Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Our Last Few Hours

Chers parents et élèves, 

In the last few hours before we meet at 9am in front of the Strasbourg train station, remember to read through our checklist (to which I would add enough snacks to see you through Thursday morning, in case we don't sit down to lunch until later on.. and also 5-10euros in case we decide to eat in Stuttgart when we arrive...):


  •  clé USB avec les documents préparés en classe (position paper &
  • resolution draft)

  • version papier de ces mêmes documents

  • ordinateur portable/tablette si possible (avec chargeur !)

  • téléphone si possible (avec chargeur !)

  • Committee Guide & Rules of Procedure (imprimés depuis le site web)

  • 2-3 tenues protocolaires

  • 1-2 tenues plus décontractées pour le train et pour la soirée du samedi

  • 1 veste bien chaude et imperméable

  • un peu d’argent de poche

  • 5-10 € pour payer l’entrée à la soirée du samedi

  • pièce d’identité !!!

  • petits snacks et/ou goûters pour le weekend (les débats sont longs et on a
  • souvent faim en fin d’après-midi…)

  • petit cadeau pour la famille d’accueil

  • attitude positive & bonne humeur quoi qu’il arrive !

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Details about Saturday Night Party !

Saturday Party Updates


Fees:
Entrance fee: 5 euros per person
Entrance fee can be paid at the conference. Bracelets will be given out according to age.

Dress Code:
A formal attire is required.
Male: Jeans (black or blue), dress shirt, and sneakers are allowed, however they should be semi-formal. Ties or suit pants and a jacket are not a requirement.
Female: Either a dress, a skirt and blouse, or a nice shirt and jeans (black or blue) are required. Shoe-wear should be either flats, high heels, boots or semi-formal sneakers.

http://www.muniss.net/

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Letter from MUNISS

Dear delegates,

We have just received the following letter from MUNISS. Please read carefully!

Also, please ensure that your parennts have access to this blog (email the link to them just now).

:-)
Mme. Muller and Mme Cnockaert
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear MUN Directors and Single Delegates,

There are less than 3 weeks left until the MUNISS 2017 conference! As the date draws nearer, the executive departments each have a few reminders for those attending:

3 Key points:
  1. Delegates will be expected to have prepared one position paper/policy statement for each of their committee issues, and have one resolution prepared for the committee issue they feel is most relevant to their country. 
  2. Double delegations are not expected to each have their own resolution and position papers, and are therefore encouraged to work together on research, positions papers, and resolutions. 
  3. This year Chairs will not be reading their delegate's position papers or resolutions prior to the conference. Instead our Executive Team has created a delegate guide in which we have included in depth information on how to write both position papers and policy statements, which we have attached.


The chair reports for the committees are available as of now. http://www.muniss.net/committees/

Our Press team would like everybody to know that:

As in the previous year, The Diplomat (our MUN magazine) will be released every day from the first day of the conference onwards. It will include interesting articles about the day, photos and other current hot topics
from the conference.

Our Instagram page is our most frequently used social media platform. All the information is also on Facebook, where all the photos will be available during the conference: https://www.instagram.com/muniss2017/

Snapchat this year will be run by the Press Team who will post fun photos and videos on the MUNISS Snapchat story.

On YouTube, you will find both the Opening and Closing Videos of the conference, as well as other previous videos such as the introduction of this years’ executive team.

We can be found on any of the following platforms: Website: muniss.net,
Instagram: Muniss2017, 
Facebook: Muniss, 
Instagram: munisstv, 
YouTube: MunissTv

The hospitality crew would also like to give you some information on the conference venues and tours:

The Party on Saturday Night
The AER club is one of the most exclusive party locations in Stuttgart. The elegant club, with Stylish ambiance and first class service, guarantees the MUNISS 2017 party will be a special night for all. We advise students to bring extra money for the party.

The AER Club is located in the heart of Stuttgart, just a few meters from the Palace Square and parallel to the Königstraße. Access to the club is via the Kronprinzstraße.
Address: Büchsenstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart

Opening Venue:
The Opening Venue of MUNISS 2017 will be the STEP- Stuttgarter Engineering Park. STEP is a Conference venue, with 3 air conditioned, fully equipped conference rooms, a VIP-lounge and a hall for 650 people.
Address: Wankelstraße 12, 70563 Stuttgart, S-Vaihingen.
You can easily be accessed the STEP through the S-Bahn train station Österfeld or Universität.

Tours:
MUNISS 2017, will only be hosting Supervisor tours however, more information about other self organized tours can be found under: http://www.muniss.net/your-stay/touring-stuttgart/

Our Head of Housing would also like to tell you that: All participants that are being housed will be picked up from the Opening Venue at the end of the Opening Ceremony.

If there are any more questions, please contact us at info@muniss.net,

We hope to see you all soon at MUNISS 2017!

Emma Faulhaber
Head of Communications
MUNISS 2017

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Guest Blog from Charlie !

Hey Guys, Charlie here!

Only went to one Muniss: 2016 as South Sudan, in the ITU, the telecommunications department. As you could probably tell South Sudan wouldn’t have much to give in such a department but somehow I got mentioned when they were giving out the honorable mentions-thingy.

It was honestly great fun, being in a suit and feeling as if you were in control, although a “fake” sense of control it’s still a good feeling. If I had one piece of advice to give people who want to do “well” in Muniss and have an impact on the room and your fellow delegates is:  “Eloquence is key”. If you are well-spoken use long-ish words to show your experience in the field people will think of you as a pro, and hence, will listen to you. There are many times when someone will walk up and start talking and no one will listen because they don’t sound passionate or interested.

I heard you guys are china so you won’t have this problem but don’t hesitate to have a fun time with the messaging notes. As South Sudan I managed to make friends with Russia, and France and we would plot plans with those notes. It was like villains planning, but in a way more sympathetic manner.

As Emma said before me be sure to participate. If you have an idea definitely present it, it will be discussed and maybe changed here and there to make the perfect clause it’s a good team building experience.

Also don’t get too scared of presenting your resolution. Most people don’t have any. For example we finished our first Resolution on the first day and that gave me an idea of what a good resolution looks like, got home wrote a resolution that evening in maybe 30 minutes, next  day? We chose that one with minor changes, it felt great.

Be sure to have fun and make friends though. You will find people who are just there because someone forced to, they will stick with people from their own school. Definitely reach out to the people who are enjoying themselves, they probably have done a M.U.N. before and can show you the ropes, plus they are usually cool people.

But as I said before definitely google your subject, find words with more than 3 syllables, write them down as keywords and use them as often as you can, find synonyms too. Enunciate, speak loud, and speak with passion. People will think you are the smartest person in the room just because of the way you speak (happened to me).

Have a good one guys, - Charlie

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Checklist for MUNISS

Chers parents et élèves, 

pour rappel, voici la check-list pour MUNISS2017 :

  •  clé USB avec les documents préparés en classe (position paper &
  • resolution draft)

  • version papier de ces mêmes documents

  • ordinateur portable/tablette si possible (avec chargeur !)

  • téléphone si possible (avec chargeur !)

  • Committee Guide & Rules of Procedure (imprimés depuis le site web)

  • 2-3 tenues protocolaires

  • 1-2 tenues plus décontractées pour le train et pour la soirée du samedi

  • 1 veste bien chaude et imperméable

  • un peu d’argent de poche

  • 5-10 € pour payer l’entrée à la soirée du samedi

  • pièce d’identité !!!

  • petits snacks et/ou goûters pour le weekend (les débats sont longs et on a
  • souvent faim en fin d’après-midi…)

  • petit cadeau pour la famille d’accueil

  • attitude positive & bonne humeur quoi qu’il arrive !


Emma's Guest Post

Emma from MUNISS 2016 has the following message for you:

Hello 2017 MUNISS delegates,

I hope all your preparations are going great and that you are enjoying yourselves. 

I went to MUNISS last year representing Iraq in the Historical Security Council, which was supposed to take part during the Cuban missile crisis. 

I had a lot of fun going to Stuttgart and it was an amazing experience. 

When I first arrived in the room I was really scared but don’t worry because most chairs decide to do icebreakers before debates actually start. Some delegates were really confident but some were just as stressed out as I was and that was reassuring.

If there is one advice that I would like to give you and that would like you to remember is to PAR-TI-CI-PATE. I know it sounds obvious but once you’re sitting in the room, it’s quite easy to get overwhelmed. 
But you should not just sit back and be shy, just get involved in the debate even if you think what you say isn’t as good as what the other delegates are saying. They won’t be judgmental because they also had a first MUN once. Plus, participating makes it all so fun and the day goes by in an instant.

Always remember to be respectful towards everybody, chair, delegates and those little children running around with water bottles (we had a delegate who left the room because people were mean to her in the gossip box comments).

Just enjoy yourself, those few days are going to be great and you will have a lot of fun. You will meet a lot of new people that will become your friends !

( And you’re going to keep a bottle and a pen and I mean, that’s cool ;) )
Emma

Friday, February 17, 2017

Important Information on Your Committee

Hello everyone,

A most important step has been taken: munis.net have updated their committee information.

That means, for most of you, you have a ready-made information pack about your issue. The key is that everyone in your committee now has the same ‘basis’ for research, and so a solid base to form opinions. If possible, I always find it useful to print (at least some of) the information out so you can take it with you to Stuttgart.


Best regards,
Mrs C

Thursday, February 16, 2017

MUNISS Schedule

MUNISS have just published their schedule (though I think they have written Thursday twice, rather than Thursday and then Saturday): http://www.muniss.net/materials/schedule/



Sunday, February 5, 2017

MUNISS Paperwork

Hello dear students,

We'll be asking you and your parents to fill out *loads* of paperwork over the February holidays!!!

Please let us know in advance, by replying to this e-mail if you don't have EU citizenship --> in other words, if you have the nationality from a country outside the EU, we have extra papers to fill in.

Also, please let me know if you would like to be with a specific student in host families.

THANK YOU FOR GETTING BACK TO ME!

Best regards :)
Mme. Muller

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Message from Mme. Muller

Hello dear delegates!

As a reminder, here is the link to our Padlet on China:


Nice job adding articles and statistics so far, keep it up!

Also, I am regularly posting infos about China on my H-G Twitter feed, using the hashtag #MUN or #China. You don't need to have a twitter account yourself to check it out, just have a look every now and then:


Please contact me if you have questions or concerns :)
All the best!


Sunday, January 29, 2017

MUNISS Logo

I would like you to copy and paste this logo at the top of each of your Position papers/Working papers:






Resolution Papers

Once you have written your position paper, we will encourage you to prepare your resolution papers:


Why should I prepare a resolution draft and what exactly is it?

What are the different steps?


Example of Language (the information in bold and italics is essential.. but also makes creating this paper much simpler).

Bearing in mind that the « Rome Statute »  treaty was established on July, 17, 1998 by the International Criminal Court establishing four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression,

Having considered that our past leader of state, Saddam Hussein, was accused on August 21st 2006 of Crimes against Humanity,

Noting that Amnesty International issued a statement that it « opposed the death penalty in all circumstances but it was especially egregious when this ultimate punishment is imposed after an unfair trial. »,

Declaring that prosecuting and then killing a leader of state, as the US so willfully did, was the worst possible action that could have been taken.
During the Sixty-eight session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, 

1) Calls for the creation of a Working Group on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts,

2) Proposes the negotiation of a convention on the basis of the State responsibility articles;

3) Recommends the adoption of the articles by the general assembly in the form of a declaration or resolution;

4) Further recommends the retention of the articles adopted by the ILC with no further action;

5) Calls upon the need to take a long-term approach to dealing with the reasons behind terrorism;

6) Emphasizes the reconstruction of Iraq should ensure democracy, human rights and the freedom of opinion are all respected;
Example of a Resolution Paper

Body: Reformed Security Council
Issue: Non Proliferation of Atomic, Biological, and Chemical weapons
Submitted by: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Delegate’s Name: Thomas SCHUHLER/Tim THOLE
Co-Submitted by:

MUNISS 2015 Resolution Paper


Reformed Security Council,

Recalling our council gathered date (or was formed in + date) in reaction to concerns resulting from the use of Atomic, Biological, and Chemical (ABC) weapons,

Bearing in mind that individual resolutions, including the Treaty of Non-Proliferation (NPT) signed by 190 countries, have previously entered into force,

Having considered that the twin goals of these resolutions include preventing the spread of ABC weapons and promoting the safe and regulated use of nuclear, chemical and biological technologies,

Noting international concern regarding the potential danger of ABC weapon use by perilous governments or terrorist organizations,

Recognizing the existence of flagrant violations of these various resolutions, on the part of certain governments,

Declaring that all countries should make an effort to participate in the non-proliferation of ABC weapons,

Emphasizing that organized control over ABC weaponry is absolutely vital to ensure worldwide security,

Affirming that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is determined to ensure world safety, and is willing to resolve issues in which it is personally involved,

1) Suggests reviewing and correcting the NPT to make it fairer and more powerful;

2) Recommends working on the creation of a new treaty that would approach ABC weapons as a unity;

3) Calls for the United States of America and the Republic of Korea to cancel its joint-military exercises, or any other exercises of a provocative nature;

4) Further Calls for the United States of America to:
a) Officially confirm that the DPRK is not part of the “Axis of Evil”
b) Sign a contract with the DPRK insuring that they have no intention to militarily attack the DPRK, whatsoever;

5) Invites the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Japan, and the Republic of Korea to resume the Six-Party Talks;

6) Declares considering the possibility of signing the NPT once again.


Jonathan & Oleg

China

Issue 1: Curbing the supply of arms and ammunition to terrorist organizations
UN Press Article
UN Report + Resolutions 
UNODA

Issue 2: Addressing the issue of unexploded ordnance left in war zones in Africa
UN Press Release 
UN News centre
UN Press Release 2

Statistics
A Factsheet

China's record of dealing with unexploded ordnance (badly..)

Also have a look at China's presence in Africa....

Adam and Elsa Marie


China
Issue 1: Increasing food security within developing economies
Article on feeding the world in 2050
UN report

China and Food security
A Review
SIPRI report


Issue 2: Advocating for social inclusion of developing countries to promote economic growth in developing areas

Adele & Tanya

China
Issue 1: Preventing violence and  discrimination due to sexual orientation and establishing LGBTQ rights
UN Human Rights article on topic
UN Leaflet

Issue 2: Determining the grounds on which anti- and pro-natalist measures can be taken towards population control

France is a pro-natalist country
BBC article on France+pro-natalism

China is anti-natalist country
BBC article on China + anti-natalism

UN Population plan

Jeanne


Issue 1: Globalizing natural resources to foster sustainable world development
UNEP Magazine 2007
UNEP Magazine 2016 - including an article called 'Go Circular'
Environment and Globalisation: 5 Propositions
A UNEP Report from 2014 (good statistics)



Issue 2: Measures to foster sustainable urban development
UNEP Magazine - focussed on Urban Solutions

UNEP Report - which quite resembles a Position / Working paper
An upcoming UN  conference on sustainable development


Arthur

Arthur - I'll add to this page in the days ahead

China
ITU and China 
Issue 1: Increasing the accessibility of ICT technology in developing nations
GA notes on link between IT and developing sustainability
World Bank's perspective 
UK Essays (is this a valid site?) 
Centre for Strategic Economics essay

Issue 2: Combatting the threat of cyber warfare in industrial espionage as well as hindering military and civilian responders
Time magazine article + video 
New Yorker article 
World Summit on Cyber warfare

Ilsu

Ilsu - I'll add to this page in the days ahead.

China 
Issue 1: Protecting the rights and safe passage of international journalists in reporting missions

Issue 2: Establishing international regulations regarding the criminal responsibility of child soldiers

Emilie

China
Issue 1: Preventing human trafficking and the exploitation of women and girls in South America
UNODC 2014 Report
UNODC links trafficking and slavery
UNODC Trafficking in Central America
UN GIFT document

Issue 2: Establishing international regulations regarding the cost and accessibility of AIDS drugs

Access to HIV drugs in Brazil  - article emphasizes the compexity of the issue.
UN Policy Brief on HIV treatment
UN Report

Samuel

Issue 1: Establishing plans for future refugees of climate change

China in favour of working with UN on Climate Change
Frequently Asked Questions
UNHCR Background Document
UNHCR Report (see sumary)



Issue 2: Establishing a refugee allocation plan, to counter social hostility towards refugees

A great starting point ... 

UN Declaration that was recently adopted

Protection from Xenophia in South Africa - a little specific, but langauge is interesting 



Joel

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

The Court

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America).
The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. It is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ. Its official languages are English and French.

Members of the Court

Judges must be elected from among persons of high moral character, who possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices, or are jurisconsults of recognized competence in international law.
The Court may not include more than one national of the same State.  Moreover, the Court as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world. 
In practice this principle has found expression in the distribution of membership of the Court among the principal regions of the globe.  Today this distribution is as follows:  Africa 3, Latin America and the Caribbean 2, Asia 3, Western Europe and other States 5, Eastern Europe 2, which corresponds to that of membership of the Security Council.  Although there is no entitlement to membership on the part of any country, the Court has always included judges of the nationality of the permanent members of the Security Council.
Once elected, a Member of the Court is a delegate neither of the government of his own country nor of that of any other State.  Unlike most other organs of international organizations, the Court is not composed of representatives of governments.  Members of the Court are independent judges whose first task, before taking up their duties, is to make a solemn declaration in open court that they will exercise their powers impartially and conscientiously.
In order to guarantee his or her independence, no Member of the Court can be dismissed unless, in the unanimous opinion of the other Members, he/she no longer fulfils the required conditions.  This has in fact never happened.
No Member of the Court may engage in any other occupation during his/her term.  He/she is not allowed to exercise any political or administrative function, nor to act as agent, counsel or advocate in any case.  Any doubts with regard to this question are settled by decision of the Court.
A Member of the Court, when engaged on the business of the Court, enjoys privileges and immunities comparable with those of the head of a diplomatic mission.  In The Hague, the President takes precedence over the doyen of the diplomatic corps, after which precedence alternates between judges and ambassadors. Each Member of the Court receives an annual salary consisting of a base salary (which for 2010 amounts to US$166,596) and post adjustment, with a special supplementary allowance of US$15,000 for the President. The post adjustment multiplier changes every month and is dependent on the UN exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Euro. On leaving the Court, they receive annual pensions which, after a nine-year term of office, amount to 50 per cent of the annual base salary.
Although the Court is deemed to be permanently in session, only its President is obliged to reside in The Hague.  However, the other Members of the Court are required to be permanently at its disposal except during judicial vacations or leave of absence, or when they are prevented from attending by illness or other serious reasons.  In practice, the majority of Court Members reside in The Hague and all will normally spend the greater part of the year there.
How the Court Works


Take some time to have a look at an annual report . 
Case: Chagos Archipelago – Territorial dispute Parties: United Kingdom vs. Mauritius

ICJ to hear Chagos Island case (2013)

Thomas


Issue: Preventing the Spread of the Islamic State and “Lone-Wolf” Sympathizers

Cleveland Council wrote a BackGround Guide on the topic. I think it is worth a look !

UN Speakers discuss topic (see transcript-style document)
This document is valuable as it shows you the stance of various members last April 2016. Of course, with appointment of Mr Bannon to the US National Security Council may change the American's perspective). 

Note, The previous Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "stressed, however, that the values enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights and humanitarian law must be respected in combating violent extremism and countering terrorism."

An interesting UN Security Council report


Krista


United Nations Human Rights Council
(there's also a Human Right's Committee ) 
China
Issue 1: Countering the impact of terrorism on women’s rights in the Middle East, South Sudan and the Arab world

This topic 'looks simple' but may not be...

Wiki article on Women in Arab Socities (a little baised?)
Carnegie article on Women's Rights in Arab world
UN Press Release
UN Press Release 2

Issue 2: Implementation of international law to guarantee the rights of indigenous populations
UN Declaration   on  the rights of indigenous populations
UN document on implementation of international law to guarantee the rights of indigenous populations



China
Ethnic groups in China
Ethnic disparities in China

Worth reading... so you are in favour of guarateeing their rights... but need to be ready to defend yourself in case someone in gruo attacks you for being hypocritical !