KULMUN 2019
Join us for an exceptional Model UN experience
Dates
Tuesday, March 5, 2019 - Saturday, March 9, 2019
Location
Leuven, Belgium
Expected Delegates
150 delegates
Registration Fee
Contact organizer
Application Deadline
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
[DELEGATE APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN: INFORMATION & APPLICATION VIA http://kulmun.be/kulmun-2019-conference/delegate-application/ ]
The KULMUN Student Association can proudly announce that its yearly MUN Conference will indeed return for an 9th edition in 2019. KULMUN 2019 is set to take place from March 5 to 9 in the city of Leuven, Belgium.
The KULMUN Association is very proud to be the host of its own conference and that already for over 8 years. While our first conference in 2011 solely accommodated around 50 Belgian MUN enthuasiasts it has grown into a five day lasting one which hosted over 150 delegates from more than 28 countries in 2018.
We are very much looking forward to welcome you to Leuven for a sure to be memorable week!
Organizers
Anna Willaert
Glynn Cooreman
Committees
Topic
Looting and destruction of cultural property: The looting and destruction of cultural property and the shared human heritage is an ancient phenomenon of war. In recent years however, it has increasingly become a means of warfare and cultural genocide of a people. Classified as a war crime under international law, the destruction of cultural heritage and the sale of looted items play a major role in the financing of terrorism, especially by radical islamist terrorist groups in the Middle East and Africa, who sell the items on the international art market. In the years right after the looting of Iraq’s national museum and the extensive looting throughout Iraq’s rich cultural heritage, the Security Council took measures to ban the sale of goods imported from this territory. In the Syria conflict however, Daesh has undertaken looting on an almost industrial scale and it is estimated that it generates a third of the group’s income. Although the Security Council has taken targeted steps to fight this systematic destruction of the heritage of the Syrian people and humankind, there are still considerable measures that can be taken to prevent this. Crimes such as looting may seem trivial compared to the inhumane attacks on civilians carried out by terrorist worldwide, but the effect art crime has in financing and enabling these crimes may not be underestimated.
Topic
Improving the speed of decision making in times of crisis: In case of crisis the use of the NATO Response Force (NRF) – a force which is created to react in a matter of days to volatile situations – depends on a consensual political decision made by all 29 member of the North Atlantic Council. Reaching such a decision, however, has proven to be a difficult and often a rather lengthy process, which seriously affects NATO’s ability to respond to crises effectively. This creates a danger of minor issues evolving to large scale conflicts due to the lack of a swift response. It is even worse when NATO does not come to an agreement and because of it does not respond to the emergency at all. This incapability to decide how to deal with a crisis is not limited to the use of the NATO Response Force. In fact, Member States often fail to reach political agreement outside of the NRF framework as well. The Ukrainian crisis was a stark example of that. In the aftermath of the Crimean annexation, Germany and the USA often clashed in their views on a suitable response to the Russian aggression. How can NATO improve the speed and efficiency of its decision making-process in times of crisis without compromising the principle of consensual decision-making?
Topic
Venezuela’s Economy and its consequences on South America: Beginning as far back as the presidency of Hugo Chavez, the issue of Venezuela’s economy and the domination of oil at the expense of the country’s other commodities, has led to the creation of a very unbalanced economic system left at the mercy of global oil prices. This was highlighted in 2014 which saw prices for the fossil fuel collapse, to the detriment of the country’s revenue. As a result, the country’s ability to earn US dollars suffered, leading to the inability of importers to bring in materials, which resulted in shortages of even the most basic necessities like toilet paper. This further resulted in social and political unrest as the government’s attempts to rein in the situation continue to frustrate the people of Venezuela. Delegates will be challenged to find ways to stabilise the situation in Venezuela and how they can bring balance to the country once again. It is a complicated problem with many approaches and things to consider, but they will have to do so as the situation can no longer be ignored by Venezuela’s neighbours as the crises continue to worsen year by year.
Topic
Human Trafficking in the Sahel: The Sahel is an arid region between North Africa and the Sub-Saharan part of the continent that has long served as a bridge between north and south. Because of its climate and rough terrain, authorities struggle to enforce their rule, creating the ideal environment for a wide range of illegal activities. Poor agriculture policies have drastically increased desertification of arable land, pushing more and more people into already overpopulated cities. Add to this that many countries around the Sahara desert are experiencing instability, like Nigeria, Chad and Sudan, to name a few. The most crucial state might be Libya, whose former leader al-Qadhafi blocked refugees from going to Europe and effectively discouraged the use of the north route through Libya. With his removal, the way to Europe was opened and many people were emboldened to risk the dangerous journey through the desert. They put their lives in the hands of traffickers and often fall victim to exploitation. Human trafficking has become an immensely profitable business and vulnerable migrants are often exploited through forced labour or prostitution. How will the international community handle this?
Topic
Tackling Maternal Health and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: Every 2 minutes, a woman dies in the world from complications derived from pregnancy or childbirth. 99% of them die in a developing country, and half of those in Sub-Saharan Africa. This only goes to show that most maternal deaths are preventable, and that there is an immense gap between rich and poor. Main causes of maternal death in developing countries are haemorrage, infections, obstructed labour, and unsafe abortions. All of these could be dealt with. Better monitoring during pregnancy, proper antenatal care, safe water and sanitation, antibiotics, access to skilled professionals and quality care, especially at the crucial moment of labour, could save many lives. These women and girls desperately need adequate reproductive care and family planning services. While the maternal mortality ratio has decreased globally by 44% since 1990, Sub-Saharan countries still have exorbitant figures (a regional average of 546 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births). We really need to focus on this area in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.1: reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030. It is not an impossible goal: the current MMR in developed countries is only 12.
Topic
Coming up with a flood risk-reduction and resilience programme: Floods are the most common of all natural hazards and they have the largest impacts on society. Fortunately, the amount of fatalities is decreasing thanks to better early warning systems, but the damages to land and property appear to be increasing due to inefficient and insufficient prevention policies. The importance of reducing the risk of floods and more specifically, alleviating the damages caused by extreme weather conditions will continue to rise in future as climate change will cause more severe and frequent weather events. A warmer and moister atmosphere due to human-emitted greenhouse gasses creates in theory a potential for more energetic storms and weather events. Although there exists a certain uncertainty in current studies due to the rare nature of severe floods, recent historic catastrophic floods in India caused the death of hundreds of citizens and great material damage. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable areas of the world have coincidentally the highest risk of flooding. The effects of these great floods on the long term could negatively impact political stability and further development of the affected areas. These vulnerable areas do not have sufficient resources and means to tackle these phenomena and combined with the fact that the most severe events happen without regards to borders would indicate that tackling the issue of risk reduction and resilience schemes on a global scale is a natural extension of WMO’s competencies.
Topic
From physical newspaper to tweets and gossip, journalists take care of it all! The Newswire is the connecting thread between the committees and its reporting is an essential source of information and inspiration for the delegates. As a journalist, your task is a challenging but immensely rewarding one. On the one hand, the aim is to think outside of the box to offer quality articles. On the other hand, you will be the master of fun as memes, funny articles, gossip and more are an integral part of the job description. In the spirit of this year’s conference theme, the Newswire presents: ‘Global News from a Global Perspective’. As a journalist, you are the voice – or pen – of the citizens of the affected regions, so we need you to take into account the cultural background and different regional views on the topics debated upon in council. In addition, the Newswire will report multilingually to underscore the conference’s internationality. A position as a journalist is the perfect way to experience an MUN – as a first timer or as a seasoned MUNer – with the added value of being able to use your overflowing creativity, language skills and natural enthusiasm. The Newswire will not be your regular news!