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Returning from the christmas break, the Tübingen NMUN Delegation is looking forward to another step towards the great simulation in New York: Over the last few weeks every committee faces the challenge of writing the first draft of their positions papers. These documents contain the Montenegrin position on current international issues, treaties and resolutions. Now, we are waiting for the feedback provided by our head delegates in order to improve the second draft, which is due in 2 weeks time.

Another big challenge is laying ahead of us: HCMUN 2014, the simulation held in Hohenheim Castle with the delegations from Hohenheim, Heidelberg and Tübingen. Our university is going to represent the following countries in the upcoming simulation: Bangladesh, Canada, Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Montenegro, New Zealand, Rwanda, Peru, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo, Venezuela.

The topics to be discussed at HCMUN are:

1. Measures to Prevent Terrorists from Acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction

2. Agriculture Development and Food Security

3. Intensification of Efforts to Eliminate All Forms of Violence against Women

For further information please have a look at:

http://www.clubofhohenheim.org/reloaded/seiten/projekte/hcmun.php

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Club-of-Hohenheim-eV/159226637487339

The motto of this year’s Clubhaus Party, „Montenegro – 7 Jahre Party auf dem Balkan!“, revealed to be very appropriate! Together with the Fachschaft Politik, the NMUN-delegation organized a fun evening with lots of music which was widely embraced. Besides drinks and pretzels, original French-made crêpes had been very popular and have been one of the highlights. Particular attention was also attracted by the Tombola: the first prize of a one-month French course in the south of France encouraged many guests to try their luck and turned the tombola into a huge success. Having had a lot of fun and collected additional revenues, the NMUN-delegation has taken another step towards New York!

Last week the various delegates were appointed for each committee. You are welcome to have a look at the nine committees and organisations, the Montenegrin representatives, as well as the topics covered!

Tonight at 9 p.m., the Clubhaus Party, organized by the Fachschaft Politik and the NMUN Delegation Tübingen 2014, will take place. Not only will there be a live band – the Fatones – but also various DJs. Also, we are hosting a tombola with great prizes (first prize is a french course in Aix en Provence!).

The NMUN Delegation Tübingen 2014 invites everyone to come and join!

After a weekend of intense working, numerous speeches, endless negotiations and a lot of fun, the Tübingen Delegation 2014 successfully completed its first test-simulation.

Starting on Saturday, November 23^rd 2013, seventeen delegations gathered in the halls of the Political Science Institute of Tübingen to discuss the topics currently concerning international politics. The delegates were proud to represent Bangladesh, Belarus, Canada, France, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States.

The following topics were on our agenda:

1. Measures to Prevent Terrorists from Acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction

2. The Impact of Climate Change on Sustainable Development

3. Intensification of Efforts to Eliminate all Forms of Violence against Women

The majority of the present states considered the topic “Measures to Prevent Terrorists from Acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction” calling for the immediate attention of the committee and was therefore prioritized to be the first topic to be discussed. Due to our limited time of simulating, the committee was unfortunately only able to engage in the first topic.

During the two-day-simulation we presented the various countries‘ positions on this issue and also listened to speeches of the fellow delegates. In between the speeches, the delgates gathered in working groups to work on first resolution drafts. All in all, the committee was finally able to agree upon a resolution, making great efforts in limiting the unlawful distribution of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Thus, the result of the simulated conference was very satisfying.

After this experience, we all seem to be one step closer to the great simulation in New York at the end of March 2014. Although a lot of work is still lying ahead of us, we are looking forward to the next tasks and simulations, coming up in the following months.

We would like to thank our head delegates Maike and Sophie as well as our project coordinator Bettina Ahrens for the great organization, the delicious food, beverages and the competent guidance.

The 17 students for the delegation have been chosen – we will represent Montenegro at the National Model United Nations Conference from March 30^th to April 3^rd in New York! The delegation is already busy preparing for the first simulation and starting their fundraising campaign. We are excited to be part of the NMUN experience and looking forward to the next months!

On the 11^th of February 2013, the delegation made a “detour” on its way to New York to Geneva, Switzerland to gain first-hand advice from actual practitioners of international diplomacy. From our base camp, the hostel Home Saint Pierre in the beautiful old town, we spread out towards the Australian and the German Permanent Missions to the United Nations, on the first day. Referent for Humanitarian Assistance und Media, Mr Herbert Beck, introduced us to the structure and functions of the German mission and he also talked about negotiation strategies inside of the UN-framework, especially in the field of humanitarian assistance. One common strategy is the cross-regional approach, which aims to ease negotiations through ensuring other nations that there is no hidden Western agenda.

Mr Nicholas Purtell, the Deputy Permanent Representative and Ms Namdi Payne, the Second Secretary, welcomed us to the Australian Mission. All delegates had the chance to ask questions concerning topics that were to be discussed in their committees in New York. Nevertheless, we mainly discussed issues of Human Rights, such as the indigenous rights in Australia, and conventional weapons in the framework of the Disarmament Conference. In the evening, the delegation was proud and happy to welcome Lizzy Openshaw who shared with us her courageous step from a comortable teaching job at the British Council in Bangkok to a career in the field of human rights. Her bright and lively talk encouraged us to continue to pursue our own way into an international career.

On the second day, the delegation went out again into the snow to attend several meetings with international organizations and specialized agencies within the UN framework. First off, was the International Labor Organization (ILO), which was introduced to us by Ms Christina Behrendt of the Social Security Department. She emphasized the most important strength of the organization, which is that it combines governments, employers and unions. Her interesting presentation revolved around issues such as employment, social protection and rights at work. Her colleagues from the Sectoral Activities Department, Mr Edmundo Werna and Mr Elvis Beytullayev, explained how projects are carried out. For instance, when starting a project how to identify target groups like women and youth. As an example they used the Decent Work Agenda, which promotes a fair income, social security and freedom for workers in agriculture worldwide. At the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) we attended a conference together with students from a university in Barcelona.

Ms Diana Barrowclough, the Economic Affairs Officer of the Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, talked about the major pillars of the organization: consensus building, technical cooperation and data collection. She also made a quite interesting point in a critic of the deficit cutting measures of European countries, which in her opinion may lead to massive unemployment and also may not promote the needed economic growth. The last point on our schedule was the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Mr Carlos Villacis explained to us the importance of capacity-building instead of solely relief work, in order to create actual development instead of creating dependence on development aid.

After these two days, which were full of intense and interesting discussions, we finally rewarded ourselves with a delicious cheese fondue. Finally, we departed from Geneva with crucial knowledge both about the how to conduct diplomatic negotiations and about how the Specialized Agencies interact with each other. We could not wait to leave for New York in order to practice what we had learnt!

NMUN challenges those who participate as delegates in many different ways, the most obvious one being oratory. Agenda setting speeches, substantive statements, arguing for policy and asserting oneself in negotiations, bringing motions to the floor during formal session – there are numerous occasions which require public speaking. And they demand speeches both spontaneous and memorable, deferential and powerful, erudite and pithy.

Therefore, Tübingen’s NMUN delegation 2013 was greateful to attend a speech training session by Cevey Consulting’s Dr Marco Behrmann on January 26^th.

This year, Dr Behrmann introduced and supervised two separate exercises, one of which was developed together with head delegates Katharina Luther and Max Döring. In order to train skills like posture, gesticulation, enunciation and general poise, every delegate was given a speech topic reminiscent of debating competitions. Forgoing any need for research, a brief statement in favour or against the topic had to be prepared within ten minutes. The performance itself was then subjected to a thorough feedback session. Not only did the feedback provide much useful information from our pcolleagues and Dr Behrmann, but the short preparation period also worked well as a small-scale substitute for NMUN where speeches may have to be given on very short notice.

After training ad-hoc public statements in this way, the second exercise took into account the more comprehensive character of substantive speeches. On the basis of scenarios arranged by our head delegates, we prepared speeches for delicate, difficult or even outright hostile situations. In the spirit of diplomacy, our goal was to argue for particular measures, bridge cultural and political gaps, solve misunderstandings, or calm the waves after an encounter gone awry. Again, there was barely time to prepare, weigh arguments and refine language. But all delegates were able to improve on their previous performances. The feedback by Dr Behrmann and our head delegates was both accurate and encouraging. It provided a useful overview of strengths to build on as well as behavioural or substantial weaknesses to work on which before NMUN in New York – where we will be even better public speakers, not least because of Cevey Consulting’s speech training.