Issue 1/2012 • Thursday, May 31st, 2012 • www.facebook.com/TheBaticHerald • www.twitter.com/BALMUN
The Opening Ceremony
Let the debates begin
Yesterday, most of the BALMUN attendees assembled in the ISG Aula in order to partake in the Opening Ceremony PAGE 2
The committees started off with intense debates right on the first day. PAGE 5
The Baltic Herald interviewed the two Directors of ISG’s BALMUN about their views on the development of the event PAGE 7
The second day of BALMUN is nearly over: Half-time, guys! You have to know that I really love my job as Head Of Press. But being that means you are standing next to a printer and hoping it will print the newspaper properly (and recognizing it does not!) while most of the others are sitting in the General Assembly and taking part in the Opening Ceremony. That’s life! Visiting some committees today was real fun, most of you seemed to be well prepared and very engaged. I am so proud of you! If you can’t get enough of our Baltic Herald, then check out our Facebook Site. There you will find all the news - and even more... Heads of the Press Team Johanna-Katharina Möller Alexey Matushkin Editor-in-chief Johanna-Katharina Möller Layout Alexey Matushkin Team Friederike Kleist Alina Drexler Julia Fritzsche Lisa Ritter Charlotte Sophie Antonia Schliebs Jenia Barnert Francine Selms Max Cornelius Niclas Lorin Hollmichel Franziska van Heiden Anna Kondratenko Jonas Huckstorf
TAKE FIVE! TEXT BY LISA RITTER AND JULIA FRIETZSCHE
A big room. Many little flags. People from all over the world in total silence. A long table in the front with eleven serious looking persons. Three gigantic video screens. The whole BALMUN delegation is watching and waiting for something that is going to happen soon. Let the show begin! It is the Formal Opening Ceremony of the fifth Baltic Model United Nations in Rostock. Now the President of the General Assembly, Marc David Rabe, starts to welcome the members of the Model United Nations and the whole audience is listening. What follows now is well known. The welcome of the guests, the teachers, the team, the conference staff and all the others. ‘Sustainability and Equity: A better future for all’ is the theme in this year and it is a challenging but also
a really important theme, that serves well as a foundation for discussions Like every year the conferences take place in the ‘Innerstädtiches Gymnasium Rostock’ and so it is the duty of the headmaster to initiate the event with his speech. Thomas Döring, since ten years headmaster at this school, stands up, goes up to the rostrum and starts his speech with a smile and welcomes all visitors and members of the BALMUN delegation once again. He tells about the long tradition of BALMUN at this school, the countries that are involved - a very impressive list of names he reads out loud very proudly – he thanks everyone who supports the project. In his speech he appeals to the slogan ‘Sustainability and Equity’ and says that coming together and tolerance are the bases to give an answer for the global and political challenges. So BALMUN is a
great chance for those involved in it to make friends and partake in such a big event. It is an honour for him and his school to be the place of this important and valuable project and he is very happy to see all these young people assuming responsibility. After this encouraging initiation we welcome Dr. Ingrid Bacher, the first deputy of the president of the citizenship of Rostock. She welcomes the visitors in the town and utters that it is a great pleasure for her to announce that Rostock supports this meaningful event. She also says that we are part of a generation that is going to have an impact on the way the world changes and solve global problems. BALMUN attracted her attention because it is very impressive that an event of this magnitude is organized only by high school students. She thinks that it is good that BALMUN takes place in Rostock, a city that always tried to be sustainable. For example, Rostock is well-known for its widespread use of wind energy, thus caring four our future. Furthermore she says that the English language is crucial for communicating internationally, helping each other and uniting in order to solve global issues.. She invites everyone on BALMUN to use the oportunity to meet people with different cultural backgrounds, learning from their skills, experience and ideas. The next speech is from the president of the parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Sylvia Bretschneider, who thinks BALMUN is an innovative idea and reflects the plans for a better future. At every conference, the delegates have to face the challenges of the 21st century. In her mind equity and sustainability are going hand in hand and we have to make sure that both will be part of every society in the future. In order to make sure to pass on the world to the upcoming generations in the best shape possible, a clean environment is a something we have to care for. So Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania wants to produce clean
and safe energy and it is their goal to be ‘Energieland 2020’, which means federal state of energy. Producing clean energy has a key role in reaching this goal. The wind park Baltic I is still producing energy and together with Baltic II, which is located in front of the island Rügen and is going to be finished in 2013, 400 000 households will be supplied with electricity. Together, the network of the UN can make a big difference if they focus on renewable and clean energy. BALMUN represents this network and it is a great chance to take the future in our own hands. After this a short animated video showed us the meaning of sustainability in a funny and understandable way. The last speech before cookie break
starts comes from the main speaker Arne Molfenter, the Desk Officer for the German United Nations Regional Information Centre in Bonn. He tells us how the UN really is: slow and often frustrating. Also he talks about problems the UN have to deal with: lack of drinkable water in developing countries, poverty, AIDS and high unemployment rates. They want to reach a point where all these problems are globally solved, but this is very difficult to achieve. For example, 783 million people have no access to drinking water and this is a problem that is not easy to solve. Furthermore, 24% of the young people in developing states are unemployed and this tendency continues upwards. Also, the steady birth rate is a problem - we are 7 billion people populating the world now, an amount which is more than our planet can sustain. He says it is all about creating equal opportunities and there is still so much to do for equality. The RIO+20 conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro on the June, 21st is going to deal with questions like this. After his animating speech the question-and-answer session starts. Mr. Molfenter answers questions about the hunger crisis, the inflation and other topics - surely, he could have answered many more of then, but Marc Rabe, the President of General Assembly, had to stop the session because it’s finally time now for the legendary cookie break. All in all Mr. Molfenter answered 15 questions from delegates all over the world and no one should to thank him for his amazing and insightful speech. At last everyone tries to get a piece of cake, a cookie or a seat on the sofas, full of thoughts and new suggestions, prepared to contemplate about the issues of the world.
Human Rights Commitee After the delicious lunch the committees began. The Human Rights committee is being led by the likeable chairs Allison Ziehr and Alexandra Bartsch this year. The main topics are “Empowering women by providing conditions for active participation in work and political life” and “Promoting the integration of socially and financially disadvantaged people in today’s society by establishing global guidelines”. Regrettably the HRC had no guest speaker and that is why the delegates had to ad-lib. Source: Ostseezeitung First they did some warming up. The delegates were asked to inGoodbye, troduce themselves. Later on they Lieschen Müller! had the chance to get together in groups and find resolutions for the TEXT BY JOHANNA-KATHARINA MÖLLER first topic. This procedure took a Yesterday, many teachers, long time and that is why the deldelegates and other people who egates began to talk about other are involved in BALMUN, visited things when they had finished the club ‘Stadtpalast’. With nufinding resolutions. One delegate merous fans of ‘Lieschen Müller’ had the funny idea to build a pathey listened to the music of the perplane called “Balmun Airlines”. great schoolband of the InnerAnd that was how the delegates städtisches Gymnasium Rostock. and the chairs have spent the time It was the last concert of the band until the cookie break – but afterbecause in a few months many wards it got more interesting. The participants will graduate. With delegates were shown three vidwell-known songs like ‘Sexbomb’ , eos on You Tube. Two of them were ‘Cocaine’ and ‘Seven Nation Army’ about the “girl effect”. That means, they made the people dance. just one girl can start to change Everybody was fascinated by the the world if she gets the right eduband and witnessed the likeable cation. Education is the key for evstaffie Alice Biemann playing the erything. To beat poverty and seribass guitar very well. ous diseases like AIDS, the world Many people stayed at ‘Stadthas to invest money in education palast’ because there was anto help developing countries. So if other party coming up right after a girl gets education, she will find a ‘Lieschen Müller’. job easily, earn money for her famIt was a great event that was a ily and stay healthy. The film also taste of things to come at tonights said that school is a safer place for BALMUN-Party in ‘Stadtpalast’. girls in countries where they are
forced to marry with only 14 and then get pregnant one year later. The school also has to save them from a lack There are often the boys in the family which go to school because the family has not enough money to pay for all children. One resolution was that the governments in developing countries should pay the school fee for porer children. China mentioned that the financial situation of some countries does not allow high costs for schools. But isn´t it right and important to invest in the fututre? That is a point which the Human Rights Committee has to work out on the second conference day. We are excited of the results.
Environmental Committee
Security Council
Political Committee
Chairs of the Environmental Committee, Marc David Rabe, Isabella Veglianti, Marie-Luisa Wahn, hope that the delegates of the Environmental committee can gain from the MUN experience in public speaking skills, broader knowledge of the world’s political interests and insight into the environmental issues of the world today. “I hope they are not afraid of talking in front of a huge comity of people. I hope they learn negotiating abilities, which are not taught in school. This a unique chance to practice these skills.” Marie Wahn. The delegate of Portugal, Maya Miltell, aspires to gain more knowledge of sustainable environments and the worlds views towards these issues. Maya believes there will conflict between Australia and Portugal, as the two countries have opposite views on the appropriateness of GMO’s in todays society. The delegate of Egypt, Katarzyna Cieniawska, states “The media simply focuses on political and human affairs, while the environment is only taught in school and not presented in an interesting way. Thus the attention towards the environmental committee is scarce. All members hope for rigorous and entertaining debates during the general assemblies.
Representing their countries opinion, the Delegates of the Security Council are trying to strike an agreement on as many clauses as possible concerning the UN’s cause of action regarding the progress made in Libya, Tunisia, Syria and Egypt by the insurgent population. The Delegation of the United States of America is convinced that the first point of action has to be “to fight corruption left over by the toppled regimes”, managed by an “anti corruption agency under the oversight of the UN”. Discussing for- and backward about the source of corruption in the named countries and its influence on the possible answer to the problem, the Delegation of France demands a long-term solution. On the other hand the Delegation of Azerbaijan is confident that the intervention of the UN should be restricted on the accomplishment of free democratic elections. An even more interesting discussion takes place regarding the accreditation of the new governments respectively their new composition called for by the Delegate of Columbia, who openly criticises China for not supporting those. Still, the Chinese Delegation points out that they already evolved and are “doing a lot more than [they] would have done in the past”. At this point not only the Delegations of Columbia and Azerbaijan but also the Baltic Herald calls into question, if this development shows earnest will to support the Arab Countries, which freed themselves from dictatorial regimes by own strength and endurance, or if it’s only a band-aid for a mortal wound.
‘Please yield the floor back to the chair’. This sentence was the one to be repeated again and again on the first day of discussion in the Political Committee. Because dealing with a topic at a MUN conference does not only demand interest and excitement, but also the observance of the manners being essential within the United Nations Organisation. Luckily, Lorenz Plath and his partner Josephina Wencke, chairs of the PC, never tired of pointing them out to the delegates in a very friendly way. And that could even help the participants to become a little more relaxed: Whereas the first ideas were put forward kind of timidly, it was especially the little mistakes during the discussion that broke the ice. For example Lorenz’ sympathic remark ‘Ok, that is not possible’ after counting 30 placards, although there were only 29 countries in the rome. But while the statement ‘17 plus 12 is 29’ unfortunetely had to be approved by all those present, the topic ‘Installing measures to avoid future financial crises’ still offered a lot of topics for the delegations to debate on. Not only motions to put economically weakened countries under control, but also to force comprehensive information from rating agencies were made. Often, the present nations were of extremely different opinions. But they argumented and discussed lively, and this is what Balmun is all about: To put your own ideas into words, listen to the thoughts of others – and maybe to widen your horizon if a controverse point also makes sence. One can already be excited about the PC’s work on Saturday, when they take Palestine’s application to become a member of the UN into consideration.
Delegates’ Profiles
Name: Sophie Wenkel Age: 16 Position at BALMUN: Delegate, Human Rights Your assigned country: Estonia Country/city of orgin: Rostock
CURSED OIL Ten months ago the citizens of South Sudan danced in the streets. They celebrated the autonomy of their country after decades of civil war. Their hope for peace was confirmed by experts. The argument of these experts was that neither the south nor the north could survive without the oil they divide. The south has the sources and the north the only pipeline to bring the oil to the global market. So they are bound to each other. But although there are battles now, the UN Security Council issued a warning. There are rumours that there are hundreds of dead people. The battles take place on the oilfields near the frontier. So the oil which should bring peace is the reason for war. How could that happen? There are no safe sources, but experts see three problems. First, the optimistic experts thought that the North and the South agreed about the prices of using the pipeline, but now they have a fight about this. The South wants to direct their oil for 1$ per barrel through the pipeline, but the North charges 36$ per barrel. In January the situation escalated and the North sold the oil from the South on their own. In order to that the South stopped to pump the oil. ‘To let the own oil seep away is even better than losing a part of it to the North.’ said a South Sudanese politician to the British Guardian. The second problem is that the optimists thought that both countries give the moneymaking priority. But for the South Sudanese the retention of power is more important. The president Salva Kiir won the support of the citizens with the halt of the production. He reinforces the prejudice ‘We in the South against the North.’
Carlo Koos from the Institute for African studies in Hamburg said ‘One of the less present national identities is the hate against the North Sudan.’. At least the North has oilfields too. They are very important for the North Sudan, but South conquered a oilfield near the frontier. This happened because the president of the North ordered aerial attacks to divert of the inner problems of North Sudan like the poverty. Now the South promised to withdraw troops. So the war isn’t unpreventable. Experts think that the war won’t be solved with military means but with economic power. The South pumps no oil anymore and the North less than the half. Both countries are close to the ruin. Who survives the longest without the money from the oil is going to win. (Source: Die Zeit, 26.04.2012, Nr. 18, PierreChristian Fink)
INTERVIEW WITH MRS KOCH AND MR BREITKOPF The Baltic Herald: It is the first anniversary of BALMUN this year! How does that feel? Mrs: Koch: It feels like endlessly and so familiar as if we had always done. The Baltic Herald: Were there any organisation problems? And what is new this year? Mrs Koch: Problems are everywhere. But I have to note we now have the youngest and biggest team we have ever had. There were some troubles by lumping everybody together and adressing everybody´s needs. But I think we acted together well and organisated a great conference which is more international than ever before. And that is new! The Baltic Herald: How do you assess the work of the organisation team? Mrs Koch: Intensive! More than intensive! We have worked very hard
and a lot of effort has been made. But we can only assess the results on Sunday. The team has a big potential.
work of the UN. For me as a teacher of social studies this is pretty interesting. That is why this project is unmissable for me!
The Baltic Herald: How did you managed to convince Mr Breitkopf, the second Director, to take part in BALMUN? Mrs Koch: When I met him for the first time I told him “By the way, we a really great project called BALMUN and you would fit in!” I am just an English teacher and Mr Breitkopf has the political expertise. Meanwhile we got a really good team. We complement each other. Mr Breitkopf is somebody who generally has a good attitude to students.
The Baltic Herald: Do you think this project makes pupils to have a bigger interest in current political processes? Mr Breitkopf: Definitely! There is no question about it. Everyone who participates gets a lot of impressions. You just can profit by it! This year’s topic is ‘Sustainability and Equity – A Better Future For All’ – what do you think about it? To my mind, it is the modernst topic you could have chosen. It contains all the focuses that are important nowadays as well as tomorrow. It is a very important topic!
The Baltic Herald: Mr. Breitkopf, what motivated you to become involved in the project? Mr Breitkopf: Pupils from all over the world come here and reconstruct the
Rostock Slang TEXT BY FRIEDERIKE KLEIST
About the Delegates Abraham (Iran) is from the Czech Republic. He really enjoy the stay with his guest family because of their friendly attitudes and great cooking abilities. The 15 years old young man wants to earn new experiences. He like it to talk to other people from different countries. So don’t be shy and talk with Abraham
Want to learn some hanseatic slang? Moin! - Hello Bratze – person one considers as ugly Bacio-Mucke – mainstream pop / chart music hammär – awesome REWE-Kind – person loving to chill and drink in front of supermarkets stratzen – to make one’s way Bist du nass?- Are you crazy? geilomeilo - fantastic Rostock originals: Flaschenpaule – bottle-collector on Rostock boulevard Kröpi-Opa – old man in captain-costume playing acordion on the Rostock boulevard Thomas D – head of the ISG Rostock Rostock’s famous children:
Alicja is here for the first time. She praises her host family which is probably the best one. The young girl feels comfortable and enjoys the new experience: BALMUN. She is looking for the BALMUN Dance because she likes to go out with friends.
Joachim Gauck (current President of the Federal Repuplic of Germany, former student of the ISG) Marteria (German rapper, songs: Marteria Girl, Endboss, Verstrahlt & many more) Toni Kroos (player in the national football team of Germany, current club: F.C. Bayern München) Sophia Hübner (young German singer, samples are available on soundcloud. com) The magic seven: The number seven has a special meaning for the hanseatic city. It is kind of its trademark. That’s because in the Middle Age there had this number a mythical and theological source. All in all there are seven special things in Rostock, wich have a meaning to the magic number seven: 7 gates around the town 7 streets to the market 7 doors to the St. Marien church 7 bells ringing every day 7 trader-bridges in the town 7 lindens in the Rosesgarden 7 letters in the word Rostock
Jakub is attending at the BALMUN conference for the fourth time. He expects to have fun, enjoy the time spent here and learn something about different countries. His own school hosts a MUN project as well (StetiMUN).
Lorenz (Chair P.C.) wants to meet nice people from different countries and express his opinions on various topics. It’s his fourth time at BALMUN and he expects from his Committee that they work and discuss well.