WORLD OF DIPLOMACY
A group of diplomatically minded Year 10 and 11 students are about to gain first-hand knowledge of what it is like to attend a UN conference
BUDDING high school diplomats from across Queensland will rub shoulders with Japan Consul-General Ms Keiko Yanai at Australia’s first university-run high school model United Nations conference next week.
The inaugural Bond University High School Model UN Conference will give Year 10
and 11 students a chance to represent a member nation in a full-day debate on nuclear disarmament, which will simulate a real UN proceeding.
Ms Yanai will deliver the keynote speech, sharing her experience in handling treaty negotiations and multilateral affairs, focusing on disarmament and non-proliferation of
weapons, gained since joining Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988.
Ms Yanai, who is currently engaged in advancing the relationship between Queensland and Japan, has been an instrumental force in international negotiations and affairs for almost three decades.
Assistant Professor Mark Dinnen of Bond University’s Faculty of Society and Design said Ms Yanai’s involvement would be invaluable to the students, who would discuss the topic: Towards a Nuclearfree World: Accelerating the Implementations of Nuclear Disarmament Commitments’’.
“Bond University is focused on providing students with realworld experiences, and to enable our next generation of diplomats to be part of Australia’s first-ever universityrun high school model UN conference is a great example of this,” Assistant Professor Dinnen said.
“It is a great opportunity for the students to meet and hear from an international diplomat with decades of experience, and find out first-hand what it might be like to pursue a career in the exciting, fast-paced world of international relations.
“Since 2012, the topic of a nuclear-free world has been a mainstay of the UN General Assembly’s agenda, so Ms Yanai’s knowledge and experience in this area is a perfect fit for our debate topic.”
Assistant Professor Dinnen said students would have an opportunity to test the UN waters and better understand the area of international relations.
“There is strong evidence that being involved in a model conference such as this provides students with a host of technical skills that will boost their employability, including improved public speaking and critical thinking, as well as encouraging them to reach for their goals and embrace new opportunities,” he said.
“High school students considering studying an international relations degree are encouraged to take part, but need to get in soon as we have already been inundated with interest.”