Warwick Students Attend Conference In Berlin
[Written by Warwick Academy student An Mei Daniels]
The Berlin Model United Nations [BerMUN] is a conference for the youth, run by the youth, which takes place annually in Germany to simulate the experience of a United Nations conference. This year, it took place from the 20th to 23rd of November on the theme: “Beyond Borders, Striving for Justice and Equality in the Shadow of the Berlin Wall”.
BerMUN was established in November 1992 at the John F. Kennedy International School [JFKS] in cooperation with former teacher Dr. Walter Peterson and two students, Lars Day and Stefan Elbe.
It started as a small conference with only a few German schools participating, with the intention of bringing East and West Germany together after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Now, over 750 students attend the conference from over 15 different countries, including Germany, Bermuda, the USA, the UK, Russia, Norway, China, and more, with participation from 80+ different schools.
Each participating school is assigned a country to represent that has differing views from their own country. Students are then placed into different councils, where they debate issues relevant to each committee from their country’s perspective, aiming to pass resolutions and amendments that best suit their country’s interests. Students in each committee also receive talks from guest speakers, who are experts in the year’s theme, and the specific issues being debated in that council.
The goal of the conference is to promote global-mindedness among students and help them look at issues from multiple perspectives. It also teaches participants more about global politics and problems and encourages the next generation to think up creative solutions to today’s issues. In addition, it promotes cooperation and teaches negotiating skills, as well as enables students to meet other like-minded individuals from around the world.
This year Warwick Academy went to BerMUN representing the Republic of Cameroon, a smaller country on the West coast of Africa. We sent six delegates, Aisling Harris – our Ambassador – on the Environmental Committee, McKenzie-Kohl Tuckett on the Economic and Social Council, Nadia Attride-Ramella on the Political Committee, Emily Quarterly on the Human Rights Committee, Grace Arrowsmith on the Legal Committee and myself, An Mei Daniels on the Special Council.
We debated topics ranging from ‘Combatting Wealth Inequality’ to ‘Ensuring Climate Justice’ to ‘Pursuing Economic Justice and Equality while Maintaining Border Peace and Security’, to name a few. All of these topics revolved around the central theme, Beyond Borders – Striving for Justice and Equality celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
We were very successful at the conference. Aisling was our ambassador at the conference, giving an opening speech, and waving our flag at the closing ceremony. McKenzie-Kohl Tuckett was the main submitter for a resolution on ‘Ending the Sex Trade’, and defended her resolution well, however in the end it wasn’t passed. I was also the main submitter for a resolution on ‘Post-colonial Responsibility for Current Inequality and Injustice’, a resolution that was passed with a clear majority! Nadia gave a supporting speech for a resolution that she co-submitted on ‘Addressing Mass Surveillance in a Digital Age’. Grace made supporting remarks for the resolution she co-submitted on ‘Creating Frameworks to Reinforce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’. Emily was a co-submitter on the resolution ‘Right to Work in an Age of Automation and Globalization’.
In addition to the conference, we visited many attractions including the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, the Spy Museum, and a local Christmas market. We got to see the beautiful must-see sights of Berlin, such as Checkpoint Charlie, as well as visiting various shopping malls and other fun activities to experience the culture of Germany.
Overall, we all met many incredible people at the conference from all over the world, and had an amazing time being tourists in Berlin, as well as taking part in the extraordinary Model United Nations. It was an unforgettable time, and ww would highly recommend not only the conference, but visiting the remarkable city of Berlin.
Very nice, we can use them for future advocates for Justice un Bermuda.