MUNbelievable

Gallery • 4 Photos

The children working. Delegates Sofia Gonzalez (second from left) and Hunor Vajda (third from left) representing the United States of America won Best Delegate for UNICEF. With them, the United States displays the great handle they have on child labor.

On Saturday, January 10th, four middle schools sent 87 student delegates to Palmetto for a Model United Nations (MUN) conference. The students were set to contemplate, debate and solve some of the world’s most controversial topics. UNICEF and Security Council delegates journeyed to find solutions for ISIS’ latest moves and third-world countries’ endless battles against child labor.  

8:45 A.M.: Opening Ceremony

“It is the goal of our staffers and committee chairs to introduce delegates to challenging, controversial topics while fostering debate and collaboration toward innovative solutions to many issues that plague our world today” senior and Secretary-General of MUN Julian Mayorga said.

Mrs. Jaqueline Rojas (a community engagement worker in Miami for UNICEF), Mr. Lawrence Feldman (Vice-Chair of the Miami Dade County Public School Board) and Catherine Rodriguez (a well accomplished Diplomat in Residence at Florida International University and Miami Dade College) were then introduced to the participants.

“Think big, dream big make it happen,”  Ms. Rodriguez said.      

The second annual Panther Model United Nations conference began.

9:32 A.M.: UNICEF

Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Colombia, Cuba, France, Hungary and the United States

The delegates discussed the problems of child labor and its massive role in supporting the economy of some countries. All countries agreed that child labor prevents children from receiving an education, an essential component  to avoiding further child labor.

After approximately one hour of moderated caucus (discussion in which the chair and director monitor gives speaking time to each country on the topic at hand), Cambodia proposed raising adult wages in its petroleum industry to reduce the need for families to force their children to work.

A 10 minute unmoderated caucus led to the United States and France proposing truancy officers to check on factories and educate parents on the importance of  education. Hungary proposed an increase in minimum wage and the United States suggested Doctors Without Borders help the cause.

“Ending child labor is the future for the nation,” United States delegate Sofia Gonzalez said. 

In the following hours, Colombia proposed loans from more developed countries to acquire money for education and to remove children from plantations and factories. Knowing interest on loans ads up, Hungary proposed an alternative: funds. Cambodia went further by suggesting to work with the Global Education Fund in order to provide children with schools and supplies to make their education possible.

11:38 A.M.: Security Council

Chile, France, Lithuania, Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela

As the option of using peacekeepers  to protect the Yazidi women, a group of women abducted and tortured by ISIS, arises so does the concern that sending peacekeepers will more than likely result in brutal conflict.

The United Kingdom proposed using their Naval forces as an aggressive alternative to the peacekeepers, but Malaysia argued that the primary concern lies in keeping the environment non-conflictive for as long as possible.

The moderated caucus changed the topic to taking care of the abducted women, in which France suggested that the Non Governmental Organizations provide post-trauma programs and Lithuania suggested airdropping care packages. The United Kingdom brought up the point that none of this is possible without sufficient money.

“Without money, we cannot fund a war,” a United Kingdom delegate said.

The debate heated up soon, with France reproposing the use of peacekeepers to protect the women of Yazidi in Kurtish camps despite the previous conclusion the group came to of not sending peacekeepers.

2:13 P.M.: UNICEF

Draft resolutions are written up and read aloud to the committees.

Costa Rica and United States encourage governments to put more money into the budget of education, endorse awareness of child labor and recommend random background checks for industries.

China and France call on other countries for help and support, stress the importance of education for the parents and children and request background checks on sweatshop factories or anything that might be inducing child labor.

Hungary and Cambodia suggest countries implement fines to anyone involved in child labor, call upon patrols to conduct random inspections of the workplace and propose a raise of minimum wages.

Cuba and Colombia recommend lower taxes on necessities endorse advertisements and other mass media to bring awareness and recommend law enforcement and fines.

3:02 P.M.: Security Council

More draft resolutions are written up and read aloud to the committees.

Chile and France recommend the ground fighters to protect the Yazidis request the establishment of post-trauma centers and suggest airstrikes.

Venezuela and Malaysia urge countries to allow peacekeepers on their land, ensure support for governments in the middle east and encourage nations to financially aid non-governmental organizations helping the Yazidi people.

United Kingdom and Lithuania urge precise airstrike, emphasize the need for proper funding of non-governmental organizations and authorize the use of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to recapture land taken by ISIS.

4:17 P.M.: UNICEF

Costa Rica, United States, Hungary and Cambodia merge papers and have signatories (countries that would like to see the paper debated) of France, Cuba and Colombia.

China, France, Cuba and Colombia merge papers and have signatories of the United States, Costa Rica, Cambodia, Hungary.

Both resolutions pass and delegates applaud themselves and their day’s worth of work.

4:40 P.M.: Closing Ceremony

The following awards were given to the most outstanding student delegates of the day.

Four years ago, MUN  began with nine freshman. On January 29th – 31st they will test their leadership once again by competing against other high schools in Gainesville. This club was built from the ground up by their current leadership and it has a heart, a soul, a backbone, and pride in calling itself a group of nerds.