THIMUN XLIX Day 7: Fourth Day of the Conference - Spotlight on Committees, part II

General Assembly, 5th Committee (Update)
Bassem Sandeela, Delegate of the International Monetary Fund
The fourth day of debating was very, very intense. Four resolutions in total were debated, with one from each topic. The first three resolutions were not very long, but had some legitimate solutions to ways to more efficiently allocate money. There, I found better ways to handle 5th committee resolutions. I asked at least 10 points of information within that time period, and unfortunately due to speaking so much wasn't able to give a speech despite raising my placard 8 consecutive times. The final resolution, which was very fast paced, was my own. It was only given 55 minutes instead of the regular 80, so I had absolutely no time whatsoever to waste. I asked points of information nearly every single chance I was given, and was writing something all the time. I submitted quite a few amendments, but none were entertained due to time constraints. I also gave multiple speeches on the resolution, as well as amendments that were made. There were quite a few tough delegates to deal with, such as the Delegate of the Philippines and the Delegate of Paraguay. However, in the end, it passed with far more votes for than against and was a great experience for me overall.

General Assembly 2
Stephanie Kannimmel, Delegate of the International Monetary Fund & Head of Delegation
The General Assembly Second Committee, also known as the Economic and Financial Committee, covers four topics in total. The topics being discussed include culture as a tool for sustainable development, towards comprehensive cooperation among all modes of transport for promoting sustainable multi-modal transit corridors, designing a universal code of ethics for tourism, and the question of the use of unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries. The issue that I focused on with my group was culture as a tool for sustainable development. Debate was very dynamic and interesting for this resolution, as many controversial points, especially regarding the preservation of indigenous communities, were brought up. However, the resolution ended up passing with over 100 votes in favor of it, and I made a speech in support of the resolution. In contrast, another resolution we debated had points in it that my delegation, the IMF, did not agree with. I ended up making a speech against the resolution, and although I thought that this might have been a controversial stance to take against this clause, many delegates stated that they agreed with my delegation's point of view, which was a really interesting experience in debate. These past few days have been very exciting for me, as debate in my committee has been heated and in depth on all issues being discussed.

Chea-Mun Tan, Deputy Secretary General

I serve as the Deputy Secretary General (DSG) for THIMUN 2017, and my role consists of overseeing conference affairs in hopes of ensuring that everything runs smoothly. Most of my conference days consist of planning, running around, and assisting Student Officers in moderating their committees. THIMUN is the largest MUN conference in the world, and in order to deal with the many issues that arise, I work alongside a team of talented individuals. Collectively, we are called the Secretariat, or Executive Team, for the conference.  My team consists of the Secretary General, four other DSGs, and the President of the General Assembly.  Each of us is allocated specific committee(s), and although we work alongside each other to deal with any and all types of problems or situations, we have specialized committees that we focus on assisting for the entirety of the conference. I had the privilege of serving as the DSG for the Special Conference (SPC), a committee consisting of allocated topics that are directly related to the theme of the conference, Borders in a Globalized World. There are two SPC committees, known as SPC 1 and SPC 2, and each committee consists of over 200 delegates. There are 18 committees in THIMUN Hague. Beyond the Secretariat, our team works incredibly close with the THIMUN Board of Directors in working out the logistics and conference management. Without this close support, the conference would not be possible! As this conference is my 28^th MUN conference, and my final THIMUN conference, I feel extremely privileged to be able to give back to the conference and MUN community as it has done for me since 6^th grade.