The European International Model United Nations

Contents: GrunnMUN | Registration | Locations| Speakers | Staff

Newsletter April 2010

Dear all,

We are proud to present the second Newsletter of TEIMUN 2010. This edi-tion starts with a report on our GrunnMUN confer-ence, followed by an up-date on the registration, locations and speakers. Last but not least our lovely staff members will be introduced. Don’t for-get to register and see you at TEIMUN 2010!

Report on GrunnMUN 2010

09.00

All 100 delegates were wel-comed into the Academy Building; the building that functioned as the United Na-tions headquarters for one day. The fl ags waved at the entrance and as soon as the students entered the build-ing they were no longer able to imagine being a regular student at the University of

Groningen; it seemed like world leaders were gather-ing to solve world issues.

09.30

After welcoming all del-egates, we gathered to lis-ten to the guest speakers at the Opening Ceremony in the theater of the building. Marcel Roele explained our theme ‘Battle of the Sex-es: coordination or clash of global interest?’ in the con-text of sexual relationships.

After the conference was offi cially opened, the del-egates were asked to go to their councils.

10.15

Delegates did not hesitate to start the simulation and soon after the Opening Ceremony we saw heated debates and delegates discussing work-ing papers on the hallway. The clock was ticking, forc-ing delegates to work hard and effectively to come to agreements.

At the same time the Securi-ty Council coped with a crisis in Southern Sudan. The Sec-retary General continuously updated the council on new developments.

Despite the time constraint, all councils were able to accomplish consensus on the resolutions. Hearing the speeches of the chairs at the Closing Ceremony it seemed that all councils were able to give rise to both constructive debates and hilarious statements by different countries.

17.30

After handing out the del-egate awards, it was time to start the social activities at the after session drinks. The mingling of delegates continued in the restaurant Louis XV, whereafter we enjoyed a few drinks in one of the local bars ‘t Vaatje.

By the time we had to bring our last standing delegate to the train station, so that he could return safely to Macedonia, we realised that it was defi nitely time to call it a night.

We as the Board would like to thank our delegates and staff once more for making this day into a success. We did have an amazing time and we hope all partici-pants did too!

Registration

We are happy to see that people from so many different countries have already registered for TEIMUN 2010. Currently, we have more than 30 different nationalities participating this summer. In the picture below you can see the diversity at TEIMUN 2010 so far:

Nevertheless, we are still busy recruiting students from all over the world. To make delegates experience this global gathering during the conference, TEIMUN was the fi rst

MUN that created a ‘Global Village’. Over the years the party has evolved into an amazing event. All participants are encouraged to bring national spe-cialties such as typical food, drinks, music, and tra-ditional clothing. In addition, we bring South Africa to the conference by watching the semi-fi nals with all the delegates together. The World Cup Football will stir up friendly rivalry between all nations.

Check our website for our other social activities and further information on accommodation in The Hague. We would like to remind you to arrange your overnight stay on time. Suggestions for hostels/hotels can be found online at ‘The Hague information’. Remember that the registration will close in May!

Locations for TEIMUN 2010

Koninklijke Schouwburg

The Opening Ceremony of TEIMUN 2010 will take place at the Royal Theatre of the Hague. In 1802 a group of bourgeoisies rented the originally small palace for a duration of 99 years and transformed it into a theatre. Since 1804 it has been one of The Hague’s most prominent buildings, situated at the Korte Voorhout, which in the sixteenth cen-tury already played a signifi cant role in the city’s travel routes.

The Royal Theatre is considered to be the most important podium in the Netherlands for international performances. This year it will host our Opening Ceremony and welcome a number of speakers, which are highlighted in the article below.

Mondriaan College

TEIMUN’s 2010 conference will be held at the Mondriaan College in The Hague. It is lo-cated only fi ve minutes from the Central Station and is therefore a very accessible loca-tion. Busses depart every ten minutes from the bus station. However, when the beautiful Dutch summer is in full bloom a lovely ten minute walk through one of The Hague’s typi-cal streets, the Theresiastraat, gets you to the Mondriaan as well.

The Mondriaan is a college for catering and tourism and is well equipped with all the ne-cessities for a successful conference. In the building you can fi nd several different confer-ence rooms as well as an extensive resource room. Furthermore, entering the building you will fi nd a large central canteen and a bar, which will welcome you with drinks every day when sessions are over.

Speakers TEIMUN 2010

After the board of TEIMUN al-ready announced that Gerrit Zalm, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Fi-nance of the Netherlands, will be speaking at the con-ference, some exciting new names were added to the list! These are: Eimert van Middelkoop, Maxime Verha-gen and Jozias van Aartsen.

Eimert van Middelkoop

Eimert van M i d d e l -koop is a Dutch poli-tician of the Chris-tianUnion and has been Min-ister of De-

fence in the Cabinet Balke-neinde IV since February 22, 2007.

After high school Van Mid-delkoop attended, what is now called, the Erasmus University where he ob-tained a B.A. in sociology in 1971. In 1989 Van Mid-delkoop became a member of the House of Representa-tives, fi rst for the Reformed Political Federation and since the year 2000 for the Chris-tianUnion. As a parliamen-tarian he was specialised in foreign and military affairs. He led a special committee which investigated the role of the Netherlands in the fall of Srebrenica. However, Van Middelkoop lost his seat in the House of Representa-tives, in the 2002 elections. Tineke Huizinga, the high-

est-ranked woman on the candidate list of the Chris-tianUnion, got more pref-erence votes.

From 2003 until 2007 Van Middelkoop was a member of the Senate. In the 2006 elections the party doubled its seats and joined the fourth Balkenende cabi-net. Van Middelkoop be-came Minister of Defense in 2007. Because of his extended experience with Dutch politics and his in-volvement with interna-tional relations, being a minister of Defense, Eimert van Middelkoop will be an interesting speaker on our conference in July.

Maxime Verhagen

Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen is a Dutch poli-

tician of the Chris-tian Demo-cratic Ap-peal (CDA) party and since Feb-ruary 22, 2007 Minis-ter of For-

eign Affairs in the Cabinet Balkenende IV.Verhagen was born in Maastricht. He studied at Leiden University where he obtained an M.A. in history in 1986. For a brief period during his college years, Verhagen was affi liated both with leftish-radical-ism and the liberal People’s Party for Freedom and De-mocracy (VVD); he joined the CDA in 1976.

Verhagen started work-ing for the CDA and was elected to the city council of Oegstgeest. From 1989 to 1994, he was a mem-ber of the European Par-liament. On 17 May 1994 he became a member of the Dutch House of Rep-resentatives. On 11 July 2002 he became chairman of the parliamentary group of the CDA. After becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Fourth Balkenende cabinet, in 2007, he was succeeded in that position by Pieter van Geel. Besides all his achievements in his political career, Maxime Verhagen is also known for being a great fan and user of Twitter. Some people ap-plaud him for that, which resulted in a large group of followers. But at the same time, fellow politicians tend to ridicule him for his ex-tensive use of the new tech-nology, perhaps distracting him from his actual job. All in all, with his great career in national politics and his experience with foreign af-fairs, Maxime Verhagen is a speaker TEIMUN is proud to have this year.

Jozias van Aartsen

Jozias Johannes van Aartsen is a Dutch politi-cian and member of the liberal VVD. He is currently the Mayor of The Hague. He studied law at the Vr-ije Universiteit in Amster-dam, however he did not graduate. Van Aartsen then decided, at the age of 22, to move to The Hague and start a political career. When Hans Wiegel became leader of the VVD in 1971, van Aartsen was asked to work for him in the Dutch House of Rep-resentatives. In 1978 Van

Aartsen became Chef de Bureau of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1985 he became Secretary General of Internal Affairs himself. He was minister of Agricul-ture from 1994-1998 in the First cabinet of Wim Kok. In the Second cabinet of Wim Kok he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. When the cabinet fell as a result of the NIOD report about the fall of Srebrenica, he be-came parliamentary lead-er of the VVD in the Dutch parliament.

During the last decade, Van Aartsen is probably best known for being the parlia-mentary leader of the VVD in the Dutch House of Rep-resentatives. He performed this task from May 27, 2003 until March 8, 2006, when he stepped down af-ter poor results in the 2006

Dutch municipal election. Subsequently, Van Aartsen announced that he would not run for the VVD in the 2006 general election. He left the Dutch House of Representatives to become an EU-coordinator respon-sible for matters related to energy. However Jozias missed Dutch politics and went back to The Hague to take offi ce as the new Mayor on the 27th of March 2008. With his great career in politics, his experience in international relations and his special bond with the city of The Hague, Jozias van Aartsen is considered to be a fascinating speaker for TEIMUN.

The TEIMUN Staff

Every TEIMUN conference requires coming up with interesting topics, writing background papers and a full week of chairing. This is where the TEIMUN Staff comes in. Every year staff members are carefully se-lected and put together in a solid team to provide the intellectual content of the conference. The 2010 Staff consists of 19 expe-rienced TEIMUN-veterans, who will be responsible for chairing the Secretariat, the various councils, the ICJ and the Crisis Staff. The Staff’s fi rst task was to determine the topics.

Delegates will be informed by the staff about the vari-ous topics that will be de-bated in the various coun-cils. In order for delegates to be able to prepare thor-oughly, the members of the staff will provide delegates with the necessary back-ground papers and informa-tion. During the conference the members of the staff will chair and supervise the debates in order to lead the delegates towards fruitful resolutions.

This year’s staff

Secretariat

Rishi Raithatha is a 24 year

old native Londoner with a passion for go-karting, read-ing and Africa. He will have the tough job of represent-ing the undisputed leader of the United Nations, the Secretary-General. Rishi is currently doing a master in International Relations and International Organisation at the University of Gron-ingen, TEIMUNs beautiful hometown. He will be as-sisted by the “little-big” girl from Istanbul Mine Ekim, who will represent this year’s Under-Secretary-General. Prior to TEIMUN 2010 she participated in several MUN conferences as an organiser, staff member and delegate, so she defi nitely knows her

way around.

General AssemblyAfter winning the TEIMUN 2008 award for Best Speak-er and vice-chairing the Se-curity Council at TEIMUN 2009, the eloquent Charles Nysten will be this year’s chairman of the General As-sembly. He will be assisted by the lovely Marijke Speel-berg, who will co-chair the General Assembly in what is to be her 10th MUN confer-ence.

Security CouncilCees Heere is the man whose interests stretch so far as “pretty much anything he once read a good book about”. Despite being only 19 years old, he is already fi nishing up on his bachelors degree at Utrecht University College and will be chairing this year´s Security Council. His fellow student at Utre-cht University College Elske Rowel just can’t say no to attending MUNs, culminat-ing in co-chairing this year’s Security Council.

North Atlantic CouncilThe passionate debater and carrier of the MUN-virus Onur Gomez will be chair-man of the North Atlan-tic Council. Onur started attending MUNs in 2005 where he participated at the Harvard MUN. Prior to TEIMUN 2010 he chaired at Euroforum 2009 and will chair again at Euroforum 2010. Anna Alberts, another Groningen-based student of International Relations and winner of the TEIMUN 2009 Award for Best Delegation will co-chair the North At-

lantic Council.

Human Rights CouncilThe Turkish Ece Aygun, who can be considered a genuine MUN veteran, will chair the Human Rights Council. She was a member of the 2009 TEIMUN staff, won several awards at RIMUN, OxIMUN and Harvard National MUN and chaired at UNISUN 2008 and 2009. She will be assist-ed by Iranian Babak Moham-madzadeh. After his “totally crazy and fun experience” at TEIMUN 2009 he simply couldn’t resist applying for this year’s staff.

Economic & Social CouncilChairwoman of the ECOSOC Dilpreet Dhanoa has got it all. She obtained a degree in History, graduated in In-ternational and Intellectual Property Law and Practice, was awarded Best Delegate at Harvard World MUN, OxI-MUN and LIMUN and perhaps most importantly, she loves hot chocolate. Her vice-chairwoman will be LeighAnn McChesney, the fi rst-ever American chair at TEIMUN.

Historical CouncilFor the fi rst time in 23 years, TEIMUN will be simulating a Historical Council. As a for-mer member of the TEIMUN Board of Directors, a current member of the TEIMUN Su-pervisory Board, and most importantly a student of His-tory, Sebastiaan Zwaans is undoubtedly ‘the right man for the job’. In the effort of chairing the Historical Coun-cil he will be supported by half Swiss, half American Christina Carson, a student of International Relations at

the University of Geneva, who is specialising in His-tory.

International Court of JusticeThe ICJ will be represent-ed by registrar Noa Al-ster, and advocates Netta Barak-Corren and Laura-Jean van de Ven. Noa and Netta are both expe-rienced students of law at Hebrew University in Israel. Noa won the TEI-MUN Award for Best Del-egate in the ICJ in 2009, in turn Netta was award-ed the TEIMUN 2009 Best Speaker Award. Laura-Jean successfully represented one of the judges of the ICJ at TEI-MUN 2009 and seems to like partying better than sports, something we all applaud.

Crisis StaffThis year’s Crisis Staff will consist of two Groningen-based former members of the TEIMUN Board of Directors. Mark van Emb-den, student of Interna-tional Relations and Peter Jaap Blaakmeer, who is studying Business Ad-ministration. Being both ‘men of the north’ they will keep their heads cool whenever crisis occurs.

Your TEIMUN Journalists:Sonny Motke,

Sophie den Held andMarius Temming