12VOL. 1, No. 2

OCTOBER 3, 2016

THE

NMUN KOBE TIMES
Kobe City University of Foreign Studies

After a Summer of Preparation, Delegates
Meet Again to Move on to the Next Stage

Photo: Delegates compete to raise
their placard upon a call for amotion by a chair
Staff Writers for Vol. 1, No. 2
Takahiro Kamo
Hiroka Abe
Honoka Morita
Nanami Takano
Ryo Ueno
Sae Oishi
Shione Shiraishi
Tomomi Yamazaki
Yuzuri Funabashi
Hiroko Shiotani

The summer vacation is finally over, but for the three-dozen
students at KCUFS who are delegates for the National Model United
Nations to be held in November, vacation meant days of theseemingly endless toil of research and writing. With the conference
less than two months away, they got together to confront themounting task ahead.
The second NMUN session was held on September 24 —over two months after the last session in July. Using backgroundguides (source literature that helps delegates to prepare forNMUN) of the four UN committees — General Assembly (GA),Security Council (SC), UNHCR (United Nations High Commissionerfor Refugees) and ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council)—whichwere announced on August 1st by National Collegiate Conference
Association (NCCA), the delegates set out to write their position
papers (PP). Over the last month, they submitted their preliminary
drafts twice, which were looked over by their mentors, KCUFS
students, 22 in total, who have been to previous NMUNconferences. The delegates are expected to finish writing their
third and final draft by Oct. 15, the day next class takes place.
(to be continued to the next page)VOL. 1, NO. 2

OCTOBER 3, 2016

JULY 20, 2016

The Saturday’s class opened with lectures by three experienced delegates.
Taichi Maemura, a delegate of Serbia (GA) who is a sophomore at KCUFS’s RussianStudies Department, spoke on the topic of making policies. Delegatesneed to prepare to take part in NMUN by researching in order to write aResearch Paper (RP), Position Paper (PP), and prepare their Working
Paper (WP) policies.
Maemura explained how to prepare the RP, which includes basic
information about each country the delegates are representing, andtransforming their RP into a PP, which outlines their country’s policies
in terms of the agenda topics. Since many first-time delegates haddifficulty figuring out where to start, Maemura suggested they take foursteps — find a problem, find the cause of the problem, set a goal andlastly come up with policies to solve the problem. He recommended
that they research past plans, e.g., confrontation between US andRussian Federation, or the Yugoslav War, in order to solve similarpresent-day situations, e.g., Syrian Civil War. If the plan failed,
Maemura said, “think why it failed and then improve the plan to takeactions to solve” the current problem.
Taichi Maemura
Determining a minimum goal is the first step to achieve a maximum goal,
so delegates should start making policies that may reach a minimum goal before
expanding to a maximum goal, Maemura said. “If you find difficulty to achieve themaximum goal in your committee, please try to achieve a minimum goal first, which
is a compromise.” He said it is important to have a unique viewpoint. If they could
have that, they could make good policies.
Takumi Nakamura, a delegate of Australia (GA) who is a sophomore at KCUFS’s International
Department, explained how to make “working paper ideas” in his lecture. The WP is preparatory
material for the discussion on deciding what actions to take. All thedelegates will discuss and negotiate which ideas should be includedin the WP, which will be a Draft Resolution (DR) when admitted by
the Dias (Chairs). While the PP is all about the delegates’ country,
the WP will eventually involve not only the interest of their country
but also that of the other countries. “So you have to propose what
you want, but sometimes you have to compromise to accept theidea of other delegates,” Nakamura said. He went on to point out,
“You have to negotiate with other delegates to keep your idea alive.
As you represent your country, you will also have to persuade
other delegates to accept your idea.”
According to Nakamura, there are three steps to make aconvincing WP. The first step is “Elaboration”, which means
making policies concrete and more detailed. He believes thedeductive method is one of the most useful ways to prove therationality of one’s ideas. The second step is “Reaffirmation”,
which means making sure that the policies follow the mandate ofone’s committee, represent the position of one’s country, and improve theTakumi Nakamura
situation. And the last step is to “put the policies into clauses,” which are likesentences in resolutions. Delegates need to know how to write their ideas in a resolution-style, hesaid. “From now on, you must work on your working paper until the very end of the conference.”

2VOL. 1, NO. 2

OCTOBER 3, 2016

JULY 20, 2016
Miyu Higashi, a delegate of New Zealand'sSecurity Council who is a senior at KCUFS’s English
Department, explained how the conference proceeds.
In the conference, every process is initiated by amotion — a formal request by delegates — fromsetting the agenda to suspending meetings. The
conference also switches from formal debates —where delegates sit and listen to other delegate's
speeches or make their own speeches and vote — toinformal debates — where delegates can leave theirseats and freely discuss and negotiate their policies
with others to make their WP (but only when a motion
Miyu Higashi
is raised and approved by majority).
The aim of this conference is "to pass resolutions unanimously
through consensus" and that is why all delegates have to obtain as much support as possible for theirWP. Once their WP is completed, delegates have to try to collect many signatories as possible fromamong other delegates to submit their WP as a DR. “We have to do revisions and merge WPs two or
three times… and finally it will be admitted as a draft resolution,” Higashi said. But it is not easy as it
involves many other delegates who are eager to make their own wordings stay in the document.

Diagram courtesy of Sachiho Tani

After a short break, delegates practiced
making motions. To make a motion, delegates haveto raise their placard when the Dias asks the floor
whether there are any motions. The Dias thenchooses a delegate to make his/her motion. It is
usually a competitive process as delegates areeager to get involved in the conference.
At first the delegates seemed to be hesitantto put their placard up quickly, but gradually they
got used to act quickly in an assertive way. As Prof.
Lori Zenuk-Nishide told them, “You have to beaggressive because everybody wants to make amotion” in actual NMUN conferences. If you do not
act quickly, Prof. Zenuk-Nishide explained, “youwill never get picked. The chairs will never look atyou.”
3VOL. 1, NO. 2

OCTOBER 3, 2016

JULY 20, 2016

After the motion training, the delegateswere divided into groups by country, for informal
debate in country groups—Ghana, Australia,Serbia, and New Zealand, as well as Somalia andUganda. They exchanged their opinions on thepositions or conditions of the country they arerepresenting. For example, a delegate of Ghana(ECOSOC) pointed out the need to improve publicsanitary facilities especially when the country’s
infrastructure suffered from recent floods. Adelegate of Serbia mentioned the dilemma of thecountry that is eager to join the EU, while it cannot

accept refugees that the EU encourages member
countries to accept.
Then the delegates were divided into
committee groups. In the GA group, the difficulty ofachieving the agendas was pronounced, as holdersof Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) tend to becountries that occupy lofty positions in the global
hierarchy along with being many of the member
countries responsible for the sales of 875 million
small arms and light weapons (SALW) currently incirculation in the world.

General Assembly (GA)• The Elimination of Weapons of Mass Destruction• Implementing the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in
Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Asia-Pacific Region
ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council)• Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals for All Nations and Peoples and All Segments ofSociety• Building a Resilient World Through Disaster Risk Reduction
UNHCR (High Commissioner for Refugees)• Protecting Children in Crisis and Conflict• Addressing and Adapting to the Effects of Climate Change on the Environment
Security Council (SC)• The Situation in North Korea• Conflict Prevention and the Empowerment of Women and GirlsIn the UNHCR group, a delegate of New
Zealand called for cooperation to the country todecrease the number of refugees generated byrising sea level in the Pacific countries. A delegateof Somalia mentioned the importance ofestablishing the government system, lack ofadequate food providing system and the issue ofchild soldiers in the country.
During the discussion, delegates also
exchanged information on what they researched in
the summer, and discussed how to improve their
final PP draft. Some of the delegates wereapparently overwhelmed by their tasks; however,they seemed to have been motivated andstimulated by each other through active

discussions and encouragement by their mentors.
All of the 36 delegates in the two teams of
the Consortium of Universities in Hyogo andConsortium of Foreign Studies in Japan (GaidaiRengo), which include 23 KCUFS students,participated in the Saturday’s class. The session
was also joined by three German students fromDuisburg-Essen University in northern Germany
who are studying in KCUFS’s Japanese Language
Program (JLP) from this September. They areparticipating in the upcoming conference asdelegates of Japan. (Takahiro Kamo, Hiroka Abe,
Honoka Morita, Nanami Takano, Ryo Ueno, SaeOishi, Shione Shiraishi, Tomomi Yamazaki, Yuzuri
Funabashi contributed to this article.)4

12VOL. 1, NO. 2

OCTOBER 3, 2016

JULY 20, 2016
Grateful for the Mentor’s Unequivocal AssistanceTwo of the delegates who spent the hardest time
writing their PP were Hiroko Kurimoto, a senior ofNagoya University of Foreign Studies, and Shoya Tani, afreshman at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. They arepartners as delegates of Uganda (UNHCR). However, they
could hardly meet with each other as they go to different
universities. Kurimoto said it was also difficult because
the PP needs political facts and provisions and also should be
From left, Kurimoto, Uramachi, Tani
supported by financial data. If she only wrote her opinions, shepointed out, it would no longer be a PP.
Kurimoto and Tani were at a loss before the summer. However, there was a savior: their mentor
Naohiro Uramachi, a senior at KCUFS’s International Studies Department and a veteran of NMUN Czech
Republic. He helped the two many times through emails during the summer. “I just want to help them lay
the groundwork for the conference so that they will get the most out of it,” Uramachi said.
“For me the hardest part of writing PP was when I could not find the information I needed. Mr.
Uramachi taught me not only what to research but also how to research, which was so helpful,” Kurimoto
said. “It feels great that someone like him, a mentor, is always there when we need him.” (Ryo Ueno)“Teaching sustainable farming can be a clue tosolve refugee problems created by climatechange,” said Tina Inoue, a freshman at KCUFS’s English Department and adelegate of Republic of Ghana (UNHCR). She has been dealing with the issue of theeffects of climate change on the environment in Ghana.
After months of researching, she found a farming project at the United
Nations University that can likely be adopted to the harsh climate in Ghana. Dueto its semi-arid condition, northern Ghana is influenced by climate change easily
and suffers droughts and floods often. That's why farmers in Ghana can neither
ensure a steady supply of food nor accept refugees; they may even become
Tina Inoue
refugees themselves.
The project is still in a research phase but Inoue is convinced that when this project iscompleted, it will contribute to solve the problem of food shortages in semi-arid areas, and furthermore
to reduce the number of refugees around the world. (Hiroka Abe)
Turning a PP into Reality“Start searching fornational implementations
first as it is difficult to comeup with creative ideas sosuddenly.”“Become familiar with UN
style writing as soon aspossible.”
Nanako Ueda (ECOSOC
Assistant Director, aveteran of NMUN Czech
Republic & NY)“Do not be afraid to ask a question.”“Be informed on both agendas by sharing information
with your partner.”
Emily Johnson (UNHCR Assistant Director, aveteran of NMUN NY)
Suggestions
fromMentors“Read the background guide. It is essential towrite PP.”“Do not rely on others for information to writepapers.”
Saeko Yoshimatsu (GA Assistant Director, aveteran of NMUN Czech Republic & NY)
5