By Mrs Barber (Head of Business and Economics)
On Friday 31st January to Sunday 2nd February, 28 students from Years 11 to Upper Sixth attended the 2025 Cambridge Model United Nations (CAMMUN) conference at The Stephen Perse Foundation. The global event saw more than 200 students from this country and around the globe. The event provided the opportunity for students to connect with individuals from a range of diverse backgrounds. This is the third year that BGS has had representatives at this event.
Model UN is an academic simulation of the United Nations, where students represent the delegates of different nations, working collaboratively to debate and resolve global issues. Ahead of the CAMMUN conference, students are assigned a committee, a delegation to represent and two topics for which they prepare position papers. Attending the conference allows students to put their research and debating skills into practice by working with students from other schools to write and present resolutions to these issues.
Following the opening ceremony and introductions on Friday evening, students took part in two full days of debate, contributing to discussions across 12 different committees.
We are incredibly proud of the following students for the way they debated with poise, confidence and intellect throughout the weekend: Shazmin Ahamed Rijal and Danae Karavaggelis, who both chaired committees. Mia Vadgama, Nawaal Qazi, Sonia Erwig and Mahdiyah Meghji, who were named Best Delegates in their committees. Mitali Misara, Hania Tauqeer, Jette Schreyer and Anaiya Patel, who received Honourable Mentions in their committees.
Read reflections from the students below:
Nawaal Qazi (Upper Sixth) “I thoroughly enjoyed CAMMUN 2025. Having attended for the second year, I decided to challenge myself by doing the Historical International Court of Justice. I wanted to play a tricky role and, as the case was surrounding Napoleon, I opted to be a member of the French Empire, defending him. By the end, Napoleon had got off with a very lenient sentence—simply reparations and house arrest. The experience helped me realise that bias and interpretation play a huge part in how we perceive history. My committee aside, I enjoyed the opportunity to socialise with a variety of students from all walks of life and different parts of the world— all different yet similarly ambitious and interested in the world around us. I look forward to attending next year.”
Jette Schreyer (Year 11) “The CAMMUN conference was a very valuable experience and I would always choose to do it again no matter how exhausting it was. I made good friends and met people from other schools that I wouldn’t have met if it wasn’t through Model UN. It gave me good insight into how politicians debate and that you can’t always win, but we can compromise to make it a win-win.”
Hania Tauqeer (Year 11) “Going to Cambridge MUN this year was an extremely enjoyable experience. Over the course of the three days, I learnt so much about working in teams, how diplomacy works and how to give effective speeches. Because I was part of a historical committee, it was really interesting to see how much history would have changed if only the smallest differences were made. Getting to know new people, especially from other countries, was also fun. I would recommend the conference to everybody and look forward to attending again next year.”
Mahdiyah Meghji (Year 11) “CAMMUN was a great experience that helped me develop my public speaking and debating skills. I was the delegate of Iceland in the Crisis Committee, which was extremely fast-paced, with new events happening every hour, from opium trafficking to the USA absorbing Canada and Mexico, to a civil war between Trump and Musk. Participating in Crisis made for very fun, engaging debates and I made lots of amazing memories as well as meeting new people.”
Seren Morgan (Year 11) “I had an amazing experience meeting students from many different schools and participated in debates representing our chosen countries. It allowed me to use my debating skills in an official environment.”
