The Rotary Club of Canberra Sunrise is once again, facilitating the National Model United Nations Assembly in the Senate Chamber of the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD, or old Parliament House), from 12 – 13 August 2023.
The objective of a Rotary MUNA in Australia is to involve secondary school students in a hands-on experience of a UN-style conference and through that experience to increase the students’ sense of international understanding and goodwill, one of the primary goals of Rotary International. Rotary believes that it is through our youth that hopefully we can look forward to increased world peace. All students participating in the Assembly are encouraged to dress in the national costume of the country they are representing for the Assembly deliberations.
MUNA was first introduced to Rotary in Australia at Lake Cargelligo, NSW in 1980 and the concept was then passed on to the Forbes Rotary Club in 1984. Since then, MUNA has spread throughout most districts of Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. In 1989, the then President of Rotary International, Royce Abbey placed MUNA on the World Youth Activities Committee Agenda for Rotary and similar sessions are now held in many countries.
In 1997, the Rotary Club of Canberra Sunrise took up the challenge to organise a National MUNA Conference, which attracted teams from many parts of Australia. This year marks the 25th National MUNA organised in Canberra by the Rotary Club of Canberra Sunrise (there were no MUNAs in 2020, 2021 due COVID-19 restrictions).
There is also an opportunity on the evening of 11 August at the accommodation centre at Canberra Park Resort, for delegates to discuss the resolutions to be debated, to identify speaker teams for and against each resolution, to meet other teams in their bloc, and to and develop the bloc identity and strategies for the debate.
All participants will be individually presented with a certificate. There are also prizes for winning teams. Adjudicators will determine the teams with the best overall performances. The top three teams identified will receive a prize. The Adjudicators may also award Highly Commended prizes.
An award, the Totenhofer Peace Prize, is awarded to the team which makes the greatest contribution in the debate for world peace.
This year, we are expecting around 20 teams from around the nation to participate in MUNA 2023, but registrations for teams wishing to compete are still open and enquiries can be made by emailing MUNARegistrar@gmail.com
We are always on the lookout for Rotarians who may like to help out on the weekend, and in particular, are still yet to complete the roster for “runners” – the passers of diplomatic notes during the debates. If you’re interested, please drop a line to canberra.sunrise@gmail.com