RAASMUN: MODEL UNITED NATIONS

A . ABZHANOV

A. Felix, S. Nerellakunta, A. Abzhanov, H. Patel, D. Cooper, R. Qin, R. Chikkam and M. Yidjeu - delegates to RAASMUN.

On the 7th of February, a delegation of 8 Reading School students from Years 12 and 13, went to the Royal Alexandra and Albert School for a Model United Nations Conference.

Model United Nations is a debating forum based on

current affairs and world issues. Working in groups and committees, such as the Security Council, Human Rights Council and Disarmament and International Security Committee, the students represent different countries (Reading School represented Poland) and are presented with their assignments in advance, along with topics that their committee will discuss. Delegates conduct research before conferences and formulate positions that they will then debate with their fellow delegates in the committee, staying true to the actual position of the member they represent. The Delegates faced a plethora of different issues, such as: the situation in Ukraine, the usage of socialist measures to prevent a global financial crisis, the ethicality of using ‘deep fakes’ in the media and the future of warfare - huge variety of topics that our delegates debated very effectively.

The day started out with a speech by Crispin Blunt (the MP for Reigate and former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee). He warned delegates about the dangers of badly thought out UN resolutions and legislation, using the example of the total outlawing of Cannabis (including medical use) in the 1960s. After this, delegates went to their committees to debate and discuss resolutions (documents outlining our policy for a particular topic). As part of the ‘Economic and Financial Committee’ representing Poland, my objectives were to introduce a digital tax and increase regulation of the financial sector. We soon got busy with ‘caucusing’, which is informal lobbying of other delegates in our committee to gain approval for your

resolution. After this, we discussed and debated all our resolutions. This involved amendments which were voted upon, and I had a protracted debate with the USA and Russia about leadership and socialism. With the support of the UK and France, I managed to get my resolution on digital taxation passed, despite fierce opposition from

Russia. Meanwhile, the Reading School delegation managed to pass resolutions in the other committees, and Ruilang Q even negotiated a seat for Poland as a permanent member of the Security Council!

Overall, the Royal Alexandra and Albert School Model UN conference was a fascinating and lively event, which gave us much insight into how the UN works and allowed us to develop vital skills in negotiation, debating and research. It was the first MUN competition for many of our delegates (including myself), and we are certainly looking ahead at entering many such competitions in the future.