Youth assemble for Canterbury Model United Nations

Local youth will have a chance to run the world this Friday 28 March at a Canterbury Model United Nations conference at the Canterbury Horticultural Centre, South Hagley Park.

The conference is the first to be organised by the Canterbury branch of the United Nations Youth Association of New Zealand (UNYANZ) to help young people better understand what is happening in the world around them.

“Despite media coverage of the global political climate, it can still be confusing for people to grasp world issues,” says MUN director Daria Brankin. “It is particularly important for youth to understand what is happening in today’s world because they are our future leaders,” she says.

Sponsored by the Christchurch City Council’s youth advocacy office, MUN will include about 50 young delegates who will have researched their countries and their resolutions before arriving at the conference at 9am, Friday.

Ms Brankin says “it is a fantastic opportunity for Canterbury youth to come together and learn about the United Nations, other cultures and global issues, as well as make new friends and contacts from around the region.”

MP Tim Barnett will open the conference, after which the delegates will gather as the General Assembly (GA) to represent different countries and lobby, argue and amend their way through resolutions on global warming, international drug trafficking and the International Criminal Court.

Before the first session, a vote will be conducted to determine the order in which the resolutions will be debated. Delegates will have to speak their assigned country’s views, even if they conflict with a delegate’s personal beliefs.

Delegates will be given a break from debate at 1.30pm when, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), Elizabeth Dixon from the United Nations and Commonwealth Division of MFAT will be the guest speaker. After another session of debate, the conference will end at 3.30pm.

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