Photos from MUNA 2009

Photos of individuals from MUNA 2009 have not yet been published for privacy reasons. If you object to seeing a photo of yourself on this blog, please inform the MUNA coordinator or Secretary General via the comments section.

Congratulations

Congratulations to all the participants in the Model United Nations Assembly MUNA 2009. It was a very stimulating, educational and enjoyable experience. Special congratulations and best wishes must go to the teams who were :

• highly commended - UK ( Warners Bay HS) and Lebanon (Merewether HS) ,


• winners of the Peace Prize - Cuba ( Hunter Valley Grammar) and


• joint winners of the opportunity to represent Rotary District 9670 at the MUNA in Canberra - India (Merewether HS) and Iran (St Phillip's , Port Stephens).
  

Thanks to Pam Wellham and her MUNA committee, Muswellbrook mayor , Councillor Martin Rush and the Rotary Club of Muswellbrook for a really outstanding MUNA . Your commitment, hard work and dedication to the promotion of world understanding , peace and goodwill are valued and appreciated .

Wilma Simmons, Secretary General 2009

MUNA 2009 Compulsory Ice Breaker Resolution

This assembly

a) acknowledges that the burden of the current global financial crisis is distributed unevenly, hurting particularly developing countries affected by recessions in richer nations;

b) demands that the General Assembly Economic Crisis Summit (June 2009) include active participation by developing nations;

c) urges that the upcoming summit ensures it is more than a "talk fest" and aims to fix the deeper structural problems in global economy management for the benefit of all nations.

Note : This resolution will be the "ice breaker" and will be debated first, with the participation of every nation. Time allowed : one minute only.

MUNA 09 What Will I Wear?

During the week, I was asked if it was usual for MUNA delgates to wear the traditional dress of the country. Here is my answer ....
Yes it is usual for MUNA teams to “dress up” in something which depicts their country. It doesn’t have to be traditional national dress, but something which may identify you. eg. in the past, the Irish team wore green, the USA team wore dark business suits and dark glasses and carried briefcases, some of the African delegates have worn colourful kaftans, girls representing predominantly Muslim countries have always worn head scarves. Hope this gives you some idea of what may be appropriate. Just one thing I should mention – it is an OH&S requirement that all MUNA delegates wear some sort of footwear in the hotel dining room and the Council Chambers. (no barefeet).
Here are a couple of photos from MUNA 2008 which may give you an idea of what to wear - it can be extreme, or minimal , or anything in between.

Hope all is going well with your preparations - Best wishes,
Wilma ( Secretary General)

Latest List : Top 20 MUNA 2009

Here is the updated list of participating schools and allocated United Nations member country.
Singleton 1 : Brazil

Singleton 2 : Afghanistan
Hunter School PA : Japan
Merewether : Lebanon
Merewether2 : India
Warners Bay1 : United Kingdom
Warners Bay2 : Sweden
St Phillips Port Stephens : Iran
West Wallsend : Poland

West Wallsend 2: Egypt
Mudgee1 : South Korea
Mudgee2: East Timor
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

All the best with your preparations . Please do not hesitaite to contact me with any inquiries about the resolutions via the comments below.

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

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.

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