Wednesday, 5 June, 2013
TORCH Issue No. 2
TORCH AN SMUN 2013 PUBLICATION
HIGHLIGHTS Crisis strikes UN as Syrian Civil War Escalates GUEST SPEAKERS: Ms Foo Pek Hong (WFP), Dr Steven (WHO), AP Bilveer Singh (SOCHUM), Dr Terence Lee (UNSC)
NUS Political Science Society
UNESCO
Wednesday, 5 June, 2013
TORCH Issue No. 2
Crisis in Syria disrupts freedom of information discussions; UNESCO wishes it could be the UNSC By Agustin Joan Marie
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he second morning of SMUN 2013 at UNESCO saw the draft resolution proposed by Saudi Arabia being discussed by the committee. However, it was later deemed unsatisfactory, judging by the number of amendments that were proposed today. In particular, France, Algeria and Afghanistan continued with their alliance, with France going so far as to say, “Saudi Arabia’s resolution includes many suggestions and requirements for your countries, whereas the resolution of France, Afghanistan and Algeria are hard measures that actually provide funding and aid.” Regarding an amendment submitted by the trio, Saudi Arabia commented “the amendment has a length befitting that of a resolution, some of the clauses are redundant” and that he “hopes amendments can be presented in a more concise manner.” The press corps are delighted to know that their efforts have not gone to waste since it seems that Algeria has been reading the past issues of Torch, for where else could she have gotten the quote, “[Saudi Arabia’s resolution] is like a doughnut – it’s sweet but it has a gaping hole” which referenced her amendments as an attempt to “fill that hole to make the resolution more whole.” In another holey critique of the draft resolution, she likened it to Spongebob – “it makes you smile, but when you look closely, you’ll see that it’s full of holes and has no brain.” In other news, Saudi Arabia has long had issue with the many suggestions calling for countries to “do this and do that”. He called it an infringement of national sovereignty. “This delegate of Saudi Arabia would like every country to adhere to Sharia Law, but unlike the delegate of USA, this delegate shall not impose cultural colonization on other countries,” said the delegate. To which, USA curtly replied. “The US is not trying to impose cultural colonization on any country,
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TORCH Issue No. 2
thank you very much.” Haiti was desperate to bring attention to less economically developed countries (LEDCs) like themselves, motioning for a moderated caucus to discuss LEDCs suffering from being source countries for victims sex trafficking. This came as no surprise as the delegate himself cited Haiti as a “a country that is isolated and most probably ignored during the discussion of world issues.” In an unmoderated caucus, Afghanistan remained persistent, continuing attempts to garner support for his clause of providing funds to improve socioeconomic conditions within popular source countries of sex trafficking. He asserted, “It’s not, ‘Here, have $500, don’t be a prostitute.’ It’s ‘Here, have $500, don’t be a prostitute, build a school and help your children and their children not become prostitutes.’” Afghanistan’s efforts proved futile as his suggested amendments failed to pass the committee. During lunch, the UNESCO delegates had a lot to think about and seemed to have come back with a set mind. The committee chose to vote on the whole resolution. With 21 delegates for, 2 against, and 0 abstentions, UNESCO now had a draft resolution for the topic of sex trafficking. The debate closed and UNESCO moved on to their second topic – freedom of information. The debate on freedom of information was initially misinterpreted, with most delegates steering the subject towards the topic of censorship and an individual’s freedom to their thoughts and speech. This prompted the Chair Ingmar Salim to remind the committee that the issue was with the freedom of information on an international level. As expected, the Wikileaks controversy was brought up and many delegates expressed their sympathy with the position of the USA during that period, to the dismay of Haiti, who remained indignant about the position of smaller countries in the UN, claiming, “Why is USA the only one who gets the right to cry about their problems?” UNESCO did touch on the topics of what classifies sensitive information and to what extent these should be made available to the public, but before they could have more constructive debate, an update about the civil war in Syria came a-walking. The civil war had escalated and left the
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“This delegate of Saudi Arabia would like every country to adhere to Sharia Law, but unlike the delegate of USA, this delegate shall not impose cultural colonization on other countries.”
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TORCH Issue No. 2
previous government unhinged with a new authority in place, the New Islamic Republic of Syria (NRIS), a hard-line, Islamic fundamentalist political party. An unmoderated caucus was motioned for with delegates immediately shooting rapid-fire comments in order to move the discussion forward. Unfortunately, all that discussion became invalid when a moderated caucus initiated by Afghanistan led to the delegates’ realizing that most of their solutions such as brokering peace dialogues or sending UN peacekeepers to the area were not under their purview, as duly informed by the UNESCO Chairs. Haiti may have known what answer was coming when he asked, “Does that mean that the UNSC has a greater stake in this crisis than us?”
“We have a real crisis, the air-con just went off.” - Chair Ingmar Salim
Furthermore, committee members did not seem to recognize the urgency of the crisis and Assistant Chair, Cheryl Ko, expressed disappointment at the lack of decorum since the crisis was a ‘Syria-s’ problem. Assistant Chair, Arjun Mulloth, had to leave early due to commitments to the Singapore military. Chair Ingmar Salim thinks that the delegates may or may not have believed that it was a part of the crisis. The press corps would like to clarify that our Assistant Chair is merely carrying out his duty to the country for the night and will be back tomorrow. The clarification regarding UNESCO’s role with regards to the crisis in Syria called for another unmoderated caucus. The delegate of Syria commented, “let’s focus on the racial riots, tomorrow there will be more coming.” All delegates seemed eager to help in spite of lack of funds in LEDCs and France, Haiti and Algeria pushed for international efforts in helping Syria through this crisis. Unfortunately, as Afghanistan rightly stated, “the reality is that Syria is only willing to accept aid from Muslim countries”. Saudi Arabia concurred with “it is not the case that the international community is not willing to help, but it is at the discretion of Syria that they will only accept aid from Muslim countries.” The committee adjourned from the session having discussed a few possible solutions regarding the issues of racial rioting, refugee welfare and the protection of world heritage sites.
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Wednesday, 5 June, 2013
ICJ
TORCH Issue No. 2
Witnesses take the stand as drone debate remains unresolved By Felicia Wong Chiu Xian
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he International Court of Justice began the second day of SMUN 2013 with advocates from Pakistan and the United States once again at loggerheads over their respective positions regarding the drone campaign. Pakistan maintains that drone strikes cause both tangible and intangible harm to its citizens and have a high civilian casualty rate, thus violating the 1977 Protocol Amendment to the Geneva Convention. In contrast, the United States reiterated the serious threat that terrorist attacks, based in Pakistan, pose to US national security and asserted that this justified the usage of drones in the war against terror. The first committee session saw advocates from both countries continue from where they left off yesterday with presentation of evidence supporting their stances, while the other party questioned the reliability of sources cited. Emotions ran high as delegates from both sides questioned and received clarification regarding the reliability of information cited in their arguments, which was crucial as these sources would be the key references used by the judges in making their final decision. The United States sought to invoke Article 51 of the Geneva Convention, stating that targeted killings on another territory does not violate international law. Furthermore, they claimed that the inability of Pakistan to handle the terrorism situation justified the drone campaign. Tensions were diffused as a break for lunch was called, allowing both advocates and judges to take a breather and refuel themselves for the next grueling round of ICJ session, the witness examinations. Having filled their bellies and soothed their frazzled nerves, the delegates reconvened in the conference room after lunch to begin cross-examining witnesses. With a total of four witnesses (two from each country) waiting to take the stand,
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there was much frenzied rushing about as advocates sought to mentally prepare their witnesses for the session with the, at times incredibly intimidating, court.
“If we didn’t know [bin Laden was in Abbottabad], we are a failed state; if we did know, we are a rogue state.”
As the goal of witness examination was to provide an opportunity for the judges to ascertain whether the sources previously alluded to by the advocates were reliable and could be utilized as a trusted source, this session saw the judges playing a more active role. Many of them were able to make use of the training they received the day before to ask the witnesses good clarification questions, and a number of them impressed the Presidents of the court with questions of greater depth and quality. Each witness examination was followed by an unmoderated caucus, meant to facilitate the sharing of views amongst judges and forge a closer cooperative relationship amongst themselves based on mutual understanding. The judges established a method of rating the reliability of the witness on a scale of 1 – 10, with 1 being the least unreliable and 10 being the most reliable. The Presidents then reminded the judges to decide which piece of evidence was unreliable rather than to simply rely on such a general method so as to prompt critical analyses and in-depth discussion. During the cross-examination, witnesses were encouraged to role-play their assumed personas as closely as possible and attempt to rearticulate real, it brought some amount of comedic relief to the session, such as when there was some brief confusion over the supposed gender of a witness. As witnesses took on varied roles such as a Pakistani farmer and an expert in the field of robotics, there were occasions where delegates were so engrossed in their role that they questioned the witnesses on things beyond their ability to answer. For example, one of the expert witnesses asserted that there was an inherent empirical weakness in the drone debate in Pakistan as majority of the statistics were derived from Pakistani media reports. Such reports were vulnerable to manipulation by the Pakistan intelligence agency and thus, should not be seen as being entirely objective. He concluded with a quote from Cyril Almeida, one of Pakistan’s bestknown opinion writers: “If we didn’t know [bin Laden was in Abbottabad], we are a failed state; if we did know, we are a rogue state.”
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As the witness examinations came to a close, the judges took another unmoderated caucus to make their final deliberations. While the advocates lacked enough training to be able to perform professional cross-examinations, the Presidents felt that their performance was still on par and that they put in great effort in brainstorming legal strategies to support their argument. This greatly impressed the Presidents and they mentioned that the ICJ delegates were performing “above (their) expectations”. Well done ICJ delegates, and I daresay that I am saying the truth, only the truth and nothing but the truth.
International Court of Justice judges
ICJ SOUND BITES: Islamic Republic of Pakistan (advocate): Can you describe the site of a drone strike in Pakistan? Witness: It looks… disastrous. United States of America (advocate): so for our witness, he… Judge: I would like to remind you that the witness is a female. (Witness was a male role-playing a female security expert) 7
SOCHUM
Wednesday, 5 June, 2013
TORCH Issue No. 2
For when crisis hits, only unity strikes! By Ritika Mohapatra
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he Syrian conflict, which generated over 150, 000 internally displaced people (IDP) in Syria alone, has been a clarion call of sorts and prompting the international community to reflection the worsening plight of political refugees. Thus, the sensitive issue of the welfare of refugees was addressed by SOCHUM in the morning session of Day 2 of the SMUN 2013. Consistent with the previous day’s intensity, albeit more fast-paced and result-oriented, the members approached the issue with attitudes ranging from optimistic, as displayed by countries of India and the United States to somewhat cynical, as was seen in the directly affected countries in the Middle East and Greece. While Switzerland willingly extended a helping hand to IDP in the Middle-eastern countries, it also urged that, “other relatively richer neighbouring countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia must come to their aid”. Most of the debate revolved around the feasibility and importance of financial aid as a means to safeguard refugee welfare, amidst which Argentina brought to the discussion an insightful perspective through the famous Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” They were referring to the fact that financial aid can only be a temporary measure and more long-term solutions are needed. Brazil followed by asserting that five-star refugee camps, as proposed by some countries, were short sighted ideals which prompted Greece to plead the other members along the lines of “please support, don’t condemn” the creation and improvement of refugee camps. The ambiguities of a resolution drafted by India were discussed by the members in detail thereafter. A much needed intervention came in the form of a presentation by an engaging, straightforward and aweinspiring speaker, Associate Professor Bilveer Singh, on the practical problems faced by political refugees. “How many
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of you want to be refugees?” was the first question that the professor baffled the audience with. An advocate of the sobering state of affairs surrounding the Rohingyas, Muslim refugees, the professor called himself a revolutionary. Having travelled the Indian Sub-continent and parts of East Asia, Prof. Singh shared his experiences interacting with refugees and his scepticism over the formalistic approach of most international organizations, including the United Nation, and the need for venturing into human dimensions. As the afternoon progressed, heavy downpour marked the declaration of a high-order crisis with its epicentre at Latakia, Syria and managed to get all the delegates on their toes. What was most remarkable would be the relatively smooth nature of the proceedings, where delegates cooperated with each other and tried their best to prevent chaos. The delegates were constantly reminded to maintain focus solely on the humanitarian ramifications of the crisis. Brazil began by demanding immediate evacuation of all states near affected areas, particularly the ones sheltering refugees, and claiming to be, “sick and tired of the Middle Eastern drama”, with support from Switzerland calling the dictatorship regime as a godforsaken one. Indonesia helped bring into light the importance of acquiring full information of the adverse physical as well as psychological consequences of the biological hazard, with support from countries to enforce quarantine in order to move forward. As the committee was notified of new developments, delegates became increasingly anxious but still helped each other to maintain decorum and calm. “Keep calm, and flee on” was China’s mantra for the civilians in Syria, with Argentina reminding the committee to prioritize humanity
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“Keep calm, and flee on.” - delegate of China’s mantra for civilians in Syria
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SOCHUM
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before political unrest on the agenda. On the other hand, Afghanistan and Iraq showed substantial support for the uprising led by their Islamic brothers and made sure that their voices were heard. While there were a series of one-on-ones such as Greece perceiving the US’ stance on the matter as being impulsive and lacking foresight, general consensus was reached as more humanitarian concerns were voiced, and the session ended with the hope that more concrete measures are going to fall into place.
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WFP
TORCH Issue No. 2
Debates over biofuels resolved; crisis in Syria splits WFP council By Heng Guang Lur
D
ay Two of the WFP began with a talk by Guest Speaker Mrs. Foo Pek Hong from World Vision, who highlighted the predicament of the hungry around the world. With over 870 million undernourished people worldwide, this emphasized the importance of maintaining food security across all nations. Mrs Foo ended the presentation with a call for the delegates to be “the voice of the voiceless”, and to “say the right things, take the right actions, and live the right life”. With the Guest Speaker’s words ringing in their minds, the delegates got down to crafting of a working paper for a draft resolution. The Chairs of the council asked for at least one working paper for the resolution to be submitted before lunchtime. Solutions proposed in the first draft of the working paper included investment into cellulosic ethanol technologies and creation of a global council to regulate production of biofuels. Indonesia raised the importance of self-sustainability in usage of biofuels, citing the ancient Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for life”. With less than two hours to lunch, and the basis of the working paper yet to be finalised, the delegates broke off into yet another unmoderated caucus, with the looming threat of ‘no paper, no lunch’ hanging over their heads. A conflict broke out during the caucus, with the United States pushing for the creation of an overarching regulatory organisation to oversee biofuel production, which was rejected by China claiming that it infringed national sovereignty. Tensions were high, causing the representative from Colombia to burst out, ‘Just join us!’ Indonesia added fuel to the fire, asking China, “Are you criticising the notion for a valid reason or are you criticising it for the sake of criticism?” The committee finally reached a common consensus, with the United States clarifying that the council would not enforce regulations for nations to follow; rather, the council would provide ‘advice’
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to nations, with the aim of creating a friendly organisation with the intention of helping all nations. China accepted the creation of the organisation with the caveat that it does not infringe nation sovereignty, including China.
“Are you criticising the notion for a valid reason or are you criticising it for the sake of criticism?” - delegate of Indonesia
Ironically, the delegates that came together to solve hunger problems were faced with the very problem that they were supposed to solve. Fortunately for the council and the stomachs of the delegates, a working paper was submitted that acceded to the Chair’s demands, and everyone was able to adjourn for lunch. With lunch came refreshed minds and clearer intentions. Session four started out with an introduction to the revised working paper, which was converted into an official draft resolution after the council voted in favour of it. A title was nominated for the organisation that would take charge and advice nations with regard to biofuels, the Authority of International Assessment and Regulation of Biofuel (AIARB). The working resolution was passed without any objections from any of the delegates, and they looked to start voting on the resolution. The resolution was passed with 14 votes for, and one against. The council then moved onto the other topic that required their concern, overfishing. Debates kicked off with the various delegates sharing their views on overfishing, with Brazil maintaining a no-action stance due to its possession of self-sustainable fisheries. Russia expressed concern over the future population of sea life, especially with regard to the Nativity Fast celebrated by the members of the Russian Orthodox Church, which required a large volume of fish. Causes of overfishing were discussed, which encompassed increased spending abilities and advancements in technology. Discussions were abruptly halted with news of a global crisis breaking out in Syria, after a coup by rebel forces overthrew the government, renaming themselves the New Islamic Republic of Syria. An attack by US and Israeli forces on a terrorist stronghold in Latakia led to a leak of biological weapons that contaminated agricultural fields in and around Latakia. Furthermore, the Red Cross and other humanitarian aid were unable to transport food and medical aid to refugee camps until investigations ended.The topic of debate quickly shifted to the crisis in Syria, with various delegates
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WFP
expressing opinions with regard to the crisis. The lack of action by the UNSC caused the delegate from South Africa to burst out, “What are the UNSC doing?” An unmoderated caucus was held to resolve the current crisis, where solutions for aid were thrown out and debated intensely. Ideas ranged from the proper, such as utilising Russia’s role as a close ally to Syria to help in the transportation of aid, to the ludicrous, like using drones to drop food packages and supplying non-halal food to ensure that the non-Muslims received aid. Iraq raised the notion that aid should be concentrated on the Syrian Muslims, as the ‘Jews are the real culprits of this current situation’ and it would be hypocritical of the United States to send aid at the moment, due to their role in the escalation of the conflict. The delegate of South Africa, however, objected to this notion as it was not the aim of the WFP to discriminate against races, but rather, “ensure that everyone doesn’t suffer from hunger and to ensure food security in the region”. Debates were then held on which nations should take responsibility on the delivery of aid. Iran maintained that the United States should be responsible for the transfer of aid, as it would “force the United States to take responsibility for the conflict”. Indonesia opposed the view, as “Americans are clumsy and inefficient in production of Muslim food, therefore they should not be allowed to take charge of the aid programme.” With the crisis still locked at a standstill, and no resolution in sight, only time will tell if the delegates can put aside their conflicts and work together to resolve the food crisis in Syria, in addition to the overfishing issue.
WFP SOUND BITES: “Be the voice of the voiceless” - Mrs Foo Pek Hong “What are the UNSC doing?” - Delegate of South Africa “Americans are clumsy and inefficient.” - Delegate of Indonesia 13
TORCH Issue No. 2
UNSC
Wednesday, 5 June, 2013
TORCH Issue No. 2
China slams the table; Syrian crisis keeps UNSC on their toes By Valerie Lim
F
aced with the problem of cyber terrorism, the UNSC first tried to reach a consensus on what exactly is cyber terrorism. Recognising the importance of the definition of cyber terrorism in impacting the effectiveness of any resolution passed by the council, member states were quick to pinpoint the scope of cyber terrorism. A key contention in the debate of day two was whether a cyber attack conducted by a state was considered an act of cyber terrorism. Opinions varied greatly; countries such as Venezuela denied the existence of such acts while accusations flew wildly across the room and tensions mounted as the delegations of USA, Israel, Estonia and Turkey cited alleged state-sponsored cyber attacks on their countries. It almost seemed like the security council themselves could not even maintain peace within the confines of their room, much less pass a resolution, when the delegate of China violently slammed the table in response to the accusations made by the USA of the Chinese government launching cyber attacks on the USA. In total, two working papers and three resolutions were submitted. Unfortunately, diplomatic efforts to develop a meaningful initiative reached a deadlock and no resolutions were passed.
“use of force to get [people’s] panties in a knot”
The council had the privilege to be graced with a talk by Dr. Terence Lee, a distinguished academic in international security. Dr. Lee highlighted the importance of UNSC as laws and policies are constantly playing catch-up in this age of rapid technological advancement in which cyber warfare is so reliant on. Further, he made a distinction between cyber warfare and cyber terrorism with cyber terrorism as the “use of force to get [people’s] panties in a knot” to extract concessions, usually conducted by non-state actors. In cyber terrorism, “You want people to be running for their lives and hiding behind a banana tree”. There is often a desire for the dramatic; “You want BOOM!”. The witty Doctor was
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unafraid to cite instances of cyber warfare conducted by member states such as China, Russia and USA against other member states preent. The commencement of a new session saw a shift in focus back to the top agenda of day one – the Syrian civil conflict. The council recognized the urgent need to resolve the conflict and the importance of ensuring peace in the Middle East. The UNSC agreed that a ceasefire is necessary but was unable to decide how a ceasefire would be successfully implemented. Further, the council could not come to an agreement on others measures required to make progress in attaining peace in the Syrian region. Mid-way through the debate, breaking news on the Syrian crisis threw the UNSC into crisis mode. It was reported that terrorists from the Ibn-La’Ahad group had taken over a government facility in Latakia, Syria that was discovered to be a biological weapon stockpile, kept underground and disguised as warehouses. Further, Israel launched a preemptive strike on the facility with the support of the USA but miscalculated such that Latakia is currently a hot zone. There was no time for rest for the UNSC as further news was received that a coup by the New Islamic Republic of Syria (NIRS), a hard-line Islamic fundamentalist political party, with alleged links to the Ibn-La’Ahad organisation, successfully overthrew the Assad regime. A delegate of Syria from the new government was invited to address and answer the queries of the UNSC. Cutting all diplomatic ties with Israel, the new Syrian government believed that “foreign intervention has always caused more problems” and their “only ally is the republic of Iran”. As the floor opened to solutions to the crisis, proposed solutions ranged from non-interventionist policies to a fullscale Military intervention. The delegation of Russia clearly expressed that “the UNSC should not be helping Syria” while the delegation of France put forth the solution of using military force. The UNSC adjourned without coming to consensus on how to resolve the crisis.
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TORCH Issue No. 2
“You want people to be running for their lives and hiding behind a banana tree”. - Dr Terence Lee
“It almost seemed like the security council themselves could not even maintain peace within the confines of their room, much less pass a resolution, when the delegate of China violently slammed the table ...”
“the UNSC should not be helping Syria” - delegate of Russia
Wednesday, 5 June, 2013
WHO
TORCH Issue No. 2
Of Abortion, Aid and Anthrax By Colin Seow
Delegates resumed their rigorous discussion on Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH). Of which abortion was a major point that dominated proceedings of the morning. A resolution submitted by the delegate from Indonesia with recommendations regarding the issues of abortion, aid and awareness was debated. A key difficulty was the practice of abortion across different member states, with it being freely available in certain countries and illegal in others, making recommendations for all member states difficult to implement. Delegates from Islamic states such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia vehemently opposed any form of decriminalization of abortion. However, member states came to an almost unanimous agreement on the need for support networks for women bearing children out of wedlock as well as the need for greater awareness and education. The clause regarding specific concerns of abortion was then modified to include only countries where abortion was legal. The issue of monetary aid was also debated, with various concerns being raised. Such concerns included over-reliance by recipient states, usage of funds in the hands of corrupt governments and questions regarding its long-term feasibility. The resolution did not survive intact, as other delegates such as the delegate of Sweden sought to change the resolution to their liking by deleting certain clauses. The committee was in a reconciliatory and constructive mood, considering debate was often interrupted by many amendments by delegates. The discussion wasn’t entirely dry, as the delegate of Australia’s amendment brought much laughter; having submitted an amendment, but wrongly identifying UNAIDS as UNAID and thus rendering his subclause useless. Despite that, the amendment passed and the quickest amendment ever was entertained, “to add an S to the end of UNAID”. At 2.35 p.m., the resolution was passed, concluding with a self-congratulatory round of applause.
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Dr Stephen Ooi, an expert on contagious diseases came in to address the committee halfway through the morning. He educated the committee on the basics of epidemic monitoring, with real life and ongoing examples of MERSCoV (Middle East Respiratory System Coronavirus) and H7N9. Afterwards, the doctor was asked about the origin of such new diseases, and told the bemused committee that most of the recent deadly viral outbreaks probably came from bats. He gamely fielded questions from the dichotomy of treatment and prevention all the way to the dengue epidemic in Singapore right now. At 3pm, the council was stoic when it was reported that a Syrian governmental building had been taken over by a Sunni terrorist group by Islamist hardliners. However, at 3.25 p.m., delegates scrambled to agree on measures when it was reported that a stockpile of bioweapons had been detonated a part of a United States-supported preemptive strike by Israeli forces. A cloud of the biological weapon with a diameter of 30km was thrown into the air and spread quickly into neighbouring regions, whereby WHO’s job was to provide a working action plan in order to contain the spread of the biological agent as well as to treat any individuals who had been affected by the agent. Vigorous discussion and confusion ensued, as delegates were uncertain over the identity and nature of the biological weapon released, and yet they quickly split into three focus groups to come up with solutions to deal with crisis within the short, medium and long term. More light was shed on the matter when it was revealed that the biological weapon involved was anthrax. Fortunately, effective treatments and vaccines are available, allowing for effective measures to contain and treat. The delegates were allowed to question the in-house journalist, who had some experience dealing with anthrax. The delegate from Indonesia quickly submitted a working paper, which is currently being debated on. Most of the clauses to contain the spread of affected persons treat the infected and were accepted on by member states, with the exception of the issue of cremation, which infringed upon Islamic customs. Delegates were optimistic that an agreement could be reached quickly and thus allow coordinated efforts to help
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“The chair looks favourably on a motion for unmoderated caucus, on the subject of pizza.” - Chair of WHO, on ordering pizza for the whole committee.
Wednesday, 5 June, 2013
WFP
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contain the most severe biological weapons release amid profuse apologies from the delegate of United States The discussions hit a snag when the delegate of Lebanon took issue with the suggestion that dead bodies were to be cremated, arguing that it was perhaps easier to bury the bodies within 24 hours, as per Islamic tradition. The council ended with the delegates resolving to find solutions to this crisis as soon as possible.
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