ThessISMUN Daily News Issue 1 by Stefanos Katsoulis

T HESSALONIKI I NTERNATIONAL S TUDENT M ODEL U NITED N ATIONS 2012

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T HURSDAY , A PRIL 19 TH 2012—11 TH Y EAR —#1

O PENING REMARKS

G ENERAL ASSEMBLY !

M R . F ATOUROS SPEECH

The opening speech of 11th ThessISMUN 2012 was given by the heart and soul of ThessISMUN P rofessor Paroula Naskou – Perraki. Dr. Naskou – Perraki, after the necessary salutations to the honourable guests of this years’ MUN, among them the Consul General of Cyprus, the Consuls of United States of America and Russia

Since he discovered ThessISMUN he is always on our site! : these where the words Professor Naskou - Perraki used to introduce to the audience Mr.Dimitrios Fatouros, the Information Officer for Greece and Cyprus at the United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC). Mr. Fatouros has been a close associate of ThessISMUN…

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T HESS ISMUN D AILY N EWS T HE

OFFICIAL

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S TATUS U PDATE Editor Vangelis Oikonomidis Co-Editor Olga Siokou-Siova Journalists

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T HESSISMUN

DAILY NEWS OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE WWW. FACEBOOK. COM/ T HESSISMUND AILYN EWS2 01 2

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Christos Droutsas Eirini Eminidou Nazli Gurkas “Stanca Morta” Thomas Karagiozopoulos “Licht, mehr Licht!” Crysanthos Koseloglou “ I feel like a mute” Varvara Mesoropian Ivi Psalti “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have!” Vasileios Sazaklidis Eleni Trikergioti “Let the games begin!” Photographers Irene-Margarita Tzemopoulou “Ti voglio bene assai!” Fotis Telloglou “You pose, I’ll shoot...”

UN N EWS

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Ban voices concern over arrests of public officials in Mali

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UN food agency warns of looming health threats in Europe and Central Asia

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Assembly chief urges scientific approaches to sustainable development

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Human rights must be integrated into sustainable development, UN official stresses

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UN envoy condemns eviction of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem homes

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Head of UN peacekeeping discusses cooperation with senior official of West African bloc

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UN disaster reduction office launches initiative to help cities manage risk

Honourable MUNers, welcome! In the 11th year of ThessISMUN, the Daily News is here to cover the party! New friends, social events, heated debates are all here, promising sleepless nights and unforgettable moments… For those who join the party for the first time, cheers buddies!! As long as you’re able to stand on your feet in the daily roll-call, no worries… Don’t forget to speak up, it’s time for you -yes, YOU!- to take the floor and make your voice heard! For

those who have participated before –and they t h i n k they know- ThessIS is here to surprise you again! Indulge yourself in halllara: the essence of Thessaloniki, its core value and philosophy, impossible to translate it in English (ask a Greek friend to explain); sit back, relax and enjoy life. Yes, you’re a true Thessalonian, A TRUE ThessISMUNER!!! Dear friends, have fun! Love, Vangelis

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REMARKS

D R . P AROULA N ASKOU P ERRAKI , P ROFESSOR , U NIVERSITY OF M ACEDONIA , C HIEF A CADEMIC OFFICER FOR T HESSISMUN The opening speech of 11th ThessISMUN 2012 was given by the heart and soul of ThessISMUN Professor Paroula Naskou – Perraki. Dr. Naskou – Perraki, after the necessary salutations to the honourable guests of this years’ MUN, among them the Consul General of Cyprus, the Consuls of United States of America and Russia and the Counsel of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she welcomed the delegates and expressed her excitement on the fact that every year the number of participants is growing along with the number of foreign students

from Universities around the world joining the ThessISMUN family. This year we have students from Serbia, Italy, Germany, Turkey, United Kingdom, Romania, Bulgaria and Egypt! Dr. Perraki specially thanked our Rector, Prof. Chatzidimitriou for his support and she also expressed her deep gratitude to all the members of the staff and the members of the Board for all the time and hard work they put into this years’ organization and she mentioned that “without them there would be no ThessISMUN”. Dr. Perraki

concluded her speech by reminding to the delegates the goals of ThessISMUN and she instructed them to act like diplomats, reach to solutions, don’t forget to be in conformity with the policy of their appointed country and last but not least to FLIRT & FALL IN LOVE during the social events! ;)

P ROFESSOR P AROULA N ASKOU – P ERRAKI WHOLEHEARTEDLY EXPRESSED HER PROFOUND APPRECIATION TO THE

M ARTINOS ’ FAMILY FOR THEIR INVALUABLE AND CONSTANT SUPPORT TO T HESS ISMUN ALL THESE YEARS .

D R . Y ANNIS C HATZIDIMITRIOU , P ROFESSOR , R ECTOR M ACEDONIA Dr. Chatzidimitriou, Professor, Rector of the University of Macedonia, also welcomed this year’s delegates by expressing his great satisfaction for the fact that every year, more and more undergraduate and graduate students, not only from Greek Universities but especially from Universities around the world, are participating in ThessISMUN. He also expressed his

gratitude to Professor Naskou – Perraki form being the “soul of this successful organization since 2002”. Professor Chatzidimitriou mentioned that participating in institutions like ThessISMUN isn’t just a unique experience that contributes to the understanding of the way international organizations function and act; it is also a great opportunity to bring together

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students from all over the world and get them to talk about important contemporary issues concerning International Affairs. Dr. Chatzidimitriou ended his speech by reminding the delegates that they should seize this opportunity to get to know Thessaloniki, socialize and have fun and he invited all of us to be back next year!

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M R . D IMITRIOS F ATOUROS , I NFORMATION O FFICER FOR G REECE AND C YPRUS , U NITED N ATIONS R EGIONAL I NFORMATION C ENTRE , B RUSSELS

“U NITED N ATIONS COUNTS ON YOU AND YOU SHOULD COUNT

U NITRD N ATIONS !”

ON THE

M R . F ATOUROS

“Since he discovered ThessISMUN he is always on our site!” these where the words Professor Naskou - Perraki used to introduce to the audience Mr.Dimitrios Fatouros, the Information Officer for Greece and Cyprus at the United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC). Mr. Fatouros has been a close associate of ThessISMUN, a “veteran participant” as he described himself. During his speech he expressed his gratitude to the delegates who participate at the ThessISMUN, and he highlighted that despite all

the financial difficulties, the anger and the disappointment that lies on their hearts, young people haven’t lost their faith to the United Nations and that the United Nations will stand by them through these difficult times. As an optimistic message to the delegates he expressed his hope and faith that the current crisis will bring a new beginning and will open the road for the creation of a more stable and united international community. He also referred to the purpose of the foundation of the United Nations in 1945 and the

fact that the creation of the organization was a result of the need of an institution to protect and help peoples in need during a major crisis. Mr. Fatouros reminded us that ThessISMUN is not a game (!) and all of us should see it as a very professional exercise for our future careers! He ended his speech by mentioning that one of the five main priorities of the UN is the cooperation with and for the young people “United Nations counts on you and you should count on the UN!”

D R . K OSTAS C HATZIKONSTANTINOU , P ROFESSOR , A RISTOTLE U NIVERSITY OF T HESSALONIKI , P RESIDENT OF THE H ELLENIC S OCIETY OF I NTERNATIONAL L AW I NTERNATIONAL R ELATIONS

Dr. Kostas Chatzikonstantinou addressing the General Assembly

After the welcoming remarks by Professor Rector Dr. Chatzidimitriou, Dr. Naskou – Perraki invited to the floor Dr. Kostas Chatzikonstantinou, Professor of Law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and President of the Hellenic Society of International Law and International Relations. Dr. Chatzikonstantinou introduced Dr. Kalliopi Koufa, Emeritus Professor of the Aristotle University of Thessalo-

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niki and also the person of honour of ThessISMUN 2012. In his address he referred to Dr. Koufa’s remarkable academic and professional career in the field of International Public Law and Human Rights as well as her significant contribution to the field.

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D R . K ALLIOPI K OUFA , E MERITA P ROFESSOR , A RISTOTLE U NIVERSITY T HESSALONIKI After a very warm introduction from Professor Chatzikonstantinou and Professor Naskou – Perraki and a fervent applause from the audience, Dr. Kalliopi Koufa, the person of honor of the 11th ThessISMUN took the floor. Dr. Koufa took her turn to thank and congratulate Professor Perraki for being “the driven force behind every ThessISMUN for the past eleven years and for having the strength and the courage to make every or-

ganization a success even during these years.” Dr. Koufa dedicated her main address to the objectives and accomplishments of the United Nations and she highlighted that “there is no organization in the world that embodies and delivers so many different ideas and promotes love and friendship between peoples other than the United Nations”. She also mentioned that UN can never be a global government and that its actions may be

incomplete and impermanent but it is a very important instrument of global governance. Furthermore, Dr. Koufa, gave a detailed description of the role

of the Security Council throughout its years of existence by narrating important events that contributed to the shaping of its nature.

Dr. Kalliopi K. Koufa, to whom ThessISMUN 2012 is dedicated to, is Emerita Professor of Law of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Born in our city, she pursued her education in London and Geneva. Her immense career in the field of law combines theoretical and academic work with practice in Greece and in international organizations. She was elected in 1994 as an independent expert by the UN Commission of Human Rights, to the former UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which later took the name of UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. She served in this UN Sub-Commission until 2006, in various capacities, including as the Special Rapporteur on the most intricate issue of “Terrorism and Human Rights”. Moreover, Professor Koufa participated in the direction of two important educational institutions of Greece, namely the Institute for Balkan Studies and the Institute of International Public Law and International Relations of Thessaloniki. Currently, she is a member of the Council of Europe’s “European Commission for Democracy through Law” (also known as “The Venice Commission”, in which she is representing Greece), President of the Hellenic Inter-ministerial Committee for the Implementation and Dissemination of International Humanitarian Law, and a titular member for life of the Bar Association of Thessaloniki.

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O PENING

CEREMONY :

The day continued with the official opening of ThessISMUN 2012! The first speech was given by the Secretary General, Mr. Giorgos Goniadis. Mr. Goniadis reminded us of the unique role the United Nations has to play in today’s fragile world. He emphasized that despite the diverse origins of the assembly members, “in this hall we are all equal”. He concluded by asking the participants to cooperate in deliberations, to find answers to the issues at stake, bringing their thesis to the world!

T HE G ENERAL A SSEMBLY

was the turn of the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Stavros Michalopoulos, to greet this year’s participants. Having introducing the Deputy Secretaries General, Mr. Arzinos and Mr. Peppas, and the Special Advisor to the Secretary General, Ms. Nomikou, he finally gave the speech to the Ambassadors. Time for the General Assembly to express the nations’ voices!

nations stressed out poverty, war and human rights. Major clashes erupted as regards major international disputes, with a hurricane of rights of reply among great contesters. Excerpts:

ism, no to dictatorship! UK vs. Syria: foreign affairs, or family affairs? Syria vs. USA: “There will be blood”

Pakistan vs. Canada: comparing nuclear amPakistan vs. USA & bitions with CO2 emisSyria: no to imperial- sions “There will be blood...”

The session contained remarks to the current global issues, with the Europeans paying attention to the economic After a small break, it crisis, while African

C OOPERATION BETWEEN GREEK UNIVERSITIES ! !! AN EXAMPLE FOR EVERYONE !! During the Opening Assembly, a major event was announced: Greek university students cooperating with one another! Secretaries General of ThessISMUN, Rhodes Model Regional Cooperation, European Parliament Simulation and Corinth Model of Arab League signed an agreement of mutual support and assistance, while respecting the distinct character of each Model. Hooray for the initiative!!

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1 ST C OMMITTEE

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G.A.

It was a dynamic first day, yesterday, for the 1st Committee of the GA, with the chair urging the delegates to be “active listeners” while they listen to Miltiadis Sarigiannidis, a lecturer in International Public Law at the Law Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Mr. Sarigiannidis, briefly introduced the delegates to the Committee’s two topic areas, “Disarmament, Demobilization and Demining: Prerequisites for Peace and Development in Africa” and “Nuclear Arms

race in the Middle East and South Asia”. In relation to the first topic, he highlighted the interconnection between peace, development, social justice and human security, pointing out the problems of minefields and unemployment for Africa, among others. In the second part of his speech, Mr. Sarigiannidis engaged extensively with the delegates (Iran and Israel, Iraq and U.S.A., Lebanon and D.P.R.K.) and finally wished to everybody to “enjoy the game!”.

2 ND C OMMITTEE

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Tonia Zervaki from Peleponnese University gave an introductory speech in the conference room of the 2nd Committee GA, yesterday afternoon. Ms Zervaki claimed that the UN bodies present an opportunity in the environment of global crisis. In her speech she mainly mentioned the following themes: low employment rates, emergency action plans and social security. She criticized IMF because of its undemocratic way of working and she added: “International Monetary Fund and World Bank, although

they are different, they are necessarily complementary. On the other hand World Bank is more related to the development.” She also suggested that a close cooperation between the UN and the GA is very important. Moreover, concentrating on the EU, she highlighted that “EU is an important strengthening, financial system and it is a very important power globally.” Finally she referred to the peacekeeping budget. According to her speech, this year it represents a large part of the UN budget and it is fi-

Mr. Sarigiannidis during his speech , 1st Committee

“E NJOY

THE GAME !”

G.A. nanced by all UN member states. Member states pay more for financing and the biggest part of the budget is provided by the developed states, especially in Europe.

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S ECURITY C OUNCIL

D R . I LIAS K OUSKOUVELIS HAD A BRIEF TALK WITH ALL DELEGATES .

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On yesterday’s session of the Security Council, the professor in charge, Dr. Ilias Kouskouvelis, had a brief talk with all delegates. Delegates shortly introduced themselves, while Mr. Kouskouvelis pointed out that the major issue that has to be dealt with is preservation of peace and security. All parts agreed that this has to be achieved and all countries should commit themselves towards this goal, the five great ones in particular. The right of veto was also dis-

cussed, as well as articles of the UN Charter that invest the Council with specific powers. The formal part was completed with the rules of procedure. Then, it was time for delegates to present their talents: musicians and Tichu addicts detected!

North Atlantic Council was gathered yesterday to settle down the main topics that are going to be discussed during the following sessions. NATO this year is going to face two very important and crucial topics in its agenda. The first agenda topic refers to NATO, civil protection and the future perspectives and the second one refers to the evolving relationship between NATO and Asia.

mocritus University of Thrace, who mainly focused on the second agenda topic. He underlined the fact that the new powers of economics affect the politics and that international institutions represent the new world. He also stated that the Americans are not capable to act on their own, which leads us to the conclusion of his speech: “there is a great deal of need for global governance”. The committee session ended with the rules of procedure given by the Board.

ATLANTIC COUNCIL

This year, NAC hosted Dr. Sotiris Serbos, lecturer at De-

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COMMITTEE OF THE

In the 3rd committee, the Emirata Professor of Law in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Zoe PapassiopiPassia, gave an introductory speech on the topic of refugees and their rights. Mentioning the need for distinction between refugees, stateless people and immigrants, she pointed out that only the two first categories are protected by the UN Refugee Agency. Concerning the case of unaccompanied children crossing international borderlines, she

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underscored that the aforementioned should be treated firstly and fore-mostly as children. The need to broaden the Geneva Convention, dating back to 1951, in order to include to the definition of the term "refugee", categories such as environmental refugees and women whose basic rights are violated on their home countries, was one of the most interesting parts of Dr. Passia's speech.

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The committee of the Council of Europe gathered early yesterday afternoon for their initial Session. Right after the very warm greeting of the delegates by the Committee’s Board, Mrs Kalliopi Kainoglou, Professor at Panteion University, who was also present, delivered a very enlightening speech concerning the two topic areas: “strengthening the rule of law as far as children and the internet are concerned”, and “the protection of personal data in

web related activities”. Afterwards the Chairs (Ayman Koseoglu, Vicky Panagiotopoulou and Andreas Papazoglou) introduced themselves revealing not only their names, age and occupation, but also whether they are single or not! After the roll call (in which three countries were absent), the delegates introduced themselves as well, and in the end Ayman briefly explained the rules of procedure to the delegates.

F IND ALL PHOTOS ON WWW . FACEBOOK . COM / T HESSISMUN D AILY N EW S 2012

Λεζάντα που περιγράφει την εικόνα ή το γραφικό.

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HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL The first day for Human Rights Council has come to an end and everything went smoothly. Dr. Nikos Zaikos, assistant professor in International Law in the University of Western Macedonia, introduced in a great way the two themes that are going to be discussed in the next days. He explained that with the term “human rights” we mean all kinds of relationships between the Individual and the State, in order to

avoid confusion. Furthermore, he emphasized that each country has a double goal,

firstly, to protect the notion of the state’s interest and secondly, to participate in an

international forum in order to solve particular problems. However responsibil-

ity, good faith and cooperation are needed in order to make recommenda-

tions and adopt decisions and resolutions, seeing that arrogance would simply deteriorate any situation. After Dr. Nikos Zaikos’ informative speech, Chairs explained the whole process, clarified the rules and the procedures of the sessions. In the end, the delegates introduced themselves and the countries they represent.

L E C OMITÉ POUR L ’ ÉLIMINATION DE LA DISCRIMINATION A L ’ ÉGARD DES F EMMES

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AMIS FRANCOPHONES !

Le Comité pour l’élimination de la discrimination a l’égard des Femmes, s’est reuni en cette première journée en ayant pour objectif de répondre à toutes les questions procédurales et en général préparer le mieux possible le débat formel, qui va s’inaugurer jeudi dans la matinée. Monsieur Goussios, professeur au Département des Études Internationales et Européennes à l’Université du Pirée, a pris la parole et après avoir souhaité la bienvenue à tous les experts et au

bureau du comité, il a fait un tour d’horizon relatif à ce qui passe à Malte et en Ouganda, deux pays avec des particularités très intéressantes en ce qui concerne la place des femmes dans leur société.

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SECURITY COUNCIL

During the first committee gathering Chairs and delegates presented themselves and talked about their studies and interests. The Chairs of the Historical Security Council Mister George Xenokratis and Miss Maria Karali introduced the Council Mr. George Kyriakopoulos, who is a lecturer in Law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Mr Kyriakopoulos talked about his MUN experience and thanked the staff for

its excellent work, considering the preparation of study guide. To begin with,

June,1950 an what would have been if alternative solutions have been taken about

he claimed that in the Historical Security Council delegates will discuss about what happened in 25th of

Korea issue. Mr. Kyriakopoylos mentioned “what is really interesting with the Historical Security Council session

ECOSOC

is the opportunity to create alternative formations of the regime, despite the strict historical content with its specific state interests and alliances. It will be really interesting to see how the delegations will react facing a crisis that does not exist in reality.” After mentioning the main purposes of the historical council, Mr. Kyriakopoylos and Mr. Xenokratis continued with explaining some important points of the United Nations procedure.

“I T WILL BE REALLY

The First day of the 11th ThessISMUN found ECOSOC more than ready to deal with this year’s agenda. Tackling money laundering via regulating financial services of tax havens (topic B) and the risks posed by the nuclear energy in the sustainable development of the environment topic A), are the two issues that are going to be disc u s s e d . ECOSOC was deeply honoured to host Mr. Stavros Katsios, once again, as the opening speaker. The associ-

ate professor of Ionian University, pleased as he was to share his knowledge on Economic and Social Science, stressed out the urgent importance of dealing the money laundering issue, drawing also to the delegates the path that having the bank secrecy system under consideration and through international unity, a solution may be found.

INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THE DELEGATIONS WILL REACT FACING A CRISIS THAT DOES NOT EXIST IN REALITY .”

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Ti voglioooo beeene assaaaaaaiiiii!!!!!