On 26 and 27 May, a group of Year 11-13 students travelled to Auckland Girls Grammar to participate in an event run by Rotary, the Model United Nations Assembly, or MUNA. In this annual event, schools represent different countries and a model general assembly of the United Nations is held. Westlake Girls had two teams of three students each, representing the nations of Burundi and the Netherlands. These teams had to write speeches from their country’s position on different issues facing the globe right now, such as water sanitation and gender equality.

Westlake Girls also sent MUNA’s only press team who act as journalists, creating a video and an in-depth newsletter detailing all of the events that took place.  This is sent out to all of the participating schools as well as to Rotary members. This year’s MUNA was very successful for Westlake Girls, as the Netherlands team received an ‘Honourable Mention’ from the judging panel and Burundi was awarded the ‘Supreme’ title for the ‘Best Overall Team’. MUNA is a fantastic opportunity that helps all those involved further their debating and social skills along with current events knowledge. 

By Georgia Martin (Year 12 Co-Editor of the MUNA Press Team)