Empowerment and Equity for the
Collective Global Good

The 16 SESB and Regelzug students in the English "Debating" Zusatzkurs are preparing for the upcoming 23rd annual Berlin Model United Nations at the John-F.-Kennedy School in Zehlendorf. This year's conference will look at the UN's 2015 Millenial Development Goals. Students are working in teams to research and write their policy statements and resolutions, which represent the real interests of our assigned country, Australia. Only seven students will actually be able to serve on our delegation, as schools from around the world apply for the coveted conference slots. Watch this space for articles about the conference!

Meanwhile, take a look at last year's conference!

BERMUN 2013

Nine SESB students from grades 9 and 10 spent Wednesday afternoon at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, where the opening events of the 2013 Berlin Model United Nations Conference were held. This year’s theme was “Education: The Key to Advancement, Equality and A Secure Future.”

The next three days of lobbying, debating and learning took place at the John F. Kennedy School in Zehlendorf, where over 700 students from around the world gathered for this 22nd annual conference. Student delegations came from local schools such as Nelson Mandela, Berlin International School and BBIS as well as schools from Finland, Turkey, Hungary, France, the USA, Taiwan, Italy, Egypt, Singapore …. The list seems endless!

Vincent discusses an amendment with another delegate on the DC

In addition to pursuing their discussions on a variety of issues centering on the theme of education, students had the privilege of hearing expert guest speakers including former US Ambassador John Kornblum, Deputy Representative Dr. Klemet Gu of the Taipei Representative Office, and Professor Dr. Thomas Rommel, who is Rector and Professor of Literature at ECLA Bard University in Berlin.

Schiller was represented by five students representing Syria on the committees of the General Assembly and two students representing Guinea on the Historical Security Council. In addition, two ninth-graders were selected to participate in the Youth Assembly, which focused on education's role in promoting ecological sustainability.

Tim-Hendrik Meyer, a JFKS graduate and Chairman of the Board at Bonfaremo, gave an excellent presentation about how this organization builds sustainable education projects in East Africa.

Students interested in joining Schiller’s MUN club should attend our Friday afternoon meetings starting in mid-February. We’ll be preparing new members for BERMUN II, a regional conference in March that is designed for beginners and younger students. Schiller students in the second semester of eighth grade or above are welcome to participate. Our next “away” conference will be BALMUN (Baltic Model United Nations) in Rostock in May.

Ms. Hambrecht, MUN Advisor