Report of the 2006 (MUNGA) Model United Nations General Assembly.
The cross-community, cross-border Model UN General Assembly for 120 sixth-formers from schools throughout Ireland was held in The Spires Conference Centre, Belfast on 24th October 2006 - United Nations Day. Delegates addressed issues dealing with global warming and climate change and immigration.
Pupils from 30 schools enrolled to take part in the Model UN event - 24 schools from Northern Ireland and 6 schools from the Republic of Ireland.
In total they represented 37 countries of the United Nations in teams of three, taking part in committee sessions and plenary debates, as well as acting as scribes and runners.
A welcome from Conference Chair Professor Bernard Cullen, Queens University Belfast was followed by a speech from Lord Diljit Rana, a conference sponsor.
Committee sessions were facilitated by Committee Chairs who were experts from the universities & NGOs. Following each Committee Session delegates took part in a plenary session, chaired by Professor Cullen, aided by a secretariat made up of members of the CEWC NI Teachers' Advisory Panel.
Both the Resolution on global warming & climate change and that on immigration were debated with spirit and resulted in heated discussion. It was evident that considerable research had been carried out beforehand and lobbying had been ongoing before and during the event.
An Emergency Resolution was proposed by the United States and seconded by the United Kingdom demanding that the General Assembly would instruct the Security Council to devise a Resolution to take any means necessary, not excluding military intervention, to ensure that North Korea's current aggressive intentions were thwarted. This proposal was the source of spirited argument, not least from North Korea in response, and time constraints had to cut short an excellent debate.
The team from Our Lady & St Patrick's College Knock, representing North Korea, was the winner of the Best Delegate Award.
