due to its current standing on world events. Their own social and cultural backgrounds played a large role in the debating and threatened to influence their comments on issues such as war, poverty and militia.

Both agreed that their participation helped them gain a greater understanding of cultural diversity among nations as well as an appreciation of the difficulties surrounding global decisions made by the UN.

© 2005 Newcastle Herald

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