The very first Model United Nations conference of the school year of Metro Vancouver just took place at Burnaby Central Secondary School on Saturday, November 4th.  CentralMUN hosted 80 students who registered to participate in four different committees.

From the centrally located facility, to the smoothly facilitated committees, to the excellent debate and final resolutions of the global topics, and the excitement by delegates at the closing ceremonies, CentralMUN was an excellent conference. Two Burnaby students, Dania Shaeeb and Alyana Lalani, were involved in its organization as well as numerous students from other districts who together formed the Secretariats. Committees included WHO, UNCSTD, UNHCR and ECOFIN which necessitated research and debate on a wide range of topics like cybercrime, Israel-Palestine Conflict and genetic engineering. Anyone and everyone watching the proceedings from a distance was very impressed – parents, teachers, custodians.

The district UN Connections club had a great representation at CentralMUN; 9 took part as delegates – some for the very first time – with 6 who came to volunteer to as ‘pages’ for each committee. One club member, Ranfei Wang, walked away with the Honorable Mention award, after his first time ever being a delegate.

Model United Nations simulations encourage students to learn about current global issues, to see various political and cultural perspectives and to resolve the issues in a collaborative way according to the procedures set out by the United Nations. It’s a growing ‘sport’ with many day conferences and weekend hotel conferences available for both beginner and more advanced delegates at the secondary school level.