Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 05/02) - Cambodia is a long way from Yellowknife, but five local high school students have spent two months learning all they can about the Southeast Asian country.

The group will use what they have learned to debate with other students across the country at a four-day mock United Nations conference, April 18-20, in Toronto, Ont.

"Cambodia is a great place to start," says NWT Model United Nations co-ordinator Helen Vaughan who will also attend the conference along with Sir John Franklin high school social studies teacher Betty Wilcox.

"It's not such a prominent country, and it allows them to interact with the program without overwhelming them with the demands of a larger country," says Vaughan.

It is the NWT's first time participating at the event.

The NWT group, which includes students Amrita Roy and Andrew Matthews(St. Patrick high school) and Danielle Walsh, Brendan Callas and Chris Fournier ( Sir John Franklin), is in the midst of drafting a resolution calling for the end of land mine use.

It is a major problem for Cambodia, which has experienced near continuous warfare between 1950 and 1990. The students will also focus on the country's economic, political and social structures.

"Their economy is incredibly unstable," says Matthews. "They have a 36 per cent unemployment rate. Most of the people that are employed work on farms or illegal logging."

He adds the illegal logging issue is particularly pressing because the country is currently facing enormous international pressure to end it, but many depend on it for their livelihood.

"If they don't crack down on illegal logging they will lose their foreign aid," Matthews explains. "They're stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Vaughan hopes NWT high schools will become more involved in the mock UN program in the future.

"We hope this will lay down the foundation for more UN activities across the three territories," she says.