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 From June 9th until June 12th, 2009 more than 500 students from several countries in Europe assembled in Oldenburg again in order to take part in the 9th session of the Oldenburg Model United Nations (OLMUN) Conference. The topic of this year's session was: OLMUN 2009 – Mankind between Greed and Responsibility.
Delegates from Turkey, the Czech Republic, Austria, the USA and Germany worked in different committees on the topics of disarmament, human rights, environment, problems of international security and current issues in order to draft, discuss and revise resolutions for the General Assembly, which – as in the past years – took place in the Weser Ems Halle.
Students from the Neues Gymnasium took part as delegates representing Pakistan and South Africa.
Two guest speeches were of particular interest. In the opening ceremony on Tuesday Mr Peter Wahl from the World Economy, Ecology and Development Organization (WEED) held a very intriguing speech on the financial crisis, its structure and causes and its aftermaths on the real economy. On Wednesday Mr Aaron Sagui, spokesman of the Israeli embassy in Berlin, was invited to the Human Rights Committee, where he presented the Israeli view on the political situation in the Middle East in general and the Gaza strip in particular.
As in the years before, the Neues Gymnasium hosted one of the eight committees, enjoying the presence of English-speaking delegates in their professional attire. The delegates of the 1st Committee of the General Assembly (Disarmament and International Security Committee)
discussed the topic of "Ensuring a safe and proliferation-resistant access and use of nuclear energy with special focus on developing countries"
The following students from our school (all in all 17 students!) were involved in OLMUN 2009:
Elise-Marie Dilger, Alina Müller-Ruge, Marie-Christin Süykers, Eileen Twenhövel (10c), Jana Antonczik, Birthe Juist, Ann-Dominique Scheiber, Isabell Strauß (year 12). These students took part as delegates.
Helen Hespen, Greta Meyer and Jana Vöcking (11a) were members of the Inner Circle, the organizing committee of OLMUN.
Julisha Dierks, Sarah Jabali, Melina Keller, Frauke Reil (9b) and Meinert Leinigen (11b) helped organizing the OLMUN as technical and administrative staff.
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The following speech was held by one of our students, Birthe Juist, in the Security Council, which dealt with "The Situation in the Afghan-Pakistani Border Region".
Honorable Chairs,
Distinguished Members of the Security Council,
Thank you for giving us, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the chance to speak to you today.
We are deeply concerned about the situation in our border region to Afghanistan.
Since the beginning of the Operation Enduring Freedom, we have supported the United Nations and especially the United States of America in their “war on terror”.
It is difficult for us to fight in our own country, but it was necessary! Over the last years the Taliban and the Al Qaida have managed to increase their influence in the north of our country. Guided by our religion, the Islam, we feel the challenge between following the Koran and dissociate our nation from the goals of the fundamentalists.
In the first place, the government tried to find a settlement with the Taliban and to keep the conflict non-violent. We allowed the northern regions to establish the Sharia as their law. In consequence, there was no better dialogue but more aggressive Talibans. On the horizon we saw the danger that the instability under which Afghanistan suffers would sweep over to our nation. Therefore it was necessary to act. In the end of April, we were certain, that the only possible answer to the actions of the Taliban was to start a military offensive.
Our main targets in the first place were the training camps of the Taliban in the Peuchar region. We tried to conquer back the capital of the Swat Valley, Mingora. The actions spread to other regions such as the Buner Valley. Our military actions were absolutely necessary to stop the Taliban's increasing influence on other parts of the country and the approach to the capital. During the fights in Mingora we were engaged in street battles and house-to-house fighting. Our army was taking great care to avoid civilian casualties and we finally succeeded in reconquering the main city of Swat Valley and in driving the Taliban out of the region.
We are able to defend our country against intruders ourselves. We feel offended by the actions of foreign military taking place in our area. The US bombing of Taliban camps on our soil was interfering with our sovereignty.
We are not in need of military aid but of humanitarian support. The fights took place in populated areas, the inhabitants had to be displaced. There are now over 2 millions refugees who depend on aid to survive. We are facing a humanitarian crisis. Within the Pakistani population, there is readiness to help the displaced. This generous assistance is to be appreciated but is not sufficient. There is need for more financial help from the world. If we could manage to support the refugees and improve the living standards of the Pakistani people, the Taliban would have more difficulties to find support and backing from the people.
We appeal to the Members of the Security council to draft a resolution that helps the people in Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan. We recommend quick help for better living conditions for the refugees. A military solution of this problem is not sustainable, the only sustainable measure is the improvement of the standard of living of the region.
Thank you for your attention.
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Enjoy the following photo from OLMUN 2009
We are looking forward to OLMUN 2010!
Armin Kuhn (MUN director)
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