MUN Success in Bilbao

Last weekend, 11 members of the Alleyn’s Model United Nations (MUN) club were lucky enough to participate in the sixth annual Bilbao MUN conference, where we represented China and Turkey. After a bracingly early flight on the Thursday, we began by walking through the city’s old town and along the river, where we saw the iconic Guggenheim Museum. We then attended the conference’s opening ceremony at the Deusto University Chapel, in which we heard speeches from the conference organisers and student ambassadors for some of the delegations.

Over the next two days, all the delegates engaged in stimulating debates on topics such as cyber warfare, child soldiers and artificial intelligence across multiple different committees, corresponding to those in the actual UN. We were treated to a delicious dinner in town on the second evening, and attended an American-style prom on the third.

The conference culminated in the General Assembly on the final day, where over 400 delegates representing a total of 66 countries came together to debate resolutions passed by each committee. It was an amazing experience which allowed us to discuss pertinent international issues while meeting new people from schools across Europe.

We are hugely grateful to both the teachers who gave up their time to take us – to Dr Greetham for organising the trip, and Mrs Field for providing some much-needed Spanish assistance – without them we would never have had such an incredible opportunity!

Students who won prizes in their committees:

Oscar - Turkey Human Rights - Best Position paper
Sophie - Turkey WHO - Best Delegate
Chloe - Turkey SDGs - Best Delegate
Maya - China specpol - Best Delegate
Eli - China human rights - Best Delegate
Izzy - China DISEC - Best Delegate
Herve - China SDGs - Best Delegate
Long - China CSTD - Best Delegate

Committee abbreviations:

• WHO = World Health Organisation
• SDG = Sustainable Development Goals Committee
• SPECPOL = Special Political Committee
• DISEC = Disarmament and International Security Committee
• CSTD = Committee on Science and Technology for Development

Izzy and Oscar, Year 12 MUN Secretary-Generals