A Model United Nations (MUN) event attended by high school students from across the province takes place Saturday, Nov. 19 at Abbotsford Senior Secondary School.
AbbyMUN is a simulation of the real United Nations where students attend conferences and have the opportunity to present a country of their choice and debate various global issues, although it does not follow the same format as a debate.
The event is designed to provide participants with a glimpse of how the real United Nations work and help them build an appreciation for foreign affairs and the significance of diplomacy.
The goal is to enable students to develop their public speaking, debate skills, communication skills and social skills.
There are four committees represented at the event: International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), whose topic is “crypto-currency money laundering”; United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO), whose topic is “the copyright of GMO seeds”; African Union (AU), whose topic is “preserving free and fair elections”; and and the Historical Cabinet Committee (HCC), whose topic is the Persian Gulf War.
The top delegate of each committee will win a customized gavel, which they will get to keep.
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One of the guest speakers will be Bruce Banman, a former Abbotsford mayor and councillor who is currently the MLA for Abbotsford South.
The conference is free and provides pizza, snacks and drinks at no charge to participants.
Last year’s event, AbbyMUN 2021, was the largest MUN day conference to take place in B.C. It was led by Abbotsford Senior graduate Sourav Arora, who is now studying medicine in Ireland.
This year’s conference is backed by the Abbotsford Model UN Club, which is based at Abby Senior and was founded by Arora, who is now on the board of directors.
Students from Grades 7 to 12 can learn more and register at abbymun.com and follow @abbotsfordmun on Instagram for updates.
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