Saturday morning saw the opening of our MUN conference. The School was buzzing as we welcomed over 50 delegates and their teacher advisors from five different schools to join us to debate the many threats and opportunities posed by Artificial Intelligence.
Delegates had clearly done their research and embraced the challenge of developing ideas and solutions that reflected what they knew of the countries they represented. In the Health Committee, the North Korean delegation very persuasively argued for all global citizens to wear medical bracelets that indicated their health status, whilst the Human Rights Committee grappled with a frankly terrifying resolution from Russia concerning the use of shared drone technology.
Both committees were expertly chaired by Henrietta (Year 11), Rheya (Year 11), Ruk (Year 12) and Anna (Year 12), some of them acting in the role at this level for the first time; they did a very good job with such challenging themes.
After a busy working lunch, all delegates convened together in the Gilt Hall to find solutions to the crisis caused by an out-of-control AI robot army (solutions that avoided nuking China).
Our media team, expertly managed by Sabrina (Year 13), worked hard to follow the stories, producing a hard copy newsletter as well as social media content on their Instagram page @cobhamhallmodelun and interviews with delegates against pressing deadlines – check them out at #cobhamhallmodelun.
However, the success of Saturday would not have been possible without the hard work of our exceptional Secretary Generals Jess (Year 13) and Poppy (Year 13). They both worked tirelessly, displaying impressive leadership and organisational skills, culminating in them chairing what will be their final Cobham conference. Their experience and knowledge will be sadly missed, but they should be very proud of what they achieved – they have left MUN going out on a high. Their departure, to concentrate on their A Levels, leaves some big shoes to fill, but I am excited to see who will step up and help us to continue to develop Model United Nations at Cobham.
“On January 20th, Jess and I held our last conference as Secretaries General. We invited five schools to come and join our own students in a day debating our theme of AI. The build up to the conference was exciting, however, we – alongside Mrs Gavin (our new Director of MUN) – felt the pressure of organising the event to ensure it was perfect.
Thankfully, the day ran smoothly, with good committee debates, and our General Assembly had high participation. Jess and I would like to give our thanks to our press team, Mrs Gavin and of course, our own delegates. Thank you all for giving up your Saturday – we hope you enjoyed the day and made new friends.”
– Poppy
Finally, look out for news for some exciting conferences coming up over the next two terms – spaces are limited, so early booking is recommended.