By Ewen McRae
Solving global hunger may not be part of the average school day, but last week a group of Deer Park students did their best.
Students from Victoria University Secondary College took part in a model United Nations, filling the roles of 28 member nations as they debated ‘Zero Hunger: Addressing Global Poverty and Universal Food Security’ and tried to pass a resolution to satisfy everyone.
Organising teacher Kristy Muratore said the day was the culmination of many weeks of work by the schools year 8 to 10 AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) students.
“It’s really supported the students’ skills in public speaking and debate,” Ms Muratore said.
Professor Ian Howie from the United Nations Association of Victoria acted as the Secretary General on the day, and said the diversity of opinions made for some vigorous debate.
“There were countries as diverse as North Korea, Yemen, Syria, and then major members of the security council like China and the US, so there’s a wide diversity of opinion,” he said.
“I thought it was pretty close to how the actual United Nations is run.”
