t h e o f f i c i a l n e w s p a p e r o f t h e b e r l i n m o d e l u n i t e d n a t i o n s

BERMUN TIMESThursday Edition March 6, 2014

Child immunization in thedeveloping world

“We the United Nations are de-termined to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and secu-rity.” This is the preamble of the United Nations Charter, and for nearly 69 years, it has served as the fundamental basis for the work of the United Nations since its establishment on October 24, 1945. The pledge to fight for world-

wide peace, the implementation of global human rights and even sustainable devel-opment essentially sets the foundation for this year’s BERMUN2 conference. There-fore, the delegates will be spending three days discussing the “UN’s Road Ahead.” The multiple organs and agen-cies of the UN have all had their achieve-ments, including the acknowledgement in negotiating nearly 172 peaceful settle-ments since it was founded, and facilitat-ing democracy and free elections in more than 40 countries. In 2013, as a response

to the Syrian crisis, agencies of the UN played a large role in the process of de-stroying chemical weapons, and were consequently rewarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. The UN strives to fulfill thepledge within its charter, and based on the effects of their work it becomes obvious they achieve success. As the former Sec-retary-General Dag Hammarskjold states, “The purpose of the UN is not to take humanity to heaven, but to save it from hell.”

Simona KochReporter

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Peaceful greeting.

The UN-Rivaled Guard of Freedom

page 3Seperatist state movements

page 2The rise of megacities

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Interview with the BERMUN2 secratariat page 4

The UN’s hunt for illegal drugspage 4

The Konrad Adenauer Stiftungpage 4

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BERMUN PRESS STAFF

Disclaimer:The opinions and views expressed in the BERMUN TIMES Newspaper do not necessarilyreflecttheopinionofBERMUN or its advertisers.

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Editor-in-Chief:Leo von Kleist Advisor/Editor:Mr. William Robertson Senior Head of Layout:Anton Begehr Head of Photography:Antony Roczek Text Editors:Maja MelchingerDavid Strasiewsky Reporters:Max LarsonAbigail DyeClara FrickLuisa HemmerlingEleanor KellySimona KochEmilia McGrealRebekka SchoellMadeleine Kelly Layout Artists:Isaac DyeFrederik ReidVivo von Streit

Photographers:Fritz PukallLennart Preining

Digital Production:Dominik HaakeLynn Cunningham

Separate and Unequal

Inatimewherearmedconflictshaveshrunk from massive military operations to internal insurrections defying perceived political, racial, ethnic, social or econom-ic oppression, separatist state movements (SSM) are often the result. This desire to become independent of another country is sometimes even complementary to bloody civil wars, propelled by guerilla groups. The topic of separatism is not only a very cur-rent one, but it is also relevant to almost all

David StrasiewskyReporter

photo coutesy of: cglearn.it

The Civil War in the USA during the 19th century was caused by separatist state movements.

countries around the world. Represented by members of the Security Council (SC), the affected countries will have to enforce their rights and establish a lasting peace. Markus Jungnickel, Co-Chair of the SC, states that “separatist movements are usually driven by marginalized minority groups that disagree with the majority.” In a discussion on the consequences of SSMs, thismargin is likely tocauseconflictsandheated debates between the opposing coun-tries. Yet, the SC hopes to achieve and maintain peace in the affected regions and will work to pass an expedient resolution.

Bending the Rules This year’s BERMUN2 confer-ence will be unlike any other for the Histor-ical Security Council (HSC) committee as it debates the India and Pakistan Situation (1948). In 1948, only eleven members in-cluding thefive thathaveveto-powerwerein session in the UN, in comparison to the currentnumberoffifteen. The HSC will therefore need to change its rules just this once from ten of fifteen votes to the simple majority in or-dertopassaresolution.Thefivepermanentmembers may also veto a resolution at any time,makingitburdensomeanddifficulttopass resolutions. Besides the change of the voting procedure, the debate methods from

Rebekka SchoellReporter

BERMUN will be maintained. According to Co-Chair Philip Stein, the unrest that threatens innocent lives will prove to be “a lot more intricate than [it] seem[s]afterreadingthereportforthefirsttime”. The Chairs anticipate successful de-bate on topics relating to the Indo-Pakistani Conflict.

photo coutesy of: pakistankakhudahafiz.com

Flags of Pakistan and India during a debate.

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Growing Like a Beanstalk

Calling the Shots for

Infant Health

United Against Drugs“Who run[s]

the world? Girls!”

Madeleine KellyReporter

Clara FrickReporter

Emilia McGrealReporter

Luisa HemmerlingReporter

that a solution be found soon, that takes into due consideration the various political issues, reli-gious beliefs and traditional val-ues that have previously com-plicated this process.” The UN Children’s Fund looks forward to a lively debate.

During this year’s BERMUN2 conference, the UN Children’s Fund will be cover-ing the controversial topic of childhood immunization. Despite opposition from a minority who feel that the natural occurrence of dis-ease should not be interfered with, immunizations have been a growing trend in the western world for over 200 years. However, it is clear that developing countries with high rates of disease are in need of immunization. As stated by Lisa Thiergart (Co-Chair of the UNICEF), “Child mortality rates are shockingly high due to insufficientaccesstoimmuniza-tion and health care. It is crucial

a process called urbanization. The resources being used up by this growing population pose a threat to the environment. Fogarasi herself has been occupied with this topic before. “I lived in Seoul, South Korea for four years, which happens to be a megacity, and therefore became very aware of the rising issues with sus-tainable development. With the world’s rising population, meg-acities will only grow and it is essential we implement new methods of making the devel-opment sustainable in order to prevent (worst case scenario) collapses of infrastructure.”

The United Nations Women Committee will be dis-cussing the issue of women, and their rights to education, jobs and a voice in politics. This is a topic that allows for much discussion and debate, since it affects women throughout all societies, albeit varying in se-verity. When asked why this topic is of importance to her, Co-Chair of the UN-Wom-en Committee, Lisa Pentaleri,

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is a committee of 54 members, working independently of the General Assembly (GA). The council’s primary purpose is to prepare reports and make sug-gestions to the GA. For this year’s BERMUN2, delegates face the challenge of forming alliances to fight the world’sdrug problem, which has be-come a global concern. With drug traffick-ing constantly occurring be-tween and along borders, the mainstream problem cannot be solved without establishing bonds in a close-knit coopera-tion between both the supplying and the demanding countries.

Members of this committee will discuss how drug laws can be enforced regionally and in par-ticular, internationally, taking into account each region’s indi-vidual circumstances. On an economic lev-el, delegates will for example discuss how alternative crops can replace drug plants for sup-plying farmers with the same financial income. On a sociallevel, Co-Chair Kilian Justus comments, “I think the signifi-cance of the world’s drug prob-lem lies not just in the health issues drugs bring upon addicts, but much rather in the criminal-ity and the poverty which drug traffickingbringsaboutaffectedcountries.” Regardless of the fo-cal point, represented countries will unite to address the massive issue they all face.

states, “the topic interests me, as a [female], because I know that there are many women or girls similar to me, who are less fortunate than I am, and weren’t born into a family and society promoting equality. And these are the people that we, the more fortunate, should help.” They will also discuss topics such as allowing more women in rural areas access to education. This would improve agricultural production rates and lower the amount of starvation (by 12%-17%).

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Megacity Tokyo.

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Child receiving a vaccination.

During this year’s BERMUN2, the UN Environ-mental Program (UNEP), with Caroline Fogarasi and Jasper Kamradt as Co-Chairs, is ready for another round of debating full of many thoughtful clauses to be discussed. What the UNEP will be discussing this year is the “Sustainable Development of Megacities”. Due to the rap-idly increasing population in primarily developing countries, more and more so called meg-acities are formed, undergoing

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t h e o f f i c i a l n e w s p a p e r o f t h e b e r l i n m o d e l u n i t e d n a t i o n s

Thursday, March 6, 2014

A Foundation Espousing Democratic Values For many years, the Konrad-Ade-nauer-Stiftung has graciously hosted BER-MUN2. The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, founded in 1955 by Bruno Heck, was named after the former Chancellor of Germany and first leader of the CDU. The founda-tion’s headquarters are strategically located in Sankt Augustin (near Bonn) and Berlin, Germany. The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung is a political and educational institution intend-ed to promote peace, justice, and freedom. Withmanyregionalofficesandconferencecenters, the forum provides many opportu-nities for people to gather and discuss their different causes.The goal of the foundation is to support and attract people who desire to make a difference in Europe and around the world to improve the lives of others.

Abigail DyeReporter

Florentine Friedrich, this year’s Secretary-General, Lena Rieke, Deputy Secretary-General, and Elias Lugani, Pres-ident of the General Assembly, are looking forward to an engaging BERMUN2 con-ference. When asked about her initial thoughts on the conference, Friedrich an-swered, “The topic [the future of the UN] seemed quite daunting at first. It is veryencompassing and almost vague. But when examining it more closely, it is probably the most relevant topic to the delegates actually sitting in the commission. These [committee topics] are topics that shape to-morrow more than they shape today. Thus these are not only highly important to dis-

cuss as Model United Nation delegates but as politically active individuals in general.” Although all committee topics appear to be pressing and demanding in today’s society, upon being asked which committees may face the most challenges, Lugani said, “The Security Council has by far the most controversial topic. Separa-tist state movements are universal to any society and solving this issue is going to challengethedelegatestofindcompromis-es and solutions despite their strong differ-ences in policy.” The Historical Security Council willdebatetheconflictbetweenIndiaandPakistan in 1948. The Secretariat believes that this committee, which is very different to any other in the conference, is extremely valuable. “I believe that to build a future

one must first understand the past.” saysRieke. Friedrich adds, “The delegates have a chance to alter history in a sense, and maybestopconflictsthataroseinthewakeoftheconflictof1947.” With the conference rapidly ap-proaching, all three Secretariat members are looking forward to rigorous and inter-esting debate.As a final piece of advicebefore the conference, Lugani reminds delegates, “Don’t be intimidated or scared by fancy language and complicated words. Ideas are the most important.” Rieke also wishes to encourage a great conference, saying, “In the end, we are all just regu-lar people who have come together to talk, form new friendships and learn from each other. We are glad to have you and wish you a wonderful conference!”

Eleanor KellyReporter

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The members of the Bermun2 Secratariat. From left to right: Elias Lugani, Florentine Friedrich, and Lena RiekeThoughts from BERMUN2’s Top Three

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Main Building of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.