PBC

Hello, Delegates!!

I hope you guys are super excited for the conference tomorrow because I sure am!

I just wanted to quickly remind those who have emailed me your position papers, please send in a hard copy on the day of conference.  I do have a record of those who have submitted their papers electronically, but I would prefer getting a hard copy, and it’s quite impossible for me to print out numerous papers. Therefore, just to make things easier, please do submit a hard copy in the beginning of committee.

I can’t stress this enough, but I’m super eager for this weekend!  That is all the announcements I have for now…but throughout the evening, I will update if anything does come up to my mind.

See you guys tomorrow!!

So many of you have emailed me regarding the procedure of our simulation.

Let me remind you guys that our committee is somewhat different from the traditional BMUN simulations, but not THAT much different. I also want you guys to be informed of the fact that BURUNDI and SIERRA LEONE are both already set on the PBC agenda. (Guinnau-Bissau has been added as well in January 2008.) However, for the purposes of simulation, I want to pretend that PBC has not decided on any countries to focus on, and 2 requests have been made: Burundi and Sierra Leone. Thus, PBC has to debate whether Burundi or Sierra Leone will be the first country to be set on the agenda.

So, in the beginning, we will begin with general/substantive debate, which means speeches will entail your country’s stance on choosing either Burundi or Sierra Leone, reasons why your country chose that specific country, and what solutions your country will propose for the peacebuilding framework. All these 3 criteria must be included in your speeches. So, I hope that clarified some of your questions.

Then, your resolutions should focus on a peacebuilding framework for Burundi and Sierra Leone. The whole point of this simulation is for the resolutions for creating the frameworks, so please focus your energy and effort into creating the peacebuilding frameworks.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR RESOLUTIONS ARE DETAILED!!!! I Can’t stress this enough because it’s so imperative that your resolutions are detailed and actually has the potential to be implemented and be effective in maintaining peace.
I will definitely be paying attention to your arguments about why you chose Burundi or Sierra Leone. However, I’m more interested in your solutions. Also, during committee, I want these solutions so specific that a framework for Burundi should not be able to be operated in Sierra Leone. Therefore, I expect completely different frameworks for each country, and that’s the most crucial aspect of this simulation.

So that’s the conclusion of my explanation of the simulation this upcoming weekend.

I hope your research has been going well. Also, I know I mentioned this earlier, but notice that Guinea-Bissau has been added onto the PBC agenda, and what actions they are planning to enact in that country. I’m sure you guys have done research for what PBC has done for Sierra Leone and Burundi, but if you notice what their plan of action is for Guinea-Bissau, there are some similarities, but there are also differences among the frameworks designed for Burundi and Sierra Leone. Please do pay attention to the specific details of what PBC has been doing, and from that, analyze what could be better improved and include that in your resolutions.

Once again, this is purely a simulation, so I do want you to use your imagination, but then again, at the same time, be very practical.

I’m so excited that some of you guys have been commenting! I do take note of all the participants, and all those who have emailed me, and I’m genuinely thrilled to see all of you this Friday.

Take cares, and feel free to ask me any questions! Hopefully, this has clarified your questions!

Hello, Delegates.

I apologize for the delay of posting on this blog. I’m an officer for Publications, and I’ve been way too occupied with designing the t-shirts that you will be able to purchase during the weekend of conference, so once again, I apologize for my lack of attentiveness on this blog.

Many of you have emailed me concerning position papers, and I know the deadline for the position papers has already past, but let me briefly describe what I was expecting from the position papers.  

You were required to write 2 position papers, each focusing on SIERRA LEONE and BURUNDI. You were supposed to follow the typical guidelines of a position paper, such as TOPIC BACKGROUND of each country and what conflict they had to deal with, what UN ACTIONs have been taken ever since conflict rose in those 2 countries, and your country’s position and possible solutions your country would suggest. Then, I wanted you to argue which country you would like to propose first to be set on the PBC agenda. Let me remind you, our committee is a simulation, and I tried to create an innovative way of facilitating debate. Thus, I wanted your country to specifically choose either Burundi or Sierra Leone and argue why that country should be dealt with first by the PBC. What urgencies/situations allow you to arrive in that conclusion? For example, you could have mentioned  how the current situation in Sierra Leone seems much more alarming than in Burundi, so you believe that it is imperative for the PBC to immediately create a peacebuilding framework specifically designed for Sierra Leone and solely focus on Sierra Leone and then work on Burundi later. With that said, when you guys come to the conference, you guys will be debating whether Burundi or Sierra Leone is much more urgent and create a framework (this will be the resolution. Basically, the committee will be divided in supporting Burundi or Sierra Leone and  depending on how persuasive your arguments are and how well established your frameworks are, the resolutions will pass with the discretion of the delegates. So this is basically the concept of what I was aiming for.

If this makes complete sense, then I congratulate you. If it does not, feel free to email me anytime. I know our committee is run a little differently, but keep in mind, this is a specialized committee, and I wanted to add a little twist to how committees are normally facilitated. I know some might now be highly supportive of my plan, but I definitely think this will make the debate more heated and interesting. I want you guys to thoroughly research the differences of Burundi and Sierra Leone regarding their situations, and derive a framework that will specifically work only in that specific country. If any of the solutions tend to be too generic, I will assume that you have not thoroughly done your research. Be creative and have fun with this. I’m giving you much freedom, but at the same time, please respect other countries. While I want you guys to have a blast during the conference, I want you guys to still maintain a great level of diplomacy and graveness as well.

You can also keep updated with the matters the PBC is actually handling at this current moment. You guys should already be aware of what actions PBC has been taking towards Sierra Leone and Burundi, but when you do create your frameworks, please use your own ideas and judgment.

I think that is all I can inform you guys so far. I will continue to update this blog more frequently, so please do check it out. Keep researching and good luck! See you guys in March!

Welcome to BMUN 56, delegates! I’m Bonnie Jin, and hopefully by now, you all know that I am the head chair for PBC. I will be regularly updating this blog for further topic updates, any questions that delegates might raise to me and should be shared with everyone else in committee, and so on. I know many of you have been confused regarding the topics, but just like how it is stated in the topic synopsis, the topics are SIERRA LEONE and BURUNDI, and not Iraq. Our committee is run slightly different from other committees, and I briefly mentioned it in the topic synopsis, but I will further explicate the process in the next update. For now, if you have any questions pertaining to anything, feel free to email me, written in the topic synopsis. Otherwise, I hope you guys are excited for BMUN 56 and can not wait to see you guys in March! Take cares!