Plenary Speeches

Plenary Speeches Grab Attention

By: Bavo Stevens and Brianna Felegi

    It was with great passion and enthusiasm that Ambassadors approached the podium of the General Assembly yesterday. Many of the delegates addressed issues concerning this year's theme of Good Governance, advocating the need for more international cooperation so that countries can achieve peace and prosperity. As Olympia Fellipeli, Ambassador of the delegation of Yemen from the American Community School of Athens stressed, this year's conference should be "about collaboration and not competition."

    Indeed, most speeches focused on increasing international cooperation. Charlotte Murphy, the Ambassador for the delegation of the U.S.A, from St. Andrew's College in Dublin, affirmed that "the future does not belong to just one nation." Other countries agree, Mike Lien, Ambassador of the delegation of Bolivia from the International Secondary School of Eindhoven, told the General Assembly that he saw the United Nations as a stack of papers, every paper representing a different country. As he put it, one country easily tears, but a stake of them doesn't. Delegations addressed the General Assembly yesterday with the hope that their work will result in a broader international community, stressing the fact that many of the planet's problems cannot be solved individually. Daniel Benarroch, Ambassador of the delegation of Argentina from the International College of Spain, "countries need to work together to solve problems that affect us all."

Not all speeches came with the same degree of optimism however. Other delegations noted with trepidation the tumultuous challenges that the world faces. Mohammed Omar, Ambassador of the delegation of Algeria from the Overseas Family School, stated that "we are in hell right now," passionately noting the importance of continued cooperation and progress as a way back from the rut we are in. Other countries noted the immense challenge that many countries, especially those in Africa, face combating malaria, and that the threat of climate change looms ever closer, emphasizing that the next decade may well see the first climate change refugees. Even these speeches, however, emphasized the need for more global collaboration. It was clear that whether the speeches given at the General Assembly look favorably towards the future or not, most, if not all, stressed the importance of global cooperation.