What did you do at the weekend? Have a lie-in, watch some telly... solve the tricky question of Balochistan? No, me neither. Wait a minute, where is Balochistan? Read on to find out…

On 23 September, a group of girls from Blackheath High travelled to rural Reigate to take part in their first Model United Nations (MUN) conference of the academic year.

Representing the delegation of Bolivia (or to use its full name, the Plurinational State of Bolivia), students from Years 9 to 12 arrived in Reigate clutching draft resolutions to a range of sticky problems. From the question of Balochistan and post-conflict peace building to the very topical question of countries building walls to protect their borders, the girls started the day by lobbying in their various committees to try and get other countries to sign their resolutions and get them debated in the morning sessions.

They then met in the United Nations General Assembly, an enormous room with flags and placards representing the 191 member states of the UN plus anywhere between two and five delegates from that country. As you can imagine, it was very busy and bustling. With a bang of the gavel, the Director officially opened ReiMUN XXI and everyone returned to their committee rooms, ready and raring to debate their resolutions.

Anouk was working on the Environment Commission discussing GM foods while Emmy and Zoe were in GA1 and 4. Most importantly, Christine had a seat on the Security Council, which was made up of just 14 members states. From this privileged position, she was able to discuss the question of Balochistan, a province in Pakistan, and come up with some concrete resolutions with the help of her fellow delegates.

In the afternoon, the committees met again in the General Assembly and some of the most hotly debated resolutions were brought to the floor to be discussed with all delegates present. Excitement levels increased when the prizes were handed out at the end of the day and Zoe was awarded ‘Highly Commended Delegate’ in her committee – a fabulous achievement and thoroughly deserved. All the delegates performed extremely well and are excited about attending their next MUN conference at CROYMUN in November.