The 2015 NMUN Delegation Tübingen has taken the first major step towards New York, as it has successfully completed its first test simulation!
During the very intensive weekend of 15th and 16th November, the delegates could not only test their knowledge of the NMUN Rules of Procedure in practice, but they also gained their first experience with writing and holding speeches, negotiating and, of course, creating and adopting resolutions.
The committee consisted of 20 delegations, namely Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Brazil, China, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Syria, Turkey and the United Kingdom, and its composition promised very interesting negotiations.
This proved to be true right at the beginning, as the delegations had to negotiate an acceptable agenda order. The topics on the agenda were as follows:
1. Strengthening Women’s Political Participation
2. Combating the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects
3. Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in Post-Conflict Societies
After holding a number of agenda setting speeches, undergoing a few rounds of negotiations and taking multiple votes, the committee finally arrived at the order 2-3-1. Despite the first optimistic expectations, it turned out during the weekend that only one topic could be handled within two days, so the committee dealt with he topic of Combating the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects.
While the first day of negotiations showed the strong willingness of all delegations to find a consensus, as they all worked on a single common resolution, the second day already exposed some of the major differences between the participating states.
The main discussions revolved around the UN Programme of Action and the more recent Arms Trade Treaty. The efforts to improve the implementation of these measures and also foster exchange of information between Member States resulted in four draft resolutions in the end, out of which two successfully passed in the voting procedure and thus became resolutions.
The simulation showed, that there is a strong cooperative spirit within the delegation and that all delegates are able to contribute in a very constructive and knowledgeable way, although it was the first experience with a United Nations simulation for many of them.
All participants would like to thank the head delegates, Berith and Martin, and the Chair and project coordinator, Bettina Ahrens, for their provident guidance and valuable advice during the whole weekend.