Benenden MUN

Report by Mrs Routledge, Director of RHS MUN. 

Pupil delegates attended the BMUN (Benenden MUN) conference in Kent earlier this month. After an early departure, 22 delegates, accompanied by Mrs Routledge and Mr Cocker, made the 2.5 hour trip south. Though several of the older delegates had experienced this conference before, for many others it was their first conference. 

Following a brief opening ceremony, pupils headed to their committee rooms to deliver their policy statements, a 40 second speech explaining their country’s position on the topic to be debated. A special mention here to Mika C who was “promoted” to USA that morning and wrote a whole new policy statement on the way there! 

After the policy statements, debating of resolutions began and Tilly J had the honour in the Classical Civilisation committee of presenting her resolution about the regulation of the Olympic Games, from the perspective of the city state of Thebes. Tilly spent a huge amount of time researching and consulting the Classics Dept for this resolution, which was very much a labour of love (almost Heraclean!). Tilly faced several rounds of points of information from the other delegates, including the goddess Athena herself, but held her ground brilliantly. 

In the Security Council, debate followed the topic of “foreign intervention in conflict”, with Nelsonites Alex and Will representing USA and Mexico respectively. Both delegates worked together to build allies, particularly with the delegate of France, in order to pass various clauses. By the end of the day, Will was being hailed by the delegate for France as “a living god” and “the wisest of all men” for his final clause on how to solve conflict in the world. 

In the UNOOSA, the discussion of the regulation of foreign objects in space, Human Rights Council debated the rights of imprisoned journalists, SOCHUM covered the rights of manufacturing workers (with forceful discussions on the roles of unions vs. the role of the UN!) and Health discussed the regulation of pharmaceuticals. In the Health committee, Rupert C-W lobbied for his excellent resolution which sought to have patents fall under the remit of the UN if the companies holding them went bankrupt, and encouraging pharmaceutical companies to tackle NTDs (Neglected Tropical Diseases). 

Overall, the delegates did a marvellous job representing their countries and I was so impressed in particular by the standard of the policy statements and the excellent resolutions submitted by RHS delegates. 

Many congratulations to Alex C and Rupert C-W who each won Commended Delegate awards in their committee rooms!