United Nations Youth NT Territory Conference

From Friday 24 to Sunday 26 March, eighteen Darwin High School students attended UN Youth NT’s Territory Conference for 2017 which attracted students from many Darwin schools and colleges. The theme of the Conference was Multiculturalism and Gender: a World of Change and was open to all Year 10 to 12 students from the Darwin region.

The students debated a number of global issues at a mock UN General Assembly, representing the political positions and interests of a range of countries. Each debater was allocated a country, and was required to research its history, geography, economic position and political priorities so that they could make their vote count on each motion presented to the General Assembly.

Pictured above: left to right Bridget Myerscough and Lithira Abeysinghe in a lighter moment during the final MUN debate 

At the end of the Conference the facilitators selected ten delegates to represent the NT delegation at the upcoming National Conference to be held in Pert, Western Australia this July. Of those ten, six are from Darwin High School.

Congratulations to all the successful students: Kailey Coble, Ava Wilmore, Bridget Myerscough, Morgan Gurry, Aeron Leyesa and Evan Keith.

For the first time, coordinators from the participating schools were invited to watch the final Model UN (MUN) debates on the Sunday afternoon and it was exciting to see the confident and enthusiastic way in which the delegates argued and counter-argued at times logically and at others passionately, but all following the agreed protocols as the facilitators moved amongst them collecting amendments and passing them on.

You can see the video from the UNYNT Facebook page by clicking here.

Darwin High School student Evan Keith said that

I represented Somalia at UN Youth Territory Conference. I chose Somalia because I knew it was a nation with great current civil unrest, and I thought it would be an interesting experience to represent such an unusual government or rather lack thereof. I found it great fun discussing global politics with lots of other young people with interests in international politics. It was a really great atmosphere, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in politics and/or diplomacy.

Darwin High School student Aeron Leyesa said that

Territory conference is a great way of meeting like-minded individuals and to discuss several issues affecting the world. It's also an opportunity to challenge the views that you have by hearing others who may not necessarily agree with what you believe.

Darwin High School student Kailey Coble said that

At the Territory conference I was Myanmar (Burma). My country was really interesting because it challenged my own personal views on some religious freedom but supported my views on gender equality. Overall the model UN debates stood out the most, it was so exciting frantically running around trying to get signatures for your amendments and then speaking in support. Generally the whole conference taught me to be more globally aware of some very current issues that we face in the current world that we live in. More importantly how here in our very own country we still face many problems of gender equality for multicultural women. I loved every part of the experience and would recommend anyone with a keen interest in international relations/politics to apply next year.

Darwin High School Students have the opportunity to be involved in the post-school-student-run UNYNT when Evatt NT is run in October, this time for pairs of students. Evatt NT is the Territory round of Australia’s largest and premier debating and diplomacy competition.The competition takes the form of mock sessions of the UN Security Council. Teams of two students from Years 10-12 debate, amend, and vote on a prepared resolution from the perspective of a Member State of the Security Council. The top two teams will represent their school and the NT at the National Finals in Sydney in December.

Darwin High School student Bridget Myerscough said that

I was the representative for Kingdom of Spain. I really enjoyed the conference, it was a great opportunity to meet other students who were interested in similar things to me. I learned a lot about various social issues, and had the opportunity to discuss many confrontation and controversial topics.