United Nations Debate

Well, we had a UN style debate last week. We got put into pairs and each pair represented a country. Me and Rachael had to represent Belize.


So what did I learn from this exercise? Well firstly, i'm ashamed to admit, I didn't know where Belize was! But fear not, I know now: it lies between Mexico and Guatemala on the Caribbean coast of Northern Central America. As for the sustainable developments put in place in the Country at the moment? Well, there really isn't much they are doing! Compared to other countries in used in the debate I can see why Belize didn't get the money. It's main source of income is tourism so the main connection with sustainable development is Eco-tourism. Not at the top of the UN list of things to do!I enjoyed listening to the debate, although my input was very limited. I know how difficult it was infront of a group of people i knew, I dread to think what must be going through the minds of our UN representatives at the UN debates! I liked learning about strategies put in place by countries I had never given thought to before (The Solomon Islands for example). It showed me that a lot of well developed countries are not being very sustainable, where as a lot of undeveloped countries are trying their best, and using what resources they have, to become as sustainable as possible. This is because developed countries, such as the USA, have so much money and power that they don't need to worry about using unrenewable materials such as oil. Whereas smaller, less developed countries, such as Ghana, haven't got as much money and so can not afford to use as much oil and unrenewable materials.

I also noticed how wide spread the topics talked about were. From the likes of the USA mentioning gun crime and drugs, and other countries mentioning pollutuion or nearly extinct anilmals. The subject of sustainability appears to have completley different meanings to different people.

Overall I feel the debate went well. I learned a lot about other countries and their strategies for sustainable development. If I was to do it again, I would try and research more in depth, I would try and contact the countries government and ask them personally what their strategies are, how they are developing, and try to understand a bit more from their point of view.