Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Updated School and Country List


Welcome to two additional teams, joining MUNA 2009 - from Singleton High School . Here is the updated list.

Singleton 1 : Afghanistan
Singleton 2 : Brazil
Hunter School PA : Japan
Merewether : Lebanon
Merewether2 : India
Warners Bay1 : United Kingdom
Warners Bay2 : Sweden
St Phillips Port Stephens : Iran
West Wallsend : Poland
Mudgee1 : South Korea
Mudgee2: East Timor
Newcastle Grammar : ? Please contact Pam with details.
St Pauls, Booragul : Russia
Hunter Valley Grammar1: Cuba
Hunter Valley Grammar2 : Ireland
Muswellbrook : China
St Joseph's Aberdeen : Greece
Cobar : France
Belmont Christian College : USA
Cessnock : New Zealand
If any school has received information to the contrary, or you need to change your selection , please contact Pam Wellham or me via the comments section below.
Wilma Simmons , Secretary-General

Friday, March 27, 2009

MUNA 2009 Resolutions


RESOLUTIONS
Model United Nations Assembly


Muswellbrook 9 May 2009

Please note:
There is no guarantee that there will be time to debate all of these resolutions. The selection and order of these and any other resolutions will be debated at the discretion of the Secretary-General.
Some motions may change without notice, at times related to world events after the publication of resolutions and prior to MUNA.
The Secretary General will also consider the inclusion of a resolution presented by individual Member Nations or blocs, provided that the resolution is proposed in writing, with an identified proposer and a seconder, and presented to the Secretary-General before the beginning of the assembly

PEACE AND SECURITY

1) This assembly reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination including the right to an independent State of Palestine.

2) This assembly urges all member nations to take legislative measures to ensure that their territories and nationals will not be used for the recruitment, assembly, financing, training and transit of mercenaries.

3) This assembly calls for the immediate cessation of any form of nuclear weapons testing in line with the Comprehensive Nuclear test ban Treaty already established, with the longer term objective of working towards the total abolition of all nuclear weapons.

4) This assembly calls for those nations participating in the Afghanistan Compact to exercise increased support though United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and cooperation with International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to develop a holistic approach to restoring political, economic and social stability to the area.

HUMANITARIAN ISSUES:
5) This assembly calls on all member nations to act positively to protect women’s rights in Iraq and to improve conditions for women and girls who are yet to feel the benefits of Iraq’s recovery.

6) This assembly welcomes the global trend towards the abolition of capital punishment and supports the conclusions and recommendations of the report on the 2007 resolution declaring a moratorium on the death penalty.

7) This assembly urges all member nations to act in the spirit of solidarity and share the burden and responsibility in addressing the third country settlement needs of African refugees.

8) This assembly reaffirms the commitments outlined in the Monterrey Consensus and calls for immediate and decisive action from all member nations to alleviate the impact of the world financial and economic turmoil on development.


ENVIRONMENT
9) This assembly recognises that all member nations are greatly concerned about the impact of global warming and the ensuing climate change and notes that these are symptoms of the much deeper problem of over population. Therefore this assembly urges member nations to commence working to develop values systems and actions which will eventually lead to a condition of sustainable population.

10) This assembly notes that many river catchment systems in the world cross territorial boundaries. It urges all government drawing water from such catchments to develop whole-of-system water management agreements which recognise, safeguard the rights to, and the quality of the water in these systems.

11) This Assembly requires all Members Nations to adopt a moratorium on all whaling including that conducted for claimed scientific purpose.

12) This assembly urges all member nations to support the research and development of genetic modification technology to boost crop yields and food quality, so that local and global food shortages can be addressed more effectively.
Please see previous blog posts for general information about MUNA, the participating schools and allocated countries to date. If you have any inquiries or concerns, please contact Pam or me via the comments below.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Schools and United Nations Countries

These are the schools registered so far for MUNA 2009 and the allocated countries...

Hunter School PA : Japan
Merewether : Lebanon
Merewether2 : India
Warners Bay1 : United Kingdom
Warners Bay2 : Sweden
St Phillips Port Stephens : Iran
West Wallsend : Poland
Mudgee1 : South Korea
Mudgee2: East Timor
Newcastle Grammar : ?
St Pauls, Booragul : Russia
Hunter Valley Grammar1: Cuba
Hunter Valley Grammar2 : Ireland
Muswellbrook : China
St Joseph's Aberdeen : Greece
Cobar : France
Belmont Christian College : USA
Cessnock : New Zealand
If any school has received information to the contrary, or you need to change your selection , please contact Pam Wellham or me via the comments section below.

Wilma Simmons , Secretary-General

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

MUNA District 9670

Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) in Rotary District 9670 will be held in Muswellbrook on 8th and 9th May 2009.

What is MUNA?
MUNA stands for Model United Nations Assembly, which simulates the workings of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly by having teams of two or three senior students represent a particular U.N. country in debates on matters of world political and social concern. Rotary Model United Nations Assembly is all about building bridges of goodwill for world peace and understanding in the minds of our youth.. The main aims are
-to develop in students an awareness of the United Nations and the international situation of other countries in the world;
-to enable students to improve their public speaking and debating skills;
-to encourage them to make empathetic and informed comments on world problems;
-share their opinions and friendship with students from other schools and
-to lay the foundation for the free sharing of ideas across national boundaries which is the essence of a truly open society tolerant to differences of race, religion, and political opinion
What is MUNA's history?
MUNA as a concept arose in North America from the desire of young people to simulate the great debates of the United Nations Assembly. MUNA was first conducted as a Rotary activity by the Rotary Club of Winnipeg in Canada, and introduced to Australia by the Rotary Club of Lake Cargelligo in 1980. (Note: Chris Budden who was responsible for introducing MUNA in Lake Cargelligo was the Secretary-General of the first MUNA held in District 9670)
In 1988 Forbes Rotary Club realised the potential for Rotary to spread MUNA more widely and undertook MUNA 88 - a Rotary Bicentennial Project for Youth. The challenge issued by Forbes has been taken up by many Rotary districts so that now MUNA has spread throughout Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and world wide. The first National MUNA was held in the Australian Parliament House in August, 1997
The United Nations has given enthusiastic support for the ongoing growth of this very worthwhile project for youth.
In 1989 President Royce Abbey of Melbourne placed MUNA on the World Youth Activities Committee Agenda for Rotary International, and it was fitting that MUNA was included as part of the Rotary International Conference conducted in Melbourne in 1993.
In June, 1995 a MUNA delegation of five students representing Australia attended the Rotary/United Nations Presidential MUNA celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the U.N. Charter in San Francisco.
MUNA is now conducted in all five continents of the world and aims to operate in each of the existing 518 Rotary Districts world wide. Rotary International,with over 28,000 clubs in over 154 countries,has over 1.2 million membership committed to service and has the unique potential to bring the message of world peace and understanding to youth through MUNA. It encourages them to communicate their knowledge and idealism by the shared exhilaration of researching, understanding and debating significant social and political issues.