Opening Ceremony
MILMUN Chronicle 2012 May 15th, 2012
MILMUN NewsOpening Ceremony, Council of the European Union, ECOSOC, Security Council, Human Rights Council, International Court of Justice
PAGES 2 -8 PAGES 9 -11 PAGE 12
Interview MUNDouble Interview to Ana-Patricia Vlad and Daliana Luca.aMUsemeNtPictures, Games and Social Events
Letters To all of you, a special letter addressed to MILMUN participants from the President of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.
Opening Ceremony
So here it comes: Another edition of MilMun is officially
open! Congrats to all the participants that are going
to attend one of the most successful student confer-
ences. We hope you had no difficulties travelling to Milan and
enjoyed the first day at the conference.
The opening ceremony left quite a good feeling and stimulated
the students to participate in the debates. The topic chosen
for the event is surprisingly of a very current interest: “Facing
global challenges:new solutions to old problems”. It is very
important to hear the voice of each one of the 135 participants
for the issues faced in this year MUN.
The speaking guests showed a great interest in the conference
and also gave an extreme urgency to looking for a solution to
the problems debated. Among the speakers there two were
professors of Bocconi and Cattolica Universities: prof. Carlo
Altomonte and prof. Ernesto Ugo Savona, as well as prof. Flavio
Ortu, dean of international affairs. In addition, the conference
was animated by three passionate individuals that devoted lots
of time and effort so that MilMun 2012 could be a great oppor-
tunity to discuss global issues. They are: Daliana Luca, Ana- Pa-
tricia Vlad and Victor Mylonas. Their speeches determined the
flow of the Conference as well as the mood of the students.
The ceremony took place in the Aula Magna of Bocconi Uni-
versity, as the whole Conference is based here. After having
hosted MilMun for 7 subsequent editions, Bocconi showed its
devotion and interest in developing the culture of associations
of young people. A great part of delegates is Italian and en-
rolled in Bocconi. Other countries represented here are: Croa-
tia, Germany, Greece, Poland, Romania,Slovakia, Serbia, Mont
enegro,Pakistan,India,Russia, Spain, USA, Moldova, Indonesia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bangladesh. A quite interesting
mixture of developed and developing countries is represented
here, all of great potential to give fundamental contribution to
the discussion flow.
In terms of style, I should say, every participant took the dress
code seriously and it felt like being at the real UN. Female
participants wore either dresses or suites and the males looked
very professional in front of the president. Although formal,
the atmosphere was very friendly: students enjoyed them-
selves talking to each other, meeting new people. Though the
ceremony was delayed for half an hour, the inconvenient did
not spoil the mood.
In the next five days, students from different countries and
backgrounds are going to meet each other and participate in
the interesting, long debates full of worldwide issues, to which
the solution can be tricky. There are six committees (Council of
European Union, European Court of Justice and International
Court of Justice, International Monetary Fund, Un Economic
and Social Council, UN Human Rights Council, UN Security
Council and of course us, MilMun Chronicle News, that will al-
ways keep you updated on everything that is happening inside
and outside the 2012 MilMun) . Each committee has two main
topics to be discussed for the whole week.
In conclusion, a warm “thank you” must be given to organizers
and speakers of the ceremony.
Let us make this Model United Nations unforgettable and focus
on the global issues so we could all make this world a better
place to live in!
Maria Solovyeva , The Economist
MILMUN is officially open!
On Monday, May 14th Bocconi
University hosted the open-
ing cerimony of the 7th Edi-
tion of Milan Model of United Nations.
It is going to be a tough week for the
delegates who will be involved in heated
debates and will have to draft by the end
of this week a complete resolution on
the topics discussed.
Eight years ago, Milmun started as
a group of few people full of wishes
and hope. Today, 135 students from
all over the globe, are representing 24
countries,including Indonesia, Spain and
the Usa.
Given that Bocconi University, one of
the strongest examples of the Italian
academic system, is the main supporter
of the conference, Milmun has catched
the eye of many institutions.
The European Commission has shown a
big interest in the initiative and appreci-
ated the work done in the previous years
and the President of the Italian Republic
has also recognized Milmun as an high
quality intercultural experience.
The opening ceremony has been charac-
terized by the speech of many notable
figures in the academic and European
context.
According to Carlo Altomonte, Associate
Professor of Economics at Bocconi Uni-
versity, Milmun is a key to the formation
of students who need to get used to face
continuously challenges and problems.
He suggests to stay close to facts and
analytics and try to fully understand a
problem before giving a judgments .
From his point of views it is going to be
challenging for delegates to behave as
leaders, use communication skills at their
greatest extent and convince other del-
egates that their solution is the one to be
adopted. Milmun is all about developing
hard skills (technical qualities) and soft
skills (interaction with others) and merge
the two of them. He concluded saying
that ‘It is a good training for becoming
better people and better citizens`.
Patricia Vlad, Conference Manager , ef-
ficiently compared taking part to Milmun
to the process of building a big house:
the foundations have already been given
by the ExCom, but it is up to the partici-
pants to raise the walls and fill it with
internal decorations, which stand for the
memories and friendships that will never
fade. Victor Mylonas, Secretary General
and many times delegate and chair, was
really passionate in expressing his point
of view. As he said, the United Nation
models and life can teach you that it is
when you are the most frustrated that
you reach the best solutions, as long as
you are dynamically facing the difficulty.
The key concept of being a successful
delegate is to come up with new solu-
tions for old problems.
Ernesto Ugo Savona, Professor at Cat-
tolica University, provided a slightly dif-
ferent point of view. He had been invited
to the opening ceremony by one of his
students and declared that the initiative
opened his eyes to something new he
did not know about. He seemed really
impressed to see young people dealing
with extremely up-to-date problems.
All the speakers managed to convey
their positive attitude and impatience
to start but a touch of commotion was
added to the ceremony by the letter of
the President of the Italian Republic, who
was well informed of nature of the con-
ference and was impressed by the work
done so far.
The expectations for this Milmun 2012
are high, but delegates, chair persons
and staff members seem to possess
enough enthusiasm not to disappoint the
beliefs.
Lorella Verrocchi, Le Monde D.
Opening Ceremony
Expectation and Commitment at the Official Opening Ceremony
Council of the European Union
The council of European Union of Milan Model United
Nations met and finally the debate started.
The topic discussed in the CEU was “Horizon 2020”
and the delegates argued animatedly about the best way to
invest the 80 billion euros that EU has provided.
The representatives of countries had many great ideas, but the
most interesting were: creating new jobs, finding alternatives
to scarce and non-renewable resources, digital market and al-
location of money. Moreover they discussed about innovation
in technologies and climate changing.
It is a huge amount of money that needs to be used in an
intelligent way so that the economy of the Europe and of the
whole world can take new oxygen to go come out of the crisis.
For these reasons it is easy to imagine that delegates of each
country would express their opinion and the discussion has
become intense.
Three principal groups of countries were formed, each one
with its one aim.
On one side Germany, Spain, Denmark and The Netherlands
thought that money should be used to create jobs for young
people and for the reconversion of the skills of older ones. In
fact nowadays people can’t think to have only one type of job
in their whole carrier, as they need to adapt themselves to the
necessity of the enterprise in a specific moment.
On the other side France, Greece, Portugal and the United
Kingdom wanted to privilege the idea of filling the gap with
other nations, such as United States, and decreasing the
budget deficit that a lot of countries bear. Therefore they
preferred to pay attention to innovation in technology and
in science, and so they have proposed to improve the digital
market for the distribution of knowledge throughout Internet.
Finally Malta criticized the bigger countries and it reminded the
delegates that also the ideas of smaller countries and develop-
ing ones should be respected.
Overall the majority of the delegates agreed about one point:
climate is changing, the glaciers are melting and the power of
hurricanes is growing, so humanity has to pay a greater atten-
tion to these issues, reducing the use of oil, coal and gas and
increasing that of solar panels, wind energy and hydropower
for a cleaner world.
Alessandro Allegri, Bild
How to Spend € 80 Billion?
MILMUN participants during the debatePhoto courtesy of Vincent Klaas
Matilde C.Q. and Tulia G. raise their placards during one of the debates.
Photo courtesy of Ivanelyia Dimitrova
ECOSOC
Today, May 14th 2012 the first debate of ECOSOC for
the MILMUN conference was held in Bocconi. The
topic discussed were the environmental protection
and economic development.
The debates were intense and really interesting for what con-
cerns China’s interest in the subject.
The beginning of the debate has been marked by the interven-
tion of two different views about the developing countries. The
two parties were in disagree for what concerns the approach
that the committee should take towards the developing coun-
tries indeed.
From that argument though, the discussion moved rapidly to a
whole new idea of a new committee proposed by China.
China representative made her points clear from the very
beginning of the debate and, by the end of it, she managed
how to gain the approval of a large amount of countries that
followed her lead in writing a draft paper.
The group, now comprehensive of China, France, Turkey, Chile,
Switzerland, Spain, Russia, Netherland, Japan, Ukraine, Italy,
Bulgaria and Argentina, suggests the creation of a committee in
order to address the issue of sustainable development through
various means.
It stresses the importance of globalization in order to provide
developing countries with technological innovation through
communication and transparency. The group of delegates
intend to do so by introducing technological advances in less
developed countries on behalf of developed ones such as the
USA, Japan, and the UK; it plans to organize annual confer-
ences in order to establish transparency between all nations
as a mean to avoid the repetition of the failed negotiations
observed within the past agreements; last but not least, it sug-
gests multilateral cooperation policies at international level.
The draft proposes to increase public awareness concerning
sustainability with the use of bottom-top approach through,
for example, teachers without borders, existing NGO’S such as
Green Peace and pamphlets, commercials, and brochures.
It proposes the implementation of a program that creates
roadmaps for companies’ further instructing methods of ensur-
ing sustainable development, aiming to reduce pollution and
Co2 emissions and it also supports the drafting of an accurate
analysis of the costs concerning the implementation of these
programs.
The draft also requests the financial support from willing
NGO’s, World Bank, IMF and willing nations and requires the
establishment of world wide indicators in order to measure
the efforts to foster sustainable development of the member
states; these indicators should take into account the financial
resources or possibilities of each country.
It intends to respect the autonomy and national sovereignty
within each nation and understands that none of these strate-
gies shall be imposed, but rather warmly suggested.
The slightly personal attack of Brazil towards China and the
United States regarding the Kyoto Protocol has been fully
responded to by the representatives of China and France but
the delegate has kept on picking on the fact that the paper
suggested by China is to be considered irrelevant, raising the
disapproval of the participating countries.
The delegation of Pakistan concluded the debate reminding the
objectives of the ECOSOC committee.
The committee is meeting tomorrow morning to further dis-
cuss the topic and develop the drafts papers.
Marta Grassi, People’s Daily China
Draft Resolutions on the Way
Security Coucil
The 14th of May was the day in which 2012 MILMUN
officially started, and all the previous effort and
research from the delegates and the members of the
chair staff started paying back. Some very important debates
took place, marking a great beginning. One of these debates
was the Security Council conference. The main topic was com-
bating global conflict and banding sexual violence. The second
topic was the containment of weapon stocks.
The USA representative began by saying that the Council
should regulate the weapon market and control all the major
dictatorships. The Russian Federation accused the US of selling
weapons to Bahrain, while Guatemala proposed collaborations
with countries such as Pakistan and Azerbaijan which could
lead towards a solution. Germany stated that the key issue is
the ownership and selling of illegal weapons. South Africa Rep-
resentative said that lines must be drawn between legal and
illegal weapons and that in many countries, weapons are a vital
part of everyday life. Also, the Chinese representative added
that the International Forum could be used as a useful tool.
The next statement, coming from the USA representative, was
the one that really heated the discussion. He said that the del-
egates should do not just discuss and propose, but take action
and come up with fruitful solutions. As he clearly stated “We
don’t just need a solution. We need THE solution.” He added
that Libya can be used as an example, and that we should, at
whatever cost, avoid a new Gheddafi. He also stated that illegal
weapons are of no harm and are strictly used by people who
are qualified and use them from self-protection. The Colum-
bian representative reacted and said that the USA representa-
tive’s statement is deeply hypocritical. There is no difference
between legal and illegal weapons. They are in any case lethal
and built to cause harm, so much more actions must be taken.
Moving on, the representative of Morocco proposed that the
guns are tagged and that, in this way, they can be identified
at any time. This proposition received a warm welcome from
pretty much every other representative. The UK representative
also added that this should be done in a worldwide climax, and
Germany fully supported that statement. The US representa-
tive added that, at the moment, there is a lack of coopera-
tion between the weapon industries and this is enlarging the
problem.
On the other hand, Guatemala set the basis for a much wider
discussion, saying that the Council should not just propose
solutions but also think why this situation has gone so far.
The Russian representative stated that a great portion of the
problem can be solved by the right intelligence. Information is
power, so a common framework should be organized in order
to achieve that information gathering, while the UK added that
it is mostly a problem of culture and education.
To heat up even more the situation, the USA representative
made a private statement to the press saying that “We are not
satisfied about the state of the work of this Commission, be-
cause we believe that some nations which are selling weapons
to the Middle-East and to African states are trying to underrate
this issue.”
Overall, it was a pretty tense and interesting first day, and it
seems that we are in for a very interesting and fruitful confer-
ence.
Kantoglou Konstantinos, Al-Jarizah.
How the SC Started Off Its Work
Human Rights Council
It cannot be but a common belief the fact that water is
important and indispensible for human beings. This is a sub-
ject always mentioned and discussed but only a few times
a real and applicable solution to solve the problem is proposed
despite the relevance of the matter. Quoting Malaysia: “we
need to substitute words with facts” and that’s exactly what
today’s Human Rights Council tried to do discussing the right to
have access to water.
Congo’s opinion is that all countries should work together on
how to implement infrastructures that allow people to have
access to water sources. Like almost all the other nations the
country was deeply concerned about how to get funds as great
expenditures are needed to solve or at least start to address
the problem. As Romania underlined, many countries do not
have enough resources to construct the infrastructures that are
needed to fight the problem. Some of the proposals outlined
(desalination and water pipes) are costly and, as so, few na-
tions can afford them. How can we raise funds? Norway pro-
posed multinationals as no one better than big firms can raise
money. The idea was not shared by many who thought giving
too much power to corporations may not be a good choice.
Governments helped by many other non-governmental organi-
zations should instead collaborate and give the money needed.
Qatar, like many other countries, is particularly touched by
the problem (e.g: 30% of Ecuador population does not have
access to clean water sources) and agreed with Malaysia on its
proposal to have an international forum about this subject in
which all the countries should be divided into groups according
to their needs and problems with water. The forum should
be composed by technicians with a mixed background and
NGOs as observers in order to carry out social and economic
interests. This has probably been one of the most accepted
and shared proposals with few exceptions as the one of Libya.
All the participants to the conference agreed instead upon
concentrating on a system of educating people in a way such
that natural resources should be used in order not to waste
them. That’s what developed countries in particular (which
sometimes do not give this problem the importance it needs)
should do. A solution to the problem and a way to enhance
their awareness may be found in increasing the price people
pay to have access to water.
Water control is also important to avoid simple mistakes that
avoid diseases’ spread.
Legal frameworks should be drafted taking into account the dif-
ferent climates of all the countries which, besides many other
economical and social reasons, may be a cause of problems
regarding water.
Qatar, Bangladesh, Guatemala, India and Libya united with
other nations emphasize the importance of sanitation facilities
stressing on the maintenance of the existing water pipes and
the building of new and necessary access points. Big ideas that
if really pursued may really change many people lives.
Giulia Radice, Al Jazeera
The Water Challenge
Chair’s BriefingPhoto Courtesy of V. Klaas
International and European Court of Justice
The case of order in the MILMUN 2012 first session
of the International Court of Justice has been the
punishment for the crime of genocide that Serbia
is accused of by Croatia. The supposed genocide took place
between 1991 and 1995. An armed movement of unification
of the old Yugoslavia territories, called Yugoslav People’s Army
(JNA), started to be active in Croatia. This led to a conflict that
included population losses, destroyed town and villages, histor-
ical sites, cultural monuments and Catholic churches.
On the 2nd of July 1999, Croatia instituted proceedings before
the International Court of Justice against Serbia for violations
of the 1948 Genocide Convention in the period between 1991
and 1995. Croatia also accused Serbia of doing an “ethnic
cleansing” of Croatian citizens from the Knin region, eastern
and western Slavonia, and Dalmatia as well as extensive prop-
erty destruction. Croatia also stated that Serbia “has an obliga-
tion to pay to Croatia reparations for damages to persons and
property, as well as to the Croatian economy and environment
caused by the foregoing violations of international law in a sum
to be determined by the Court”.
The 15 honourable judges of the Court didn’t agree on the
point made by Serbia when it claimed that it did not sign the
1948 Genocide Convention. Judge Sixto stated that the Court
does not have jurisdiction over the case as Serbia is not bound
by Article IX of the UN Genocide Convention and is not even
a member of the UN Charter. Moreover, referring to a UN
resolution, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) cannot be
considered a successor state of the Socialist Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia (SFRY) under any effect of international law.
On the other hand some other judges defended that the
international law can be applied to Serbia. To defend this posi-
tion, first of all, they referred to customary laws. These are
unwritten laws which have been used for a long time but that,
for being valid, need citizens to know about their existence.
Secondly, they relay on the principle of awareness. Tomorrow
the International Court of Justice will start working on a draft
paper.
Jaume Macià, The New York Times
Disagreement on FRY being the successor of SFRY
Delegates debating. Photo courtesy of Vincent Klaas
Double Interview to Ana-Patricia Vlad and Daliana Luca
What is your name and how old are you?
P I`m Patricia and I`m 21
D I`m Daliana and I`m 22
Which country are you from?
P Romania
D Romania
What’s your position in the MILMUN?
P Conference Manager
D Advisor Board / President
When did you MUN experience start?
D it started 3 years ago.I attended Milmun and Sofimun as a
delegate. Then I parte-
cipated to the Milmun
2011 organization and
I was asked to take the
position of Advisor
Board / President in
Milmun 2012.
P I started in November
2011 and I directly ap-
plied as a Conference
Manager but I first
needed an experience and I actually did two, one in Germany
and one in Greece.
What do you think of Milmun compared to the other Muns
you have done?
D As part of the organization body I can objectivly say Milmun
is way better.
Best memory of MUNs?
P I can’t tell a single best one but surely the strangest experi-
ence was when it happened that there were two chairs in
a Commitee, one with some experience and the other with
none: the Secretary kicked out the experienced one so we
were left with the inexperienced one! Fortunately we didn’t
have any problem.
How do you think the skills developed in Muns will apply to
real life?
D Debating skills and public skills are always necessary. The
hardest skill to develop during Muns is to speak accordingly to
the point of view of a nation that may be completely different
from your own.
P You stop being afraid to talk in front of 200 people and you
understand how to better organize your own ideas.
What do you do when a delegate misbehaves?
D I make him dance or sing a
song.
P I directly talk to him, maybe
with the Secretary, and see
how it works. It is a team
work!
What’s the worst thing you
have done as a delegate?
P Maybe not being well pre-
pared on the topic the debate
is about.
D The other countries got together to strike me off the com-
mittee. Basically they signed a paper to kick me out but fortu-
nately it wasn’t approved!
What do you suggest to new candidates?
D I would tell them to enjoy every moment of it. Work hard
and party harder!
P Prepare! If not you don’t know what to say and you cannot
react when someone says something on which you disagree.
Giulia Radice, Al Jazeera
Lorella Verrocchi, Le Monde Diplomatique
MUN SocialLa Dolce Vita moved from Piazza Navona to Navigli
An Italian band, the Articolo 31, sings: “Milano, sguardo distratto, bacio di ghiaccio; capto frequenza di intolleranza e mancanza di tempo e di vento
intenso, traffico denso. (…) Sei troppo bella per dirti addio, tu chiami e poi noi tutti ubbidiamo; e tra chi nomina il tuo nome invano ci sono anch’io” (English insecure translation: “Milan, inattentive glance, icy kiss; I listen to frequencies of intolerance and lack of time and strong wind, dense traffic. (…) You’re too beautiful to say goodbye to you, you call and then we all obey; and I’m also among those who say your name in vain”). That’s the heart of Milan: it looks like a cold, grey city at first glance but it reveals a strong metropolis which can easily win everyone’s heart in a couple of days. Navigli is certainly part of its charm and it’s on the main of these canals that the so-called Italian night takes place on the second night out of Milmun2012. The peculiar aspect is the all-you-can-eat pizza on the top floor of “La Fabbrica”. Nice place, good pizza, fine litre of wine every
two delegates and splendid company. Honourable delegates, how could you ask for more? Sorry, what are you saying? Oh a faster pizza delivery! Next year, guys, stay tuned.
What’s Going On Tonight?
The official schedule reads “theatre and bar night”: the first entry stands for what we already expect to be an amazing show by the Bocconi International Theatre Group,
performing “Rumours”. The second activity contemplates having a drink or two (or three) (and why not four?) at Iguana, next to the Colonne di San Lorenzo. The meeting points and meeting hours are respectively at 19:45 in Aula Magna in Via Gobbi (same venue as opening ceremony) and at 22:30 in Via Papa Gregorio XIV, 16 (you can reach it by taking tram number 3 until Colonne). After an intense day of serious debates it looks like the perfect “distracting plan”.ED.
Games, Facts and other Stuff
Snapshots of the First Day
Maria S, Konstantinos K., Laura M. and Francesca G, Milmun Chronicle
Photo courtesy of I. Dimitrova
Some of the Delegates at registrationPhotos courtesy of I. Dimitrova
Victor Mylonas, Secretary General
Photos courtesy of I. Dimitrova
MILMUN participants having lunch.
Photo courtesy of V. Klaas
Games, Facts and other Stuff
Language MatchTest your translating abilities
Yesterday’s Game: KeyJust for Delegates
1. John Key and Elizabeth II, New Zealand2. Recep T. Erdogan and Abdullah Gul, Turkey 3. Wen Jiabao and Hu Jintao, China 4. Abdoul Mbaye and Macky Sall, Senegal 5. Oscal Valdés and Ollanta Humala, Perù 6. Elio Di Rupo and Albert II, Belgium 7. Mario Monti and Giorgio Napolitano, Italy 8. Pedro P. Coehlo and A.A. Cavaco Silva, Portugal
City A: ___________________ City B: ___________________
City C: ___________________ City D: ___________________
City E: ___________________
Special Letter from the President of the Republic of Italy
English Translation
Rome, 5th of April 2012
Dear President von Donnersmark,
On behalf of the President of the Republic I would like to
thank You for Your kind letter of the 28th of February, by
which You wanted to inform Our Head of State about the
topics of the Milan International Model United Nation 2012
Conference.
The President Napolitano asked Me to present to You His
appraisal with regards to this important initiative, which
has come to its seventh edition and is intended to promote
cultural exchange on issues of international politics and col-
laboration among peoples.
This project certainly testifies the enthusiasm for interna-
tional organizations that Italy nowadays is in great need
of, especially by the youngest generations, as the Head of
State many times underlined.
Please welcome the warmest greetings of the President of
the Republic, to which I gladly add my personal ones.
Congratulations on an initiative that helps opening the
young people’s minds!
Ambassador Stefano Stefanini
Editor in Chief- Laura MatiCo-Editor- Francesca Ginexi
Journalists:Alessandro Allegri, Bild
Marta Grassi, People’s Daily ChinaJaumé Macià Colomer, The New York Times
Konstantinos Kantoglou, Al JarizahGiulia Radice, Al Jazeera
Lorella Verrocchi, Le Monde Diplomatique
MILMUN Chronicle Team