MUN Bilateral Friendly with RGS

Wycombe Abbey recently hosted its first Model United Nations (MUN) event of the year. More than 120 pupils took part in the event, with girls from Wycombe Abbey joined by boys from RGS Guildford, one of the country’s top performing boys’ day schools. The RGS boys certainly provided lots of competition during debate. For many girls, it was their first conference and in some cases their first time participating in a real debate.

After a short introduction from Dr Goddard (complete with bad MUN jokes!) the group was split into four committees. The first was combatting the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs in Central America and Caribbean. Having personally been assigned the role of the USA, there was certainly much fiery enthusiasm from each participant (sadly much directed at me), but it only enhanced each of our skills as speakers and the ability to think on our feet.

After lunch, experienced delegates joined beginners for the second debate of the day: the exploitation of migrant workers during preparations for major international sporting events. Each of these debates were chaired by members of the Upper Sixth, who offered advice to new delegates and made sure everyone’s ideas were open to discussion. This was only encouraging because of all the effort each candidate brought, and it was a fantastic way to end the day with many successful speeches and well-thought questions.

With a series of workshops held during the day to develop our skills, by the end everyone felt they had significantly improved their confidence, public speaking, intuition, critical thinking and communication skills. Many had stepped outside of their comfort zone to argue in front of an audience. Aside from these skills, many new friendships were formed between pupils from the two schools

Everyone is now eagerly awaiting Wycombe Abbey’s vast conference WASAMUN, which will be held in October.

Jemima, LV