Disec

21/09/2020

As today’s session was just the first one, the chairs were introduced and attendance was taken, which was less than expected. The delegates were briefed on both the committee topics:

1. “Government’s accountability of and responsibility with confiscated goods.”

In this modern era, the law is one of utmost importance. The law is what keeps the society up and running. The law maintains peace and avoids conflicts. However, people break law for their own reasons, and often these people bring stuff into the country which is banned by the government. Therefore, the government takes away these things, or rather we could say that the government confiscates them. Now the question arises, what does the government do with these confiscated goods? Does the government destroy them or does it use them for its own benefit? How accountable and responsible is the government with these goods?

1. Foreign intervention in matters of international security.

The world consists of 195 countries. All of the countries are dependent on each other through some way or the other. Unfortunately, not all countries are at peace. There are prevailing conflicts among some countries. Due to these countries, should all countries be affected? Do all countries need to engage in the conflict of few countries? Probably not, right? However, there are times the countries outside the conflict do need to engage with the countries in conflict. This is exactly what the delegates are going to be discussing - In matters of international security, should there be a foriegn intervention?

Then, a mock debate took place. The topic for this mock debate was “Is online schooling better compared to traditional schooling”. The debate was not as heated as expected due to the fact that many delegates did not speak until they were recognized. Many teachers also did try to give points that the delegates could use to make their argument stronger. However, only a handful of the delegates made use of the information provided by the teachers, that too not to a great extent. The chair also was a part of the debate as the UN representative to try and encourage more participation. However, the same delegates seemed to be speaking.

The delegates did not seem to have a lot of questions when the topics were introduced. However, the chair is looking forward to some more involvement of the delegates in the sessions ahead.

22/09/2020

The THIMUN procedure was discussed after the attendance. The attendance was comparatively better than yesterday’s. The delegates seemed to be clear about the entire procedure as no doubts came from the delegates. The delegates were then given random countries and were asked to collect information in a limited amount of time. The topic that was given to the delegates was “weaponization in outer space”. It was impressive that a few delegates could come up with a reasonable amount of information. However, on the other hand, a handful of delegates did not seem to be sure of the facts and even if they were right, many delegates could not state it confidently.

The delegates were also given a brief on position paper and were asked to try and make a rough position paper on the same topic for about 150 words and three already experienced delegates were asked to make a resolution paper with one preambulatory and one operative clause so that the delegates could have a mock debate tomorrow on the same.

The delegates were first asked to volunteer to make the resolution paper. However, they were picked at the end so ended up with no choice but to make the resolution.

We look forward to one heated debate tomorrow.

23/09/2020

Followed by the attendance was the explanation of the position paper and the resolution paper in detail. The delegates already had a rough idea about these two as it was briefly discussed with them in yesterday’s session. The attendance however, went low again. The delegates seemed very clear with these two papers as well. This was also shown through the sample resolution papers and position papers that three delegates of the committee had made for today’s mock debate session.

A trial of the formal debate procedure was held to make the delegates comfortable with all the motions and points and the procedure itself. The delegates seemed very nervous to even call upon a motion too. They had to be constantly reminded to speak up and to speak confidently too. The delegates also simply made resolutions pass as they had nothing to talk about. A teacher also tried to make debate by going in as the UN representative and yet the delegates did not seem to be motivated to speak.

To conclude, the debate was not as heated as we were expecting it to be. The delegates need to show more enthusiasm. I personally feel, one main reason for this is the poor attendance. When there are more delegates, the scope of the debate is more.

24/09/2020

After starting off with the attendance, we were happy that there was around a 40% increase in the number of delegates. We saw new faces, who had not attended the previous sessions and therefore we decided to discuss the position and the resolution paper once again, so that everyone would be aware of what position and resolution papers are. After Diyansha finished the explanation of the position and the resolution paper, we started with what we had begun the day before - the mock debate. Specifically, we continued with the voting procedure for the resolution presented by the delegate of North Korea. Unfortunately, the resolution failed. However, the committee learned from this - the mistakes made by the delegate of North Korea were explained and then discussed as to how these mistakes can be avoided. Following the discussion, a sample resolution paper was presented to the committee. This resolution paper was discussed and analysed. Soon, there was a debate on the operative clauses, and there was a voting of whether the operative clause should pass or fail. Also, while the debate was going on, Press Head joined in as the UN representative and provided his views. There were amendments made by the delegate of the USA, after the whole committee agreed to it. Although the number of delegates speaking up was very less, at least the committee progressed a little, in terms of attendance and the procedure of THIMUN. Hopefully, there will be more progress tomorrow.

28/09/2020

After waiting for 10 mins for more delegates to join, I took the attendance. To the chairs and the teachers’ disappointment, the number of delegates present was devastating - only 6 out of 20. Today was the day we had been hoping that would have had a much better attendance since regular school has started again. We thought since more people will be likely to check their mail, there would be a good increase in the number of delegates, which sadly did not happen. After seeing the number and the delegates that had joined, we decided to give them this session for starting their position and resolution papers, and ask any doubts about whatever we had discussed until now. We asked them to make two new documents on google docs - position paper, and resolution paper. Then, the delegates could share it with us and the teachers. We did not let them share it with other delegates in the committee due to the fact that other delegates (specifically the opposing delegates) could view the resolution paper even before the debate started, and therefore it would be unfair for the delegate presenting the resolution on the final day. Soon, the time got over and the delegates left clearing their doubts. I felt that this session was quite dry, and not very interesting. The continuous low attendance has become a little frustrating, and therefore the head and co-head decided to personally contact the people in the committee. Hopefully this would result in an increase in the number of delegates in the next session.

29/09/2020

The number of delegates present today was the highest until now - 14 people ! This was a very good progress compared to the previous weeks, and I think this encouraged both the chair, and the co-chair. After seeing so many new faces, we decided to go through everything we have done so far, since many were new and were not aware of important things like the resolution paper, the position paper, etc. Therefore, we started the explanation without further delay. We explained everything from what is the United Nations, and what role does DISEC play in it to the position paper, resolution paper, THIMUN procedure, the use of formal language, etc. It was a good session and the time passed very quickly. We decided to make a different document for DISEC only, with all the essential information the delegates would need - right through from the explanation of the topics for DISEC to the THIMUN procedure. According to me, the delegates would find the document shared with them really useful. In conclusion, this was one of the most productive sessions we have had until now, and I hope the attendance continues to be high in number. Hoping for more sessions like this one.