HILLCREST SECONDARY SCHOOL Final HILLCREST MAG 2017 | Page 36

MSMUN
MSMUN stands for Middle School
Model United Nations, and it is a
5-day programme during which
people from schools all over Eastern
and Central Africa come together to
debate resolutions, exactly as the real
United Nations does. This is designed
to give the youth a taste of what the
UN is all about and create a sense of
familiarity with global leadership. It
is a fantastic way to develop debating
skills and to explore leadership
on a larger scale than a school
environment can provide.

Basically, we debated
different resolutions every day. These
resolutions were written by different
delegates in the committees to tackle
global issues (specifically related to
their committee) that deserved the
attention of the UN. The resolutions
were incredibly detailed, outlining
the problem, solutions and funding.

Throughout the course
of MSMUN, I was in the Health
Committee; examples of other
committees were Technology,
Ecology and Security Council. The
rules were very strict, and many
people had their badges ‘clipped’ as
a warning if they misbehaved, were
late or dressed inappropriately.

One of the things I
specifically enjoyed doing was
amending a resolution. To do this,
you write down your amendment (be
it about the cost or any other feature
of the resolution) and if the chair
accepts it, you may go up and speak
36
in support
of the
amendment.
At first, I was too
nervous to raise my
placard at all, but then
I realised that because the
number of delegates in the hall
is so huge, you were very lucky
to get picked to speak. After that I
raised my placard at every chance,
and was lucky enough to address the
general assembly.
The debates varied based on the
resolution. Some resolutions
everyone wanted to say something
about, while others no one had
an opinion on. However, most of
the people we met were amazing
debaters who presented inspiring
ideas and expressed strong opinions.
Personally, I wasn’t expecting the
level of formality MSMUN had. I
saw several people get their badges
clipped for minor things, such as
being literally one minute late. Every
day we changed the hall we debated
in, although the health committee
often took place in the main
assembly hall, which could hold at
least 200 people.

Delegates came from all
over Eastern and Central Africa; I
met people from Tanzania, Uganda
and Rwanda. The only disadvantage
to having swarms of people take
part was that there were enormous
queues everywhere, especially near
the cafeteria. The days were long and
packed with back-to-back debates
which sometimes went on for longer
than anticipated due to enthusiasm
from the delegates.

Overall, I think MSMUN
was a fantastic experience, and I
truly learnt a lot. I would do it again,
given the chance. I learnt many skills,
such as debating, leadership and
voicing ideas to masses of people. It
is a programme that would benefit
anyone who wants to broaden their
global knowledge or anyone who
believes that they know they can
make a difference someday.
By Anna Nora
2017 | Hillcrest Magazine