United Nations Model Convention

On Friday 10th August 2018, nine students represented Cobram Secondary College through their participation in a Model United Nations Convention at Wangaratta High School. Students worked collaboratively in three to teams to represent the nation states of Russia, Philippines and Myanmar in a mock meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, engaging in vigorous debate on the topic, ‘Hear My Voice: Recognising the Rights of Indigenous People’.

Students spent a significant period researching the issues and legal rulings of Indigenous Rights whilst developing their understanding of the issues from the perspective of their respective countries. They learned of the urgency from their nation’s perspective, exploring the impact of Indigenous Rights on issues of education, access to healthcare and expected life span.

The session modelled the formal processes utilised by the United Nation in the debate of resolutions. Ellie Jones, Deniz Habiboglu and Baneen Alrubayi presented their team Position Statements, providing an overview of the issues and a clear position of the proposed resolution. All team members then engaged in the debate process in the Caucus, where teams engaged in both formal and informal debate and conversation.

This process has provided wonderful training in international diplomacy, critical thinking and collaboration. The teams are to be commended for their enthusiastic participation in the program. Our students were wonderful ambassadors for our college.