Kategorie: Blog 2019

Going to NMUN New York means: getting to know many people and working long hours. As we all worked in different committees, our individual experiences vary a lot. We have had a lot of practice before our conference, so writing on working papers, delivering speeches and bringing in motions for some of us almost felt like “business as usual” – on a much larger scale. Here is only room for a few highlights:

We enjoyed talking to the Secretary-General of the Namibian Mission to the UN. He was very open and answered all our questions.

Attending the closing ceremony in the General Assembly Hall of the UN headquarters was a very special experience. We felt very honoured to be in this historic place and to immerse ourselves into the atmosphere of the building.

Also, receiving an award for our position papers and as a distinguished delegation was a nice reward for all our efforts.

Last but not least, on our last evening, we had supper in an Ethiopian restaurant as a delegation. This made us realise that we have enjoyed getting to know each other better during the last semester. Some of us also attended the delegate dance to celebrate the end of a very intense week.

Now it is time for us to say goodbye to NMUN. We have certainly had the chance to learn a lot and to get to know nice people. Best of luck to all future NMUN generations – we hope you have a good time!

After a warm welcome with Butterbrezeln and gorgeous home-made cakes, we started the simulation at Hohenheim Castle which is a very impressive setting.

It was a great opportunity to get to know delegates from Heidelberg and Hohenheim, and we realised that the size of the committee really matters. Unlike during our first simulation, we didn’t have to make sure that there are still enough people on the speakers´ list. On the contrary, with around 45 delegations present, we were lucky if we could deliver two substantive speeches each.

As we only had one day to negotiate on climate change, it was quite surprising that we managed to submit our working papers in time. In the end, we had six draft resolutions which were all adopted. One of the votes, however, was very tedious because one delegation moved to vote by role call, so every delegation had to give its vote separately. This is not recommended if you want other delegations to like you.

After the simulation, we had to give yet another vote, but this time it was to find the best delegate and the best speech. We are pleased to announce that two members of our delegation were selected: Sophie Mebus recieved an honorable mention as delegate and Mohammed Awais Qarni was voted the best speaker. After this long day, quite a few of us stayed for a wonderful dinner including wine tasting. Outpartying the other delegations, some members of the Tübingen delegation got home around 3am after a turbulent bus and train ride, ready to be at the speech training at 9am the next morning. This is true dedication for international diplomacy!

Many thanks also to the Hohenheim delegation for their hospitality! We are looking forward to having you and many others here for the Tübingen Model United Nations on 8 February.

Lately, we have been putting quite a lot of effort into our position papers. They all summarise Namibia’s position on the agenda topics but these issues are different in every committee. This means, we mostly work in pairs and do research on various topics, e.g. Mainstreaming Gender in Peacekeeping Operations, The Role of Youth in Achieving the Paris Agreement or Facilitating Knowledge Transfer for Sustainable Development.

In each of our committees, we started off by reading resolutions to figure out what UN action has been done so far and what Namibia’s position on these topics is. This preparation is very helpful for writing a position paper. For each of the topics, we present three different aspects: firstly, a general introduction to the problem and its relevance to the international community, secondly, Namibia´s achievements and actions regarding the issue at hand, and finally, possible solutions and suggestions from Namibia’s point of view.

For our first position paper, we got detailed feedback from our faculty adviser and the head delegates which we are very grateful for. Currently, we are working on our second draft. Additionally, we prepare for the Hohenheim simulation next weekend. As you can see, there’s always something on…

Happy New Year, everyone!
In 2018 we have been up to a lot of things: our fundraising team organised cake and waffle sales,

we did presentations on Namibian history, politics, economy etc. , we started working in our committees and wrote our first position paper.
Last but not least we had a nice Christmas party with mulled wine and international delicatessen and everyone of us got a Christmas present at the white elephant gift exchange.

Now we’re looking forward to our party at the Clubhaus tonight!

It is Saturday, 10 a.m., and the formal meeting starts with the roll call. Students of the University of Tübingen, dressed up in professional business attire, represent the UN delegations. The chair (Bettina Ahrens) and rapporteurs (Lidija Beganović and Malena Halmer) guide the delegates through formal session. It is all just a simulation, yet everyone is determined to achieve the best outcome for his or her represented country.

During this first simulation, we as student delegates discovered that international diplomacy requires a lot of time. For example, it took us surprisingly long to set the agenda. Eventually, the majority agreed to have the impact of pollution on marine life as our first topic. It turned out we did not have the time to work on religious intolerance and the role of women in peace and security as well.

In the substantive speeches that followed, the delegates promoted their countries´ positions and offered solutions for existing problems. We all knew: If the speakers´ list runs out, the voting procedure will start even if there’s no draft to vote upon. This is why we did all we could to keep the discussion going—not an easy task if you only had a few days to prepare your topics.

This weekend helped us to become aware of quite a few things, including the fact that suspending the meeting does not mean having a break. As soon as we entered into caucus, we gathered with our allies and formed working groups. Once we had agreed on the main topics, we started writing working papers. As we soon figured out, they can hardly be detailed enough. This means revising them over and over again, improving the wording and adding in sub-clauses. After hours of work, it was a relief to have them accepted as draft resolutions.

Finally, we moved into voting procedure. The draft resolutions were amended and voted upon. All resolutions were adopted, the diplomats were happy and “clapping is in order.”

Diplomacy in one sentence: It is hard work, but satisfactory.