ThessISMUN 2015 Daily News

THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2015

FRIDAY, APRIL 16 2015 ISSUE #2 UNIVERSITY OF MACEDONIA

THESSISMUN DAILY NEWS

EDITORIAL

PAGE 2 THESSISMUN DAILY NEWS

THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF

Contact us! Press room, 4th floor, UoM [email protected]

Editor Effrosyni Drakopoulou

Co-Editor Theofani Lola

THESSISMUN DAILY NEWS

STATUS UPDATE

Dear ThessISMUNers,

The floor has been officially given to you… Your presence so far has exceeded all expec-tations. The debate was heated and the sessions were more than chaotic. Many of you took the stand and made some excellent points, came up with great ideas and proposed several solutions on the topic areas in question.

The crises that broke during the sessions made your job hard and caused several prob-lems that have been tackled...so far!

But ThessISMUN is more than sessions… It is about fun, socializing, meeting new peo-ple. The treasure hunt contributed to that. The competition was high and you kept it high throughout the whole game. Unfortunately, the game ended without a champion as some of you dropped out, too easily!

The next day is very promising as the resolutions will be voted...or not! Keep going with the great work and make yet another unforgettable day!

Froso Drakopoulou

The Editor of ThessISMUN 2015

Athena Danae Vardaka

Katerina Alexaki

Christina Georgakopoulou

Marianna Lazarou

Marianthi Panagiotou

Esra Tefik

Lambrini Bikou

Journalists Team

By Theofani Lola

The first day at the Security Council started dynamically even from the first session! The main topic of discussion

was The situation in the Middle East: reli-gious terrorism as a possible threat to in-ternational peace and security and most of the countries had a lot to say upon this controversial matter.

The placards of the delegates were held high the whole time and around 10 am the crisis com-mittee entered the room announcing a highly important incident; “Ten Af-rican Union peace keepers in Somalia were killed by Al-Shabab members”.

The countries im-mediately started discussing the mat-ter that arose and tried to find a vi-able solution. “Solutions are

needed in order to combat the root of the problem. The prevention of the direct- indirect sup-ply, sale or transfer to or for the benefit of all terrorist groups that are in-cluded on the list of the United Nations and last but not least arms embargo are the necessary measures that need to be taken.” France said, when asked about the sanctions she proposed in the Council. United Kingdom seemed to agree and many

others as well . Spain, New Zea-land and Iran seemed to have a disagreement upon to whether or not military support should be consid-ered.

Crisis committee stroke back with news flash about the incident with a Reuters article which stated that there has been nu-merous reports that Al Habab have formed some links with other Islamic groups in Africa, such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and after the lunch break, there was a news flash from CCN “Mortar Fire has hit the Univer-

sity of Damascus, killing 6 and injur-ing 31 students”.

After all of these information, the Council discussed upon terrorism and antiterrorism meas-ures that need to be taken in order to combat the situa-tion in the middle East that seems to constantly rising...!

PAGE 3 UNIVERSITY OF MACEDONIA

SECURITY COUNCIL: Fighting Terrorism in Middle East

1st COMMITTEE OF THE GA

'' Steps for peace building in Guam ''

By Athena Danae Vardaka

After the early awak-ening the whole 1st Committee of the GA was ready to change the world. The topic to be discussed was the following:'' Pro-

tracted conflicts in the Georgia- Ukraine -Azerbaijan- Moldova (GUAM) area and their implications for international peace, security and develop-ment ''. During the morning gathering the discussion was focused the relations of Ukraine with Rus-sia and the crisis that was caused by their conflict. Another

point of discussion was the situation in Transnistria, the re-gion’s wish to be-come independent and the resolution of conflict with peace-fully manner. An-other crucial issue was that of Nagoro-Karabakh and the po-sition of Armenia- Azerbaijan. Last but not least, the dele-

gates referred to the situation in Georgia and the need for pro-tection in the terri-tory. The delegate of Brazil supported the opinion that human right should be pri-oritised in this topic, while the delegation of Sudan talked about essence democracy and citizens’ of con-flicted areas rights

without shedding any blood. The de-bate within the com-mittee was always in terms of diplomatic courtesy and a posi-tive ambience domi-nated the room. In-spiring speeches were delivered with the delegations of Ukraine, Russian Federation and Azer-baijan on the spot-light, due to their relevance to the topic. Two working papers were created. The first one sponsored by the Russian Fed-eration and the sec-ond one by Estonia. Today the committee debated on the draft resolution by Russian Federation that was supported by several countries including Armenia, Belarus, China, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Syria.

2nd COMMITTEE OF THE GA

ICT for all and all for the development

By Katerina Alexaki

The first series of ses-sions in the 2nd Com-mittee of the General Assembly were all about dispute and compromise. It was not until literally the last session that the

delegates finally agreed to compro-mise over the topic and put an end to the constant disagree-ments between the “Developed and de-veloping countries of the Western World” and the “Developing and LDCs of Asia and Africa”.

While most of the delegates such as the representatives of Syria, the UK, USA, France and Malaysia actively participated in the debate stress-ing the importance of the use of ICTs in economic develop-ment, others decided to compete for the “Sleeping Beauty” award, remaining rather silent on such a hot issue.

Some of the key points of today’s dis-cussions were the In-formation and Com-munication Technolo-gies (ICTs), Public-Private sector Part-nerships (PPP), e-government, e-health, e-learning and last but not least funding.

After hours of moder-ated and unmoder-ated caucae as well as discussions on the concerning topic, all members agreed to a



common draft resolu-tion considering edu-cation, health and funding where com-mon ground has been

achieved while leav-ing the discussion open for the issues of the PPPs and censor-ship- the main core of the Committee’s divi-sion.

On the one hand, the “Developed and de-veloping countries of the Western World” fully support the fo-cus on the private sector and some par-tial Internet censor-ship to tackle any possible threats. On the other hand, we have the “Developing and LDCs of Asia and Af-rica”, that strongly insist on the enhance-ment of the public sector -which will then lead to the fur-ther enhancement of

the private sector- as well as the uncen-sored or fully cen-sored Internet.

Let us hope for the

most fruitful debates

to come and remember

“If not us then who? If

not now then when?”

3RD COMMITTEE OF THE GA

SOCHUM well un-der way for the bal-

ance

by Marianna Lazarou

After long hours of negotiations and dis-cussions, the dele-gates of the Social and Humanitarian Committee managed to submit two draft resolutions. Both alli-ances make efforts to convent the protec-tion of minorities and every state ‘s sover-eignty. The case now

is to vote for the most realistic and widely applicable actions.

“Self- determination in an era of state frag-mentation” is a diffi-cult topic; however, the delegates are really passionate and hard working. The negotiations became extremely intense when it was time to discuss upon the pa-per of the first alli-ance. The supporters emphasized on the effectiveness of the solutions, which were proposed. On the contrary, those who signed the second pa-per –most avidly the Serbian delegation- criticized the lack of specific cases. Won-dering up to what point these comments affected the final form of the first pa-per, one of the most dynamic delegates, the one from Israel, explains: “The bloc of the so- called non

Western Countries did not contribute at all to the drafting of our paper. They in-sisted on how democ-ratic they are, instead of making sugges-tions”.

When the delegations took the floor for the first time to express their positions to-wards the right of self- determination, each and every one of them claimed that they support it and they respect it. How-ever, as soon as the discussions where focused on who are entitled to this right, most delegates be-came suspicious.

Gradually, they started to admit that if the right of self- de-termination is granted to every mi-nority, then the sov-ereignty of the state will be severely threatened. Ukraine welcomed this state-

ECOSOC

The long road to eliminate energy

poverty

By Lamprini Bikou

During the first day of sessions in the Council of Europe., ti was decided to pro-ceed to the discussion of the first topic area: Promoting Energy for

All, Combating En-ergy Insufficiency in Developing States. Many issues arose; to begin with, the dis-cussions started with the main focus on en-ergy efficiency, en-ergy access and re-newable resources. Through the sessions many delegates un-derlined the need to identify the main problem and the to-day’s challenges in order to find an ap-plicable solution. Fur-thermore, many

stated that even to-day it is a fact that a great number of peo-ple do not have ac-cess to electricity. In any case, what was made more than clear from all delegates and the chairs was the need for a com-mon plan of sugges-tions and proposals. Even though, two working papers were

conducted, during the last session the delegates achieved to merge the two and come up with one common working pa-per mainly focusing on the measures for energy access and re-newable sources of energy. Among oth-ers the most impor-tant measures in-cluded the help of governments so as to develop national and international energy plans and targets, the need to form both public and private

partnerships in order to expand sustainable energy products and services, the impor-tance of research and development pro-grammes, the devel-opment of alternative and sustainable re-sources such as wind, hydro, ocean, solar, nuclear etc. and last but not least the con-tribution of the edu-cational sector in or-der to provide sup-port for the develop-ing countries so as to derive benefits from their own resources.

UNESCO

Tackling Ukraine

By: Georgopoulou Christina

The first day of com-mittee work started in the UNESCO chambers with ex-cited and ready to de-bate in the name of

their counties dele-gates. The topic that was to be discussed first was topic B, which concerns the protection of cultural heritage in periods of armed conflict.

It did not take long until the tension be-gan to kick in.

ones to engage in conflicting discus-sions were Ukraine and the Russian Fed-eration, with the dele-gate of Ukraine

As expected, the first claiming that the lat-ter vandalised one of the seven Ukrainian monuments declared as global cultural heritage sights, while invading Crimea. Russia, on the other hand, strongly denied those allegations and responded that they only ran to the rescue of their suppressed brothers. The delegate


Democratic Republic of China, who stood by the delegation of Russia in the afore-mentioned case and also stated: “We are one of the most grow-ing economies on the planet. We are China. We have money. We can solve your prob-

lems”. The delega-tion of the United Arab Emirates fol-lowed with only nice things to say for the Chinese delegation, with evident bro-mance evolving in the committee.

As the debate esca-lated and the making of the working pa-pers began the com-mittee was divided in two alliances. The chairs, though, de-tected lots of similari-ties in the two work-ing papers and pro-posed the merging of those two working

papers in one single draft resolution

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

By: Esra Tefic

The first session of

the Committee on the

Rights of Persons

with Disabilities cov-

ered the issues con-

cerning the rights and

daily problems of the

people with disabili-

ties in connection

with the analysis and

proposals of amend-

ments regarding the

article 8 of the Con-

vention while target-

ing the public aware-

ness by promoting

solutions focusing on

raising the public

knowledge , as well

as aiming at tackling

with their daily tech-

nical problems ,

mainly by pointing

out the role of the

mass media in this

direction. Then, the

discussion moved

around the contribu-

tion of the media to

the awakening of the

public opinion on the

improvement of the

life conditions of the

mentally and / or

physically challenged

people. Nigeria

stressed out the need

for financial aid, Co-

lombia emphasized

the need for avoiding

and condemning any

inappropriate or of-

fensive use of lan-

guage, while Uganda

urged that the use of

censorship may dis-

tract the media from

achieving the goals

stated above. As the

time went by, the

committee proceeded

to the formation of

the working paper

focusing on areas

such as information

campaigns, educa-

tion, employability

and training pro-

grammes. Another

issue that dominated

the discussion was

the amelioration of

the educational con-

dition of the people

with disabilities so

that they can have

equal opportunities.

A general conclusion

is that the general at-

mosphere of meeting

was peaceful, the

delegates were will-

ing to collaborate on

this alarming issue

and eager to solve the

problems of people

suffering from dis-

abilities .


distract the media from

achieving the goals

stated above. As the

time went by, the

committee proceeded

to the formation of

the working paper

focusing on areas

such as information

campaigns, educa-

tion, employability

and training pro-

grammes. Another

issue that dominated

the discussion was

the amelioration of

the educational con-

dition of the people

with disabilities so

that they can have

equal opportunities.

A general conclusion

is that the general at-

mosphere of meeting

was peaceful, the

delegates were will-

ing to collaborate on

this alarming issue

and eager to solve the

problems of people

suffering from dis-

abilities .

ARE

Liberté, égalité, frat-ernité

By: Georgopoulou Christina

Attending the com-mittee sessions of the Assembly of Euro-

pean Regions, the French speaking com-mittee of the confer-ence has been a great pleasure. Evidently influenced by the motto of the country of their speaking lan-guage: ''Liberté, égali-té, frater-nité'' (Liberty, equal-ity, brotherhood), the AER delegates hap-pily began their day politely discussing about the demo-graphic changes and the need of active ag-ing within Europe.

All the delegations were particularly ac-tive, delivered inter-esting speeches and were happy to debate on the issue.

It seemed that they were all on the same page and agreed in almost everything stated in the commit-tee. Main topics of discussion included

retired persons with disabilities, volun-teering of both young people, so as to keep company to older people, and aged people, for example in non-governmental organisations, in or-der to continue being useful in the society. The delegation of Austria stressed the need for lifelong learning, accessible for retired people, while the delegate of Kiev pointed out that ensuring better life quality is of outmost importance.

Another issue that was put on the table was the need to in-crease the European birth rate. For the resolution of this is issue the delegates suggested parental allowances and un-derlined the need to protect divorced or widowed mothers.

The committee suc-ceeded to create a rec-ommendation based in the respect of hu-man rights and the dignity of human life.

To sum up, this would undeniably be the nicest committee, whose both the board and the delegates are so chic that even Commissioner D. Avramopoulos would consider them his equal in terms of elegance.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

SELF DEFENSE: A LEGAL RIGHT OR AN EXCUSE TO AT-TACK?

by Marianthi Panagiotou

What happens when Petoria and Krameria have unsolved con-flicts? The Interna-tional Court of Justice takes action. The case in question is a com-promise between the Republic of Petoria, the applicant and the state of Krameria, the respondent. The case in question has to do with assassination attempt of the Presi-dent of Krameria for subsequent alleged arm conflict, the


armed attack not to threat of use of force to exercise the right of self defence and all the Judges agreed to this position in the end. Additionally, all the Judges apart from the lack of armed at-tack, agreed to the pro-hibition of self defence outside the stateborders because it constitutes infraction of territo-rial integrity, despite the fact that Krameria launched an attack against a military base of Petoria. Last but not least, the Judges found that Krameria ignored the procedure that the article 51 of UNC de-mands, since the means of self defence were not immediately re-ported to the Security Council. So, after all they seem to support that the exercise of the right of self defence was illegal.

International Law Commission (ILC)

MILITARIZA-TION OF OUTER SPACE: A SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE OR A REALITY?

by Marianthi Panagiotou

Space is not ours nei-ther is it yours. Space belongs to humanity. That is the most impor-tant of the conclusions of the first day of ses-sions of International Law Committee. The first topic they analysed was the militarization of the outer space. Does it really exist? Since World War I, there have been made efforts for the military use of aircrafts and space has been militarized since communication satel-lites were launched. Today, militaries all over the world rely on satellites to control and monitor communica-tion and navigation with the Global Posi-tioning System. Addi-tionally, the delimita-tion of the outer

space was a major is-sue of discussion be-cause there are differ-ent approaches to deal with: the spatial, the functional and the diplomatic one. The experts seem to sup-port the combination of the first two. Fur-thermore, national sovereignty cannot be extended to the

outer space because it should be free for explora-tion and used by all states. Last but not least, the aspect of the envi-ronment, the space de-bris and the problems in the layers of the at-mosphere were in-tensely discussed. The experts seem to have an amazing imagination too… but for more, stay tuned!

COE Majorities to de-fend minorities

By Lamprini Bikou

The Committee of Min-isters of the Council of Europe put first in the agenda

the first Topic: Minority Rights. The first and second session began in a more than enthusias-tic way, one could even say a bit aggressive as the tension was rising. First of all many dele-gates argued over the definition of minority and wondered under which criteria and

grounds minorities can participate in everyday life. The issues of edu-cation, health care sys-tem, religion, political participation and legal framework arose and the tension during the debate was inevitable. The debate included discussions about LGBT groups, Roma people and Muslims. Of course, as all of the participating countries have voted for the hu-man rights, a common conclusion was reached. The common idea was that they are all here to defend mi-nority rights. Neverthe-less, religious issues and especially religious freedom, devotion and worship were red flags. Generally they came to the conclusion that education is a crucial sector which can help to the enforcement of minority rights. Lastly as the delegate of Slo-venia correctly stated “The real education is a useful tool to be one community and one unity”.



ThessISMUN 2015 Daily News

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