1

• Editorial

• UN news center headlines

• Climate Change in Copenhagen

• Committee reports

• Chair Charts

• Commun secrets!

• Party time!

2

EDITORIAL:

Dear muners!

It’s the second day of the conference, first day

of debates…. First-timers what do you think?

Switching form moderated to unmoderated

caucuses, making sure that there is always at

least one speaker on the speakers’ list, signing

draft resolutions, trying to get all your points

heard is definitely a hands on job! But keep up

the good work! The journalists are watching

you! And they have a few comments to make

in their reports…. But above all you must par-

ticipate, contribute and make a difference!

This edition has a little bit more gossip into it.

(social nights always seem to reveal little or

even bigger secrets!). At this point I would

like to thank ALL my spies for raising their

antennas and literally flooding me with this

kind of information! For answers to the posed

questions you will have to wait for the third

edition of uncommun news!

See you soon!

Headlines from the UN news Center:

• Ban Ki-Moon deplores deaths in Kyrgyzstan pro-

tests, appeals again for calm and dialogue.

• Ban Ki-Moon completes Central Asia Visit; Calls

for resolution of disputes over water and energy.

• United Nations encourages dialogue among Suda-

nese on Eve of elections.

• Ban Ki-Moon reiterates world’s firm commitment

to secure justice for victims of genocide

• DR Congo: life slowly returning to normal in

Mbandaka after deadly violence.

CLIMATE CHANGE IN COPENHAGEN CLIMATE CHANGE IN COPENHAGEN CLIMATE CHANGE IN COPENHAGEN CLIMATE CHANGE IN COPENHAGEN

Climate change is one of the biggest environ-

mental issues of our days. It has evolved into the

largest economic and social crisis in human history.

Global warming as an effect of climate change has

affected our everyday lives. It has created numerous

problems for our health but also has a negative ef-

fect on human activities such as agriculture and tourism

whilst it has degraded our natural environment with the

augmentation of the number of fires and incidents of sea

pollution. Some basic facts everyone should know about

climate change are:

• The cost of damages provoked by climate change is

over 125 billion dollars every year .

• More than 325 million people are affected by climate

changes.

• More than 35 thousand European citizens were killed in

central Europe in 2003 due to un-precedent heat

waves.

The first step came with the debate and voting of the

Kyoto protocol. The European Union was a firm supporter

and took immediate action. The Union set the bar of 20%

reduction of its green house gases and promised to raise it to

30% if their initiatives where followed by the other countries

with the highest emission rates.

In Copenhagen, after ten days of anchored consulta-

tions, the result was an agreement without a specific target and

no mandatory force. The Pact does not include legally binding

targets. Neither 'politically binding' conditions. Thus it seems

that each country acts as it chooses neglecting the directives of

the previous agreements.

The capitalist way of thinking, producing and consum-

ing has proven to be more powerful. More powerful than the

voices of those stressing the need for radical changes to take

place in our society. The repercussions of the decisions of the

world leaders will come to haunt us in the future.

By Dimitris Konstantinidis

3

1st Committee

The topic area discussed during the first

committee’s sessions was the demilitarization of

the Arctic. During the

sessions, there were many

interesting points and mo-

tions proposed which

were voted and discussed

thoroughly. Among them,

we could point out the

answer of the USA’s

delegate to China’s dele-

gate who supported that

Arctic is “terra nullus”.

Actually, the USA’s dele-

gate responded almost

immediately that the Arctic is sea and not

“terra” and should be treated like sea. On the

other hand, France’s delegate proposed the idea

that the Arctic is really a

sea but should be treated

with a “terra” regime in

order to create the ideal

conditions for overall

growth and prosperity. Fur-

thermore, a phrase that

must have remained well in

the mind of all delegates is

when the Russian Federa-

tion’s delegate supported

that “what belongs to eve-

ryone belongs to everyone

and what belongs to the

3rd Committee

The 3rd committee started with 63 dele-

gates present. The committee decided to begin

by working on topic area A “Elimination of ra-

cism racial discrimination xenophobia and re-

lated intolerance”. The delegates of the commit-

tee were decisive, energetic and the dialog be-

tween countries was definitely effective despite

the fact that some delegates were out of context some

times . The speaker’s list was used but also several

moderate and unmoderated caucuses took place. The

issues discussed were the mechanisms of elimination

of racism, the causes of racism, religious discrimina-

tion and racial discrimination . The most energetic

delegates were France, Lebanon, Denmark ,China,

Spain, Syria, Ghana, U.S.A. Memorable phrases

used by delegates:delegate of Denmark : “ Society is

something alive , it has a soul’’ delegate of Germany “

Society has individuals as well” delegate of Latvia: “

The problem is the same , the way you should deal

with it is different” By Angeliki Biti

2nd Committee

The morning session of the second commit-

tee started at 9.17 (I actually looked at my watch

just to make sure we were

“on time”) and the Finan-

cial Crisis was to be dis-

cussed first. “Delegates

should give a shot at all

possible solutions in order

to actually save the world

from the global crisis”

stated the delegate of the

U.S.A. Although the dis-

cussion many times was

out of order and “lost” its

main theme, the second

committee was the first one to give its drafts,

which was a great success! “Conflicts” weren’t

absent throughout the discussions. However they

had a peaceful ending

- or that seems to be

the case… (e.g. Vene-

zuela – U.S.A.). What

is worth mentioning is

that the unmoderated

caucuses were more

than six and the mod-

erated one’s over 5, in

some cases we had

more than two exten-

sions! During the un-

moderated caucuses

the delegates formed

groups, such as the European Countries, in order

to work together and get better results. Delegates

spoke about the financial status of their countries

and constantly stated that they need “to solve the

huge problem of Financial Crisis”. However, it

seems that no effective solution can be found even

in the perfect world of a U.N. simulation!

By Fillipia Cheilitsi

1st Committee

2nd Committee

3rd Committee

4

Human Rights Council

During today’s Session, the 42 Delegates of the Council presented the current situation of their

countries, as well as the problems which remain to be solved, concerning water recourses. The fact

that nowadays people are killing each other over water was emphasized by the Delegate of Egypt.

The vivid discussion that followed focused on the significance of water management. Among the

most active members during the session were China, Cameroon, Russia and USA, with many other

countries following. The order of the session was disturbed when China, referring to the wars in Af-

ghanistan and Iraq, addressed the USA and asked rhetorically “Did you think about the right to water

back then?”. Following, the Delegates made comments on the three working papers of the first topic

area, presented by People’s Republic of China, Russia and U.S.A respectively. One of the interesting

arguments came from the Delegate of Netherlands “Water costs nothing for those with everything

and everything for those with nothing.” By Athina Tsakalidou

ECOSOC

Although the opening ceremony started late, Commit-

tee activities and debate started on time. After a vote

Topic Area A “Climate Change Conference in Copen-

hagen” seemed to be the topic which concerns the ma-

jority of the delegates. The Speaker’s List was large,

fact that proves the willingness of the delegates to ex-

press the goals and the concerns of their countries.

During the sessions it was obvious that developing

countries, and especially those in Africa, were deter-

mined to find a solution. As Rwanda said: “Developed

countries should help developing and small countries

with money and technology for reducing their emis-

sions”. On the other hand the delegation of Canada

mentioned: “It’s time for action” and France pointed out that “it’s important for a control system for

the goals of reducing the emissions to be set up”. The passion of the delegates was so intense that

they didn’t even want to take a break for lunch and the chair threatened to lock them in! The most

difficult part for the delegates was to decide which coalition should they merge with and they

changed their opinion a lot of times! A couple of working papers have been proposed during the third

session, which have been discussed from the delegates. We are now expecting the final drafts…

By Maria Katsigianni

Security Council

The SC’s session started with two absences: the delegate of Turkey came at 10:00 whereas

the delegate of Russian Federation came at 11:38, and informed the chair that he was delayed be-

cause he actually burnt himself!

After almost 6 hours of session and after the

Secretary General intervened, by explaining the

non-state actors definition and clarifying that ter-

rorism and piracy are out of context, the SC came to

the conclusion that all its previous discussions

were in vain! The chair of the Security Council re-

assured them that this is not the case. The presence

o f B o s n i a - Herzegovina and Turkey became

more active try- ing to calm their partner-

delegates. The delegates were initially focused

on the United States definition of non-state ac-

tors which in- cludes terrorism and piracy

whereas the UN’s definition does not. While the Security Council was trying to find the way to a

debate breaking news reported a military invasion in Nigeria from the Republic of Niger. During

the session the most remarkable presences were those of Japan, Gabon, Turkey and Russian Fed-

eration. Some advice from this reporter: Delegates try to follow the rules of procedure as indicated

by the chairs and PLEASE speak more clearly! By Valia Meletiou

ECOSOC

Security Council

5

Council of Europe

To begin with what MUST be mentioned is the fact

that this is the first Committee of CoE ever held in the

history of MUN globally.

Even though the first session of the Committee of

the CoE started with a little delay due to technical prob-

lems, the voices that were heard were representative of the

real ThessISMUN! At the beginning of the session the

Secretary General “advised” the delegates to always be on

time if they do not want to be “punished” by making them

eat so many sweets that they will burst! A “good excuse”

was the lack of signs leading to the Committee room!

Agenda Topic Area B, “The domestic violence against women and children” was discussed first. The

President of the Committee after hearing many country positions insisted that delegates propose prac-

tical solutions rather than simply mention their national guidelines. The German delegation stressed

that Germany is not willing to fund the measures that are going to be implemented and that practical

solutions need to be taken into consideration in order to prevent the problems of today and also avoid

those in the long run. Two working papers have been submitted: one from Finland and one from

Monaco. By Chrysoula Kachramanou

N.A.C

First day of negotiations for the North Atlantic Coun-

cil and today' s topic was "Strategic-level policy for prevent-

ing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and de-

fending against chemical, biological radiological and nuclear

threats". In general, all the delegations agreed that measures

against terrorism and the proliferation of WMDs should be

taken immediately and appeared more than willing to coop-

erate towards this direction. Countries like Greece and Lux-

embourg stressed that attention should be concentrated on

the roots of terrorism, while others proposed the cooperation

between intelligence information services among the coun-

tries, as well as with NGOs.

The debate almost derailed when Slovenia referred to FYROM as "Macedonia", but the dele-

gate immediately rephrased. The first unmoderated caucus resulted in the preparation of two working

papers and gave the opportunity to some delegates to keep up with the latest news on...facebook!!!

After lunch, and to everyone' s relief , the two working papers were successfully merged into one.

When asked to comment on this, the delegation of Norway briefly stated: "NATO? Working paper?

Gooooood!!!" All in all, today's negotiations were fruitful, despite the nervousness of a certain dele-

gate who did not stop tapping annoyingly their feet throughout the whole session. This reporter also

appreciates the willingness of certain delegations to reveal “false” rumours about "intimate allian-

cies" created between members of the Council. Stay tuned for more news during the next days!

By Maro Lazarou

The journalist team proudly presents to you...your chairs! But instead of a conventional inter-

view we thought of presenting them with a …..twist! Enjoy!

The questions posed were:

1. Do you prefer being a delegate or a chair?

2. Debate all day long or social events?

3. Would you bend the rules?

4. Do you consider that the delegates are more prepared this year?

5. Do you believe that the delegates are over-dressed?

The answers follow…..

Council of Europe

NAC

6

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Both Chair Delegate

No (23,8%)

Yes (66,7%)

Abstain (9.5%)

Yes 85,7%

No 14,3

No 71,4

Yes 28,6

Debates-day/ v.

social events /night…

Totally different but debates

seem to have the league!

Debates till we drop dead!

Michalis Dekastros

Council of Europe

Being a chair or a delegate

is a true dilemma but

some answers we received

were disturbing!

Chair!

(I love feeling powerful!)

Iliana Lantzou

3rd Committee

Abstain Both Debates Social Events

Some pretending to be cautious and

others definitely abusing power!

Depends ….

Erifyli Nomikou 2nd Committee

I would, I will and I already have!

Crhistos Kyriakopoulos SC

We are so happy when delegates

are prepared!

Yes my delegates are amazing!

Electra Tsakalidou 1st Committee

They are so prepared I wish

ThessISMUN was the real MUN...

Nemanja Grigic Deputy SG

No comment!

Fashion police, many arrests!

Gina Kosmidou 3rd Committee

Some of the girls always are!

Thecla-Christina Zacharia SG

7

ThessisMUN is not only the debates, the resolution or etc etc etc…..

ThessisMUN is the way in which each one can observe the REALITY…….

You asked for it, so here it is!

Here are questions in a general way to test the observation skills of our future

diplomats…..

1. Which ambassador showed us her wonderful (from the bottom until the ''top'')

legs during her speech in the opening ceremony?

2. Which ambassador showed us how familiar he is with a microphone, as our

singers in bouzoukia????

3. Which ambassador could not walk at all with her ''high-limited'' shoes?? (If

you can't, you have to wear flip-flops)….

4. Who are the delegates that from the very first day implemented the policy of

making love and not war?

5. Why did a delegate ask the assistance of another delegate during his toilet

procedure?

6. Who was the delegate (lady) that forgot the existence of underwear? (When

we wear a dress, my fellow delegate, we have to wear everything under it).

7. Last but not least, we open the floor for any unemployed ''teachers'' since

there are many vacancies… Eh, my little student????

8. International affairs seem to becoming more and more internal affairs…..!

Answers (only by the first letter of the Country):

1. C

2. B

3. L

4. P + N

5. …..+…..?????

6. C

7. G

8. U By the Twin Brother

It’s good to see drafts flowing in

the computer room… even if

they are possible ones!

8