The 2022 Assembly, (for Districts 9910 and 9920), was held in Auckland at Auckland Girls Grammar School over the weekend of 29 - 30 July.
 
For most students MUNA is one of the greatest experiences of their schooling lives that they were able to share with their friends. What made it very exciting was the sharing of a broad range of concepts, ideologies, and in-depth intellectual discussions from all around the world that the attendees were exposed to while attending MUNA.
 
MUNA, (Model United Nations Assembly) simulates the working of the United Nations Assembly by students in Years 12 and 13, (Forms 6 and 7), in school teams each of two or three students representing a participating UN member country. 
 
The teams debate current matters of world politics and social concern with the debates held over a weekend from Friday morning to mid-afternoon Saturday.
 
The aim of MUNA is to;
  • develop in students an awareness of the United Nations and the current international situations of the countries of the world,
  • enable students to improve their public speaking and debating skills,
  • encourage students to make informed comments on world problems, and
  • encourage students to share their opinions and develop friendships with students from other schools
The most successful and sustainable Rotary service projects tend to fall within one of the six areas of focus and MUNA is one of these. fitting into the the area of focus of “Peace promotion, and conflict prevention and resolution”. This sounds overwhelming, but the promotion of peace and tolerance can be local just as much as global. Building understanding, communication skills, and relationships within and between communities, all build the foundation for local peace and tolerance.
 
Every year, (Pandemic willing), Rotary holds the “Model United Nations Assembly” (MUNA) for high school students. MUNA simulates the working of the United Nations Assembly with schools teams representing a participating UN country in debates on matters of world politics and social concern.
 
At the end of July 2022 over 300 students from Auckland and Northland participated, representing a total of 100 countries from Asia Pacific, Africa, Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe. Teams put forth their chosen country’s beliefs and debated positions and issues with their nation’s best interests in mind. Delegates learnt how to lobby, negotiate and engage in impromptu debate.
 
Hot topics this year were of course the war in Ukraine, inequality, global humanitarian issues and other issues such as food shortages and human sex trafficking. One past participant commented “MUNA was amazing and changed my life. After MUNA I was so inspired that instead of following science as a career, I went on to do international politics.”
 
In this way students developed the skills to discover, consider, debate, compromise and build understanding. How much better equipped are they now to contribute to peace and tolerance as they move through life? Rotary, helping to develop tomorrow’s leaders.
 
To give a taste and feel of how teams within MUNA operate here is a description from a member assigned the country of Afghanistan: They were part of a bloc of 50 other countries of the East Asia or East Pacific and two of these countries, Saudi Arabia, the head of the bloc, and Bahrain decided to attempt a coup d’état between the two although it was unclear who was talking over whom. The Afghani delegation was asked to support the coup d’état but were not asked to participate in the process.  The Afghani delegation appeared to suffer some degree of ostracization because no country wished to be associated with the Taliban government and this prevented their capacity for socialization amongst the other delegates. However, despite the isolation suffered, they were able to make two amendments to the remits presented.
 
 
The cost for MUNA in 2022 was $275 for a team of three students and this cost is usually split between the school and the sponsoring Rotary Club.
 
The District 9920 Co-Chair responsible for the organising and operating the Assembly is Jan Malcolm, with a support team drawn from Rotarians across a wide range of 9910, 9920 Rotary clubs.  Members of Rotaract and past RYLA awardees are also sourced to help.
 
The preparation required for the 2023 Assembly will commence in February, with the final date for entry forms to be received by Jan and her team no later than April 7th 2023.
 
If your Club is not familiar with MUNA and you would like to get involved in this very worthwhile and successful event, please contact;
 
Co-Chair - Jan Malcolm
                  Mobile - 0274442151
                  email  - janmalcolm1@gmail.com   1