The Non-Aligned Committee
by Jana Pecikiewicz
When talking about the United Nations, many people forget to mention the Non-Aligned Movement. And this is exactly what the Non-Aligned Movement represents: The countries in the world, that are too often forgotten. The delegates in the HamMUN simulation act as citizens of countries as Sambia or Grenada, which can be an especially difficult task.
Kristin Dickhausen represents Bahrain, an Islamic country with a constitutional monarchy, that could hardly differ more from Germany, where the student comes from. “The opinions are very different from the European ones, so I had to prepare really well. There is not much information on Bahrain accessible.” Kristin from the University of Osnabrück mostly listened to speeches to be prepared for every situation. “It’s a whole new way of learning, but I like challenges”, says Kristin.
The afternoon session is clearly dominated by one big topic, which is the modification of the International Monetary Fund. One block, containing Anti-IMF delegations such as Iran, Erithrea or Vietnam, wants to create a totally new, alternative institution. A solution of which especially African Delegates are in favor of, is the strengthening of smaller, regional organizations.
One of these delegates is Philip Saerbeck, Maastricht university student. The Ethiopian delegate is more and more confident about the working progress. “On the first day and in the morning, the discussion was very vague. Today we are moving forward and tackling specific issues”, explains the participant from Germany.
The Cameroon delegate claims, that the Movement should stick to the aspects that unite all members .“ The only subjection we have is that we are not clear about the future of the IMF”. Especially economic issues are quickly agreed upon. “We speak up against the West and their capitalistic and imperialist voices. We want to be beneficiaries of globalization, not victims anymore”, states the Pakistani delegate. But not only financial misfortune is a topic of the alliance of the developing countries. In the middle of the discussion, the Vanuatu delegate mentions, that also climate changes should be kept in mind.
The evening comes and with it the tiredness after a stressful day. Whereas the chairs have to shout “order” more and more often, the participants compare working papers to songs of Miley Cyrus and Justin Timberlake. Some rules have to be stressed twice, for example that the delegates should not use “I” in their statements or lift their plaquettes when somebody else is speaking. Nevertheless, the progress is slow, but noticeable. And maybe any other development of the discussion would have nothing to do with reality.
