7 Students win awards at Model UN Conference in New York
Seven Ghanaian Senior High School (SHS) students have received awards for their performance at the just ended Altitude Model United Nations Conference, 2023 in New York, USA.
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Among the seven winners, two received the Secretary-General’s Award while five received the Best Improvement Award at the conference.
Winners
Robert C. Arthur from Adisadel College and Selorm K. Kumodor from Presbyterian Boys, Legon (Presec), both delegates representing China, received the Secretary General’s Award.
Williet Kofie, a delegate of China from Wesley Girls; Obaapa Nyamekye and Lois Ashong Mettle, both delegates of Iran from Christian High; Noella Ayesu and Nana Ama Yeboah, both delegates of Croatia from Achimota Senior High and Legacy Girls’ Senior High School respectively, won the Best Improvement Award at the conference
The seven students were part of a group of 29 students from Ghana who participated in the Altitude Model United Nations Conference 2023.
They were assigned countries to represent at the conference, in line with UN procedures and debated on various topics during the committee sessions.
The delegates were present on the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee of the UN General Assembly, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) committees.
This gave them the opportunity to share their ideas and solutions to problems such as food insecurity, climate change and the energy crisis, digital safety in the Metaverse; the social, humanitarian and cultural consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, among other pressing issues.
In an interview, a participating delegate from Presec, Selorm K. Kumodor said, “meeting with other delegates from around the world has been exciting and educative, and interacting with diplomats and high profiled personalities was a great inspiration”.
The students were part of the delegation of Life-Link Friendship Schools, pioneers of Model United Nations Conferences in Ghana.
The 2023 Altitude Model United Nations Conference is one of the many international Model UN conferences that Life-Link Friendship Schools has participated in over the past 20 years.
Speaking on the awards, the Executive Director of Life-Link Friendship Schools, Ernest Gyimah-Danquah, said the experience was part of efforts to expose young Ghanaian students to the United Nations level diplomacy and to build their public speaking and debate skills while networking with other students from diverse backgrounds in the USA.
The students were from various senior high schools including the Presbyterian Boys Senior High, Legon, Achimota High, Mfansipim High, Wesley Girls High, Adisadel College, Christian High, St Augustine’s High, Aggrey Memorial High, Legacy Girls College, St Peter’s, St Rose’s and Accra Academy Senior High School.
As part of their activities, participants got the opportunity to visit the United Nations Headquarters, Ghana’s High Commission in New York, Rockefeller Center, Statue of Liberty and Times Square in New York City.