Welcome to the Halifax Model United Nations HFXMUN 2007

TOPICS and CONTRIES FOR  HFXMUN - 2007

1.  STEP ONE: CHECK OUT THE UNITED NATIONS

GIVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO MR. MAC

2.  STEP TWO: ORGANIZING MODEL UN, MAPS, MISSIONS, MEMBER STATES

Check out this link too:

http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/modelun/index.asp

3.  STEP THREE: SHAPING THE HFXMUN 4.  STEP FOUR: COUNTRY SELECTIONS, TOPICS, MEDIA SOURCES
5.  STEP FIVE BECOMING MORE POLITICALLY AWARE 6.  STEP SIX: ISSUES FOR YOUR COMMITTEES, RESOLUTION WRITING,  

ANTHONY'S RESOLUTION THE HAGUE

7.  STEP SEVEN

1.a. Background MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT
1.b. Draft Resolution on MILENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

2.a Background CLIMATE CHANGE
2.b. Draft Resolution on CLIMATE CHANGE

3.a. Background CRISIS IN DARFUR
3.b. Draft Resolution on the CRISIS IN DARFUR

 

8.  STEP EIGHT: WRITING YOUR OWN RESOLUTION, GETTING SUPPORT, 

AIDS RESOLUTION SAMPLE FROM THE HAGUE

VOTING PRACTICES (EXPLAINED BELOW)

http://state.gov/p/io/conrpt/vtgprac/

Anthony's resource site

http://www.un.org/documents/

 

Press Releases

http://www.un.org/News/Press/

 

Step By Step Model UN

http://www.stanford.edu/group/Jonsson/mun.html#b

 

UNITED NATIONS DOCUMENTATION: RESEARCH GUIDE

http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/symbol.htm#records

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP ONE  

Read about the history and the working of the United Nations below:

Overview of the United Nations

Brows the homepage of the United Nations:

United Nations Homepage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP TWO

Week 1

·  Gather interested parties

·  Select an Organizing Committee

·  Decide on a theme and the nations to be represented

·  Select delegations and issue United Nations background material, role descriptions,

and mailing addresses of embassies and Permanent Missions

·  Produce tentative agenda

Although a MUNA is best operated with 50 or more participants at a minimum (a

maximum number has yet to be determined), the exercise can possibly be altered by

organizers to accommodate numbers that are lower than the 50. In the case of the lower

numbers, organizers are advised to consider the Model Security Council (MSC) format

that is dealt with in the next section of this Sourcebook. In any case, the following steps

in pre-planning are recommended:

___ An Organizing Committee made up of teachers and former students will organize the event.  This year, we have expert assistance joining us from Memorial University of Newfoundland.  They will run the committee sessions and train any of our students who wish to take on that leadeship role next year. 

___ Ensure that all participants acquaint themselves with the Rules of Procedure before

the activity begins; however, procedural wrangling should be discouraged by the

Organizing Committee.

EMBASSIES OF OTHER COUNTRIES TO CANADA   -   A THRU L

EMBASSIES OF OTHER COUNTRIES TO CANADA   -   M THRU Z

MAPS OF THE WORLD

PERMANENT MISSIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS

MEMBER STATES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP THREE   SHAPING THE HFXMUN 2007

Anthony Rosborough has taken a lot of time to shape the Ilsley Model UN.  It is IMPORTANT that you read his words:  JLMUN 2005

CIA WORLD FACTBOOK  This site gives good background information on most countries in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP FOUR       

TOPICS AND COUNTRIES FOR THE HALIFAX MODEL UNITED NATIONS (HFXMUN)

MEDIA SOURCES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP FIVE

POLITICAL AWARENESS RESOURCES IN THE LIBRARY:  

PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE BOOKS ARE ON RESERVE BEHIND THE DESK, THEY ARE NOT ON THE SHELVES.

1.     The Book of Rule: How the World is Governed

2.     World Plitical Almanac

3.     Power

4.     Political and Economic Systems

a.     Dictators

b.     Democracy

c.      Capitalism

d.     Fascism

e.      Communism

f.       Monarchy

 

TERMINOLOGY:

1.     Legislative = Branch of government with the authority to make and change the laws of the land and to appropriate funds.

2.     Judicial = the branch of government responsible for the administration of justice.

3.     Executive = The branch of government that carries out and enforces the law.

4.     Secular = separated from the control of a religion.

5.     Lay (the laity) = not belonging to the clergy; not belonging to a specific profession.

6.     Tribal system

7.     Universal suffrage = (also general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of voting privileges to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief or social status.

8.     Political Spectrum = the distribution of political beliefs on a line.

9.     Ideology = the integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program; the belief system of a person or a group of people.

10.  Democracy = 1 government by the people; especially : rule of the majority

11.  Theocracy = a state ruled by divinely guided leaders.

12.  anarchy = absence of the rule of law.

13.  Protectorate = the dependent political unit in a relationship where there is a superior authority holding power over it.  The area of the ring dyke of St. Katherine Protectorate has recently earned a World Heritage Site ststus. The decision was made by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. 

14.  Colony = a body of people living in a new territory but retaining ties with the parent state.

15.  Empire = a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority.

16.  Oligarchy = a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes.

17.  Timocracy = 1 : government in which a certain amount of property is necessary for office; 2 : government in which love of honor is the ruling principle

18.  Plutocracy = government by the wealthy

19.  Military Junta = a group of persons controlling a government especially after a revolutionary seizure of power.

20.  Provisional Government = serving for the time being, temporary government.

21.  Transitional Government = serving for a period of time with a clear end in mind.

22.  proportional representation = It is a voting system that assures that the overall results are proportional to the distribution of votes. If a party receives 30% of the vote it will get approximately 30% representation. In that type of system your vote is always important. The difference between 20% and 30% doesn’t mean anything in a majority winner-take-all election, but it means the difference between 20% and 30% representation in a system that uses proportional representation.  (http://ed.labonte.com/pr.html)

23.  Veto = I forbid.  The power used by a leader (our country) to stop a motion in a meeting, or to stop a procedure.

24.  Republic = a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president.  Supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law.  There is in such a system a balance of power.

25.  Parliamentary system = is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament, often expressed through a vote of confidence. Hence, there is no clear-cut separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government. Parliamentary systems usually have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state.

26.  imperialist = the practice of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.

27.  capitalist = a person who supports private ownership of capital goods (assests, things you can posses and that have value), the price of which are determined mainly by competition in a free market.

28.  coalition = a temporary alliance of distinct parties, persons, or states for joint action.

29.  despot =  Every 20th century despot or dictator has found it necessary to claim to represent “the will of the people,” even as he trampled on their lives, dignities, and liberties.  a : a ruler with absolute power and authority b : a person exercising power tyrannically.

30.  tyrant = an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or constitution and who exercises absolute power oppressively or brutally.

31.  dictator = (http://www.onelang.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Dictator)  one holding complete autocratic control; one ruling absolutely and often oppressively

32. totalitarian state = the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state authority.

33.  autocrat =  a person (as a monarch) ruling with unlimited authority.

34.  demagogue = a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power.

35.  proletariat = worker’s democracy, working class people.

36.  benevolent (for good) or malevolent (for bad) dictator.

 

Glossary:

There are other political glossaries online.  Use Google to check them out if you need to.

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1451.html  (It is based on American politics, so be careful which term you look up).

 

 

STEP SIX

1.  Choose the committee that you wish to work on: POLITICAL COMMITTEE,  ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE,  SOCIAL COMMITTEE

2.  Study the issues on the above list (hyperlinked).  Our next meeting will be to determine which of the four you wish to work on, after having reviewed them by researching them.

3.  RESOLUTION WRITING.  Here you will find samples of how one writes a resolution.

4.  Anthony's example of how to WRITE A RESOLUTION.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP SEVEN  

RESOLUTION WRITING.  Here you will find samples of how one writes a resolution.

Hi everyone,

There were a few people who could not make Tuesday's or Wednesday's meeting. What comes next for you is writing the resolution. Anthony will help you if you need some feedback. If you want you can email it to him at:

anthonyrosborough@hotmail.com

or

info@thepact.ca

If you would rather, you can bring it into school and have it looked at here. 
Everything you need to know about the format of the resolution is on my webspace at http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/waymac. Just click on the United Nations Flag.

Leave room for signatures on the back of your resolution so that you can have students sign it if they are willing to support you resolution.

If you want you can co-write a resolution with a maximum of two other countries. By restricting in this way, we are hoping to get several resolutions - this fosters debate.  The administration committee will decide which resolutions get selected first during the General Assembly.  The more support you have (signatures of supporting countries), the more your resolution will rise to the top for first selection.

We want to have our resolutions ready since we will run the Model UN General Assembly sometime in the last two weeks of April.

Good luck, and think of some ways of solving the problems we have brought forward.

ALSO

Give some thought to where you want to run the Model UN.  We might have the City Hall, or we could do the AV/room.  City hall has a round table set-up, very professionally done.  There is a gallery for about 30 people if we were going to have visitors.  That might be tricky on a week day.  On the other hand, we could set up the AV/room and run the Model UN there.  We could have our students come and watch, as well as parents in the community.  It would be a much easier setup.  Think about it, and let me know!

 

 

VOTING PRACTICES

1.  I found a site that gives a little evidence on the voting trends on the top 10 decisions in the UN.

Go to:
http://state.gov/p/io/conrpt/vtgprac/

Go down the list to "country voting practices." There you can find your country
alphabetically. You will enter a "pdf" file. Scroll down a little. There you
will see how each country voted. The way to read the voting, as far as I have
been able to figure out, is as follows:

Under the title "VOTES" THERE ARE TWO COLUMNS.
(N) Y = disagree
(Y) N = disagree
(N) X = absent
(Y) X = absent
(N) N = agree
(Y) Y = agree
(N) A = abstain
(Y) A = abstain

2. You can direct your students to the following link: http://unbisnet.un.org/

From there they will want to access, "new keyword search" under the heading
"voting records."

Out of curiosity I ran a search for the committee topics. I found that
"Iran," "AIDS" and "Religion" brought appropriate fields by running searches
for keywords. I couldn't find anything for pandemics or epidemics in
general, but the AIDS resolutions will give delegates an idea on how member
states vote.

In doing these searches often the resolution itself is brought up, which may
or may not include how the various member states voted. For this information
students will need to copy down the resolution number (top right hand
corner, ex. A/RES/58/179) and will then need to run a search for that number
under "UN Resolution Symbol" in the pull down menu where students previously
selected "keyword."

A key resolution for each topic to begin with can be found at (these will
give voting results):

Pandemics:
-A/RES/58/179: entitled "Access to medication in the context of pandemics
such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria : resolution / adopted by the
General Assembly" can be found at
http://unbisnet.un.org:8080/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=YM44P07022829.840&profile=
voting&uri=full=3100023~!727140~!3&ri=11&aspect=power&menu=search&source=~!horizon#focus


Iran:
- S/RES/598(1987): entitled "Security Council resolution 598 (1987)
[requesting the Secretary-General to dispatch observers to supervise the
cease-fire between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran]" can be found at
http://unbisnet.un.org:8080/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=YM44P07022829.840&profile=voting&uri=
full=3100023~!479406~!33&ri=13&aspect=power&menu=search&source=~!horizon#focus


Religious Intolerance:
- A/RES/60/166: entitled "Elimination of all forms of intolerance and of
discrimination based on religion or belief : resolution / adopted by the
General Assembly" can be found at
http://unbisnet.un.org:8080/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=YM44P07022829.840&menu=search&aspect=power&npp=
50&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=voting&ri=14&source=%7E%21horizon&index=.VW&term=religion&aspect=power#focus


I hope this makes sense.

Talk to you soon,
Katie