On Monday, the 22nd of July, the United Nations Association of Australia held the Model United Nations for secondary school students in French !

Model United Nations is a simulation of the UN general assembly, which allows the students to debate about global issues and try to find solutions in another language than English. This year, the theme for the French forum was : Asylum seekers and refugees, a global humanitarian crisis.

Dr Andrew McGregor, the UN Secretary General !

Myriam Boisbouvier-Wylie, Honorary Consul General of France in Melbourne, officially launched the forum after Sally Northfield from the UNAA and Estelle Payne from the AFTV, welcomed all the students and teachers.She mentioned that ”this Model UN is a fantastic opportunity for young students to become engaged as global citizens and, through language, to learn how important mutual comprehension is in order to resolve conflicts”.

The attentive audience.

Well done to the organisers of the Model UN Conference, and to the Department of Education and Training of Victoria for their inspired and visionary ways in matters of language education.