The 2012 THIMUN conference, which took place from Monday 23 to Friday 27 January at the World Forum building in The Hague, proved to be another resounding success for the Sevenoaks School delegation.

The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN) conference is one of the largest and most prestigious global youth events and each year attracts over 3000 delegates from around the world who gather to debate and propose solutions to the most pressing issues currently facing mankind.

The Sevenoaks delegates – Lottie Abrahams, Michele Bos, Kenza Bryan, Maira Chowdhury, Benedict Durrant, Ayman El-Farouki, Nicolas Grunberg, Thomas Hughes, Khush James, Ishaan Jhaveri, Victoria King, Jack Smith, Jake Spence, Anna Turner-Major, Laurence Warner and Zoe Wedderburn-Day – represented Senegal. Preparatory research was exemplary from all delegates and our Ambassador Lottie Abrahams was in touch with the Senegalese embassy in London in order to consolidate and confirm delegation policy.

The conference began on Monday morning after a vibrant opening ceremony. The rest of the day was devoted to the process of lobbying, and by the end of the day, a number of Sevenoaks students had emerged with enough support to be ‘main submitters’ of resolutions to be debated over the following four days. Kenza Bryan led a resolution on sustainable development of the Caribbean Sea, Anna Turner-Major on development in Africa, Maira Chowdhury on forensic genetics, Laurence Warner on the naval strength of BRIC countries and Jake Spence on chemical weapons. Virtually all other members of the THIMUN team played vital roles in canvassing for and speaking on constructive resolutions which employed many of their clauses as the primary co-submitter.

Despite the fact that applause following a speech is not permitted by THIMUN rules, Jake Spence’s opening speech in support of his resolution was met by spontaneous clapping which was allowed by the Chair due to the sheer quality of the speech. We were therefore delighted with the collaborative effort of the delegation as a whole.

Read the full report.