Page 4 - Issue 92

Issue 92/February 13, 2015
The 7th Annual Blagoevgrad International Event

Model United Nations

Story and photos by Maria Markina
eated debates and unconventional ideas on the ing position and working papers and passed ef-
most controversial issues of the political world fective resolutions got the certificates of the best
Hwere discussed at the 7th Annual Conference of delegates and honorable mentions.
the Blagoevgrad International Model United Nations As one of the benefits of cooperation of BLIMUN
(BLIMUN), which took place on Feb. 6-8 on AUBG campus. with other international Models United Nations, AUBG
This year the conference welcomed the biggest num- delegates will have discounts for the participation in
ber of international delegates since the time of its ini- the partner conferences.
tiation, around 23 out of 90 people. Pursuing the inter- “Thinking the issue through, not just getting infor-
ests of the countries assigned to them, the participants mation from the news, but actually knowing what the
defended their positions while representing the three countries’ specific positions are, lets you see the
councils of the UN. whole picture of how world is developing the
The Human Rights Council raised the issues of secu- vision of the issues,” said Saba Sharia, an AUBG
rity and integration of refugees. “The debates didn’t delegate to the Security Council.
start smoothly but, in the end, the participants did an Some participants, however, were dissatisfied with
extraordinary job compromising between big pow- the organization of the conference. While “Women La-
ers and small powers,” said Petar Georgiev, the Head- bor Rights” was the topic for one of the Councils, the
Chair of the Council. Security Council was fully represented by men with
The Security Council appeared to be the place for the only two female delegates. Furthermore, many partici-
hottest debates and arguments. The delegates negoti- pants argued that the newly introduced “Gossip Box”
ated on the topic of the expansion of the Islamic State. idea with the rumors about people’s drunk romances
“It is a challenging experience. The procedures were well and after-party affairs was inappropriate. The situation
structured but some countries were not always ready to was aggravated by the final videos that “were sup-
compromise and could veto the decision and the de- posed to summarize the achievements of the confer-
bates were definitely heated,” shared Aleksandre Gogo- ence.” However, instead of that, they included some
ladze, an AUBG delegate to the Security Council. sexually offensive shots of female delegates.
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) discussed “Friendly and funny atmosphere is a must for such con-
the issue of the labor rights of women in the Middle East. ferences, however, there should be a line between a joke
The conference was officially closed with the presenta- and an abuse. The way people spend their time after the
tion of passed resolutions and the awarding ceremony. club is definitely not the topic for the UN to discuss,” said a
The most active participants that presented outstand- source that desired to stay anonymous.