Andrew Chen Sat 21 Jul 2012 5:52AM
I think formal attire is still important. We generally the use of personal pronouns these days (in order to be more lenient, or otherwise the entire debate time would be spent telling delegates to stop using personal pronouns). Apart from that the majority of the RoP is fine and isn't compromised by having newer delegates or having larger GAs (as far as I can think right now).
Scott Bickerton Mon 23 Jul 2012 1:16AM
Interesting points Andrew, we've found the use of personal pronouns prevalent as well and certainly a few chairs in Wellington have left delegates when tey say "I" etc. I would have to disagree with that approach though, a large part of what we do is putting delegates into the position of being a representative at the UN and I think the use of personal pronouns damages that imaginative image the the event itself. In relation to formal attire, I think it's important to allow for casual attire in some events that are working to encourage students from poorer, different or low-decile schooling backgrounds to come to our events. Having to wear a suit was very close to preventing me from ever turning up to a UN Youth event originally.
I think that our rules can prevent newer delegates from engaging because it can be a bit intimidating and I hear this alot from teachers with younger students so I think there is some necessity to change it for the younger conferences, but what changes can we make?
Andrew Chen Mon 23 Jul 2012 5:33AM
It's difficult to make changes to the RoP without giving up accurate representation of the UN. Perhaps we need a better guide to the RoP, or a better introduction video.
Jason Armishaw Mon 30 Jul 2012 4:40AM
On the same note as personal pronouns, I think that refering to oneself in the honorific is effectively the same as using a personal pronoun.
Example "The Honorable delegate of Germany believes. . ."
It's effectively the same as using a personal pronoun, in that they are refering to their own opinion rather than the opinion of the state they are supposedly representing.
Scott Bickerton Mon 30 Jul 2012 7:07AM
This is true, it would be nice to see delegates remove references to themselves in general from debate so as to create a more representative UN feel. At least in this example they are recognising they are representing a country/come from a country that is not their own, which is not the case when they merely say "I or me". Good point Jason!
Scott Bickerton · Sat 21 Jul 2012 2:33AM
How many people have found they have needed to reduce the general Model UN procedure for students who are new to Model UNs? i.e. reducing formalities etc. Is there credence to have informal attire conferences etc?