Getting Ready, Getting Excited!

With less than two weeks before the Australian delegation tackles HNMUN (Harvard National Model UN) there is plenty of preparation going on: from reading study notes, formulating stances, researching Portugal (the country we have been assigned) to preparing the all important position papers.

Before launching into specifics a brief introduction:

What is HNMUN?
The Harvard National Model United Nations is an annual model United Nations held by the International Affairs Association of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. The conference attracts over 2 000 tertiary students from across the world, predominantly from North America.

This is the second year that UNYA (United Nations Youth Association) Australia has sent a 17 member delegation to attend HNMUN. The delegation is comprised of (tertiary) students aged under 25 from universities throughout Australia. The Australian team spends two weeks touring Washington and New York before arriving in Boston ready and willing to tackle the Ivy League!

During the whirlwind two week tour before the conference itself, there are some amazing meetings, workshops and activities on the itinerary.
These are including but not limited to:
- an intensive orientation session conducted at James Madison University, Virginia
-a tour of Capitol Hill, meeting with Senator Collins' Office and a tour of the Supreme Court, Washington D.C
-meeting with the International Crises Group, visiting the Smithsonian Institute and visiting the International Peace Institute
-a tour of the UNHQ (NYC), participating in an UN Programm on Youth meeting and meeting Australian Missions to the UN
-visiting the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs and Human Rights Watch
-meeting World Federation of United Nations Associations and The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
-participating in UNICEF Workshop on Youth Participation with Ravi Karkara from UNICEF

At the conclusion of the two week tour, the Australian team will be able to aptly exploit the gained insight and knowledge from these extraordinary, opportune meetings and take them to the intense debating floor that is HNMUN. Fiery debates, intense research and last minute resolutions will surely ensue!

With this in mind the next two weeks will be both exciting and crucial in the researching of topics and agendas. The Australian Team has been assigned the country of Portugal and I have been placed on the Disarmament and International Security Committee. This committee will focus primarily on Militarization of the Arctic and Nuclear Terrorism.

HNMUN is an unprecedented opportunity to effectively consolidate an international youth voice.
My participation at this conference would not have been possible without the generous support offered by both the Scholarships Office of the Commerce Faculty at the University of Melbourne and the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Office at The University of Melbourne. I really appreciate the support and would like to express my sincere gratitude towards both offices.

And so, the countdown begins!

James Madison University

Saturday January 30th, 2010

The Australian tour officially kicked of at James Madison University (JMU) in Virginia. We were greeted by students who had volunteered to host the Australian delegation and take us under their wing for the weekend.

A tour of the campus showcased the best JMU had to offer from historic buildings, beautiful grounds to start of the art sporting facilities. This was all capped off with a traditional dinner at D-Hall, the residents students’ dinning hall.

An intense session of going through the rules and regulations was a good way to launch into HNMUN. An experienced debating student from JMU ran a debating workshop with us to hone our skills and give useful tips and pointers for the conference.

Our heads filled with new experiences, 15 new names and pictures of snow and mountains it was truly a very rewarding day!




Sunday January 31st, 2010

Designated as a relaxed day to allow delegates to recover from jet lag and become more acquainted with each other today was spent enjoying virginia and taking part in some of the more ‘touristy’ aspects of being in the United States.
This included dining at IHOP (The International House if Pancakes) which I am assured is a quintessential dinning experience. No trip would be complete without a visit to Walmart, the perfect opportunity to stock up on snow gear and thermals!

Being caught in heavy snowfall, it was also the perfect opportunity to go sledding (which involves zooming down a hill on plastic trays) and an intense snowball fight ensured maximal bonding between members of the delegation!

In the evening we caught a JMU shuttle bus to Washington, DC to get started on the real work behind the tour!

Washington DC

Monday February 1st, 2010

16 eager and extremely excited Australian students arrived at Capitol Hill ready to be inspired and put their American politics knowledge to the test. We were hosted by Senator Susan Collins’ office and were taken on a tour of the Capitol by interns working for her.
The tour started with an intensely patriotic introductory video showcasing the rich history of the buildings and how they came into being.
The tour itself was extremely interesting and enabled us to ponder the fine architecture and political history.

The remainder of the day was spent perfecting the position papers, adding in any new and recent developments in our fields (mine being nuclear terrorism) and ensuring we knew the legislation back to front!



Tuesday February 2nd

Enjoying the finer side of Washington DC, a trip to the Smithsonian museum was in order! This included a stop at the Air and Space Museum which had a life size replica of the NASA Hubble telescope among many other rockets, planes and military replicas.
Georgetown (the famous shopping strip) was also explored!



Wednesday February 3rd

Walking towards the white house in preparation for the tour was an experience in itself. Having probably watched too much of ‘The West Wing’ and that minuet possibility that Obama might just walk past (albeit at a distance) culminated in feeling overly exited and eager. Tours in the white house are self guided allowing you to move at your own pace and take in everything.

The entrance walls were lined with photographs capturing the best of the history within the building, with some new additions of Barack Obama and family. The building itself was refreshingly tasteful and a lot smaller than one would expect - giving it the feeling of being a real house instead of monument.
We were allowed to enter the east wing, green room, red room and blue rooms learning about their history including the story behind all the antique furniture and decorations.

The afternoon was spent at the impressive Supreme Court building. We attended an informative lecture on the history of the court and how the current justices came into their positions. There was also a tribute gallery for Sandra Day O’connor, the first female supreme court justice.

No trip to Washington would be complete without a visit to the Australian Embassy, where we met with Scott Bolitho, who discussed everything from his role at the embassy to how he began working for the department of foreign affairs and trade in the first place. As the embassy was in a transitory state with ambassadors (Kim Beazley was expected to arrive at the end of the week) we were unfortunately not able to meet with the current ambassador to the US.

New York City

Thursday February 4th

A five am bus trip to New York City ensured we would be on time for our meeting at the International Peace Institute (IPI). The IPI is an international not-for-profit, independent think tank with headquarters in New York City.
IPI is dedicated to promoting the prevention and settlement of conflicts between and within states by strengthening international peace and security institutions.  To achieve its purpose, IPI employs a mix of policy research, convening, publishing and outreach. It also works very closely with the UN (located across the road).
We met with IPI representatives from all divisions, from peace keeper operations to the African division.
This meeting was hugely inspirational and really motivated and energized us all. Their work was humbling and reminded us of the constant need for action.



Friday February 5th

A busy day full of UN meetings:

UN Youth Program - in August the year of youth officially kicks off and we were lucky enough to meet the people in charge of making it a success. We met the team who were putting the event together and were able to discuss the importance of youth advocacy and involvement. We also spoke of how we, on a grassroots level can contribute to the success of global campaigns such as this, through getting the message heard in all corners of the globe.

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Affairs - In our own backyard we face some serious challenges in promoting the welfare of indigenous Australians, it was extremely interesting and eye-opening to see how similar challenges were faced all around the world. With representatives from the pacific and Latin America present, seeing how a similar issue was addressed from the standpoint of different cultures and domestic situations was very thought-provoking.

Portugal Mission to the UN - as our delegation was representing Portugal, the mission was kind enough to host us to give an even further insight into Portugal and its role on an international platform. We spoke about a range of topics, from disarmament and security to Portugal’s role in 2007 holding the EU presidency.

Australian Mission to the UN - entering the office we bumped into the delegation from the Netherlands, who will be representing Australia at HNMUN, they better do us proud!
As we already had an acute knowledge of Australia’s history, we were able to spend the hour talking in more detail of Australia’s role within the UN. We were also given some very useful career advice and informed about the range of internship opportunities available to students.

Saturday February 6th and Sunday February 7th

After an extremely busy week it was time to experience some true American culture in the form of walking over the Brooklyn Bridge at 9am in the snow, visiting the Rockerfeller centre, Grand Central Station, Times Square, The Chelsea Markets and capping the day off with ice-skating in Central Park!

Additionally, no trip to New York would be complete without visiting Liberty Island, Ellis Island, Wall Street, Ground Zero and Central Park Zoo.



Monday February 8th

A meeting with Human Rights Watch inside the Empire State Building!
Mission Statement:
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all.

Meeting with the team gave us a true insight into the rewards, frustrations and dangers of being an NGO that speaks out against human rights abuses. The sheer number of publications produced every month speaks true to their passionate and dedicated approaches. This was certainly one of the most valuable experiences of the trip and really enforced our commitment to upholding human rights and seeking accountability where necessary.



Tuesday: February 9th

WFUNA: World Federation of United Nations Associations.
The United Nations Youth Association of Australia actually falls under the umbrella of WFUNA which is the ‘peoples’ movement in support of the UN’.
We met with a range of staff and interns who talked about what projects they were specifically working on. One of the interns, had just completed her honours year at the University of Melbourne and was working on R2P or Responsibility to Protect Peacekeeping.
We were also fortunate enough to meet with Bonian Golmohammadi, the current Secretary-General of WFUNA (replacing outgoing Australian Secretary-General Pera Wells).

UNICEF workshop: A definite highlight of the trip was participating in an extended UNIEF (United Nations Children's’ Emergency Fund) workshop. We focused on child participation all around the globe and actively participated in role plays, sketches and youth-empowerment exercises. The workshop was run by Ravi Karkara, a child and adolescent participation specialist and a number of his colleagues. Again, their dedication and passion for their work was inspiring and all of us felt both empowered and ready to take action!

This busy day was capped of with the excellent production of the Lion King on Broadway!


Wednesday: February 10th

Trapped in a snow storm in New York we were not able to catch our bus to Boston, so spent the day cramming some last minute research and waiting for the weather to improve!

Boston / Harvard

Thursday: February 11th

An early China Town bus got us into Boston just in time for the opening ceremony of the 56th session of the Harvard National Model United Nations!

After a quick opening note from the acting Secretary-General and video highlighting the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (HNMUN is supporting the MDG) it was time to take to the floors of the debating halls!

The first session was spent discussing topics and opening remarks were made from a number of countries each showcasing their position on nuclear terrorism, disarmament and all that is included!



Friday, February 12th

A morning tour of the beautiful Harvard Campus and a careers fair was followed by 6 hours of debating! This saw the formation of working papers and strategic alliances, divisions amongst otherwise friendly allies and opponents coming together.

After an intellectually arduous day, all disputes were left in the debating hall as delegates mingled at a social cocktail evening hosted by the Harvard Committee, at which the Harvard Jazz band showcased their talents.



Saturday, 13th February

The discussion opened up again at 9am and continued until 7pm with only one short break! This was the bulk of forming a resolution and everyone worked tirelessly in drafting resolutions, hostile and friendly mergers, lobbying the rest of the GA, making inclusions for developing and developed nations alike!

The end of the day saw three possible resolutions on the table, all debated, examined and bombarded with unfriendly amendments.
Again, to ensure the hostilities of the days debating didn't persevere, a 'delegate dance' was held in the Boston Park Plaza Ballroom so delegates could mix on a social level and learn about their diverse backgrounds and cultures.



Sunday, 14th February

With only two hours to pass a resolution everyone worked quickly and efficiently. The last of the amendments were debated and the GA moved into a voting session. It was close, but by a simple majority the resolution we (portugal) had been working on passed!

The resolution will be made available shortly - I will post the link when this occurs!

The conference was capped off with a closing ceremony and awards presentation: My debating partner and I received an honorable mention within the DISEC committee - having officially taken on the ivy league the conference can be heralded as a success!

Participating at HNMUN was a real learning experience, not just in terms of the content covered but I think all that participated from the Australian delegation learnt a lot more than anticipated; intellectually, personally and professionally.