The 2025 Invercargill Model United Nations held at SBHS.

The 2025 Invercargill Model United Nations, run by The University of Otago Youth organisation was held in the hall at SBHS last Friday, with students coming from various Southland secondary schools to participate in the event. 

Invercargill MP and Minister for the Environment Penny Simmonds came to speak and answer questions of students and teachers at the start of the day. 

The goal for Model United Nations is to refine a “resolution” document of amendments by having participants vote and deliberate on existing and proposed adjustments, this year the topic of the resolution was “The Question of the Governance of Artificial Intelligence”. 

The day-long event was well-enjoyed by the students, who each represented individual “delegates” of different countries within the UN, debating and forming alliances in their governments’ best interests to try have their amendments voted to pass onto the resolution. Students argued on AI resource use, military applications, cyber-security, and sustainable AI development amongst many other things, engaging in moderated, thought-provoking debate chaired by the UN Youth Otago hosts. 

The event is a great way to learn about geopolitics, the inner-workings of the UN, and is an encouraging environment for growing students’ public speaking and debating skills. 

The Invercargill Model United Nations is open to all students to participate in annually. Thank you to the University of Otago students and Mrs Welsh for organising this event.