AU Makes Quick Progress

AU passed its resolution for the first agenda and began on its 2nd agenda based on the ‘Refugee and migration crisis in the continent’ earlier today and just one committee session later, the delegates are already on their way to introducing their resolution for the same.

Since only one resolution has been drafted by the delegates, it seems unlikely that there will be much opposition as it is being introduced. Amendments however, are likely to be made.

Well, AU may have messed up its crisis yesterday but it seems like it will be successfully finishing its agendas today. Stay tuned to find out!

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India

Good Job EU!

EU sped through its first agenda and began on its 2nd one earlier today which goes to show that they’ve been relatively efficient with proposing plausible solutions to the issues they’ve dealt with.

After finishing on the opening speeches, the delegates immediately jumped into a moderated caucus on the topic of the economic impact of refugees. The various delegations present had differing views on whether refugees can affect a country’s economy positively or negatively and so far, the committee has had some relatively constructive debate on these differing stances.

The delegates are also allegedly set to introduce their first working paper in the upcoming committee session.

So, the EU seems to have bucked up and is definitely one of the most productive committees at the moment.

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India

“Delegates, decorum!”

Pictured above: The delegate of Iraq after being sent out of the committee for cross-talking

In the middle of the committee session earlier today, the UNSC Dais and members of the Secretariat were forced to yell out for decorum as delegates began to cross-talk despite being repeatedly made aware of the importance of decorum.

As the delegates of China and Iraq began to raise their voices after the delegate of China took a hit at the delegate of Iraq, UNSC lapsed into a bout of noise as the delegates argued and the Dais reprimanded them for it.

It went to the extent that the Dais actually had to say, “The next time a delegate cross-talks, we will be sending him/her out of council”. Keeping true to their warning, the delegate of Iraq was later asked to step outside for 2 minutes for breaking decorum again.

It seems that despite being part of an experienced committee and being experienced delegates, UNSC still can’t seem to follow simple decorum and rules. Surprisingly disappointing, I must say.

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India

UNSC, Are You Even Sure What The Agenda Entails?

It seems that UNSC has lost track of the issues that it is meant to be discussing because the delegates earlier today had somehow diverted the topic from the rising threat of splinter terrorist groups in the 21st century to artificial intelligence (AI).

While the delegates did turn to artificial intelligence as a solution to dealing with the aforementioned splinter terrorist groups, they seemed to forget about the fact that artificial intelligence can also be used in a negative way by terrorist organisations. As a result, the Dais also questioned the delegate of Iraq’s “vague” suggestion of using the same to deal with splinter terrorism because it didn’t account for what kind of AI to use or how exactly it would be used.

Fed up by the constant references to AI as a viable solution to dealing with these splinter terrorist groups, the Dais had to eventually remind the UNSC delegates that AI was ECOSOC’s topic and not UNSC’s, and thereby requested delegates to veer off of the topic entirely.

In conclusion, UNSC seems quite distracted and needs to get it’s act together if it wants to successfully tackle the issue at hand.

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India

3 working papers?! UNSC is dysfunctional!

Yes, THREE working papers have been formed in the United Nations Security Council and delegates seem to be in a world of their own as they selfishly push for their own working papers to be passed rather than considering an alliance and drafting a working paper that works for the whole committee.

The committee even had to be reprimanded by the Secretariat who had to tell them that if they want to progress and be successful as a committee, they should be combining their 3 working papers and making 1 final one.

Let’s see if UNSC heeds the Secretariat’s advice and actually moves forward as a committee.

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India

85 Migrants left stranded as the AU and EU fail to resolve crisis

After a stressful one and a half hours of delegates tediously working to combat the crisis, all their efforts went down the ditch as the AU and EU failed to unite forces and successfully resolve the refugee crisis.

Throughout the committee session, the delegates seemed to be in a world of their own, and weren’t very efficient at coming up with simple solutions that could have tackled the issue effectively. For one, the EU seemed to be more focused on the aspect of terrorism rather than focusing on a more efficacious solutions like security checks and patrolling borders.

Honestly, my question is, why wasn’t the African union even aware of those 85 refugees escaping from their own nation? Had they been more vigilant in the first place, the crisis wouldn’t even have taken place.

In conclusion, both the committees’ solutions were vague and generalized and more so, they lacked depth and clarity. Had the AU and the EU joined heads to combat the issue together and focused less on the trivialities of the crisis, perhaps those 85 refugees could have been rescued.

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India

Updates on the Migrant Crisis

The council has received updates on the refugee situation, including information regarding the nationalities of the civilians on board. It has been confirmed that citizens of Niger, Germany, Sierra Leone and Mauritania are on board. It has also been confirmed that a Bulgarian family is on board, however, the age groups are unknown as of now.

People from the Tuareg Ethnic tribe, who are known for running a gun smuggling network through Africa, are also allegedly present on the boat.

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India

Crisis in AU and EU – How Will They Handle It?

A crisis has arisen that the European Union and the African union are currently dealing with.

Four boats have been found at the edge of Malta carrying displaced personnel that have fled from Niger and Liberia. Civilians in the boat are from Niger and Germany, however, it is unclear whether there are other nationalities on board.

These displaced personnel have allegedly fled to Europe as a result of political unrest in Liberia due to the appointment of George Weah, an unpopular yet elected Presidential Candidate.

As of now, the Southern European states, including Germany, Malta, Spain, Italy and Greece are discussing plausible solutions to the crisis.

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India

 

 

A Dry Committee Session in WHO

As the committee progresses towards passing a resolution to combat all the issues at hand, the WHO delegates ironically seem to be losing focus and concentration.

For one, during the GSL, when the chair asked if any delegates wished to be added to the list, no one raised their placards. No one raised a motion either.

Moreover, during the GSL, the chair even said, “Delegates, there have been a lot of repetitive delegates speaking right now” and “Delegates, points of information are highly encouraged by the Dias but you need to be actually paying attention to raise them”. My question is, is that the chair throwing shade at her committee’s delegates and how inattentive they’re being?

The delegate of France also said “people just don’t want to speak and they are just not interested. it’s bad”, which speaks for just how disinterested and bored the delegates are.

To conclude, here is proof of how dull the committee session has been-

The delegate of Libya is more interested in the Press articles posted online than the delegate speaking. Honestly, the picture really just speaks for itself.

Is it time for a break, WHO?

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India

Beef in UNSC agitates delegate of Equatorial Guinea

The United Nations Security Council voted on a moderated caucus on the solutions pertaining to the funding and weapons for splinter terrorist groups in the 21st century.

Earlier on, the committee discussed Interpal, a British charity organisation. To give a bit of context, in the past, the US government has made allegations that Interpal is funding or supporting Hamas, a terrorist organisation, which the British High Court in July 2010, found to be a libelous claim.

The delegate of Equatorial Guinea backed up this allegation and provided research for the same. The delegate of UK responded to these allegations and took a hit at the information provided by the delegate of Equatorial Guinea by saying, “The US has a history of spreading fake news and making accusations that they cannot justify which is probably what has happened in this case, with this charitable organisation as well “.

What’s funny is that the delegate of Equatorial Guinea, flustered by the delegate of UK’s diss, countered it by raising a “right to reply” (when his country wasn’t even targeted) for the ridiculous reason that the delegate of UK “attacked his research”. This reactions to this statement were mocking, to say the least, with one of the secretariat members present there saying, “Delegate that is what debate is”.

So, delegate of Equatorial Guinea, you good bro? Stay tuned for more!

Shloka Srivastava

Times of India