Students Lead Successful Cambridge Model United Nations Event

Model UN is an academic simulation of the United Nations, in which students act as delegates to the UN and discuss real-world challenges. Students are allocated a country to represent and invited to research their country’s position on a designated topic, debate with other delegates, work as a group to develop solutions to the problems linked to the topic and present their country’s ideas, both verbally and in writing.

The event, which has been held by Stephen Perse Cambridge since 2016, saw students from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Turkey, the United States of America and the United Kingdom deliberate the topic: Rethinking Global Solidarity: including the excluded. Mo Tanweer, Economist, Lecturer and Consultant at the University of Cambridge, the Cambridge Judge Business School and the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, and Teacher of Economics at Stephen Perse Cambridge, opened the event with his keynote speech.

In addition to participating, students from Stephen Perse Cambridge organised the event in its entirety. Elected the year prior, students took on Secretariat roles and organised themselves to take responsibility for different areas of running the weekend, including: academics, finance, logistics, marketing and delegate liaisons. During the organisation process, they gain valuable transferable skills, including financial planning, team working, problem solving and leadership.

Alison Daniels, Head of Psychology & Sociology, Stephen Perse Cambridge Sixth Form, said: “Our Year 13 Secretariat students have had a steep learning curve, and it never ceases to amaze me that our young people are able to organise such a large event so effectively. Learning how to negotiate with other people, understand different perspectives and work towards a common goal are universally sought-after skills. While Model UN is useful for students’ academic experience, participating also has tremendous benefits for our students' personal development too.”

Secretariat General, Frank, a Year 13 student at Stephen Perse Cambridge, said: "It has been an incredible experience leading the Secretariat for CamMUN 2025. After four years of participating, it was truly rewarding to contribute to a conference that empowers young people to seek diplomatic solutions to global challenges. I hope the conference broadened perspectives and sparked new ways of thinking for all who attended and I look forward to seeing next year’s Secretariat continue shaping and inspiring the leaders of tomorrow with CamMUN 2026!"