Auckland Model United Nation

Interviewee: Fatima Imran: Year 13 student at MAGS

What is the Model United Nations event about? 

The Model United Nation is an event which is designed to get the youth to understand real world issues and to find ways to solve them. People sign up and get chosen by the board. The board then allocates each delegate to countries and provides committees which the delegate should prepare for. We get given two countries; one which we present for the first committee and the second country to represent in the plenary round. I was given Philippines and the committee which I part took in was Gun Violence and Terrorism. I was the delegate of Philippines and presented what Philippines believes, not what I believe is right. In the plenary round, I represented Marshall Islands, where I would talk about Nationalism. In the plenary round, it is not a couple of countries, but rather all the countries. There were two Plenary rounds as it would be hard to debate with 400 students all at once. 

How many people attended the event do you think on an estimate? 

Approximately 400 students attended the Auckland Model United Nations, but there are other bigger level events that have a greater amount of students attending. 

How were the people like? 

The people were enthusiastic about the world and that allowed us all to bond as we all had the same perspective and the same passion for the world. This passion helped create great friendships. 

Do you think a person must have a certain quality within them to participate? 

Not a certain quality as everyone is different; some people are great speakers, some are great writers and that is what creates diversity in our society including race and culture. However, I believe that the person should hold great passion for change and for humans in general as this will not only allow you to interact more in the assemblies, but also to have a great time within the assemblies.  

What was your favorite aspect about the event? 

My personal favorite aspect was meeting new people. Before going there, I hadn't met people who held the same perspective as me on the world: how change is required and how we the youth need to get into action now as in the next 50 years we will be given problems created by past generations which we will then have to try to mend ourselves. If we get involved and raise our voices now, then we will be able to start changing the community, government, country and then finally the world. Therefore, it was really nice to speak to other people and bond over mutual opinions. 

How long did the event last? 

The event lasted for two days it was on March the 9th and finished on March 10th.  

Would you recommend other students trying out for it? 

Definitely! It is a great way to learn about what is going on in the world. You would part take in talks that allow you to widen your knowledge and meet great people. It also allows us to get a view of whether this is where I want to be in the future; a place that I can interact with problems first hand and be able to be in the decision making side rather than having to follow the decisions. At the end of the day it comes down to passion, if you have the passion, go for it. This event is a way to grow that passion and encourage everyone to part take as we are the future of this world which means problems and issues occurring in the next few years will sooner or later be in our hands and it is up to us to see what we will do with the power given to us.