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National Model United Nations Assembly 2011

The 15th National Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) was held in the House of Representatives Chamber of Old Parliament House over the weekend of 19-21 August 2011.  For the privilege of being allowed to use this historic venue for MUNA we are extremely grateful to the Museum of Australian Democracy.

What is MUNA?  The National MUNA has been run by the Rotary Club of Canberra Sunrise in the Nation's capital for the past 14 years.  In 2011 we had 30 teams, each consisting of two or three Year 11/12 students (delegates), representing a nation and debating UN General Assembly topics such as promoting human rights, environmental issues, the elimination of racism and eradicating discrimination.

The delegates were selected and sponsored by Rotary Districts and Clubs across Australia, often using MUNA style debates to aid the selection process.  Delegates arrived on the afternoon of Friday 19 August, had a very enlightening two hour tour of the Australian National University (ANU), and then returned to their accommodation to select the resolutions to be debated and which teams would propose/oppose the motions.  Saturday and Sunday were then spent in intense debate, interspersed with a superb dinner on Saturday evening at the ANU's Bruce Hall.

What happened?  It is very difficult to describe the impact that 70 young people who passionately and articulately espouse their differing views can have in such a short time.  Suffice to say - you have to be there to see it.  But when all debating was finished, the adjudicated results were:

1^st place: Russia. Paige Burton, Kaitlin Lake and Timothy Leavold from Caringbah High School, sponsored by Rotary District 9750.

2^nd place: South Africa. Sarah Brown from The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School and Siobhan Cooke from Loreto Manderville Hall Toorak, sponsored by Rotary District 9800.

3^rd place: France. Brock Lowrey and Calum Thatcher from AB Paterson College, sponsored by Rotary District 9640.

The encouragement award went to the team representing the Republic of North Korea: Jacob Ingram and Sarah Kerkham from Batemans Bay High School, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Batemans Bay.

The Totenhofer Peace Prize went to the team representing the United Arab Emirates: Cecile Pham, Phoebe Chen and Caelin Kramer from Presbyterian Ladies College, Sydney, sponsored by Rotary District 9690.