Saturday Issue by MUNISH Official

The Munday Times Saturday Issue Interview with Leonie Reese Page 3

By Hannah Welsh

Fashion Spread Page 8

Party Fever

Opening Ceremony

The BOD and StOff lined the stage. The delegates and other conference participants filed in and took their seats. With a limited number of seats and such an inflated number of participants this year, tickets were given out for the Opening Ceremony. Everybody was dressed to the nines, looking fresh and eager for MUNISH 2011 to begin. The lights dimmed – the Opening Ceremony was about to commence. Our theme being 20th Century Innovation, the speakers truly emphasized the importance of this theme in the world that we live in today. We were fortunate to have been enlightened by the words of two guest speakers: Mr. Frans Weisglas of the VVD and Ambassador for “Terres des Hommes”, and Mr. Adam

Christel Van Meeuwen

5th November, 2011

Newton, Shell’s representative of Future Development and Innovation. Mr. Newton’s emphasis on progress and development with regard to energy sources and the growth of cities and the overall population distinctly underlines MUNISH’s theme of Innovation. Both speakers discussed themes in today’s growing and changing world, emphasizing the importance of the choices and changes that we make today in order to ensure a better world for future generations. Mr. Kotrc, the principal of the International School of the Hague, discussed the connections of this conference with the first peace conference that took place in The Hague, which also had a focus on innovation, but then it was to do with warfare. He talked about both

Page 11

of the positive and negative effects as well as moral questions regarding innovation and technology. He gave examples such as the Arab Spring and the London riots. Aside from speeches that emphasize this year’s theme, there was also a video compiled which focused on Innovation and it’s importance. The sleek images and inspiring ideas presented commanded the attention of everybody in the room, truly highlighting the speeches made. Along with the guest speakers, the man, the myth, the legend, Adrien de Wulf, Secretary General of this year’s conference, made his speech. He outlined aspects of the world today, placing an emphasis on MUNISH 2011’s theme in many areas of our lives. He discussed how every nation has its weaknesses and strengths and how cooperation between nations is essential if we are to succeed. To wrap it up, Adrien welcomed all participants to MUNISH 2011 and declared the conference officially open. Amongst the cheers and applause there was a clear sense of anticipation for the days to come. The PGA, Imene Hamdi-Cherif officially opened the conference with a bang of the gavel. The theatre was buzzing with excitement as our largest MUNISH yet was officially opened.

Complete chaos and sweaty delegates depict the mood in the Security Council

By Vincent Knijff

MUNISH has begun, and the first day is characterized by chaos: missing screening tables, overcrowded rooms and committees faling to start on time. “There are no screening tables! We as admins cannot work in this chaos, god help us!” Says Aykut Dinc, painting a picture of the mood across the committees. How are the delegates meant to get their views and opinions across to the other countries? How are the desperate men amongst us meant to get the numbers of the lucky ladies in the room? Temperatures across the committees were rising as well. Shervin Tokleh, another admin, says: “The warmth in this committee is becoming unbearable!” It was as if the delegates had been dumped in the middle of the Sahara desert with nothing but a pen, high heels or tie and ideas for changing society – a situation the human rights council could have an endless debate on! The situation was getting worse and worse. People were fainting due to lack of fresh air, but finally Vijender Chaubey (a.k.a VJ) came to the rescue! With the key to all the windows, fresh air was finally provided to the Porta-Cabins, the victims of warmth were recovering, and the screening tables were all in place. If God were to be a person he would take the form of Vijender Chaubey. I believe we can all learn a great deal about this man, and look up to him as a leader and guiding

Annabel van Eijk

light during the darkest of times. “Thank god VJ was here to save the day. Without him, I believe we would still be looking for the key to freedom (fresh air) and the tables for screening.” —Shervin Tokleh

MUNISH Press Team Members Head of Press

Karina Dukalska Journalists

Annabel van Eijk

Now that the issue was resolved the actual debates could begin. The Chair of the Security Council is the beautiful and highly intellectual Sandra Smits. The following issues were discussed: • Question of the maintenance of stability in the Middle East and Northern Africa. • Question of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and of weapons of mass destruction. • The role of minerals in fuelling conflict in central Africa. • Prevention of illegal trade of small arms weapons. Judging by the issues at hand we can look forward to a promising weekend full of deep discussions, strong opinions and (hopefully) a happy ending. We, as Press, are honored to be part of this marvelous event.

Marcelle Antunes Zina Bibanovic Masami Hazu Vincent Knijff Milaap Mehta Chloé Steffen Hannah Welsh Ruben van Zoest Editors Alex Kruijsse Joanna Mardal Nikki Saville Corine van der Schans Layout Artists Marlon vom Bruch Marc Latour Xander Maes Tim van Rugge Cartoon Artist Carlos Gonzalez Photographers Evelyn Duindam Annabel van Eijk Anna Soer

By Marcelle Antunes

The Delegate Bootcamp.

Youngest guest speaker Leonie Reese (only the tender age of 16!) sits down to explain her new role, as a delegate advisor at this year’s new delegate workshop. Having been Secretary General at THIMUN 2011 and having an extensive amount of MUN experience, Leonie believes its important that new delegates go through this workshop (also referred to by her as “ MUN Boot Camp”) to be able to enjoy MUNISH fully and not just the night of the party! MA: Leonie, you’ve done a great amount of work involving MUN and this year you’ve decided to give a speech at the delegate workshop, why?

tial to have workshops like these so new delegates can get a sort of “boot camp” (laughs) training right before they start, just to be more confident with themselves, and also meet other delegates who are just as new to this as they are. It makes them feel much more secure to know that they aren’t the only ones who for example don’t speak English too well, or have never experienced an MUN before. MA: How about you? What was your first conference like?

LR: My first conference was JMUN in Turkey, which you could consider equivalent to DMUN and was quite short. You learn the basics and it’s really good but in a way it’s LR: Well, MUNISH is a relatively big much easier. Here the students are conference so I believe it’s essen- thrown into the deep and so they

require a little bit of extra help.

MA: You’re obviously very dedicated and passionate about MUN in general. What makes MUNISH special for you?

LR: I’m very proud to be an ISH student and MUNISH is the conference I attend the most. I love how international we are and it makes ISH the perfect environment, in my opinion, for MUN. I also love how we grow every year. Last year we had about 400 delegates now we have 700! It’s amazing.

MA: Absolutely! Now, how would you describe the perfect delegate?

LR: That’s a difficult question since I think that’s a paradox in itself! A perfect delegate should be someone who enjoys debate since the conference should be about having fun and not just doing it because you have to. You don’t need to debate according to the book or rules - it’s about being innovative. Ultimately that delegate is also the one who can crack jokes and entertain the committee! MA: Last but not least, do you think these new delegates will be well prepared after your workshop?

LR: I sure hope so! My aim is to get rid of their insecurities and explain that stuttering or maybe stumbling over your words is NORMAL and can happen, especially if you’re nervous. It’s all about defeating this inner fear, making them feel good about going out there and speaking confidently throughout the conference.

Evelyn Duindam

MA: Well I know they’re in good hands and I’m sure you’ll do a great job in training these new delegates! Thank you for your time!

ECOSOC: Law & Order

By Milaap Mehta

Today at ECOSOC, the conference that deals with issues about economy and society, things started off a little slow as many of the people at the conference were newcomers and were finding their feet. Before the conference started Denmark was missing from the list of delegations at the conference, delegates from other countries were missing and the Chair wasn’t there, which provided the deputy with a bit of a headache before the conference started. The deputy did find time to talk to me about the proceedings and what he thought about the conference in the prelude to the lobbying. The four issues being discussed over the weekend are: funding guidelines for post-natural disaster areas; review of border laws in the EU concerning asylum seekers; addressing gender equality in the workplace; and establishing effective measures to prevent further economic crisis in the EU. By Milaap Mehta

the proposals put in place by the delegation of Uganda as ‘they represented highly religious countries where measures for total equality won’t receive support.’ ECOSOC has started off to a brilliant start with passionate debate – it will be interesting to see what resolutions they come up with.

SPC1: Innovative Solutions

SPC1 is the conference on innovative solutions, with the issues: promoting new technology to improve communication; establishing procedures for increased access to information, specifically in LEDCs; developing policies to improve the availability of generic medicines in LEDCs combating HIV/AIDS and effective measures to improve fair trade through the use of technology. According to the head of SPC1, ‘Over the past 15 years technology has been evolving at an unprecedented pace. However providing the entire world with a proper communica-

When asked about which countries the deputy thought will be at the heat of the debate, he suggested Greece because after the recent proceeding of the referendum he believed there would be a lot of pressure on them, and also Iran as gender equality is not highly valued in their society. The deputy thought that ‘the conference should be smooth but there might be a little bit of turbulence regarding the aforementioned issues.’ Finally after an introduction by the deputy, he assigned the four issues to be lobbied in different corners of the hall. The majority went to the gender equality, however, contrary to what one would expect. But the gender equality corner was one of the most sedated while the EU crisis corner was under heavy debate, with Greece in the thick of things. One example of the lobbying was the delegations of Holy See and Saudi Arabia disagreeing with

Annabel van Eijk

tion system is still a huge challenge, mainly due to the fact that not the entire world has proper access to new developing technologies, more specifically Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs).’ According to the deputy chair, the first issue, promoting new technology to improve communication, would be the most heavily contested issue as it’s the least specified, and many countries would not have the economic capacities to strongly employ the new technologies into practice. In an interview with the chair before the conference, she

Evelyn Duindam

said that many LEDCs would not be able to utilize the innovation effectively as they would be hampered economically. Moreover, many of the impoverished areas would need to have improved infrastructure so that the technology could be effectively utilized. One major proposed solution to the first issue, as proposed by the chair, is to use connected schools as connected ICT centers and can become ‘information lifeline for women, indigenous people, persons with disabilities and those living in rural, remote and underserved areas.’ The conference started off to a slow and slightly confused start, but settled down to lobby reasonably and efficiently about these intriguing issues. It is a fascinating conference that will grow throughout the weekend.

By Zina Bibanovic

HRC: Fight For Your Rights!

Hard work, a constant strive to push barriers, and inspiring resolutions – every year, this is what each committee in MUNISH grants us. The Human Rights Committee, however, also gives us a little bit more. Each year, serious and relevant issues are discussed by mature delegates, with one person in mind – you. The Human Rights Committee strives to ensure the rights of every person on the planet – this year, they are doing so from the little corridor in the Upper Math Area. A place normally dedicated to stressed out IB students and their teachers, around thirty delegates are gathered to discuss issues such as providing measures for the prevention of cyber child pornography and ensuring the protection of rights of refugees and Internationally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Aside from this, they are also debating the protection and promotion of By Ruben van Zoest

freedom of opinion and expression, the causes and consequences of violence against women, and what can be done to reduce it. In a world in which we have technology advancing at a pace we could not have imagined a few years ago, and every aspect of life is blown up to global proportions, is it not ridiculous that not everyone has the right to be heard? Does an iPad not seem a bit redundant if we cannot even stop women from being unnecessarily beaten and discriminated against? The HRC work towards a better, fairer world. We can’t change everything, and the world will nev-

er be utopic – but it could definitely benefit from an absence of child pornography. The HRC will spend most of Friday lobbying, until the opening ceremonies. They are in keeping with the theme of MUNISH 2011 – 21st century innovation – as delegates share resolutions through iPads, laptops, and the odd oldfashioned piece of paper. Both delegates and chairs (who come from Dubai and the Hague) predict fruitful debate, and an experience that will stay with them forever.

General Assembly: Delegate Apocalypse

Evelyn Duindam

At first sight the General Assembly is the perfect Armageddon scenario for a cliché Hollywood production. Saying that there is a little bit of chaos is simply an understatement. Several delegations have disappeared from the conference and the reasons are still quite mysterious. The speaker is desperately crying out the names of ‘lost individuals’ as the temperature is reaching

unbearable heights. Chairs and survivors, Puranjay Sudan and Pauline Thomeer have given up all hope of catching sight of Norway and Spain, assuming that they have probably been swallowed up by the massive and unforgiving MUN crowd, may God have mercy on their souls. Despite all of this there is some hope and an anonymous chair prefers the term “Ordered Chaos”, instead of “Complete Mayhem”. Signs directing people to assemblies of enlightenment might be missing, but the delegations are remarkably determined to create world-changing resolutions regardless of the situation. The information booklet is the bible of MUNISH and likewise the General Assembly gratefully uses it to keep everything in line. Additionally, workshops perfectly prepare the eager delegates of GA1, GA2 and last - but definitely not

Evelyn Duindam

least - GA4 to anticipate and formulate counterclaims, as well as other debating skills. Surprisingly, the chaotic atmosphere has vanished from the three conferences and consequently the empty halls have transformed into a lively center of discussion and diplomacy. Strict guidelines and standard procedures keep the enthusiastic delegates in control. When reckless lobbying and informal conversations are starting to dominate, chairs use their powerful position to keep order in the house. Luckily, the day turned out productive, instead of becoming the end of the GA and the Model United Nations as we know it. The very last impression was promising but please don’t become careless. Before you know it, utter uncontrollable madness can return. More of the General Assembly will naturally be reported on tomorrow.

Annabel van Eijk

Evelyn Duindam

Annabel van Eijk

Evelyn Duindam

Annabel van Eijk

Evelyn Duindam

Annabel van Eijk

Evelyn Duindam

S H O 8

Photographs by Annabel van Eijk

By Masami Hazu

Raising Money for Help-Kids-India

MUNISH 2011 has started a new project this year to raise money for the charity Help-Kids-India. This charity aims to improve the lives of Dalit families and refugees in the Kodelikanaal, Tamil Nadu region in India. They have built and are running five crèches in this rural part of southern India. It has also achieved to serve the families with the young children by providing shelter, food, education and loving care for children under five. They have made it possible for the older siblings to return to school and for the parents to return to work with no worries about their children. The BOD has decided to raise money for this charity to replace the old school bus used by the five crèches and the wider community of the surrounding rural area. And in order to do so a stand has been set up in the plaza where merchandises are being sold to raise the money. These commodities being sold are aimed at the delegates at this years MUNISH 2011 conference for memories of the great time

they will be having and being part of a spectacular MUN conference. The products being sold are: the quintessential Dutch snack, stroopwafels, which are caramel waffles for €1; MUN delegate folders for €5; MUN memory sticks for €2; I <3 MUN T-shirts for €15; MUN bags for €5; and a special energy saving ecobutton provided by Shell for 2. The ecobutton by Shell is a feature that can be inserted into a computer through the USB port. It is a reminder to sleep the computer in order to save energy when you leave the computer just by pressing the button; a nifty product. The Business Manager, Gabriel de Morant, is aiming for an inventory of 60 T-shirts, 76 MUN bags, 204 stroopwafels, 61 MUN USB sticks, 52 Shell ecobuttons and 73 MUN folders to add up to a total of €2023. Therefore we would like to ask for your kind cooperation to raise money. The stand is also providing people with pamphlets on The Hague. For example “The Hague

Evelyn Duindam

International City of Peace and Justice” which supplies delegates with information on living in The Hague; possibly information more useful to MUN directors and not student delegates. However for those delegates that need them there are bus and tram maps and a general map of The Hague being given out for easy access around The Hague during this MUNISH 2011 conference. And for those unfortunately clumsy delegates who might have misplaced their MUNISH 2011 guide, extra copies can be picked up at the stand. We hope that this new stand will be helpful to many delegates and that many people will kindly purchase the merchandises on sale to help us raise money for the charity, Help-Kids-India. A few purchases from the 712 participants, including all delegates, admin, Press, MUN directors, student officers and BOD, could raise the money we need to help those less fortunate. Spread the word and help raise money.

By Chloé Steffen

MUNISH 2011 announces itself to be nothing short of spectacular. The shop alone, placed behind the unmissable, ultra cool neon table, assures that it’ll be done with a great deal of professionalism and style. Following the consent of the International School of the Hague’s Global Issues Network, MUNISH 2011 will be involved in the raising of money for the Emergency School Fund, aimed at aiding less fortunate schools around the world. ‘Cookies’ is a new concept in which any MUNISH participants will be able to buy cookies (well, stroopwafels) and have them delivered to who ever they wish, wherever they are. For anyone unfamiliar with stroopwafels- they are THE ultimate Dutch treat, with caramel and everything nice. The Cookies concept is nothing complicated: it’s basically like sending Valentine’s Day

By Zina Bibanovic

candy or roses, or candy canes at Christmas time. As of Saturday, participants will be able to purchase small packets of cookies for a mere euro (!) at the MUNISH shop located on the plaza, and have them sent, anonymously or not, to fellow participants. All that’s required is for you to supply the name of the recipient and the committee they’re in. From there on it’ll be up to the admin staff to take care of having the cookies delivered to one of the 521 delegates, the 107 student officers, the press team or the BOD. All money made from the cookies will be given to the ISH’s Emergency School Fund, which will then spend it on the reparation of a school bus in India. A select group of ISH students will be travelling to India next February, their main project being to fix this bus. Without the bus, the children of the villages around Kodailkanaal, India are un-

Evelyn Duindam

able to attend school - the nearest school being too far away to walk to. This year’s Cookies concept should be a pleasant distraction for busy MUNISH participants, but also an effective and creative way of raising money for people much less fortunate than us, so please, be considerate! Buy Cookies!

Work Hard, Party Harder...

Participants of MUNISH.. we know. The lobbying, the debating, the walking in ridiculously high high heels. It’s tough work. That’s why, every year, we throw you a spectacular party, to say thank you and let you loosen up. Why is this year’s party going to be so much better than previous years’? The best DJs we know have agreed to set the mood and keep the party live. ISH’s very own DJ team “Duo” (Tim van Rugge and Nkindé Ambalo), are here to keep you jumping and pumping all night long.

clubseven.nl

The venue is fresh and new as well – Club 7, formerly known as ‘Fourteen’, has opened their doors to us for the night (and morning!). The BOD worked long and hard to find a location big enough for all of our 700 MUNISH 2011 participants. The amount of people involved is an all time MUNISH record, and puts the feat into perspective even more. A quick word of advice – get there early, and avoid the line, or the beginning of your night could be spent waiting outside. Girls – do not be afraid to go all out! Dresses, heels, hair spray – these are your best friends for the night. Watch out for the cameras, and be sure to strike your best poses! Boys, come fresh and fly, to impress the ladies and take over The Hague! Club 7 is located right in town – the official address is Prinsegracht 14. You can take tram lines 3, 4 , 2 or 11

to Grote Markt, or tram 17 to Gravenstraat. The Bus 24 stop Centrum will also get you to town. The party starts at 20:30 and ends at 23:30 – meaning, you have three hours to have the time of your life, and you all definitely deserve it!

Carlos Gonzalez

Annabel van Eijk

1 1 0 2 H S I N MU Y G O L O N TECH

Annabel van Eijk

Evelyn Duindam

Annabel van Eijk

Evelyn Duindam

Your picture

not here? Check

munish.nl/gallery

Evelyn Duindam