Greenwood Takes On SOMA XLVIII

A Greenwood delegation of nine students and two staff members participated in this year's Southern Ontario Model UN Assembly (SOMA) Model UN Conference (MUN). This year’s SOMA MUN moved to a fully virtual conference where participants gathered over Zoom, Slack and Gather Town apps from April 23-25 for an entire weekend of events. After being cancelled last year due to COVID-19, both new and returning students, as well as staff, were thrilled to see the return of SOMA Model UN, one of the premier MUN experiences which Greenwood has participated in for more than 15 years.

Students spent the entirety of the weekend debating and deliberating on topics of global importance. It was great to see new students so committed to the experience! 

In addition to participating in the conference, the weekend also included a passionate keynote by Dr. Peter Singer, Special Adviser to the Director-General of the World Health Organization. He spoke about the urgent importance of worldwide vaccine equity in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. As well, delegates were treated to a question and answer session with Roman Waschuk, former ambassador to Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. They also listened to Salvator Cusimano, a political affairs officer for the United Nations, who shed light on what life is like working in the foreign service and at the United Nations.

Moving this event online was a monumental undertaking and we are grateful for the opportunity to participate in a wonderful weekend of debate and deliberation!