News

Michelle Svesve

The India Times

 

Zimun was officially opened on Friday the 9th of March 2018. The delegates started the day by  attending the opening ceremony where they had Kirsty Coventry as their guest speaker and were privileged enough to have the ambassadors of Germany, Sweden and  United kingdom present.The delegates are coming from different parts of Zimbabwe some having travelled from as far as Marondera to participate in the debates. The International School of Luanda from Angola also graced the conference by joining in the conference. Most of the delegates are representing their schools. Schools present are Harare International School, Chisipite, Hellenic, Peterhouse Boys and Peterhouse  Girls, Prince Edward, St Georges, St Johns and Arundel.

After the ceremony the delegates headed to their rooms where they began making final touches to their resolutions for submission to the approval panel. Most of the resolutions put forward in the ECOSOC committee were approved hence debates began as soon as all the delegates were settled. The delegates started debating on the topic ’Exploitation of migrant workers in the middle east’. The main submitter of this resolution was New Zealand and she gave a very good speech on how to solve the issue of migrant workers being exploited in the middle east.the debate went very well and majority of the delegates voted for the resolution therefore it was passed.

Later the ECOSOC committee had a guest speaker come and  address them in accordance with the issue of ‘Instability in oil producing countries’.Mr Philips spoke gave good pointers on how to solve the issue and he hinted on possible future outcomes in terms of the dependence on oil. He brought to light the fact that the supply of oil is at its peak and sooner or later oil supply is going to start declining therefore he highly encouraged decentralisation of the economy of its more focused on oil.

After Mr Phillips’ address the delegates commenced their second debate. The resolution was passed by the Brazil as the main submitter and  New zealand , Germany, Ghana and Russia as cosubmitters of the resolution.After Brazil’s speech the floor was opened at many questions to the delegates fired away.

The resolution focused more on encouraging countries dependent on oil to start focusing on the use of solar , hydro -electric and wind power as alternatives to using oil. The question that most of the delegates asked was whether or not the delegate of Brazil realised that these were multi billion dollar projects that required a lot of money and starting them would be very costly for many countries like Ghana.

The debate went on for a solid hour.The delegate of Canada tried to have the resolution much more appealing but realised that most of the delegates had doubts on it too.Most of the delegates voted against the resolution as it was not solid and the solutions proposed were not convincing enough.

 

The wrap up of the day was the confession game that the delegates played throughout the rest of the day. The confessions are yet to be read. That’s something to look forward to.

Advisory panel Day 3

Advisory panel Day 3

Shaah Kamuruko

New York Times

 

As myanmar finishes reading her resolution she allows any and all points of questions. They discuss the factors of war such as UN peacekeeper and their role, migration, and violence. The groups is asked to raise their placards if they disagree, no one disagrees but the delegate of switzerland was regononised to speak without volunteering. The delegate of switzerland agrees with the resolution and the delegate of palestine degrees asking switzerland if they are aware that many clauses need to fixed and switzerland closes with “yes” before proceeding to his chair.

In a whole the resolution holds minimum discussion and debate concerning the resolution was mostly debated on yesterday and part of the day before. Very few people object with the resolution and a very minimal amount of delegates voice their opinions and the whole discussion is mainly held up by myanmar, palestine and the chairs.  

 

Update #2

Update #2

GA (General Assembly) had a long day of discussing the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and sovereignty of Hong Kong. 

Myanmars resolution was passed after a brief discussion concerning whether or not it would benefit other countries due to the fact that it seemed like a selfish move to other delegates – specifically the delegates of Argentina and China. The delegate of Argentina was also active in saying “It seems like you’ve contradicted yourself” even though the delegate of Myanmar obviously laid out everything clear as day. The Hong Kong was quickly resolved with a debate which seemed only thirty minutes as no delegates felt the need to object to the resolution. After the two debates came to a close everyone enjoyed a nice game of confessions and another game where they were assigned a country and had to give their first impressions on them first impressions on them. Some stated that the delegate of Myanmar was an Instagram model, and that her hair was wildly attractive. Others gave props to the chairmen and some of the admin members. All in all it was a good day for everyone involved in this event.

Economic and Social Council

Economic and Social Council

Andre Smith
Al Jazeera

In the ECOSOC counsel began by debating the resolution “Measure to reduce
instability in oil producing nations,” which was under the topic “Instability in oil
producing nations.” This resolution encourages nations to try reduce the use and
dependency of oil and rather invest into other forms of energy and income, such
as: wind, solar, hydro etc. The main submitter of this resolution is the Delegate of
Brazil and the Co-submitters are: Ghana, New Zealand, Russia, Finland and
Germany. The main submitter- the Delegate of Brazil began by reading the whole
resolution and reading his opening speech.

A sub-clause amendment was submitted by delegate of Canada and was
passed by an overwhelming majority. This was followed by the submission of
another amendment by the Delegate of Saudi Arabia to scrap clause 1 from the
resolution. The delegate felt it was unnecessary and irrelevant as she felt like
clause 6 is similar so by having a clause that repeats itself it will have no impact
on the matter and rather waste time. The Delegate of Ghana took the floor to
speak against the amendment as the delegate wanted to keep clause 1 in the
resolution. Ghana was one of the submitters of the resolution, so she was trying
hard to reject the amendment. It is standard policy to have at least 6 operative
clauses in a resolution in order for it to qualify to be passed. This resolution only
had 6 clauses, so if Saudi Arabia’s amendment is passed, then the resolution
automatically fails. The amendment was voted for, and by a slight majority the amendment
was passed. However, the debate continued and the resolution as a whole was
voted upon. The resolution was not passed.

GA Update

GA Update

Shalom Masango

Wall Street Journal

 

After debating on the issue of “Population management: Making family planning universally accessible”, mainly stressing on having Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) the room moved to the second topic at hand, “Providing open, free access to universal internet”.

Delegates of Harare International School have been representing across board by taking the courage to being the main submitters in rooms like General Assembly (GA) and Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC). The delegate of El Salvador received most of the fire as the Delegate of New Zealand did not open for any points of information and immediately yielded it to her. According to the delegate of El Salvador, they believe that, “having the internet will move people forward”, which is somehow true as internet activities are ‘hands on and interactive’ rather than spending the whole day listening to lectures.

Despite the fact that the internet had been traced back to the 1960s, most of the LEDCs became well acquainted with the web, which is not good enough as 29% of Africa uses the internet. With reference to this, the delegate of Pakistan was deeply concerned with the resolution as a whole as the state uses 9% of internet due to poverty in the country, due to the population boom, making it the 6th most populous country in the world.

There seemed to be tension in the General Assembly, to the extent that one could cut it with a butter knife. The house deserves another ice breaker to lighten the mood.

Environment Commission 2

Environment Commission 2

Tingting Wu

Al Jazeera

 

After the reassembly of the Environmental Commission, the discussion of the next resolution began. Targeting promoting the techniques and use of biodegradable materials in

LEDCs, the resolution submitted by Kuwait, and co-submitted by Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, and Thailand Westland, is within early stages of debate. The resolution seems to in the favour of some South Asian countries, however the resolution has also received multiple points of information.

A point of conflict during the debate was the amendment proposed by the delegate of WWF. The amendment was not passed due to an overwhelming majority of the delegation voting against it. The delegates proposed the merging of clause 3 and 7 of the resolution, supported only by the WWF and the delegate of Uganda. Many countries, found that the clauses were distinctly separate, Indonesia stating during her point of information that “ the clauses are targeting different issues and totally different.”

Currently the resolution has a relatively equal level of support and rejection, and the final verdict has not been cast on the resolution.

Humans Right Commision

Humans Right Commision

Esme McGuire

BBC

 

As the delegates wait for the guest speaker to come talk to them about child marriage in Africa, “Octagon” is portrayed on the screen, while the rest of the delegates discuss the passing of the current resolution.

The chair then passed a motion for a karaoke competition, but before it could go into motion the guest speaker arrived.

Kuda Chitsike is the guest speaker, who gives a speech to the delegates about child marriage. She speaks of the wrongs of child marriage, and what countries have done to put a stop to it. The delegates are then shown a short video clip about child labor, and how child marriage fits into that category. A discussion is opened up, and the Chair gives an opinion. The Chair says that there isn’t anything very binding about the marriages of children, like how the children don’t sign the official marriage form, and that the place where she probably is married is a very remote place.

The delegates all agree that the law is not enough to make a real difference, and that some girls might not know that they are taking part in something illegal. Another argument is that poverty should be tackled in, so that children won’t be married off so their families can gain some money. If poverty is tackled, child marriage might be resolved.

The delegate of Egypt asks if children that do work at home, like chores, are victims of child labor. This question was immediately met with denial by the delegates of Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and  Indonesia. The opposing delegates and Chitsike stated that the married girls that worked at their spouse’s home were forced to work and live in that house, where as children that live with their families under their own free will are just abiding to house rules, and is therefore not child labor.  

Environment Commission

Environment Commission

Tingting Wu

Al Jaazera

In concern of the issue of protection of wild rhino populations, the Environment Commission has passed the resolution proposed by the delegate of Lesotho, and co-submitters Senegal, Uganda, Mozambique, and France. In the discussion of this resolution clause 7 stating “Further encourages the legalisation of internal trade of rhino horn to promote a safe farming of

rhinos and harvesting of horn rather than the continuation of black market trade;” has been reviewed and passed, despite objection by the delegate of Botswana among others. The opposition states suggests that this clause will not assist in declining black market demand of rhino horn. 

One of the biggest opposers to the resolution as a whole was the delegate of Egypt. Stating that they did not has an issue with the majority of the resolution but would not except the addition to the resolution proposed by Kuwait, which suggested execution as a repercussion for poaching. In their speech the delegate stated that “I do not wish for the rights of a rhino to undermine the rights of an individual.” After their argument the delegate refused to take points of information, to their argument. 

Following the approval of the proposal the council was visited by guest speaker Anna Brazier a freelance development consultant. She spoke about promoting the techniques and use of biodegradable materials in LEDCs. After discussing the history, benefits and disadvantages of biodegradable plastics, she raised the floor to the students in discussing whether or not biodegradable lasts were the solution and what might be better solutions. “I personally believe that [replacing plastic with reusable products] is the solution.” Her own opinion is that their are other solutions which work much better for LEDCs like Zimbabwe.

Advisory Panel

Advisory Panel

Esme McGuire

BBC

From the Advisory Panel, delegates wait as all of their position papers are checked over and approved by the Chair. After opening speeches on the discussion of the Rohingya refugees, a debate starts.

Myanmar was the first country to give their opening speech, and is represented by two delegates. They ask the UN to remove the refugees in their midst, because they are hurting their people, but they also request they do so in the simplest way. They do not want to commit genocide on the Rohingyas. After the delegate of India declared that all of these refugees should return to their home country of Myanmar, the delegates of said country responded that being born in Myanmar does not give these people citizenship, as they are just refugees. That means, they say, that the delegate of India is incorrect when she states that they belong in their country and should return to it. They aren’t counted as part of the population, so even though they have lived in Myanmar for centuries does not mean that they are a part of the country. They have been attacking the country’s military, and should be removed. The delegates of Myanmar added that they did not want to commit genocide on the Rohingya refugees, but they don’t want to keep them in their country.

Bangladesh made an amendment, saying that buildings and homes should start to be rebuilt in November 2018. Myanmar responds to this, stating that it is too soon to start any rebuilding due to fighting still taking place, and the start date should be moved to the year after. Bangladesh stated that action need to happen now, and that if the date was moved the 2019, the UN would continue to move the date, and nothing would change. The delegates of Myanmar asked the delegate of Bangladesh if they would like to contribute land and resources to Rohingya people, and he responded that Bangladesh needed to take care of his own people first. The debate was paused due to the lunch break, and is to be continued afterwards.

 

Day 2: Economic and Finance Committee

Day 2: Economic and Finance Committee

Reporters: Thandeka Mangwiro & Ashley Makuwa

New York Times


The debate begins with the ending of the previous issue and they quickly move on to the next issue which is ‘Physical fraud through cryptocurrency’. The chair makes the delegate of Spain move seats and sits by the delegate of Bolivia for an unknown reason. Cryptocurrency a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank, unattributable. Bolivia asked the United States “How does the delegate of the US affect Senegal, they can create their own cryptocurrency?”. ‘Donald Trump would not share information’ says the delegated of Ecuador and he gets approval from other delegates. All member states may be able to come up with solutions on how to govern says the delegate of Japan. The debate is going really quickly but has come to a sudden halt because a guest speaker is coming to speaking to the delegates. This is a really great committee and filled with curious minds and a special shout out to the chairs for conducting a great debate.