At a meeting in the US last week I was in a room with some of the smartest people in the world today – former and current presidents, prime ministers, diplomats and academics. Today, I’m again in a room with some of the smartest people in the world today – you. I think today’s is the more important meeting.
Keynote speaker xenia wickett
This is how Xenia Wickett opened QMUN 3 in her keynote speech. And there’s reason to believe that she’s right – 230 students from 15 schools across the North West, and one from Jersey, descended on Queen’s for a day of debate on geopolitics and international diplomacy.
They tackled topics as varied as the use of Ozempic for weight loss, youth progression into gangs and the repatriation of cultural property, in committees ranging from the Security Council to Human Rights and Health.
MUN is a virtually entirely student-led and student-run activity, and this year more than ever before, organisation of our conference was in the hands of the QMUN Secretariat, made up of our most experienced MUNers. Their job started months ago with selecting topics for debate and writing briefing papers and skeleton resolutions. They handled communications with participating schools, managed the application process for guest-chairing positions, completed all the admin associated with allocating countries to schools and, crucially, developed the Crisis scenario revealed on the day of the conference.
Our MUN conference offers a range of opportunities for students to get involved in addition to being a delegate or, for senior MUNers, a position as a chair.
Led by Scarlett in Year 13, the Press Team included students from Years 8-10 who recorded the briefing video for the Crisis, and produced a newsletter and video of the conference, both being published in time for the Closing Ceremony using footage collected and shot on the day – speedy and efficient work indeed! They demonstrated their ability to grasp a brief, get themselves organised as a team, and deliver to a tight deadline. And no MUN conference would be complete without the team of 'runners' – ours included four students from Years 7 and 8, who tirelessly helped with various logistical aspects of the day and, most importantly, with collecting and delivering the diplomatic notes delegates were sending to each other.
We were delighted to welcome Xenia Wickett to deliver the keynote speech on our conference theme of progress. Xenia is an executive coach, moderator, advisor and geopolitical expert with a long career in geopolitics and international strategy. She has worked in the White House, where she led on South Asia policy and helped set up Homeland Security after 9/11. Xenia also ran Harvard’s eminent international affairs research centre and has held senior positions in business, NGOs and at the Chatham House think tank.
A particular highlight of this year’s conference was the introduction of our QMUN-branded cotton tote bags, which were given as prizes to all winners of awards at the Closing Ceremony! At the end of the day, QMUN Secretary General, Anoushka in Year 13, brought her gavel down on the sounding block to close what was an energising day that will, hopefully, inspire us to venture forth to be agents of change in the world.
