Model United Nations - October 2018

Wednesday 10th October

After introductory speeches from Headteacher Mr Amos, our Top Table and Ms Lonsdale, Freya Innes officially opened the Model United Nations event of 2018 with a stunning performance of “Sister Suffragette”. For the rest of the evening the delegates submitted and voted for their resolutions in their separate committee rooms, making alliances and encouraging other countries to support their proposals. Overall, it was an incredible evening and a spectacular opening to this year’s MUN conference.

Friday 12th October

Friday began with a musical performance from the Calthorpe Park Samba Band, followed by a speech from Member of Parliament, Mr Ranil Jayawardena. The first resolution to be discussed was proposed by Iceland - the idea of carbon capture and storage. The proposal was received well by countries such as Bangladesh, and the resolution was passed. Next, Ukraine proposed a second resolution to improve women’s rights by funding sanitary products for women and girls in developing countries such as India and Africa.  After passing amendments to remove taxation on sanitary products, the final resolution was then passed.

    

The third resolution was proposed by South Korea, controlling the smuggling of illegal weaponry and people across the world, reducing threats of terrorism and increasing international safety. The resolution was amended and national border security will only be tightened in war torn countries, as proposed by Ukraine. The resolution was then passed. We then moved onto resolution four, proposing to legalise the consumption of class B and C drugs for personal use, proposed by Brazil. Pakistan amended the resolution so that countries can not be a part of the resolution for religious and moral reasons. China stated that they “strongly disagreed with the actions of the Sectary General” over voting protocols, which added a certain electricity to the proceedings. Ultimately, the resolution was not passed due to the long term health affects, outlined by Iceland. Draft resolution number five was introduced by Denmark,“prison, rehabilitation or punishment?”. North Korea then proposed the idea of punishing three generations of offenders, resulting in a zero percent rate of re-imprisonment.  An amendment was then made, somewhat alarmingly, to introduce capital punishment, rather than funding rehabilitation centres. The resolution was passed. As we discussed the sixth resolution, the UK made a speech, speaking about the upcoming Brexit arrangements, and as they said : “the UK is now open for business”. Ukraine strongly disagreed with the UK’s draft the 19th general assembly at calthorpe park school resolution, describing it as being “riddled with
faults”. They quoted article 31 of the Declaration Of Human rights, there was so much disagreement about the initial wording of the resolution, the debate was then abandoned to be revisited later. This is the first time in the history of MUN that such a thing has happened. Draft resolution seven reignited everyone’s passion for political argument. Increasing global efforts to
reduce extremist groups, proposed by Saudi Arabia and Yemen, was the theme of this discussion. Ultimately, the resolution was not passed.

         

Draft resolution eight was submitted by Italy and it was asking for the protection and conservation of World Heritage Sites. The resolution was passed, but the USA asked for a VETO, which was denied due to the fact that it was not a Security Council issue. The delegates then enjoyed a lunch of curry, provided by ‘The Gulshan’. Then back to resolution nine, about cyber security attacks and their effects on the State (politically, financially and individually).  This was proposed by Ukraine, and it was passed after debate. 

    

Suddenly, the proceedings were interrupted by news of an international crisis. Delegates representing members of the Security Council were called to an emergency meeting, they were asked to discuss the implications of the defection of a key player from Russia in the recent UK nerve agent poisoning. After a long and heated debate, it was decided to conduct a full and thorough investigation of Russia.

         

A huge thank you to our security team, for helping the 2018 MUN event to run smoothly with no problems whatsoever. Especially our student Head Of Security, Sebastian Fossati- Sharples, our staff Head Of Security, Mr Edwards and Knight Security. Also, a massive thank you to our top table for organising our MUN 2018 conference…
- James Manville
- Amelie Cockburn
- Joe Zorgenlos
- Robert Rush
- Grace Penny

Another huge thank you to our research team, Samantha Griffiths, Lauren Lucas and Liezel Barnard. Also to supporting associations “The Rotary Club” and “TAG Farnborough Airport”. Our professional photographer, Kevin Whibley, BBC reporter James Ingham, The Gulshan Restaurant, our technology team and Member of Parliament Mr Ranil Jayawardena. Finally, on behalf of everyone involved in this years Model United Nations, we would like to say a huge thank you to the staff at Calthorpe Park, especially Mrs Lonsdale, Mrs Collinson and Mr Amos.

Feedback received from various people who attended:

Fantastic, unusual event that allows students to push themselves out of their comfort  zone and develop new skills.

Brilliantly organised.   Lovely staff – very welcoming.  Really interesting topics.

Had a great time!  So amazingly run, appreciated the hard work put in by everyone at Calthorpe.  Thank you!

Well organised, student leadership and participation was fantastic.

Fantastic day for the students who were really engaged.  Staff were looked after very well as well!

 

Written and produced by your press team: Lottie Marhall, Hollie Arnold, Jess Ellis, Bobbi Macdonald and Freya Adams