Model United Nations Update

Junior Model UN Conference – January 6 & 7, 2011

The fifth annual Junior Model UN conference was held at John Carroll University in the new Dolan Science Center in University Heights, Ohio.  Excellent facilities and technology as well as a welcoming staff  helped to make this a great conference.  The weather cooperated and we didn’t have to use the extra snow day we had scheduled for the conference

The theme for the conference was “Challenges for a New Generation,” and a few of the committees simulated included the Food and Agriculture Committee, the UN Children’s Fund, and the Security Council.

Ten schools and over 200  private and public school students attended the conference.  Chairs and co-chairs were drawn from New London and Monroeville High Schools under the leadership of Dennis Girton, longtime Model United Nations advisor.  Other staff members came from Cleveland School of Science and Medicine, Cleveland State University, and friends of the program.

Our keynote speaker was Wycliffe Odhiambo, born in Naivasha, Kenya, who is currently a sophomore at John Carroll University, majoring in Accounting and International Relations.  Odhiambo told us about living in Kenya during a very volatile time in the country’s history and clearly aroused the interest of his audience who asked many, many questions.

Students found the conference both productive and engaging as they debated such topics as “Global Warming and International Regulations,” “Information and Communications Technology,” and “Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery,” among other topics recently or currently under debate at the United Nations.

WINNERS