Trip date: February 21-23, 2020
Back in October when I visited PANAMUN in Panama City, I connected with an MUN Director from Canada who brought a delegation from Toronto. He was intrigued by MUN Impact. I was intrigued by his program, particularly his focus on the UNHCR Challenge and a forum that debated issues related to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Near the end of February I found myself at King's Christian Collegiate with Peter Oussoren and his MUN program. It was to be another highlight to my sabbatical journey and what I hope to be a lifelong friendship with another amazing MUN Director.
The Great Toronto Area
I just loved this forum because the delegates served as local council people sitting on a committee meeting discussing topics that affected their region. In this case they spent the day talking about homicide rates and human trafficking. They served as the Chief of Police, Aldermen, Mayors, and District Representatives. I can only imagine their research including doing their best to get in touch with their respective office of representation to discuss the issues with local officials. The students came with topic papers full of facts and statistics and they gave opening speeches outlining their priorities on each topic based on the needs of their constituents. After hours of debate and negotiations, the representatives came together in groups of like-minded policies and drafted resolutions that they read out in the end. Here is an example of the students in action:
Marvel Debate
In the Marvel Summit the delegates were the actual super heroes. They had their names, backstories and identities. They came to the debate with rivalries and friendships that their characters established in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I have heard of university MUN programs entertain such debates and I have always considered them a joke. I seriously could not imagine anything substantial taking place as delegates simulate the positions of imaginary characters. Rebel forces under attack by the Death Star in a Star Wars simulation? And here I was walking into a room where Bruce Banner, Spiderman, Thanos and Ant Man were arguing about Infinity Stones? But by the end of the day I was convinced, that if lead well by the chairs in the room, this debate could help young delegates, passionate about Marvel, practice the skills we valve in MUN. The actual topics of the day were defeating Thanos and Wakanda and Vibranium storage.
I don't know the Marvel universe well, but what I heard was students debating about technology, science, and mutant and mystic forces. They did it accurately and were corrected if they did not follow the story or if their creativity ran to far beyond a reality anyone was willing to accept. They seemed to come up with brilliant alternate plans to the storyline of the cinematic world and when this happened and everyone could agree to the arguments (consensus) and the room just became quiet and everyone was simply grinning, as if they realized, if this was true to a countries diplomacy, they just created world peace.
I talked to a few young superheroes during lunch and asked why they chose the room. One student admitted that her friend was going to be a delegate of the US in the Security Council and ask a few weeks back if she wanted to give it a try. "When I looked at the program", she said, "and I saw there was a Marvel room, I knew I could do that. I love Marvel, but know nothing about MUN." Another delegate remarked that he too knew nothing about MUN, but the Chair, an alum of the school who returned from his Uni break to help out during the conference really explained things well and everyone in the room really loves the Marvel Universe, so it's just like we're solving global issues from an alternate universe. He even admitted to wanting to try another forum at MUN next time.
UNHCR - UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Recognizing the work MUN students are achieving in conferences is significant, the UN Refugee Agency challenged MUN delegates worldwide to debate the major issues related to forced displacement. Worldwide, 70.8 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict, violence and persecution. UNHCR believe that young people have a central role to play in finding ways to help them thrive, not just survive. Model United Nations conferences taking place in 2020 are invited to join the MUN Refugee Challenge and debate one or more of the following issues:
Climate change and displacement
Countering toxic narratives about refugees and migrants
Supporting the economic inclusion of refugees
Improving access to education for refugees
The best resolutions will win awards and be shared with policymakers.
At King's, a representative of UNHCR from the Toronto field office was present during the debate, to hear the delegates discuss the last three of the four issues listed above. I was particularly moved by the students discussing the humanitarian right for all children to be granted an education from an early age and how children in refugee camps should be given all the resources possible to provide them hope and a brighter future. No doubt refugee camps work tirelessly to provide the bare necessities of food, clothing, shelter and medical care, but the students at KingsMUN argued that education is as important as food in saving a child's life. The arguments were complex in terms of consistent education packages that could be provided across the globe, but the students were determined to come up with a solution.
Tutorial Committees
KINGSMUN offered two tutorial committees, designed for delegates in 7th & 8th grades who are completely new to MUN. The Chairs were specifically trained to spend the day teaching all the rules and procedures and to debate only one topic and to do it thoroughly, giving every delegate the opportunity to practice their new debate skills and Chairs the chance to practice their leadership skills.
The first tutorial room I walked in to the chairs were guiding the students with a classic icebreaker, where a designated student had up to 60 seconds to convince the room of the importance of an object the Chair chose for them. The purpose of the exercise is to get the students comfortable with public speaking and to realize how much they really have to say, even when it's done spontaneously and off the cuff. For example, if your object is a pencil, you might hear a student start out describing the pencil, how it might not have to be yellow and the reason it may not have an eraser at the end. How it's better than a pen because it's not permanent and it's easy to make changes when writing with a pencil. One student could have sold me hundreds of his pencils when he declared that "a pencil is a symbol of a child's education and therefore one of the most valued tools in their toolbox." I think it's a brilliant exercise to boost a delegate's confidence.
KINGSMUN is for the most part an MUN conference following North American MUN procedures which means that the delegates do not come to the conference with a full resolution in hand. Instead, they are assigned a country (or in the case of the GTA committee, a representative) and they have to research the policies of that country (person) and their positions specifically on the topics in their forum. They arrive with that knowledge , a position paper, and opening speech that clearly states their views on the topics that are going to be discussed. The debate begins with a moderated caucus, where delegates state why certain topics should be discussed over another. From this, representatives get a feel for who holds similar views and may be a good person to join forces to write a resolution on the topic later in the debate, the period of unmoderated caucusing. This style of MUN I found put a greater emphasis on the process of negotiations which I believe works very well for a conference that is only a day-long.
A HUGE shout out to Peter Oussoren for running an extraordinary MUN program at King's Collegiate. Good to know we've got friends up North!!!! I am looking forward to my Burroughs students working with your students as soon as next month when King's continues their online MUN conferences.
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