delegation 2007-2008 | worldmun in puebla (pdf)

Final Report 2008

TUMgoesWorldMUN

Harvard WorldMUN Conference

March 2008 in Puebla, Mexico

TUMgoesWorldMUN 2008

Contents

Foreword

A Word from the Head Delegate

A Word from the TUM President

A Word from MUNTUM e.V.

The Selection Process

Working on Weekends

Fundraising

Public Relations

DISEC

Michael Bengsch

Sarah Port

UNESCAP

Carina Mann

UNHCR

Jean-Luc Rippinger

HGA

Thomas Emmert

UNHRC

Tom Braun

SOCHUM

Jemima Peppel

WHO

Veronika Beck

WTO

Arash Houshmand

Marcus Demmelmair

A Sample of a Draft Resolution

Social Events

Afterword from the Faculty Advisor

Introduction

The Conference

Preparing for the Conference

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

29

30

32

2


This final report describes the experiences ten students

of the Technische Universität München (TUM) made as

the delegation of the TUM for the Harvard World

Model United Nations 2008 (WorldMUN) in Puebla,

Mexico.

Thanks to the engagement and interest of two

students, Felix Naumann and Theresa Veer, the

TUMgoesWorldMUN project was launched in 2006 and

enabled the first TUM delegation ever to attend

Harvard WorldMUN conference in March 2007 in

Geneva, Switzerland. The annual WorldMUN

conference brings together students from all across the

world for a week to enable them to debate pressing

political issues in a simulation of the committees of the

United Nations and develop their own, often ground-

breaking solutions. In order to firmly tie this unique

project to the TUM and allow other students to attend

the conference in subsequent years, Model United

Nations Technische Universität München (MUNTUM), a

non-profit registered association, was founded after the

TUM’s first participation. In a long-term perspective,

MUNTUM is supposed to create a basis of

communication and cooperation for WorldMUN alumni

and other interested students, with the goal of hosting

the WorldMUN conference in Munich eventually. In

summer of 2007, the second TUM delegation was

chosen. Ten students - Arash Houshmand, Carina Mann,

Jean-Luc Rippinger, Jemima Peppel, Marcus Demmel-

mair, Michael Bengsch, Sarah Port, Thomas Emmert,

Tom Braun and Veronika Beck - were selected in a

demanding application procedure to represent the

TUM, with support of their faculty advisor Alexander

Heinz, at the WorldMUN conference in Puebla, Mexico,

in March of 2008. The team’s intensive preparations

began in autumn of 2007 and ranged from fundraising,

rhetorical training and simulated committee sessions to

public relations, the planning of the trip itself and

workshops on the structure and working of the United

Nations. In February of 2008, Harvard assigned the role

of Thailand to the TUM delegation, whereafter the

delegates scrutinized Thailand’s history, political

structure, culture, economic condition and inter-

national relations in order to be able to act thoroughly

in accordance with its role in the international

community. At the same time, individual and intensive

preparations for the different committees began, which

meant not only familiarising oneself with the topics

that were to be debated and analysing Thailand’s

stance on them, but also practising the rules of

procedure for committee session.

Detailed accounts of the delegates’ personal

experiences in the run-up to the conference and in

their committees as well as of the preparations can be

found in the following.

3


A Word from Jemima Peppel Head Delegate

For me, it has been a challenge, pleasure and great

honour to be the Head Delegate of the

TUMgoesWorldMUN delegation of 2008, an incredible

team of ambitious, motivated and open-minded

students.

Much has been said and will be said in the following,

but left for me is to reemphasise and reaffirm,

wholeheartedly, the outstanding potential, dedication

and enthusiasm every single delegate displayed. These

students have proven their ability and willingness to

question established structures and have demonstrated

that they have all the necessary prerequisites to play an

active role in our world. This project opens up

perspectives beyond the ordinary and inspires to look,

think and go beyond.

In the name of the entire delegation, I would like to

express our most sincere thanks for the generous

support we have received from Roland Berger, the

Robert Bosch Foundation, the Friends of the TUM, the

Carl-von-Linde-Akademie and the president of the

TUM, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang A. Herrmann. My

thanks also go to this great delegation that has shown

commitment and dedication in a very special mixture of

supportiveness and scepticism.

I very much hope that we have herewith begun a long

tradition of TUM participation in the WorldMUN

conference, for I believe that it is a unique experience

and unique opportunity for students to represent their

university at a truly global conference and to adapt

their horizons to our globalised world.

Sincerely

Jemima Peppel

Head Delegate


Dear Delegates, Friends, Partners

and Alumni of TUMgoesWorldMUN,

4


A Word from Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. W. A. Herrmann

President of the TUM

Nowadays the objectives and positions young people

can achieve in their professional lives do not only

depend on high-quality and comprehensive education.

Much rather, the commitment and engagement of

every single student as well as the willingness to

acquire qualifications on his or her own initiative play a

decisive role the importance of which should not be

underestimated. Employers do not only expect

technical and scientific excellence from young

professionals, but also a strong and well-formed

personality.

Harvard’s annual World Model United Nations

conference (WorldMUN) provides an excellent stage for

student initiative and dedication that I believe deserves

to be supported and fostered. I therefore gladly act as

the patron of the TUMgoesWorldMUN project.

Since the winter term 2006, students of the Technische

Universität München have the opportunity to

participate in the TUMgoesWorldMUN project and to

compete with students of top universities from all over

the world in political debates. With this final report, the

current delegation of the Technische Universität

München presents its experiences during the project

year 2007/2008 crowned by their participation in the

WorldMUN conference in Puebla, Mexico, in March this

year.

As the president of the Technische Universität

München and the patron of this project, I hope that

students of our university will continue to take great

advantage of the opportunities this project offers to

them and will be able to incorporate the fruits of their

efforts into their future careers successfully.

Sincerely

Wolfgang A. Herrmann

Präsident

Technische Universität München

5


Dear Readers,

A Word from MUNTUM e.V.

6

We are very happy to be able to celebrate the second

birthday of TUMgoesWorldMUN with you. We are

proud that it was again possible for us to send a highly

qualified and motivated team to one of the leading

model UN conferences in the world, the Harvard World

Model United Nations.

There are many without whom it would not be possible

to accomplish such a project. We want to thank our

partners and supporters, both the institutions and

persons, who encouraged us, gave advice and

contributed to our funding. We also want to thank this

years' delegation for spending countless hours,

together and alone, preparing for and organizing the

attendance at the conference.

A special characteristic of our project is the high

responsibility of the annual project team. We do not

only expect a thorough preparation regarding the work

at the simulation itself but also self-organization of the

preparation phase with all its difficulties. This

challenges the much-needed core competencies and

helps to advance them. We do not only offer a high-

level inter cultural education program, we also expect

our participants to grow personally by taking part in it.

This year we decided to start the project even earlier

than the years before to offer the Team for 2009 even

more preparation time. To accomplish this next years

team is going to have its kick-off in July 2008, about

nine months before the next Harvard WorldMUN.

We are looking forward to assist MUNTUM throughout

another excellent year.

Theresa Veer

Felix Naumann

MUNTUM e.V.

Dear Friends, Alumni and Partners,


With regard to our experiences during the selection of

the 2007 team, we decided to lay down a few general

aspects guiding the selection of next year’s delegation.

The members of the selection committee must have

attended the WorldMUN conference at least once and

are chosen by the directorate of the Model United

Nations Technische Universität München Society,

MUNTUM e.V.

The selection committee uses the list of primary and

secondary criteria for selecting next year’s delegates.

These include:

• Proficiency in English in written and in spoken

form,

• Enrollment in a university in the year

of attendance of the WorldMUN,

• Exceptionally high motivation and

interest in international relations,

• The willingness to invest a sufficient

amount of time into this project.

Prospective delegates can apply every year for

attendance in the following year during a given period

of four weeks.

All applicants have to complete and to submit all

application materials, which include:

• A fictional letter addressed to a

potential sponsor of the project,

written out in full (in German).

• A curriculum vitae of maximum two

pages, written out in full (in German),

• A statement of one page about which

country the applicant would like to

represent at the WorldMUN and why,

written out in full (in English),

• A statement about which committee

the applicant would like to be on

during the conference, and why,

written out in full (in English),

To ensure neutrality and objectivity, following rules

apply to the members of the selection committee:

• Should a member of the selection

committee be acquainted with an

applicant, he or she is obliged to

abstain from discussion and voting

on the acceptance of this applicant.

• The application is submitted without a

photo of the applicant.

Last year, after long debates, the selection committee

eventually chose the delegation for the WorldMUN

2008 in Puebla, Mexico, which consisted of ten

students from different departments and different

years, ranging from Molecular Biotechnology, Physics,

Biochemistry, Electrical, Mechanical and Chemical

Engineering to Mathematics and Business Economics

and from year one to year six.

The Selection ProcessAlexander Heinz

7


The Six-Day War, drug trafficking in Latin America, the

different committees and of course Thailand all were

topics we discussed during weekend workshops. In the

six months before the conference, we met every

Tuesday afternoon, but this was not enough. Tuesdays,

we normally only managed to talk about organizational

issues. So how can a group of students prepare for such

a conference properly? Every student has free time on

weekends, therefore the only option we had was to

sacrifice some of our weekends to work hard for

WorldMUN.

The underlying idea was to learn and practice for the

committee work and at the same time to start the

teambuilding-process. At our first weekend in

December 2007, we simulated a meeting of the

Historical General Assembly. The topic was the Six-Day

War and everyone was assigned a different country to

represent.

I have to say - representing Israel was exhausting!

During this simulation, our delegates mainly practiced

the Rules of Procedure. If you were discussing the issue

and the moderator said, “Are there any point or

motions on the floor?” and a delegate answered

“Motion for an unmoderated caucus for 20 minutes in

order to discuss the withdrawal of Israeli troops from

occupied territories during the war”, how would you re-

act? The Rules of Procedure are of the highest

importantance and crucial for the understanding of this

conference. Without knowing them, you cannot even

get the chance to speak. In the beginning of our

simulation, it was difficult to maintain a fluent

discussion, but in the end our delegates started to

comprehend the concept. Moreover, spontaneous

speeches had to be made and rhetorical impact on the

audience had to be practiced. Delegates started to get

confident and finally, what was only bits and pieces

became a draft resolution. Committee work usually

begins with some opening speeches, then goes into

several moderated/ unmoderated caucuses on different

aspects and then the first document,

a working paper, is handed out. The

same procedure is repeated, the

second document to be introduced

being a draft resolution. Then, draft

resolutions are merged and plenty of

amendments are made, so that in the

end there is one comprehensive and

strong resolution.

These procedures we trained during

our next weekend in March 2008,

where we debated about drug

trafficking within the Organisation of

American States. Furthermore, every

delegate had to present his work and

research for his committee, also, presentations on

general Thailand-related topics were held. For research

and further explanation of the sequence of events

during a week in committee the whole Saturday was

reserved. Students who had attended the WorldMUN

conference the year before shared their experiences

with us. By now, our delegation started to conceive the

concept of the whole conference.

All in all, the hard work during these weekends was an

important prerequisite for successful participation at

WorldMUN. Not only content, research, speeches,

debates and documents were of highest importance,

but the most crucial aspect was that by doing all this

work together, teambuilding took place. We ate

together, laughed together, discussed together, woke

up together and saw our effort turn into results

together.

Working on WeekendsCarina Mann

8


“Fundraising is not an event, it is a process”. This

quotation from Edgar Powel describes this part of the

project perfectly. Fundraising was one of the most

decisive pillars of this project due to the fact that the

conference took place in Puebla and the traveling

expenses were estimated to be tremendous. The

fundraising process can be classified into three steps:

Selection of possible sponsors, acquiring sponsors and

finally raising the money.

The first step, starting at the end of October 2007, was

to define a set of companies and foundations with an

interest in sponsoring science and engineering

students. This set was based upon contacts acquired in

the year before. Within this set, an additional focus was

placed on companies in the Munich area.

The second step was the real grass-root work done by

every member of the WorldMUN project: Every team

member received a list of five to eight company or

foundation contacts which had to be contacted before

the deadline (November 30th). These foundations and

companies were asked by the team members whether

they were interested in sponsoring us. In order to

present to them adequate reasons and statements, the

team had the chance to attend a small coaching by the

“UnternehmerTUM”, conducted by Olivia Thywissen.

This step was doubtless the most exhausting and

arduous as we had to override many disappointments

and accept many rejections.

Finally, we received notice that Roland Berger Strategy

Consultants and the Robert Bosch Foundation were

again willing to support us financially. But also the

Technical University of Munich supported this project.

After step two was accomplished, the project team of

TUMgoesWorldMUN could start to prepare the

conference.

Step three is still in progress until now. The financial

grants from our university and the Robert Bosch

Foundation cannot be accessed until all receipts

respectively expenses are collected and settled.

All in all, the whole fundraising process required a lot of

time and effort. The project was pending on the

amount of money the team was able to raise. For the

future, I personally hope that the fundraising is less

time intensive and that the participation in a

conference, even if it takes place far away, can be

assured earlier. Most importantly, we want to integrate

our sponsors more into the whole project. A long-term

partnership between the team and the companies

should be established, in order to ensure the

sustainability of the project and to provide the firms

with exclusive access to highly motivated students.

Even regarding this aspect Edgar Powel was right:

Fundraising is a (continuous) process.

Our supporters

Technische Universität München

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

Robert-Bosch-Stiftung

Bund der Freunde der TUM

Stadtsparkasse München

FundraisingMarcus Demmelmair

9


The two main goals of our efforts were to increase the

popularity of the TUMgoesWorldMUN project at our

university as well as to soften the contrast that many

people see in the combination of technical studies and

politics. We believe that we have, in part, succeeded.

A main pillar of our work was to establish contact with

national and regional newspapers as well as internal

publications of the TUM not only to make our project

known to a wider range of people, in business as well

as in the university, but also to create a basis of

interested students at the TUM that might be willing to

work with us in the future to hold the WorldMUN in

Munich eventually. Articles about our project were

published, among others, in the TUM Campus

magazine, on the TUM website as well as on the

website of the Carl-von-Linde-Akademie and numerous

different publications of individual departments within

the TUM.

Furthermore, a reporter of the Süddeutsche Zeitung

attended one of the delegation’s weekly meetings and

watched an hour-long simulation of a committee in

order to be able to fully understand the proceedings of

a WorldMUN conference and the actual point of all our

work. Consequently, two articles, one before and one

after the conference, were pub-lished in the

Süddeutsche Zeitung, describing our work and

motivation in great detail. In addition, it is of great

importance to us to establish the TUMgoesWorldMUN

project as an integral part of our university’s annual

offerings and thus lay the foundations for future

delegations who we want to feel truly representative of

their university and supported by the student body. We

tried to do so by publishing a series of articles about

the progress of our preparations and about our

experiences in Mexico in different department

magazines and thus enabling the student population to

follow our work and whereabout closely.

Last but not least, by promoting our project we tried to

demonstrate to our university that technical thinking

and out-of-the-box, global thinking are not two

necessarily conflicting concepts, but can rather function

together and create analytical, clear, logic while

innovative patterns of thought and argumentation.

Public RelationsJean-Luc Rippinger & Jemima Peppel

10


An International Effort to Deal with the Problem of Child

Soldiers

Not to be mistaken for the Security Council, the

Disarmament and Interntaional Security Committee

(DISEC) is the oldest committee of the United Nations.

DISEC takes care of the most urgent problems of

international security and proposes possible solutions

to these problems. Afterwards, it is the job of the

Security Council to debate those propositions and to

decide on actions to be undertaken and sanctions to be

imposed. Like in past years, the committee was

competently chaired by Aneesh Venkat.

In DISEC, all member states of the United Nations are

represented. Therefore, unfortunately, formalities like

the check on attendance always took quite long.

The first task of the committee was to set its agenda.

We could choose between Topic A: ‘Eradicating

Chemical and Biological Weaponry’ and Topic B: ’An

International Effort to Deal with the Problem of Child

Soldiers’. Since Thailand is a direct neighbour of

Myanmar, whose military forces are currently using

approximately 70000 child soldiers, and therefore more

directly affected by this issue, we decided to vote for

topic area B. Despite a very emotional debate on both

sides, the committee eventually opted to face and

tackle the problem of child soldiers.

Regrettably, the delegations of the countries most

concerned with the issue like Myanmar or Congo were

not present in the committee, hence the discussions

were not always as controversial as we had expected.

Right in the beginning, we bonded with Singapore and

Afghanistan and spent the first lunch break with writing

the first working paper. We benefited from the fact that

we were a double delegation in the way that there was

always one of us following the debate in the committee

while the other one stayed outside, writing on a draft

resolution and lobbying our crucial interests. Soon, we

had gathered a big group of people who wanted to join

in writing a draft resolution based on our working

paper.

Regrettably, in the course of the committee sessions it

became more and more obvious that the group was too

big. Almost one third of the committee had tried to

integrate their opinion into the resolution, which, in the

end, led to smaller groups being quicker and

introducing their draft resolutions first. Subsequently,

we decided to insert Thailand’s most crucial points as

amendments to the draft resolution of some other

delegation.

In listening to presentations of NGOs like Amnesty

International or Save the Children International as well

as of the author Anne de Graff, who has met many

former child soldiers in refugee camps in Africa and has

written many books about their fate, we were always

aware of the humanitarian aspect of the issue,

prompting all delegates of the committee to work even

harder on a comprehensive and enduring solution.

DISEC - Disarmament and International Security CouncilMichael Bengsch & Sarah Port

11


When I saw the TUMgoesWorldMUN poster for the first

time, with the slogan „Do you want to experience the

UN live and take part in its discussions?” on it and the

Palais des Nations in the background, I instantly

decided to apply. I had heard only very little about

Model United Nations (MUN) conferences, but after

searching the internet and visiting the website of last

year’s TUM delegation, I was even more convinced.

Many students at the TUM are not particularly

interested in politics, and especially the UN has a

mystical touch for those who usually care about their

own studies only. Therefore, I was really happy to find

out that participartion in such events was organized by

someone from the TUM, and curious to meet the other

students contributing to this project.

An important part of my personal WorldMUN

experience was all the time our team spent together to

prepare the conference. Only few of us had been to a

MUN conference before, but all of us were very

motivated, and those who had participated in the

conference in Geneva in 2007 were of great help. Even

though I did not get the committee I was hoping for

(UNEP), I could not wait to get to Puebla and represent

Thailand worthily.

The WorldMUN conference exceeded all my

expectations. DISEC was the largest committee with

over 170 delegates, and Sarah and I were both a bit

intimidated in the beginning. It took some time to

understand how the Rules of Procedure we had

practised before were applied during committee

session, but we quickly found other countries with a

position similar to Thailand’s, and as some of them had

a lot of MUN experience, we started writing a joint

position paper during the first lunch break. From this

time on, Sarah and I were very involved in the process

of lobbying for positions, finding compromises with

other groups, convincing delegates to merge their

interests and keeping an eye on what others groups

were preparing.

Even though, in the end, our resolution did not pass, I

learned a lot this week, especially during intense

negotiations with people specialized in totally different

domains, like politics or international relations. This

dialogue is an aspect I am missing in my studies.

I regret I will not have the opportunity to participate in

this project again because I will finish my degree this

year. I can highly recommend to everybody to

participate in the Harvard World Model United Nations,

every aspect of it is a unique experience: the

preparation, the committee sessions, the diversity of

students participating and the social events, in two

words: the WorldMUN spirit.

Personal Résumé

Michael Bengsch - 24

Electrical and Information Engineering

12


When I saw the posters of TUMgoesWorldMUN, I

instantly knew that it was an interesting and

outstanding project. At that time I did not even have

the slightest idea of what a Model United Nations

(MUN) conference actually is, let alone had I

participated in one. But after I had done a bit of

research on the internet, I was determined to apply,

because I found the whole concept exciting as such and

believe it is important that we do not lose sight of the

overall relations and problems in this world.

How does a specific country react in critical situations?

What position does a country have on a certain issue

and why? Which political relations exist between the

countries of this world and what are they based on?

Which convictions do people of different cultures have

and according to which principles do they live their

lives?

By dealing with a major issue of global politics and by

the consequently necessary research about the

problem and country you are representing, you also

learn a lot about yourself by challenging your own

opinion and considering how you yourself would act in

a specific situation.

The conference itself was really exciting, too. In the

beginning, everything was still new and unfamiliar and

the self-confidence of other delegates sometimes felt

daunting, but soon I started to feel comfortable with

the procedures and in my role as a delegate of

Thailand. Day after day, convincing others of our

opinion and working towards a resolution frenetically

became more and more fun. I was a little disappointed

when some delegates wrote a resolution overnight

instead of going to the social events with everyone else.

The point about WorldMUN - what distinguishes it from

all the other MUN conferences - is that, in addition to

the work in the committees, there is a special focus on

getting to know the host country and socializing with

students from all over the world. The contacts and

experiences I made and of course the awesome

locations in Mexico made this conference an

unforgettable adventure, so that I recommend

participating in this project to all of you.

Personal Résumé

Sarah Port - 22

Molecular Biotechnology

13


Sustainable Development and Water Resources

UNESCAP is the largest UN body serving the Asia and

Pacific region and moreover the biggest and most

comprehensive of the UN’s five commissions concerned

with this area. It was established in Shanghai, China in

1947 and has its headquarters in Bangkok now. The

ESCAP enforces and attempts to meliorate regional

cooperation. Therefore, it focuses on challenging issues

that can be most effectively addressed by intense

cooperation. Managing globalization, poverty reduction

and tackling emerging social issues are now the main

challenges and, respectively, threats that the region

seeks to overcome.

In this year’s session of WorldMUN, UNESCAP was

constituted by 38 delegations from all over Asia and the

Pacific, along with their global partners the United

States of America and the Netherlands. The first topic

to discuss was ‘Sustainable Development and Water

Resources’. The second one dealt with ‘Combating

Transnational Organized Crime’. But time was limited

and because of that, one of the topics had to be left

out. The delegations present decided to work on

writing a resolution on the first topic, considering the

importance of the perception of sustainable

development for the world’s fastest growing economies

located in this region, especially when raw materials

and water resources are already scarce.

Representing the Kingdom of Thailand, I was very

pleased to see other delegations willing to effectively

cooperate and find solutions to tackle this global threat

together. The committee session started with some

great opening speeches mentioning local situations,

concerning growing economies and environmental

endowments, and furthermore taking into account

fields in which immediate action is necessary, such as

the Kyoto Protocol that is expiring in 2012.

Soon, a large range of topics to be discussed and solved

in a draft resolution appeared. Every region was

fighting to see its priorities covered by the draft

resolution. After several speeches, the committee

realized that all the delegates actually had quite similar

goals. In an unmoderated caucus the committee split

into five thematic sections: Education, by means of

raising public awareness; the establishment of the

Technology Investment Project (TIP); Water

Management; Climate Change and Green

Development. For each topic, delegates sat together

and started developing the respective working papers.

As an ASEAN Member, I worked together with the

delegations of Singapore, Malaysia, Lao PDR and

Indonesia in the field of water management. My main

objective in this section was to convince other

delegations of the importance of monitoring water

resources management and that the same body should

monitor results and investments.

Having written the working paper, delegations split

again and each section was discussed in a moderated

caucus, so that every delegation was aware of the work

done in other groups and several changes and

rectifications could be made. During the following

committee session, the Pacific Island Developing

Countries, that did not feel they were represented well

in the existing working papers, handed out a sixth one,

dealing with disaster management. Now, all the

working papers had to be integrated into the draft

resolution, which was also discussed in several

moderated caucuses.

Last but not least, amendments to the draft resolutions

were raised. Representing Thailand I raised some

amendments to each section. For example, I felt that

the part dealing with disaster management was not

taking into consideration the importance of preventing

natural disasters, by for instance, safeguarding coastal

forests.

So all in all, the UNESCAP committee at WorldMUN

bravely fulfilled its mission and a great and very

comprehensive resolution was handed out to the UN.

UNESCAP - UN Economic and Social Council for Asia and the PacificCarina Mann

14


There are impressions that we get during the

conference and memories that stay with us and that

make once-in-a-lifetime experiences such as

WorldMUN unforgettable. Having been to more than

three different Model United Nations conferences, I still

keep on talking of “once-in-a-lifetime experiences” and

that is because every single conference seemed to me

like being the first. They all have things in common, but

are at the same time so diverse that you always get a

different message to take home.

Diversity is the word to describe this WorldMUN.

Diversity of cultures, languages, personalities,

mentalities and most of all diversity of opinions, qualify

the WorldMUN as the conference with the most variety

I have ever been to.

However, one characteristic that every conference has

is the so-called “MUNspirit”! It is this spirit you have for

one week, where the whole world’s youth gathers to

discuss and find resolutions to problems concerning

everybody equally, to face the problems you hear of

every day in the news and finally have the chance to

speak in front of people from all over the world,

proposing your solutions! Lots of students that came

from far away just to talk to you, listen to you and

debate WITH you! Everyone has the same goal and

suddenly all this diversity unites for one aim, to write

the resolution and fulfil the mission in the end.

During the conference you are representing a country

and therefore an opinion that is not exactly yours.

Nevertheless, when you go for dinner with the

delegates from your committee, you re-alize these

delegates are students only representing a country too,

just like you. Representing a different country gives you

the opportunity to think from another perspective. In

our every-day life we do not really get this opportunity.

Or let us say, people often forget about it. If you think

from a point of view that is not yours, you will

understand your own opinion better and probably

others’ too. How many misunderstandings could have

possibly been avoided?

What I take home from this conference is that

sometimes you are forced to integrate an opinion

totally different from yours into your own. This was the

most challenging part for me. If you arrive at this

conference with an idea and you want to propose it to

others, you will then see that these other delegates are

doing just the same so that you end up trying to merge

the ideas, without forgetting to defend and support

your own.

With every conference I gain more experience. Firstly, I

learned to talk in front of hundreds of people, secondly,

I improved my English, thirdly, I got to know different

cultures and mentalities and, finally, I learned how to

support my opinion properly. Such conferences offer us

great experiences and chances we do not receive every

day. It is hard work, but it is worth it! I wish every

student would have such an opportunity...

Personal Résumé

Carina Mann - 20

Biochemistry

15


Afghanistan Refugee Crisis

This year’s topics in the UNHCR were ’Afghanistan

Refugee Crisis’ and ’Economic and Social Integra-tion of

Refugees in Host Countries’. In the opening session of

the committee the Afghan refugee crisis was placed

first on the agenda. In dealing with this topic, the main

goal of the delegates’ negotiations was the future of

the Afghan refugees in Afghanistan and in the host

countries Pakistan and Iran.

But before answering the question of the future,

UNHCR had to decide on its role in repatriation from

host countries. Therefore the delegates had to analyze

what past actions and approaches of the agency had

shown and how far it has been effective in alleviating

the crisis. Then, what policy decisions and practical

measures should the UNHCR take in the future in order

to ensure the sustainability of their work and how is the

agency going to interact with the host countries and

work with them in dealing with the ever-changing crisis

while balancing adherences to the principles in the

Refugee Convention against the realities of each host

country’s national sovereignty?

Most of the time of the first two committee sessions

was spent in moderated caucus where especially Japan

and Turkey introduced interesting approaches on the

subject of micro-financing and Refugee-ID-Cards in

order to organize the distribution of further help. The

delegation of the Royal Thai Government brought in a

point on “Third-Country-Resettlement” where refugees

could be given the opportunity to resettle to third

countries like for instance the US or European

countries. Thailand, being the host country of Burmese

refugees, knows that those large populations are

triggering unrest in host countries, burdening the

people and economy. Thailand believes that this crisis

cannot and should not be borne by the host country

alone. This proposal though led to a large controversial

discussion especially with China.

Being very productive in finding solutions for the

different problems creating the Afghan refugee crisis,

the committee had to vote in a hurry on a resolution

draft before the end of the last session. This led to the

problem that the controversial Third-Country-

Resettlement-Point that was supposed to be introduced

as an amendment was forgotten and not included in

the resolution draft we voted on in the end.

Furthermore, because of all the hurry, Thailand could

not vote in favour of the draft resolution as it contained

some aspects that were highly controversal with

Thailand’s policy. Very impressed by the high quality

and productivity in my committee, I felt a bit

disappointed about how it was brought to a conclusion.

Nevertheless, as UNHCR was a great committee I would

choose it again.

UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesJean-Luc Rippinger

16


As I am very interested in politics, I was

immediately enthused when I heard of the

TUMgoesWorldMUN project. As I have already

applied for participation in next year’s

conference, you should know that I made some

great experiences this year. We had intense and

constructive discussions on the ’Afghan Refugee

Crisis’ in a superb committee, while the social

events in the evenings and nights were a good

opportunity to get to know the people you were

debating with in a more casual and relaxed

atmosphere. High quality and professionalism

during the day and high spirits and partying in

the evening - that was WorldMUN 2008 in

Puebla, Mexico.

On thing I believe I can extract for myself is this:

I observed consensus on issues that are being

controversially discussed in our world by people

who are often assumed not to have compatbile

political or religious opinions. I think that most

of the people participating in this conference

have the same ideological notions though about

how our world should be and what needs do be

done to really change something in the future.

These ideological foundations, together with a

good deal of reason and realism will, I believe,

create a prosperous future for our continuously

coalescing world.

Personal Résumé

Jean-Luc Rippinger - 21

Mechanical Engineering

17


The India-Pakistan War of 1971

The Historical General Assembly (HGA) is the only

committee of the WorldMUN that does not exist in the

real United Nations. Its goal is to resume efforts to

solve a historical conflict that could not be solved in the

past and, by doing so, to prevent the parties involved

from going to war. This year, the topic of our debate

was the India-Pakistan War of 1971. Military conflicts

between the two countries already had a tragic

tradition at that time and even today the relations

between the two countries are constrained by tensions.

In the preface of the war, there was a dispute within

Pakistan about the democratization of the country. The

eastern part, known as Bangladesh today, was

underrepresented in the military and among the

political elite. The resulting rivalry and geographical

division of the two parts of the country lead to an

election in which two big parties achieved high scores

but each was just elected in either the east or the west

of former Pakistan. There was no way to reach a

consensus and thus the democratization stalled.

When riots occurred in eastern Pakistan, the military

launched what they called “Operation Searchlight” to

reestablish public order by force, which lead to the

complete escalation of the situation and, eventually, to

civil war. India immediately made a stand against

Pakistan by denying overflight rights in order to isolate

the eastern part of Pakistan. Subsequently, the

Pakistani military government found itself stuck

between between a rock and a hard place. Because of

the Indian boycott, it was unable to emerge from the

civil war victoriously, and had to use paramilitary

militias to support its troops.

This is the starting point for the negotiations

of the UN and of our committee. India is in a

position of power while Pakistan has to

somehow find a final solution to this

conflict. The fronts are hardened and stakes

are high for Pakistan: the division of the

country is at risk.

Thus, an enthralling discussion emerged in

which India and especially Pakistan, both

alongside their supporters, tried to promote

their position and argued against each other

quite outspokenly from time to time.

Representing Thailand, my position was

similar to that of the United States: pro

Pakistan and against India. For quite a long

time, everything seemed to be running well

for Pakistan until the delegate could not

resist the temptation to submit an aggressive and

completely unbalanced working paper and, by doing so,

courted the resentment of many fellow delegations.

Later on, the US did not back Pakistan as clearly as

before so that it became obvious that concessions to

India would be necessary in order to get enough

supporters to pass a pro-Pakistan resolution.

I believe that this change of policy by the US, which in

my eyes was a clear deviation from their country’s

foreign policy at that time, thwarted our efforts to push

through a pro-Pakistan resolution. So, finally, common

sense and ethical values of the individuals taking part in

the negotiations prevailed over the cold political

balance of power of 1971. I did my very best to

represent the bad. The good made their point.

We won.

HGA - Historical General AssemblyThomas Emmert

18


This year, I attended the WorldMUN conference for the

second time. It was, once again, an overwhelming

experience, even though I already had some idea of

how the conference runs. The lead of the committee by

our chairman, Shaheer Rizvi, was excellent just as was

the organization of the social events, which on their

part were breathtaking.

The debate in committee was absolutely amazing. Our

topic was quite polarizing so that soon two distinct

blocs had developed. Furthermore, the commitment of

the delegates was very strong so that we had tough

debates literally all the time. We argued about the

phrasing of sentences right until the end of the last

session and only passed our final resolution a few

minutes before the ultimate end.

Through this whole week of intense debating, I learned

many things. Needless to say, I improved my English a

lot by talking to other students or writing papers but,

what seems to me even more important, I also got used

to holding speeches with very little preparation in front

of an audience of about 100 people during moderated

caucuses.

Besides this, through your preparation preceding the

conference you get to know a lot about the country you

will be representing, about its culture, its political

system and situation, its foreign affairs as well as about

the topic you will be debating and the United Nations

themselves. It would probably be too much to say that

you gain a thorough understanding of the workings of

the United Nations, but at least you get an insight into

its power and its limitations.

In addition, commitee sessions are also about convin-

cing people of your opinion and gaining their support.

You have to get along with everyone. When someone

has a different opinion than you do it is often better to

literally build him a bridge to enable him to swap sides

without losing his face.

But WorldMUN is way more than just a role game to

simulate the United Nations. You get the chance to

meet many different people from all over the world and

talk to them, mostly about politics, but also about

philosophy or even soccer. Some of the people you

meet become real friends and you stay in touch with

them long after the conference. It is a meeting point for

politically interested young people from all over the

world who share their ideas and points of view during

one week of intense debate and conversation. It

promotes international understanding in the most

sophisticated and best way possible. At the same time,

you should keep in mind though that WorldMUN also is

a game and that you should not go there if you are not

interesting in trying to win in it. The preparations also

were lots of work and the conference itself was really

exhausting to the point at which it was not fun

anymore.

All in all, I would not want to have missed this exper-

ience, this chance to feel the spirit of WorldMUN again.

Personal Résumé

Thomas Emmert - 21

Mechanical Engineering

19


Outcaste Discrimination

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is

one of the most important committees within the UN.

Even the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said

in his March 2005 report (A/59/2005) that “the

creation of the Council would accord human rights a

more authoritative position, corresponding to the

primacy of human rights in the Charter of the United

Nations.” He added that “those elected to the Council

should undertake to abide by the highest human rights

standards”. The USA are not a member of the Council

as there are not enough “safeguards to keep human

rights abusing nations off the council”. The members of

the council are elected for three years by the General

Assembly in order to promote and protect human

rights. Our committee was conducted by Catherine

Bevilacqua, a third-year Harvard student majoring in

Social Studies and a former WorldMUN delegate as

well. She coordinated the sessions and helped to direct

the debates towards a comprehensive solution. In the

first committee session, which is held to decide which

topic to discuss, opinions already differed extremely.

After debating for three hours, the delegates voted

against ‘Freedom of the Media in Venezuela’ and in

favor of ‘Outcaste Discrimination’. All committee

members were extremely well prepared and thus a

heated debate began as soon as the topic had been

chosen. During debate it was easy for everybody to find

suitable allies. The interesting thing about such a small

committee is though that most alliances are not formed

during debate, but during informal session. It is just

easier to come to a compromise and to explain

positions when there is no limit to speaking time.

Furthermore, debates then are not as formal, so

arguments can be exchanged much quicker.

As committee sessions went on, the debate became

more and more heated, because most countries

wanted to integrate their position into the working

papers. Some countries insisted on their opinion and

were not willing to compromise at all. Therefore, the

committee had two draft resolutions, which differed

only in small details. For example, some

countries did not want to have a

paragraph about women’s rights in the

resolution; others were resolute and

insisted on it. Eventually, the paragraph on

women’s rights passed and became part

of the final resolution. As the conference

came to an end, all delegates agreed that

they wanted to have a strong, well-

founded resolution and therefore formal

sessions were interrupted more often to

merge the different working papers into

one draft resolution. In the last session,

almost all delegates voted in favor of the

draft resolution, so that it passed.

To put it in a nutshell, this committee was a great

experience for all delegates – we had heated debates,

but nevertheless all committee members learned a lot

and contributed to a better international under-

standing.

UNHRC - United Nations Human Rights CouncilTom Braun

20


My expectations about the WorldMUN conference in

Puebla, Mexico, were exceeded really in every single

aspect, even though it was my second participation in

such a conference. The host team was incredibly

motivated to make this conference a unique experience

for everybody. And as the host team did, our team, the

TUM delegation, tried to make this conference an

unforgettable experience for everyone of us, what, in

my opinion, we did with great success.

My biggest challenge in this project year was to choose

the best and most suitable students for the TUM

delegation from the wide range of other great

applicants. The members of the delegation that

attended the WorldMUN in Geneva in 2007 elected a

team of four people to select the new delegates for the

conference in Mexico. I was lucky to be one of those

four and thus tried to pick students who demonstrated

an exceptionally high motivation for the entire project

and who were aware of the fact that participation in

the TUMgoesWorldMUN project means project

management as well as simulated work within the

bodies of the United Nations.

Of course, I was very excited about meeting the new

team and working with them. As it turned out, the

teamwork went very well, here in Germany while

preparing the conference as well as in Mexico during

the conference itself. Of course, I was unable to see my

team as much as I saw my fellow delegates during

conference sessions. But the WorldMUN conference

is also about creating a network of people from all

over the world. That is why it was very important for

me to debate in a small committee, because during the

sessions I like to participate as much as possible, which

is easier in a small committee such as the United

Nations Human Rights Council and thus the contacts I

made were much more intense. Additionally, a small

committee is simply more dynamic and the chances to

express my opinion and to find people willing to

compromise are higher. But even in such a small

committee as mine, the variety of opinions was very

impressive. Some delegates raised points that differed

extremely from my own opinion and led us to great

discussions during and after committee session. The

possibility to discuss current affairs topics with people

who have such different perspectives is one of my main

reasons to attend another WorldMUN conference next

year. That is also why I will do everything possible to

give other students from the TUM the chance to

experience the WorldMUN feeling and to broaden

their mind. Therefore, I am still highly committed to

the TUMgoesWorldMUN project and hope that

sometime in the future we will have the chance to

welcome Harvard University and students from all over

the world to a WorldMUN conference here in Munich

at the TUM.

I also want to thank all our sponsors and partners -

without you it would not have been possible for us to

attend the WorldMUN conference and make so many

incredible experiences.

Personal Résumé

Tom Braun - 24

Physics

21


The Humanitarian Crisis in Myanmar

Myanmar has been under military dictatorship for

almost half a century. What the rulers then proclaimed

as the “Burmese Way to Socialism“ led to a steady

deterioration of the economy, food shortages and

brutal suppression. Their “Roadmap to Democracy“ of

2003 did not actually entail any democratic progress

but rather led to pseudoreforms to calm down the

angered international community. The UN has passed

many resolutions demanding reforms, but they have

had little to no effect. Thus, the SOCHUM at WorldMUN

this year wanted to develop a new approach towards

the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.

Thailand’s newly elected government, which came to

power after a brief period of military rule in 2007, has

made its policy towards Myanmar very clear –

economic interests undoubtedly override humanitarian

concerns in Thailand’s relations with Myanmar. Many

investment deals have been signed and energy imports

from Myanmar to Thailand have risen to new highs.

Thailand believes that a heavier emphasis should be

placed on the role of ASEAN, the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations, as a connective element

between the international community and the

Myanmar rulers, through which international support

and aid workers could be chanelled. Thailand also sees

the economic sanctions many Western nations have

imposed as missing the point and suggests, backed by

ASEAN states, offering trade deals to Myanmar at the

report of democratic progress in the country.

Of course, not all countries agree with this

approach. Many industrialised nations, the

US above all, do not believe sanctions are

generally ineffective, but rather think that

these have not had any impact yet because

so many other nations continue trading

with Myanmar as usual. At the same time,

many developing nations, especially African

ones, want to uphold Myanmar’s right to

sovereignity more strongly, which they see

infringed by many of the suggested aid

programs.

Clearly, thus, debate in committee session

was heated and highly controversial. The

resolu-tion that was passed in the end

contained many paragraphs every nation

could agree to, but still developed a new

approach towards Myanmar by placing a higher

emphasis on the role of ASEAN, just what Thailand had

pushed for. Furthermore, it called for the institution of

a round table consisting of representants of Myanmar,

ASEAN countries, the UN, the EU, the US and NGOs

active in Myanmar.

The devastating cyclone in May 2008 once again

reminded the world of the crisis in Myanmar – even

though hundreds of thousands were suffering, the

rulers denied access to all international aid. In the end,

they agreed to cyclone aid from ASEAN, so the new role

our committee had assigned to ASEAN might in fact be

realisable. In any case, I felt directly concerned by

events that are taking place thousands of miles away

from me. This might be a general phenomenon of

globalisation - but it might also be a WorldMUN-

provoked extension of my horizon.

SOCHUM - Social, Humanitarian and Cultural CommitteeJemima Peppel

22


After hearing about it for the umpteenth time, you start

to wonder about what it might be, start to doubt it, to

mock it. Every single person you ask about past

WorldMUN conferences gives you a short and sweet,

though at first completely meaningless answer: the

WorldMUN spirit! What may seem to you like bad

marketing in the beginning, then, in fact, turns out to

be an absolutely adequate description of reality. The

legendary WorldMUN spirit is indeed difficult to

quantify or qualify, but strong and real and persuasive

once you have felt it yourself. It is this spirit that gets

you addicted, that makes you work through the nights,

that gives you inspiration and unlimited motivation.

However strong your interest in our world was, the

WorldMUN intensifies it further. But even more, the

conference and its preparation taught me coordination

and cooperation, power to persuade and influence,

about inter-group dynamic and standstill as well as

questioning and defending the validity of my own

opinions. I learnt about the difference it makes to be a

group as opposed to a bunch of individuals, about

lobbying, manipulating, speaking in front hundreds of

people and clouding the issues I was demanding from

others with lots of well-sounding words.

Basically, this conference functions as the venue for

more than 1500 students from all across the world to

discuss our global future, the design of which they

themselves will probably influence significantly. It was a

unique experience to meet so many people who have

developed visions and the determination to have an

impact. I believe the ideas these people have

developed for our future are less radical and more

compatible with established structures than those

young students had a generation ago, and might even

be realisable. It is not a global socialist revolution they

advocate, but rather the integration of a social and

ethical component into the global market that would

relocate the balance between efficiency and equity

further on the side of the latter. While these people

might make you feel justified in awaiting our world’s

future with positivity, you begin to wonder why change

is so slow despite all this clustered motivation,

imagination and cooperation. Do such strong ideals

impede one’s way towards actual influence? Does it just

take time for change to happen, the process of change

itself being intangible, only the outcomes visible in

retrospective much later? Or might our generation be

the one that manages to speed up the pace of change -

so that it can keep up with the pressure of, say, climate

change?

In addition, the fact itself that I was debating about the

future of Myanmar with people from Pakistan,

Singapur, the United States, Venezuela and Lebanon in

a small town in Mexico made globalisation feel actually

seizable. I wish that today’s leaders are inspired by such

happenings, discover the concept of global

cooperation, look beyond short-term gain and assume

responsibility for their generation, but also for those to

follow, responsibility for the people within their

countries, but also for those on the other side of the

world. They might be unable to agree on a universal

valuation of globalisation, but they are forced to

acknowledge that today’s problems require a global

approach and global solutions. Dear World, I

recommend: some WorldMUN spirit!

Personal Résumé

Jemima Peppel - 19

Mathematics

23


Traditional Medicine

The delegates of the WHO - one of the biggest

committees - could choose between the topics ‘Organ

Trafficking’ and ‘Traditional Medicine’.

In the run-up to the conference, the delegates had to

analyse how the issue of organ trafficking is dealt with

in the country they were representing. Furthermore,

they had to deal with the actual situation and

opportunities concerning organ transplantation in their

position papers. The main points to be discussed were

today’s medical possibilities, organ donation from living

as well as deceased people and the increasing of public

awareness of the issue of organ transplantation and

donation.

For the second topic area, Traditional Medicine (TM),

the delegates had to find out what forms of TM are

used in their countries and to what extent TM is

integrated into their countries’ health systems. Also,

the state of knowledge and education of TM

practitioners had to be dealt with before the

conference.

After a long debate right in the beginning of the first

WTO session, the delegates voted in favor of discussing

Traditional Medicine for the rest of the time.

Then, there was a first unmoderated caucus to clarify

block positions of the African, Asian, Latin-American

and Western countries, find out about positions of

individual countries and bring them together in a

comprehensive working paper. Because some delegates

had already quite a few WorldMUN conferences, two

big blocks formed on the second day, an Asian and a

Latin-American block. Only the African block retained

its position, but with notably less influence. The two big

blocks then again worked separately on new, though

very similar working papers, which were further

improved several times thereafter.

The main goal of both blocks was to gather the

improvements and suggestions of all countries to

implement them in a first version of a draft resolution,

which was written on the fourth day of the conf

erence. But on that day - thanks to the intensive work

of a few delegates - it was possible to arbitrate between

the two blocks and on the evening of the fourth

conference day, the two blocks merged into one and

worked hard on one consolidated draft resolution for

the whole committee. This draft resolution was then

introduced on the last conference day, so that there

was not much time left for the delegates to introduce

their amendments. During the voting procedure,

almost all delegates voted in favour of the draft

resolution and it was thus passed.

The following issues of TM we discussed during the

WorldMUN conference and we attempted to solve

were included in our draft resolution: research, the

introduction of quality standards for TM products, the

development of an international database for infor-

mation exchange, the development of regional WHO

offices to coordinate the integration of TM into the

allopathic system, the improvement of the education at

universities in the area of TM and the sustainability of

the growth of plants and the environment.

WHO - World Health OrganizationVeronika Beck

24


After studying abroad for one semester in Concepciòn,

Chile, and a three months traineeship in Udon Thani,

Thailand, I have already had the chance to get an inside

view into very different kinds of cultures. At that time I

realized how important it is to be open-minded about

the culture, politics and history of the country you are

living in, in order to gain a better understanding of the

people there and have the chance to get in touch with

them more closely.

When I heard about the TUMgoesWorldMUN project,

for me it was an opportunity to get to know another

foreign country, because in my opinion each country

you get to know and experience widens your horizon.

But as luck would have it, we were assigned the country

of Thailand for the WorldMUN conference and

represented it in different committees at the

conference in Puebla. So for me this was the chance to

deepen my knowledge of Thai culture and politics and

also give the other team members an account of my

experience of Thailand. I decided to take the World

Health Organisation (WHO) as my first choice. The two

possible topic fields were ‘Organ Trafficking’ and

‘Traditional Medicine’, and I had the possibility, during

my stay in Thailand, to get an insight into Thai research

on typical Thai plants used to cure diseases as cancer or

malaria. Furthermore, I had the chance to get to know

traditional Thai medical techniques such as Thai

massage and other medicine practices. Because of this,

I saw that there was great potential for Thailand in the

WHO session, if the topic traditional medicine were

selected.

At the moment, I am finishing my degree, so for me this

was the first and last chance to participate in such a

conference. For me, the WorldMUN 2008 in Puebla was

a great experience that I would not want to miss. It was

the chance to discuss the world’s pressing problems

with hundreds of students from all over the world. The

enthusiasm of the students to represent their countries

in the best possible way as well as their great

preparation for the conference really encouraged me.

Thus it was possible to have very good professional

debates during the committee time as well as very

interesting discussions about different topics beyond

the committees’ sessions. In total, I was very surprised

by the open-minded and friendly atmosphere of the

WorldMUN during committee sessions as well as during

social events in the evenings, during which the host-

team managed to spread true Mexican flair and to give

the WorldMUN delegates an idea of life in Mexico.

In my opinion, the WorldMUN 2008 in Puebla was a

unique experience that every student should have at

least once during his studies. And this experience is

worth the intensive work in the run-up to the

conference. I am sure that I can adopt and import the

new insights and experiences I gained into my

professional life. Furthermore I think it is a wonderful

feeling for every single one of us to know that one has

made a contribution to the world’s peace and

international understanding by participating in this

conference. So I can encourage all students to get

involved with this project and participate in a

WorldMUN conference.

Personal Résumé

Veronika Beck - 26

Physics

25


Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

and Public Health

We got to know the first people of our committee just

some seconds after we entered the conference room.

We were really surprised how open-minded, friendly

and interesting every single person was. The diversity

was really high in this committee especially – that was

what made this committee extraordi- narily exciting

besides the topic that was chosen: ‘trade-related

aspects of intellectual property rights and public

health’. Both of us preferred this topic to ‘trade and

labor standards’.

Acting according to Thai policies, we were supposed to

play a decisive role in bringing together the interests of

the ASEAN block. Therefore, right from the beginning

we started negotiating and actually had a sort of

mediator function between the poorer states of the

region (Myanmar) and the developed ones (Singapore).

Unfortunately, we had not realized until the end of the

first conference day how important lobbying was – and

not only during the official unmoderated caucuses but

also during regular debates and moderated caucuses or

even during lunch breaks.

Committee work went on with high speed. On the first

day three working papers from three different blocks

were already introduced. The discussions were tough

and the delegates were eager to assert their points of

view. After several unmoderated caucuses the blocks

became more obvious. The industrial nations got

together looking for stronger regulations on intellectual

property rights, in opposition to the developing

countries. These were looking for less regulations and

red tape in order to be able to sort out things faster

when it comes to fighting severe diseases and

pandemics like Aids, TB, and Malaria.

In the course of the discussion

Thailand was largely involved in

lobbying for the interests of the

developing nations and tried to gain

appreciation from the US in order to

work on a joint solution with the

developed world.

Nearing the end of the conference a

consensus did not seem possible –

the interests and points of view still

were too far away from each other.

This was the hour of fine and very

sensitive diplomacy and horse-

trading. Finally, after hours of

detailed work and six amendments, a

resolution was passed. Thailand had

worked on this resolution right from

the beginning and also signed it.

In retrospective, the committee and the conference

itself were an unforgettable experience for all

participants. With creativity in mind and goal-

orientated negotiations everybody contributed to the

unforgettable WorldMUN experience

WTO - World Trade OrganizationArash Houshmand & Marcus Demmelmair

26


High ambitions, huge financing difficulties and very

little preparation time were only some of the

challenges the project team had to face right from the

beginning. Since our delegation had only just been

formed, we did not have any specified structure within

our team. We had to get to know each other and figure

out the best way to make this project work.

At that time, I thought that it would not be easy to do

so. We all did not know each other properly and were

active in very different fields of study. Our budget

estimations were relatively high and we had a hard

time finding sponsors in the beginning. This was really

frustrating for me, but when Marcus, who was in

charge of sponsoring, started pushing, I got back on

track.

My personal conclusion – we did a great job. Besides

project management I was also looking forward to deal

with political issues. As an engineering major, political

interest probably is not very common, which is

remarkable and special of my fellow team members

from the TUM as well. We all had a technical or science

background but still wanted to turn into authentic and

credible ambassadors of a nation for a week. After two

intense weekend workshops and numerous preparatory

meetings, I felt prepared to head out to Puebla as a

delegate from Thailand and the TUM. The conference

itself was an unforgettable experience. I have never

before met so many impressive and interesting people

in one spot. They all had the most diverse background,

spoke several languages fluently and had traveled all

around the globe. Being around such amazing people

really broadened my mind.

Looking back at the project TUMgoesWorldMUN, I

think it was a great success for me personally and for

the team as well. I had the opportunity to scrutinize

global problems and learn how to approach them in

order to find solutions. Furthermore, I got a great

insight into the United Nations and came to understand

how their work and effectiveness depends on every

single member state.

There are not many chances in life to make such va-

luable and priceless experiences. I can only recommend

to everybody to take the time and participate in this

project, because in our globalized world it is imperative

to recognize and deal with global issues - even as a

scientist or an engineer.

Personal Résumé

Arash Houshmand - 22

Chemical Engineering

27


Before the conference, former participants always

talked about the “WorldMUN Spirit”. Firstly, during the

opening ceremony, I really wondered what this spirit

was supposed to be about – but no later than during

the global village I got at least a glimpse of it. The

colorful get-together of the different delegations, the

various nationalities, and the overall diversity was

fascinating. In summary, exactly three components of

the whole event were most exciting for me: people,

committee and the spirit.

The people from all over the world with their different

backgrounds, but same goals and commitment were

captivating. The conference was such a good

opportunity to meet very interesting personalities,

receive brief insights into other cultures (with a focus

on the Mexican culture, of course) and get to know

different views on specific topics – ranging from

abortion to Zimbabwe. The people are actually the

most important element to make this event

unforgettable.

Secondly, the conference was also amazingly absorbing.

My personal opinion is that the WTO committee was

one with really outstanding students, eager to work on

a solution (the topic were ‘trade related aspects of

intellectual properties’ and ‘public health’). Participants

introduced the first working paper on the very first day

at the beginning of the second session. Discussions

were exiting and, most of the time, the speakers stuck

to the opinion of the country they were representing.

What was really challenging was the fact that

informal discussions outside of the conference

room, during lunch breaks or at night, played a

crucial role. Unfortunately, I realized too late how

important it is to keep in touch with every person

respectively country of interest in order to assert

the targets of the country represented, in my case

Thailand.

Last but not least, the spirit of WorldMUN is something

really hard to describe in words. Besides the conference

the organizers, Harvard University and the Benemerita

Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, provided an

outstanding program of social and cultural events.

During these events it is possible to get to know even

more people and international friendships can emerge.

It seems like the world got together and became one,

at least for some hours.

Finally, I want to mention that this conference –

although it was indeed pretty short – had a positive

influence on my ability to speak in front of an audience,

on my personal perspectives and self-esteem.

On the other hand, I had to invest a lot of time into this

project. But I loved to do that, because the experiences

(at the conference and during the organization before)

you make are tremendous. I therefore hope that more

students will have the chance to take part in the

TUMgoesWorldMUN project and discover the spirit of

this conference.

Personal Résumé

Marcus Demmelmair - 23

Business Administration

28


29

A Sample of a Draft Resolution developed in SOCHUM on the Humanitarian Crisis in Myanmar

The General Assembly,

Emphasizing the importance of upholding the inherent right of sovereignty guaranteed to all states under Article 2 of

the United Nations Charter, (...)

Realizing that past UN resolutions on the situation in Myanmar have not achieved the desired results in creating

factual change and the subsequent necessity to develop a different, proactive, comprehensive, long-term approach to

the issue, (...)

Further stressing the need for the Myanmar Government to resume cooperation with the UN Special Envoy and the

UN Special Rapporteur and to work towards the rehabilitation of child soldiers and encourage freedom of political

expression,

1) Encourages Myanmar to continue and strengthen its seven-step political roadmap, including the planned

constitutional referendum and general elections; (...)

2) Recommends the design and implementation of Myanmar’s national reconciliation program, which will consist of

a media/educational campaign; the implication of which is subject to the body empowered in article #3;

3) Emphasizes the importance of a strong focus on social and humanitarian development in order to improve the

living standard of the people of Myanmar, hereby creating a positive environment for substantial movement

towards a free and equal Myanmar; (...)

6) Calls upon the empowerment of the current ASEAN body in the following manner: Membership would include the

UN Special Envoy and NGOs while the UN Special Envoy will be chosen by the Secretary General and he would be

from the ASEAN region; (...)

7) Suggests the creation of a Myanmar Forum on National Reconciliation (MFNR), supervised by the UN Special

Envoy in cooperation with regional governments, to:

a) Act as a liaison between the government of Myanmar and disenfranchised groups;

b) Ensure inclusiveness for all ethnic minorities and political groups in order to promote cultural understanding,

communication and cooperation in Myanmar;

c) Periodically set and assess targets to be met by the government of Myanmar in relation to the status of

prisoners and drug-trafficking within the country;

8) Recommends the easement of restrictions on the entry and the functioning of international NGOs to alleviate the

humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, with priority given to projects proving the provision of humanitarian aid; (...)

13) Strongly urges the international community to stop arms trade with Myanmar as to ensure that Myanmar stays on

the path to peaceful reconciliation; (...)

16) Recommends the periodic re-evaluation of current sanctions, as well as the possible softening of targeted

sanctions by the Security Council and the EU upon receiving favourable reports from the MFNR on social and

humanitarian targets set by MFNR;

17) Decides to remain seized to the matter.


30

Social EventsMichael Bengsch

Beside the official part of this WorldMUN, the host

team from the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de

Puebla organized interesting activities during the lunch

breaks to enable the delegates to see more of Puebla

and, as you would expect from a Mexican university,

amazing social events in the evenings where we had

the opportunity to meet other delegates in a less

formal context. The Global Village is always scheduled

for the first evening, where delegates from all over the

world represented their home country or the one they

were assigned with typical food and drinks. Because it

would have been too complicated to import Bavarian

food, we decided to represent Thailand with colored

cocktails, which we ordered by color to resemble the

Thai flag, and some sweets. Our drinks together with

two of our delegates in Lederhosen were a complete

success. In committee sessions, people still remem-

bered us from the Global Village. When we ran out of

food and drinks, all of us went to have a look at stalls of

other delegations and had fun until late into the night.

The second night was a Noche Méxicana in a vast

hacienda, with typical food, attractions like a bull-riding

simulator and horseback riding, and, of course, lots of

Mexican music and drinks. Wednesday was Cabaret

Night, where many teams from different countries

performed dances or sketches before the event turned

into a huge party. The fourth night, the Aztec Night,

also took place in a big hacienda outside of Puebla,

with a show symbolizing an Aztec sacrifice ritual

including traditional dances and other live stage shows.

The last evening was reserved for

the Farewell Party, which had a

clear dress code: “as nice as pos-

sible”.

The theme was “angels and

daemons”, so that there were

artists performing acrobatic

shows, others juggling with fire,

ice sculptures at the entrance and

an ice bar inside as well as a

Mexican band playing live. We

had an amazing time in incredible

location and celebrated our

WorldMUN experience adequate-

ly. Sadly though, this party was

also the last opportunity to

exchange contact details with all

the new acquaintances everyone of us had made in

order to keep the cross-country communication

flowing.

I think the social events were a very impressive and

important part of this WorldMUN 2008. They had a

major share in creating the ‘WorldMUN spirit’.

Let us see whether Den Haag can keep up with such

amazing and hot Mexican fiestas next year!


31


32

Afterword from Alexander HeinzFaculty Advisor

After my participation as a delegate in the Harvard

World Model United Nation conference in 2007, it has

been an honor and pleasure for me to be the Faculty

Advisor of the TUMgoesWorldMUN team of 2008.

My duties were mostly in the area of the formal

conference preparation of the delegation. This included

learning the “Rules of Procedure” (RoP, the formal rules

of the committee simulations, which are more or less

identical with the rules of the real United Nations) and

how to use them, and also to clarify the importance of

a good, structured and substantial preparation. Thus,

planning and directing the training and preparation

weekends made up a big part of my work. In addition to

this, I helped the project group at any time, mostly

during discussions of controversial topics, with words

and deeds. At the conference I was able to help our

participants with some hints and solutions to smaller

problems.

In retrospective, I have to say that the work of the

delegation of 2008, concerning both preparation and

the conference itself, was great. It made me proud to

see our delegates taking part with full concentration in

the debates of the committees during my visits to

committee sessions. They did not only discuss

suggestions of other delegates and the different ways

to get to a final resolution, but also brought in their

own suggestions and tried to carry them through into

the final resolution.

Finally, I would like to thank all participants for the good

collaboration and funny moments we had during this

project. I hope I was able to help and teach you a little

bit, like I was able to learn from and with you all.

Sincerely

Alexander Heinz

Faculty Advisor 2008


Dear Delegates, Friends, Partners

and Alumni of TUMgoesWorldMUN,

Published by

MUNTUM e.V.

St. Stephan Weg 5, 82041 Munich, Germany

June 2008

Articles written by

Alexander Heinz, Arash Houshmand, Carina Mann,

Jean-Luc Rippinger, Jemima Peppel,

Marcus Demmelmair, Michael Bengsch, Sarah Port,

Thomas Emmert, Tom Braun, Veronika Beck

Layout by

Arash Houshmand and Jemima Peppel

Print by

Contact:

[email protected]

www.worldmun.de

Donations to:

MUNTUM e.V

Kreissparkasse München

BLZ 70250150

Konto-Nr.: 17283003

Alexander Heinz

Arash Houshmand

Carina Mann

Jean-Luc Rippinger

Jemima Peppel

Marcus Demmelmair

Michael Bengsch

Sarah Port

Thomas Emmert

Tom Braun

Veronika Beck

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

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Delegation 2008Contacts


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