Opening Ceremony

MILMUN Chronicle 2012 May 15th, 2012

MILMUN NewsOpening Ceremony, Council of the European Union, ECOSOC, Security Council, Human Rights Council, International Court of Justice

PAGES 2 -8 PAGES 9 -11 PAGE 12

Interview MUNDouble Interview to Ana-Patricia Vlad and Daliana Luca.aMUsemeNtPictures, Games and Social Events

Letters To all of you, a special letter addressed to MILMUN participants from the President of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.

Opening Ceremony

So here it comes: Another edition of MilMun is officially

open! Congrats to all the participants that are going

to attend one of the most successful student confer-

ences. We hope you had no difficulties travelling to Milan and

enjoyed the first day at the conference.

The opening ceremony left quite a good feeling and stimulated

the students to participate in the debates. The topic chosen

for the event is surprisingly of a very current interest: “Facing

global challenges:new solutions to old problems”. It is very

important to hear the voice of each one of the 135 participants

for the issues faced in this year MUN.

The speaking guests showed a great interest in the conference

and also gave an extreme urgency to looking for a solution to

the problems debated. Among the speakers there two were

professors of Bocconi and Cattolica Universities: prof. Carlo

Altomonte and prof. Ernesto Ugo Savona, as well as prof. Flavio

Ortu, dean of international affairs. In addition, the conference

was animated by three passionate individuals that devoted lots

of time and effort so that MilMun 2012 could be a great oppor-

tunity to discuss global issues. They are: Daliana Luca, Ana- Pa-

tricia Vlad and Victor Mylonas. Their speeches determined the

flow of the Conference as well as the mood of the students.

The ceremony took place in the Aula Magna of Bocconi Uni-

versity, as the whole Conference is based here. After having

hosted MilMun for 7 subsequent editions, Bocconi showed its

devotion and interest in developing the culture of associations

of young people. A great part of delegates is Italian and en-

rolled in Bocconi. Other countries represented here are: Croa-

tia, Germany, Greece, Poland, Romania,Slovakia, Serbia, Mont

enegro,Pakistan,India,Russia, Spain, USA, Moldova, Indonesia,

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bangladesh. A quite interesting

mixture of developed and developing countries is represented

here, all of great potential to give fundamental contribution to

the discussion flow.

In terms of style, I should say, every participant took the dress

code seriously and it felt like being at the real UN. Female

participants wore either dresses or suites and the males looked

very professional in front of the president. Although formal,

the atmosphere was very friendly: students enjoyed them-

selves talking to each other, meeting new people. Though the

ceremony was delayed for half an hour, the inconvenient did

not spoil the mood.

In the next five days, students from different countries and

backgrounds are going to meet each other and participate in

the interesting, long debates full of worldwide issues, to which

the solution can be tricky. There are six committees (Council of

European Union, European Court of Justice and International

Court of Justice, International Monetary Fund, Un Economic

and Social Council, UN Human Rights Council, UN Security

Council and of course us, MilMun Chronicle News, that will al-

ways keep you updated on everything that is happening inside

and outside the 2012 MilMun) . Each committee has two main

topics to be discussed for the whole week.

In conclusion, a warm “thank you” must be given to organizers

and speakers of the ceremony.

Let us make this Model United Nations unforgettable and focus

on the global issues so we could all make this world a better

place to live in!

Maria Solovyeva , The Economist

MILMUN is officially open!

On Monday, May 14th Bocconi

University hosted the open-

ing cerimony of the 7th Edi-

tion of Milan Model of United Nations.

It is going to be a tough week for the

delegates who will be involved in heated

debates and will have to draft by the end

of this week a complete resolution on

the topics discussed.

Eight years ago, Milmun started as

a group of few people full of wishes

and hope. Today, 135 students from

all over the globe, are representing 24

countries,including Indonesia, Spain and

the Usa.

Given that Bocconi University, one of

the strongest examples of the Italian

academic system, is the main supporter

of the conference, Milmun has catched

the eye of many institutions.

The European Commission has shown a

big interest in the initiative and appreci-

ated the work done in the previous years

and the President of the Italian Republic

has also recognized Milmun as an high

quality intercultural experience.

The opening ceremony has been charac-

terized by the speech of many notable

figures in the academic and European

context.

According to Carlo Altomonte, Associate

Professor of Economics at Bocconi Uni-

versity, Milmun is a key to the formation

of students who need to get used to face

continuously challenges and problems.

He suggests to stay close to facts and

analytics and try to fully understand a

problem before giving a judgments .

From his point of views it is going to be

challenging for delegates to behave as

leaders, use communication skills at their

greatest extent and convince other del-

egates that their solution is the one to be

adopted. Milmun is all about developing

hard skills (technical qualities) and soft

skills (interaction with others) and merge

the two of them. He concluded saying

that ‘It is a good training for becoming

better people and better citizens`.

Patricia Vlad, Conference Manager , ef-

ficiently compared taking part to Milmun

to the process of building a big house:

the foundations have already been given

by the ExCom, but it is up to the partici-

pants to raise the walls and fill it with

internal decorations, which stand for the

memories and friendships that will never

fade. Victor Mylonas, Secretary General

and many times delegate and chair, was

really passionate in expressing his point

of view. As he said, the United Nation

models and life can teach you that it is

when you are the most frustrated that

you reach the best solutions, as long as

you are dynamically facing the difficulty.

The key concept of being a successful

delegate is to come up with new solu-

tions for old problems.

Ernesto Ugo Savona, Professor at Cat-

tolica University, provided a slightly dif-

ferent point of view. He had been invited

to the opening ceremony by one of his

students and declared that the initiative

opened his eyes to something new he

did not know about. He seemed really

impressed to see young people dealing

with extremely up-to-date problems.

All the speakers managed to convey

their positive attitude and impatience

to start but a touch of commotion was

added to the ceremony by the letter of

the President of the Italian Republic, who

was well informed of nature of the con-

ference and was impressed by the work

done so far.

The expectations for this Milmun 2012

are high, but delegates, chair persons

and staff members seem to possess

enough enthusiasm not to disappoint the

beliefs.

Lorella Verrocchi, Le Monde D.

Opening Ceremony

Expectation and Commitment at the Official Opening Ceremony

Council of the European Union

The council of European Union of Milan Model United

Nations met and finally the debate started.

The topic discussed in the CEU was “Horizon 2020”

and the delegates argued animatedly about the best way to

invest the 80 billion euros that EU has provided.

The representatives of countries had many great ideas, but the

most interesting were: creating new jobs, finding alternatives

to scarce and non-renewable resources, digital market and al-

location of money. Moreover they discussed about innovation

in technologies and climate changing.

It is a huge amount of money that needs to be used in an

intelligent way so that the economy of the Europe and of the

whole world can take new oxygen to go come out of the crisis.

For these reasons it is easy to imagine that delegates of each

country would express their opinion and the discussion has

become intense.

Three principal groups of countries were formed, each one

with its one aim.

On one side Germany, Spain, Denmark and The Netherlands

thought that money should be used to create jobs for young

people and for the reconversion of the skills of older ones. In

fact nowadays people can’t think to have only one type of job

in their whole carrier, as they need to adapt themselves to the

necessity of the enterprise in a specific moment.

On the other side France, Greece, Portugal and the United

Kingdom wanted to privilege the idea of filling the gap with

other nations, such as United States, and decreasing the

budget deficit that a lot of countries bear. Therefore they

preferred to pay attention to innovation in technology and

in science, and so they have proposed to improve the digital

market for the distribution of knowledge throughout Internet.

Finally Malta criticized the bigger countries and it reminded the

delegates that also the ideas of smaller countries and develop-

ing ones should be respected.

Overall the majority of the delegates agreed about one point:

climate is changing, the glaciers are melting and the power of

hurricanes is growing, so humanity has to pay a greater atten-

tion to these issues, reducing the use of oil, coal and gas and

increasing that of solar panels, wind energy and hydropower

for a cleaner world.

Alessandro Allegri, Bild

How to Spend € 80 Billion?

MILMUN participants during the debatePhoto courtesy of Vincent Klaas

Matilde C.Q. and Tulia G. raise their placards during one of the debates.

Photo courtesy of Ivanelyia Dimitrova

ECOSOC

Today, May 14th 2012 the first debate of ECOSOC for

the MILMUN conference was held in Bocconi. The

topic discussed were the environmental protection

and economic development.

The debates were intense and really interesting for what con-

cerns China’s interest in the subject.

The beginning of the debate has been marked by the interven-

tion of two different views about the developing countries. The

two parties were in disagree for what concerns the approach

that the committee should take towards the developing coun-

tries indeed.

From that argument though, the discussion moved rapidly to a

whole new idea of a new committee proposed by China.

China representative made her points clear from the very

beginning of the debate and, by the end of it, she managed

how to gain the approval of a large amount of countries that

followed her lead in writing a draft paper.

The group, now comprehensive of China, France, Turkey, Chile,

Switzerland, Spain, Russia, Netherland, Japan, Ukraine, Italy,

Bulgaria and Argentina, suggests the creation of a committee in

order to address the issue of sustainable development through

various means.

It stresses the importance of globalization in order to provide

developing countries with technological innovation through

communication and transparency. The group of delegates

intend to do so by introducing technological advances in less

developed countries on behalf of developed ones such as the

USA, Japan, and the UK; it plans to organize annual confer-

ences in order to establish transparency between all nations

as a mean to avoid the repetition of the failed negotiations

observed within the past agreements; last but not least, it sug-

gests multilateral cooperation policies at international level.

The draft proposes to increase public awareness concerning

sustainability with the use of bottom-top approach through,

for example, teachers without borders, existing NGO’S such as

Green Peace and pamphlets, commercials, and brochures.

It proposes the implementation of a program that creates

roadmaps for companies’ further instructing methods of ensur-

ing sustainable development, aiming to reduce pollution and

Co2 emissions and it also supports the drafting of an accurate

analysis of the costs concerning the implementation of these

programs.

The draft also requests the financial support from willing

NGO’s, World Bank, IMF and willing nations and requires the

establishment of world wide indicators in order to measure

the efforts to foster sustainable development of the member

states; these indicators should take into account the financial

resources or possibilities of each country.

It intends to respect the autonomy and national sovereignty

within each nation and understands that none of these strate-

gies shall be imposed, but rather warmly suggested.

The slightly personal attack of Brazil towards China and the

United States regarding the Kyoto Protocol has been fully

responded to by the representatives of China and France but

the delegate has kept on picking on the fact that the paper

suggested by China is to be considered irrelevant, raising the

disapproval of the participating countries.

The delegation of Pakistan concluded the debate reminding the

objectives of the ECOSOC committee.

The committee is meeting tomorrow morning to further dis-

cuss the topic and develop the drafts papers.

Marta Grassi, People’s Daily China

Draft Resolutions on the Way

Security Coucil

The 14th of May was the day in which 2012 MILMUN

officially started, and all the previous effort and

research from the delegates and the members of the

chair staff started paying back. Some very important debates

took place, marking a great beginning. One of these debates

was the Security Council conference. The main topic was com-

bating global conflict and banding sexual violence. The second

topic was the containment of weapon stocks.

The USA representative began by saying that the Council

should regulate the weapon market and control all the major

dictatorships. The Russian Federation accused the US of selling

weapons to Bahrain, while Guatemala proposed collaborations

with countries such as Pakistan and Azerbaijan which could

lead towards a solution. Germany stated that the key issue is

the ownership and selling of illegal weapons. South Africa Rep-

resentative said that lines must be drawn between legal and

illegal weapons and that in many countries, weapons are a vital

part of everyday life. Also, the Chinese representative added

that the International Forum could be used as a useful tool.

The next statement, coming from the USA representative, was

the one that really heated the discussion. He said that the del-

egates should do not just discuss and propose, but take action

and come up with fruitful solutions. As he clearly stated “We

don’t just need a solution. We need THE solution.” He added

that Libya can be used as an example, and that we should, at

whatever cost, avoid a new Gheddafi. He also stated that illegal

weapons are of no harm and are strictly used by people who

are qualified and use them from self-protection. The Colum-

bian representative reacted and said that the USA representa-

tive’s statement is deeply hypocritical. There is no difference

between legal and illegal weapons. They are in any case lethal

and built to cause harm, so much more actions must be taken.

Moving on, the representative of Morocco proposed that the

guns are tagged and that, in this way, they can be identified

at any time. This proposition received a warm welcome from

pretty much every other representative. The UK representative

also added that this should be done in a worldwide climax, and

Germany fully supported that statement. The US representa-

tive added that, at the moment, there is a lack of coopera-

tion between the weapon industries and this is enlarging the

problem.

On the other hand, Guatemala set the basis for a much wider

discussion, saying that the Council should not just propose

solutions but also think why this situation has gone so far.

The Russian representative stated that a great portion of the

problem can be solved by the right intelligence. Information is

power, so a common framework should be organized in order

to achieve that information gathering, while the UK added that

it is mostly a problem of culture and education.

To heat up even more the situation, the USA representative

made a private statement to the press saying that “We are not

satisfied about the state of the work of this Commission, be-

cause we believe that some nations which are selling weapons

to the Middle-East and to African states are trying to underrate

this issue.”

Overall, it was a pretty tense and interesting first day, and it

seems that we are in for a very interesting and fruitful confer-

ence.

Kantoglou Konstantinos, Al-Jarizah.

How the SC Started Off Its Work

Human Rights Council

It cannot be but a common belief the fact that water is

important and indispensible for human beings. This is a sub-

ject always mentioned and discussed but only a few times

a real and applicable solution to solve the problem is proposed

despite the relevance of the matter. Quoting Malaysia: “we

need to substitute words with facts” and that’s exactly what

today’s Human Rights Council tried to do discussing the right to

have access to water.

Congo’s opinion is that all countries should work together on

how to implement infrastructures that allow people to have

access to water sources. Like almost all the other nations the

country was deeply concerned about how to get funds as great

expenditures are needed to solve or at least start to address

the problem. As Romania underlined, many countries do not

have enough resources to construct the infrastructures that are

needed to fight the problem. Some of the proposals outlined

(desalination and water pipes) are costly and, as so, few na-

tions can afford them. How can we raise funds? Norway pro-

posed multinationals as no one better than big firms can raise

money. The idea was not shared by many who thought giving

too much power to corporations may not be a good choice.

Governments helped by many other non-governmental organi-

zations should instead collaborate and give the money needed.

Qatar, like many other countries, is particularly touched by

the problem (e.g: 30% of Ecuador population does not have

access to clean water sources) and agreed with Malaysia on its

proposal to have an international forum about this subject in

which all the countries should be divided into groups according

to their needs and problems with water. The forum should

be composed by technicians with a mixed background and

NGOs as observers in order to carry out social and economic

interests. This has probably been one of the most accepted

and shared proposals with few exceptions as the one of Libya.

All the participants to the conference agreed instead upon

concentrating on a system of educating people in a way such

that natural resources should be used in order not to waste

them. That’s what developed countries in particular (which

sometimes do not give this problem the importance it needs)

should do. A solution to the problem and a way to enhance

their awareness may be found in increasing the price people

pay to have access to water.

Water control is also important to avoid simple mistakes that

avoid diseases’ spread.

Legal frameworks should be drafted taking into account the dif-

ferent climates of all the countries which, besides many other

economical and social reasons, may be a cause of problems

regarding water.

Qatar, Bangladesh, Guatemala, India and Libya united with

other nations emphasize the importance of sanitation facilities

stressing on the maintenance of the existing water pipes and

the building of new and necessary access points. Big ideas that

if really pursued may really change many people lives.

Giulia Radice, Al Jazeera

The Water Challenge

Chair’s BriefingPhoto Courtesy of V. Klaas

International and European Court of Justice

The case of order in the MILMUN 2012 first session

of the International Court of Justice has been the

punishment for the crime of genocide that Serbia

is accused of by Croatia. The supposed genocide took place

between 1991 and 1995. An armed movement of unification

of the old Yugoslavia territories, called Yugoslav People’s Army

(JNA), started to be active in Croatia. This led to a conflict that

included population losses, destroyed town and villages, histor-

ical sites, cultural monuments and Catholic churches.

On the 2nd of July 1999, Croatia instituted proceedings before

the International Court of Justice against Serbia for violations

of the 1948 Genocide Convention in the period between 1991

and 1995. Croatia also accused Serbia of doing an “ethnic

cleansing” of Croatian citizens from the Knin region, eastern

and western Slavonia, and Dalmatia as well as extensive prop-

erty destruction. Croatia also stated that Serbia “has an obliga-

tion to pay to Croatia reparations for damages to persons and

property, as well as to the Croatian economy and environment

caused by the foregoing violations of international law in a sum

to be determined by the Court”.

The 15 honourable judges of the Court didn’t agree on the

point made by Serbia when it claimed that it did not sign the

1948 Genocide Convention. Judge Sixto stated that the Court

does not have jurisdiction over the case as Serbia is not bound

by Article IX of the UN Genocide Convention and is not even

a member of the UN Charter. Moreover, referring to a UN

resolution, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) cannot be

considered a successor state of the Socialist Federal Republic

of Yugoslavia (SFRY) under any effect of international law.

On the other hand some other judges defended that the

international law can be applied to Serbia. To defend this posi-

tion, first of all, they referred to customary laws. These are

unwritten laws which have been used for a long time but that,

for being valid, need citizens to know about their existence.

Secondly, they relay on the principle of awareness. Tomorrow

the International Court of Justice will start working on a draft

paper.

Jaume Macià, The New York Times

Disagreement on FRY being the successor of SFRY

Delegates debating. Photo courtesy of Vincent Klaas

Double Interview to Ana-Patricia Vlad and Daliana Luca

What is your name and how old are you?

P I`m Patricia and I`m 21

D I`m Daliana and I`m 22

Which country are you from?

P Romania

D Romania

What’s your position in the MILMUN?

P Conference Manager

D Advisor Board / President

When did you MUN experience start?

D it started 3 years ago.I attended Milmun and Sofimun as a

delegate. Then I parte-

cipated to the Milmun

2011 organization and

I was asked to take the

position of Advisor

Board / President in

Milmun 2012.

P I started in November

2011 and I directly ap-

plied as a Conference

Manager but I first

needed an experience and I actually did two, one in Germany

and one in Greece.

What do you think of Milmun compared to the other Muns

you have done?

D As part of the organization body I can objectivly say Milmun

is way better.

Best memory of MUNs?

P I can’t tell a single best one but surely the strangest experi-

ence was when it happened that there were two chairs in

a Commitee, one with some experience and the other with

none: the Secretary kicked out the experienced one so we

were left with the inexperienced one! Fortunately we didn’t

have any problem.

How do you think the skills developed in Muns will apply to

real life?

D Debating skills and public skills are always necessary. The

hardest skill to develop during Muns is to speak accordingly to

the point of view of a nation that may be completely different

from your own.

P You stop being afraid to talk in front of 200 people and you

understand how to better organize your own ideas.

What do you do when a delegate misbehaves?

D I make him dance or sing a

song.

P I directly talk to him, maybe

with the Secretary, and see

how it works. It is a team

work!

What’s the worst thing you

have done as a delegate?

P Maybe not being well pre-

pared on the topic the debate

is about.

D The other countries got together to strike me off the com-

mittee. Basically they signed a paper to kick me out but fortu-

nately it wasn’t approved!

What do you suggest to new candidates?

D I would tell them to enjoy every moment of it. Work hard

and party harder!

P Prepare! If not you don’t know what to say and you cannot

react when someone says something on which you disagree.

Giulia Radice, Al Jazeera

Lorella Verrocchi, Le Monde Diplomatique

MUN SocialLa Dolce Vita moved from Piazza Navona to Navigli

An Italian band, the Articolo 31, sings: “Milano, sguardo distratto, bacio di ghiaccio; capto frequenza di intolleranza e mancanza di tempo e di vento

intenso, traffico denso. (…) Sei troppo bella per dirti addio, tu chiami e poi noi tutti ubbidiamo; e tra chi nomina il tuo nome invano ci sono anch’io” (English insecure translation: “Milan, inattentive glance, icy kiss; I listen to frequencies of intolerance and lack of time and strong wind, dense traffic. (…) You’re too beautiful to say goodbye to you, you call and then we all obey; and I’m also among those who say your name in vain”). That’s the heart of Milan: it looks like a cold, grey city at first glance but it reveals a strong metropolis which can easily win everyone’s heart in a couple of days. Navigli is certainly part of its charm and it’s on the main of these canals that the so-called Italian night takes place on the second night out of Milmun2012. The peculiar aspect is the all-you-can-eat pizza on the top floor of “La Fabbrica”. Nice place, good pizza, fine litre of wine every

two delegates and splendid company. Honourable delegates, how could you ask for more? Sorry, what are you saying? Oh a faster pizza delivery! Next year, guys, stay tuned.

What’s Going On Tonight?

The official schedule reads “theatre and bar night”: the first entry stands for what we already expect to be an amazing show by the Bocconi International Theatre Group,

performing “Rumours”. The second activity contemplates having a drink or two (or three) (and why not four?) at Iguana, next to the Colonne di San Lorenzo. The meeting points and meeting hours are respectively at 19:45 in Aula Magna in Via Gobbi (same venue as opening ceremony) and at 22:30 in Via Papa Gregorio XIV, 16 (you can reach it by taking tram number 3 until Colonne). After an intense day of serious debates it looks like the perfect “distracting plan”.ED.

Games, Facts and other Stuff

Snapshots of the First Day

Maria S, Konstantinos K., Laura M. and Francesca G, Milmun Chronicle

Photo courtesy of I. Dimitrova

Some of the Delegates at registrationPhotos courtesy of I. Dimitrova

Victor Mylonas, Secretary General

Photos courtesy of I. Dimitrova

MILMUN participants having lunch.

Photo courtesy of V. Klaas

Games, Facts and other Stuff

Language MatchTest your translating abilities

Yesterday’s Game: KeyJust for Delegates

1. John Key and Elizabeth II, New Zealand2. Recep T. Erdogan and Abdullah Gul, Turkey 3. Wen Jiabao and Hu Jintao, China 4. Abdoul Mbaye and Macky Sall, Senegal 5. Oscal Valdés and Ollanta Humala, Perù 6. Elio Di Rupo and Albert II, Belgium 7. Mario Monti and Giorgio Napolitano, Italy 8. Pedro P. Coehlo and A.A. Cavaco Silva, Portugal

City A: ___________________ City B: ___________________

City C: ___________________ City D: ___________________

City E: ___________________

Special Letter from the President of the Republic of Italy

English Translation

Rome, 5th of April 2012

Dear President von Donnersmark,

On behalf of the President of the Republic I would like to

thank You for Your kind letter of the 28th of February, by

which You wanted to inform Our Head of State about the

topics of the Milan International Model United Nation 2012

Conference.

The President Napolitano asked Me to present to You His

appraisal with regards to this important initiative, which

has come to its seventh edition and is intended to promote

cultural exchange on issues of international politics and col-

laboration among peoples.

This project certainly testifies the enthusiasm for interna-

tional organizations that Italy nowadays is in great need

of, especially by the youngest generations, as the Head of

State many times underlined.

Please welcome the warmest greetings of the President of

the Republic, to which I gladly add my personal ones.

Congratulations on an initiative that helps opening the

young people’s minds!

Ambassador Stefano Stefanini

Editor in Chief- Laura MatiCo-Editor- Francesca Ginexi

Journalists:Alessandro Allegri, Bild

Marta Grassi, People’s Daily ChinaJaumé Macià Colomer, The New York Times

Konstantinos Kantoglou, Al JarizahGiulia Radice, Al Jazeera

Lorella Verrocchi, Le Monde Diplomatique

MILMUN Chronicle Team