Ellesmere College’s MUN delegation

Model United Nations (MUN) is an extra-curricular activity in which more than 400,000 people from schools, universities and beyond participate each year. Lots of the schools we recommend have delegations that get involved, both within school and at conferences further afield.

Participants assume the role of national ambassadors or representatives, and by role-playing meetings like the Security Council and General Assembly to research, debate and try to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, they get a unique insight into how the United Nations works. Representing their adopted country’s position to discuss UN topics, delegates will often be arguing from an unfamiliar perspective, developing knowledge, understanding, empathy and other key life skills.

A delegation of fifteen Ellesmere College sixth form students recently returned from their annual participation of the Leiden Model United Nations conference, where they joined more than four hundred other delegates from countries including the Netherlands, Greece and Nepal. One of the students from this English boarding school was voted third best delegate in the United Nations Environment Programme, while their delegate for China emerged as one of the chief policymakers in the Security Council, and another fulfilled a challenging dual role as delegate for both China and Albania.

As one of them commented: “Having elected to study sciences at A level, this conference was a wonderful opportunity to engage my interest in global and cultural affairs, and to experience something a little different.”

A British boarding school education provides many enriching opportunities to engage in the bigger picture, so if you’d like your child(ren) to get involved, please contact us, so we can help you find the right school for them.

Image courtesy of Ellesmere College