Welcome to the Model United Nations.

Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations where students play the role of delegates from different countries and attempt to solve real world issues with the policies and perspectives of their assigned country. For example, a student may be assigned the United Kingdom and will have to solve global topics such as nuclear non-proliferation or climate change from the policies and perspectives of the United Kingdom.

Students are given activities before the conference in order to research the topic and their country including a Country profile, Position Paper  and Opening Speech.

These pages show the work from Conferences in previous years.

Click here to download the handbook

Model United Nations Day - 1st March

11 schools took part on the MUN day on 1st March 2024, representing 32 countries and 5 media teams. 

an exciting debate took place during the day, discussing Sustainable Consumption, resulting in 2 resolutions being voted on at the end of the day.

The 5 media teams reported throughout the day on both X (Twitter) and with pieces to camera.

Awards were presented at the end of the day, with all schools being represented in one capacity or another.

The topic to be discussed this year was :

Sustainable Consumption in a Changing Climate

Further committing the United Nations General Assembly to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 12, establishing Zero Hunger and Responsible Consumption and Production to end the Global Food Crisis

On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by world leaders in September 2015 officially came into force. Over the next 15 years, with these new Goals that universally apply to all, countries will mobilise efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

Sustainable Goals 2 and 12 specifically refer to the global hunger crisis and responsible consumption.

Goal 2 is about creating a world free of hunger by 2030. The global issue of hunger and food insecurity has shown an alarming increase since 2015, a trend exacerbated by a combination of factors including the pandemic, conflict, climate change, and deepening inequalities.

By 2022, approximately 735 million people – or 9.2% of the world’s population – found themselves in a state of chronic hunger – a staggering rise compared to 2019. This data underscores the severity of the situation, revealing a growing crisis.

In addition, an estimated 2.4 billion people faced moderate to severe food insecurity in 2022. This classification signifies their lack of access to sufficient nourishment. This number escalated by an alarming 391 million people compared to 2019.

Despite global efforts, in 2022, an estimated 45 million children under the age of 5 suffered from wasting, 148 million had stunted growth and 37 million were overweight. A fundamental shift in trajectory is needed to achieve the 2030 nutrition targets.

To achieve zero hunger by 2030, urgent coordinated action and policy solutions are imperative to address entrenched inequalities, transform food systems, invest in sustainable agricultural practices, and reduce and mitigate the impact of conflict and the pandemic on global nutrition and food security

The persistent surge in hunger and food insecurity, fuelled by a complex interplay of factors, demands immediate attention and coordinated global efforts to alleviate this critical humanitarian challenge.

Extreme hunger and malnutrition remains a barrier to sustainable development and creates a trap from which people cannot easily escape. Hunger and malnutrition mean less productive individuals, who are more prone to disease and thus often unable to earn more and improve their livelihoods.

To achieve a world free from hunger by 2030, governments, citizens, civil society and the private sector must collaborate to invest, innovate and create lasting solutions.

Therefore, the United Nations general Assembly calls on all States to actively protect people’s rights under Article 25 and a fundamental human right and as a pillar of the United Nations system as fundamental rights and contributing to the advancing of the 2030 Sustainable Goals 2 and 12 establishing Zero Hunger and Responsible Consumption and Production to end the Global Food Crisis.

Conference

 

After a short break we came back to discuss and debate an important topic at the Model United Nations 22/23 Conference.

Freedom of Movement

A peaceful and prosperous world is one in which people can feel safe and secure in their homes, with their families and in their communities. It is a world in which they can feel confident in their country, their culture and in the family of nations and peoples on our common planet.

People emigrate from one country to another for a variety of complex reasons. Sometimes, for economic or other personal reasons, people choose to leave their homes, to begin a new life in a new location. For better or worse, these decisions are made as a matter of conscious choice. But when nature intervenes in the form of natural disasters, people's homes are washed away, blown away, or shaken to the ground, uprooting entire communities. When war or civil unrest ravages a community, people are forcibly displaced or simply flee to protect life and limb. At the extreme, they are left with only few options: death by privation, assault or genocide, or life in exile.

Despite what appears to be large population movements, people still are not able to move as freely as commodities. In some places around the world, there are additional restrictions being put upon people’s movements.

More recently, a large number of people are attempting to leave the devastation of their own country caused by the current form of globalization and other political, foreign and economic policies, which, as well as creating winners, is creating a large number of losers, and growing inequality. Tackling poverty, addressing issues of development and seeking peaceful resolutions in conflict areas are all important aspects of tackling these types of immigration.

Additionally, asylum seekers and refugees – men, women and even children – are increasingly detained and interned around the world. Sometimes detained indefinitely and often in appalling conditions; they may suffer not only deprivation of their liberty but other abuses of their human rights too. Many governments are seen to violate the international customary law of non-refoulement as well as being accused of inhumane treatments of asylum seekers.

Therefore, the United Nation calls on all nations to abide to the principles of Freedom of Movement and ensure that these are consistently applied to fully meet our global duties and it also urges all Governments to improve the treatment of refugees in line with values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Additional Information

December

December 1st saw the first of our MUN workshops.

The whole day was crammed full of team building and 'getting to know you' activities and everyone participated and started to build those team relationships.  Pictures of the community activity are below.

Countries and media teams were picked and a great day was had by all.

January

On January 18th the second workshop took place, at The Misbourne School. 

The day started with a talk from Show Racism he Red Card, followed by a mock debate to discuss Capital Punishment. This showed students the etiquette of the United Nations.

MUN Conference Day

Friday 3rd March saw:

Media Reports

Along with posting Tweets to #BucksMUN throughout the day, the 5 International Media Teams made 3 live to camera reports:

Morning Report:

Opening media statements, Model UN 2023 - YouTube

Mid Day Report:

Bucks Model UN 2023 mid-session summaries - YouTube

Final Report:

Bucks Model UN 2023 - final reports - YouTube

 

Certificate Winners

Best Position Paper – Winner Germany  - Commended Sudan

Best Country Profile – Winner Poland  - Commended USA

Best Media Coverage Preparation Award – Winner CNN – Commended GB News

Bucks MUN Award – Winner  Australia – Commended Poland

Best Foreign Affairs Correspondent  - Winner Bloomberg – Commended Al Jazeera

Outstanding Diplomacy and Advocacy – Winner Russia -  Commended France   - with honourable mentions to Canada and Croatia

Public Speaking Award  - Winner Israel – Commended Greece

The Member States of the United Nations consistently, unequivocally and strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, as it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

The poisonous spread of violent extremism has greatly troubled the international community over the last several years. Violent extremist groups are posing a direct assault on the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and are undermining our efforts to maintain peace and security, foster sustainable development, promote the respect for human rights and deliver much needed humanitarian aid.

In recent years, terrorist groups such as ISIL, Al-Qaida and Boko Haram have shaped our image of violent extremism and the debate about how to address this threat. Their message of intolerance – religious, cultural, social – has had drastic consequences for many regions of the world. Holding territory and using social media for real-time communication of their atrocious crimes, they seek to challenge our shared values of peace, justice and human dignity.

On September 8^th 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 60/288 and the United Nations Counter Terrorism Strategy came into force. The Strategy recognizes that there are four Pillars which need to be addressed if the international community is to end the threat of violent extremism around the world; Pillar One addresses the need to change the conditions that lead to the spread of violent extremism.

We resolve to undertake the following measures aimed at addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, including but not limited to foreign occupation; oppression; violations of human rights; ethnic, national and religious discrimination; political exclusion; socio-economic marginalization; extreme poverty; lack of opportunities, while recognizing that none of these conditions can excuse or justify acts of terrorism.

Profile Papers, Position Papers, Media papers and photos are available on request.

Addressing Violent Extremism Award winners

As part of the UN Conference on addressing violent extremism the following award winners were:

Best Position Paper (Country)

• Winner - USA
• Commendation - Libya & Italy

Best Media Coverage Preparation

• Winner - Russia Today
• Commendation - Fox News

Bucks MUN Award

• Winner - Chad
• Commendation - The Netherlands

Best Foreign Affairs Correspondent

• Winner - Fox News
• Commendation - France 24

Outstanding Diplomacy and Advocacy

• Winner - India
• Commendation - Belgium

Public Speaking Award

• Winner - Indonesia
• Commendation - Nigeria

Driving Force

• Winner - Keira Dickinson, Crystal Stevens, Lily Marley

Best Spanish Team

• Winner - Finland

Best French Team

• Winner - Sweden

Sustainable consumption and production are about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services, green and decent jobs and a better quality of life for all. Its implementation helps to achieve overall development plans, reduce future economic, environmental and social costs, strengthen economic competitiveness and reduce poverty.

Sustainable consumption and production aims at “doing more and better with less,” increasing net welfare gains from economic activities by reducing resource use, degradation and pollution along the whole lifecycle while increasing quality of life. It involves different stakeholders, including business, consumers, policymakers, researchers, scientists, retailers, media, and development cooperation agencies, among others.

It also requires a systemic approach and cooperation among actors operating in the supply chain, from producer to final consumer. It involves engaging consumers through awareness-raising and education on sustainable consumption and lifestyles, providing consumers with adequate information through standards and labels and engaging in sustainable public procurement, among others

• Each year, an estimated one-third of all food produced – equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes worth around $1 trillion – ends up rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers, or spoiling due to poor transportation and harvesting practices
• If people worldwide switched to energy efficient light bulbs the world would save US$120 billion annually
• Should the global population reach 9.6 billion by 2050, the equivalent of almost three planets could be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyles
• Land degradation, declining soil fertility, unsustainable water use, overfishing and marine environment degradation are all lessening the ability of the natural resource base to supply food.
• The food sector accounts for around 30 per cent of the world’s total energy consumption and accounts for around 22 per cent of total Greenhouse Gas emissions.
• While substantial environmental impacts from food occur in the production phase (agriculture, food processing), households influence these impacts through their dietary choices and habits. This consequently affects the environment through food-related energy consumption and waste generation.
• 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year while almost 1 billion people go undernourished and another 1 billion hungry.

Final papers and Photos are available on request.

The world is over-armed and peace is under-funded. Guns can be licensed, marked or confiscated; ammunition can be tracked, removed or destroyed; and depots can be guarded, cleared or secured,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The human suffering caused by the small arms & arms trade is large and global, including the denial of education and health, criminality, illicit plundering of natural resources, decreased trade and investment, violence against women and girls, gang violence and the collapse of the rule of law. These issues are made worse by widespread access to the weapons.

The excessive accumulation of arms had fuelled insecurity and conflict from Mali to Afghanistan, Nigeria to Syria and beyond. The increase in availability of small arms has led to a vast range of human rights violations — killings, rapes, enforced disappearances and torture, among them.

These are the weapons of the easy kill: the most portable, most easily accessible, most casual instruments of death.

Final papers and photos of the event are available upon request.