My name is Manuela Martinez. I am a junior at High School for International Business and Finance. I have made this blog to provide you my experiences at Model UN for the past year. At first when i came to class I had no idea what Model UN is. Of course you can tell what MUN is by the name but I started to gain a better understanding on what it actually mean. MUN
allows us individuals to take on the role of actual UN delegates and deal with conflicts that go on today worldwide. We play the role of a country no mater whether we agree or disagree we have to stay in character. It is difficult at times but in the it is extremely fun and worth it. Thanks to MUN I have met people around the world and i learned to see the world from a different perspective.
Position Paper #1
Topic: Chemical and Biological Weapon
Country: Benin
Delegate: Manuela Martinez High School of International Business and Finance
The United Nations was created in order to achieve world peace but many conflicts such as chemical and biological weapons are posing a threat to international peace. The Geneva Protocol was launched in order to prohibit the use of bacteriological (biological) weapons and poison gases (chemical weapons). However even after the initiation of The Geneva Protocol many nations still didn’t show respect towards the protocol by violating the agreement.
Benin is a small developing country with a population of 8,532,547 people. Located in the inner west of Africa, its location has a huge impact towards the conflicts that occur in Benin. Although Chemical and Biological weapons is not much of a vast conflict occurring in Benin at the present time yet Benin feels threatened surrounded by nations who may have chemical or biological weapons. Such as the United States, Japan, Germany, Russia, and Iraq which can be a huge threat to the world.
Chemical and Biological weapons is a colossal conflict that needs to be recognized and addressed. It has had an imperative role since the 20th century causing physical and psychological harm towards innocent people, for instance diseases and infections such as small pox and bacteria akin to anthrax which caused a large amount of harm because of the weapons mentioned earlier.
The use of chemical and biological weapons is normally used by terrorist. The amount of terrorist has increased. Chemical and Biological weapons have also been used in passed wars and wars still occurring today. In example 2003 war in Iraq, The Cold war, the Iraq and Iran war which lasted 8 years (1980-1988). The Iraq and Iran war used Chemical Weapons in warfare.
Though Benin isn’t affected by the situation at the moment Benin has acted a role towards the conflict. For example January, 13, 1993 Benin was signatory in the Convention on the prohibition of the chemical weapons and on their destruction. Benin has also ratified towards The Geneva Protocol.1975.
Benin asks the international community to focus on specific conflict that needs to be addressed which can help the cause, for instance governance, technology management and threat reduction. A possible solution may be if The Geneva Protocol also focuses on research and testing of chemical and biological weapons. Passed nation and countries who have used the weapons mentioned should be brought to the (ICJ).
The countries that are accused of having biological or chemical weapons need to come forth and confront the situation. This is affecting the countries around them and their own people. If these weapons continue to become a threat it would continue to affect countries Benin looks forward to remain committed, support the cause in any way possible and hope that together we can overcome this obstacle.
Position Paper #2
Committee: General Assembly 1st Committee (Disarmament and Security)
Topic: Illicit Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Country: The Republic of Sudan
Delegate: Jeffrey Mena and Manuela Martinez High School for International Business and Finance
“Poverty is the worst form of violence” once said by Mohandas Gandhi during his non-violent independence movement in India. To allow poverty to exist makes those poor people feel vindictive towards those who have more. Therefore they are more willing to conduct violent actions such as killing others because they have nothing to loose; might as well die trying to gain something. In some cases people would use small arms to threaten people and get what they want. Ever since World War I, the number of deaths from trafficked arms has increased dramatically. Partly because countries all over the World have superfluously made an abundance of light weapons and arms than is needed for national security. This allows people to get a hold of these weapons easier through trade and cause havoc in their country. Sudan feels that if poverty wasn’t such a big issue, than people wouldn’t tend to resort to violence to get what they want. It’s a matter of fighting for resources and who ever has the weapons, sure enough gets the resources. Countries with limited resources are too poor to provide for themselves so they resort to violence.
Thousands of people have been killed in Sudan from trafficked arms. Civilians’ fighting for resources and tribes against other tribes’ violence makes it difficult to ensure safety in Sudan. Central to this human catastrophe is the legacy of combat: landmines, unexploded ordnance, and caches of munitions and weapons. If security were guaranteed, people would see no point in acquiring guns and would be willing to negotiate to surrender such guns to the state. With people fighting for resources and others protecting themselves with small arms it would be a difficult task to stop this issue.
The Nairobi Protocol was created by African regions in order to reduce the circulation of small arms and light weapons. Sudan has signed as a signatory in this protocol taking full responsibility towards the conflict. Article 12 of this protocol promotes to voluntarily surrender light weapons and small arms so that they can be destroyed and cause no more harm. Article 13 in this protocol promotes education and awareness programs and states that these programs should promote a culture of peace and be involved as well as cooperate with all sectors of society. By signing this protocol Sudan is vowing to adhere to it and reduce the trafficking of arms and the deaths caused by it.
In 2001, the UN formed the Program of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons, with the goals of making illicit gun production and possessions a crime, destroying surplus small arms, tracking existing arms, and better enforcing arms embargo. This program clearly was ineffective therefore Sudan would like to call the international community together to strengthen this program so that in could be effective. Sudan feels that is poverty were diminished than the trafficking of arms would be as well because civilians would see no need in fighting for resources when it’s in an abundant amount. Sudan also feels that one country can’t get all the blame for every country is culprit of this crime.
United Nations Human Rights Council
The UN Human Rights Council
Acknowledging the importance of freedoms of speech and press,
Reminding all nations of the implications of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
Reaffirming that freedom and democracy is essential to all civilized nations,
Stressing the right of national sovereignty and a nation’s right to sacrifice some freedoms to protect the greater good,
1. Recognizes the need for censorship in areas of:
a.) Political unrest- relating to radical groups, revolts, and warring fractions including but not limited to disputes between nations;
b.) Times of war- considering the effect of negative propaganda on morale and a nation’s success,
c.) Countries transitioning political regimes, and,
d.) Nations declaring a state religion;
2. Suggests guidelines for appropriate censorship, which include:
a.) No blasphemous statements that would result in any type of aggression against minorities,
b.) Allowing selective transparency so that governments can disclose info
rmation to civilians without compromising domestic security,
c.) No disrespectful or distasteful propaganda on cultural ideas,
d.) Refrain from fallacy;
3. Supports the utilization of the World Bank for fiscal purposes in order to empower media expression in a proper fashion and offer incentives to nations who abide by this document;
4. Urges nations to strengthen the powers of UNESCO, whose goal is to:
a.) Provide technical and material assistance to local/international medias
b.) Promote the international standards for safety training and expression of access to risk-awareness training for journalists in order to promote a positive image of journalism as well as protect these individuals;\
5. Encourages nations to uphold the UDHR and defend the rights of journalist who have experienced hostilities through trials in the International Court of Law;
6. Calls upon journalist to abide by laws of the nation they are reporting in;
7. Offers monetary incentives to media outlets such as newspapers and broadcasting stations that are making significant movements toward proper censorship through loans with prerequisites provided by privatized loans;
8. Considers the use of trade sanctions and embargoes as a final measure in nations whose freedoms of speech and presse
s digress from progress and violations increase;
9. Designates the need for nations that have stabilized to move away from more oppressive forms of censorship
10. Encourages inviting the Human Rights watch into consenting countries to provide media coverage on human rights and freedoms of speech and press with in the nation
Speeches
The Republic of Benin believes that Draft Resolution 1.1 is very etiquette, however in clause #18, Benin believes that until an African Nation is stable they should be given precess of identification codes. We would also like to say that clause 15 and clause 1 shows how education can be through mass media. Benin believes that draft resolution 1.1 now combined with the Italian paper is the answer to our problems. (Harvard Conference Benin Manuela M & Reimy G)
Throughout this semester MUN has been a great experience. It has been fun but also challenging. MUN brings back many memories. This year has been the first time I have been in MUN I barely knew anything about the class or how it functioned but one thing was I was very excited. I had so much enthusiasm and excitement within. MUN has helped me learn many new things and it has helped me improve myself in many ways. I have met wit different kinds of people and worked with people all around the world. I have gone to 3 different conferences. Each conference e had something different and new to it.
The Harvard Conference was a huge challenge since it was my first conference. I had to write a position paper which I didn’t know what it was. In class our teacher taught us how to write one and still I had problems writing one. In the end out of all 3 position papers that I have written I find my first one the best. Another problem that I had was I didn’t know how to act in a conference. To help us out my teacher took us to a conference at Access High School basically a simulation so we can gain a better understanding. It was a huge help but I was still very nervous. To make it even more nerve wrecking my committee was the biggest committee. I remember the first committee session, my partner would tell me to calm down and take it easy. My partner and I were representing Benin o nce role call started the pronunciation was different and we missed role call. I said to myself “oh great the actual work hasn’t begun and I already messed up”. However the conference was a great experience. It was my first time traveling with my friends away for 4 days. It was a blast.
The second conference came around which was at Philadelphia. This time was less nerve wrecking since I kind of already had the hang of it. We once again traveled for 4 days. We learned so much at this conference, we visited the liberty bell and we got to eat a Philly Cheese Steak yum. At this conference my partner and I were representing Pakistan. I loved this conference because at this conference I got out of my shell. I wasn’t shy, I was confident and I knew what I was talking about. I talked 20 times as much as the previous conference. I was able to write a passing resolution, I improved my verbal skills and once again my partner and I was at the biggest committee.
I had so much fun at the previous conferences that I wanted more from MUN. My friends and I were wondering whether is able to be a chair or anything. My teacher then told us she would find out for us. She found out that UNA USA had this program. We were very excited and a couple of us decided to sign up for the middle school conference. We were all accepted and we had to serve as conference services. We had so much responsibility in our hands. We were the ones behind the scenes, in charge of everything, having the conference in order, serving as pagers and typing resolutions in a short amount of time. It was so stressful but worth it. We had the chance to see MUN from a different point of view and I also had the privilege to go to the UN for the first time.
The end of the year approaches and our last conference with UNA USA was another nerve wrecking conference. It was my first solo conference, I was representing a tough country which was Sudan and once again I’m in the biggest committee. However I learned so much in this conference no matter how nervous I was I wasn’t afraid to speak up. I ended up sponsoring a resolution, I made my own bloc and I was recognized sure I could have done better with my partner but I was proud of myself.
Throughout the past year I have accomplished so much. I learned to work with different types of people; I improved many skills, like writing and speaking. I have boosted my confidence and I had a great time.
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