UNODC

Time - Is Mexico’s Drug War Escalating?

German tourist Jurgen Kohl was window shopping in Mexico’s trendy Zona Rosa district last Friday afternoon when he saw a flash of brilliant light followed by a thundering bang and the sound of shattering glass. Minutes later, ambulances and police rushed into the street to find three blood-soaked people crying for help and the remains of a crude plastic explosives device. One of the injured died on the way to hospital. “Being in Mexico, I first thought it was an earthquake or something,” Kohl said, visibly shaken from the blast. “I had no idea that bombs went off here.”

Time - Mexico’s Narco-Insurgency

The alleged cartel hitmen were paraded before the media like captured soldiers of an enemy state. Dressed in white vests, jeans and casual shirts, the eight men stared straight ahead, chins held high in defiant poses as the photographers snapped away. Their captured hardware was piled up in neat rows in front, reinforcing the image of a military unit: 20 automatic rifles, 10 pistols, 12 M4 grenade launchers, 30 grenades, and more than 40 bullet-proof jackets bearing the legend FEDA — Spanish acronym for Special Forces of Arturo Beltran, an alleged drug kingpin. The group’s mission, law enforcement officials said, was to launch attacks on federal police and prosecutors.

Delagates;

I’m beginning to receive your position papers for our conference and we are looking forward to reading them. Those that I have received earlier have been well written, and are being considered now for research awards.

Now despite all my overt bribery attempts to get you to participate on this web log, we have only received a couple of comments. I’d like to see more.

Anything that is not clearly provided for you through conference logistics is provided to you by your chairs. So, those who have participated  and commented already, will be receiving some cool Berkley paraphanelia directly from us. We appreciate those delegates who put in the extra mile to make this experience as fun for us as we hope it will be for them.

~ Francis

Delegates;

A lot of the news and information I read about comes from BBCNews.com, as you can see from the previous post. However, there is such a wealth of information concerning our topics all over the internet, and so I hope and expect that you will all be well informed.

If you’re not sure where to start, let me start you off here with human trafficking:

BBC News: Trafficking: A very modern slavery

On the right hand column, you’ll see links to other news stories and relevant organizational websites. This is a good way to start, but don’t limit yourself to just only these.

Here are a couple of interesting and informative maps:

Source: UNODC.org

Source: PolarisProject.org

Human trafficking is a problem in the United States as much as it is in other countries. We are a destination for trafficking victims, but also we have a large number of sexual tourists who go abroad. If in your research you find yourself with the urge to do something about it; there is and will be many things you can do to help, especially once you enter college. If you want to learn more about what UC Berkeley is doing, please e-mail me back, and I can provide contact information for some of the groups here on campus that have stepped up to do something about it.

It’s less than a month before the 56th Annual Session of Berkeley Model United Nations commences and we’re looking forward to meeting you here.

~ Francis

BBC: UN forum aims to end trafficking
The first major United Nations conference on the growing problem of human trafficking has opened in Vienna.

The Washington Post: Celebs Rally Against Human Trafficking
Vienna, Austria - Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery that must not be tolerated, a senior U.N. official and celebrities said Wednesday.

ZENIT: Anti-Trafficking Efforts Needs to Focus on “Beneficiaries”
Vienna, Austria, Feb. 14, 2008 - To combat human trafficking, attention needs to be given to those who demand or benefit from it, said a Vatican official.

BBC: Mafia threatens Sicilian bishop
A Sicilian bishop is under police protection after receiving death threats for refusing to celebrate the funeral of a Mafia boss.

BBC: SA moves to scrap Scorpions unit
South Africa’s security minister has tabled a proposal in parliament calling for the FBI-style Scorpions special investigations unit to be disbanded.

BBC: Anger over Nigerian child census
Parents in a northern Nigerian state have reacted angrily to a government census of “vulnerable children”.

BBC: Some 600,000 displaced in Kenya
The United Nations believes up to 600,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Kenya as a result of the violence that followed elections.

PRENSA Latina: Organized Crime Kills in Mexico
Mexico, Feb. 14. Violence in the hands of organized crime has claimed Michoacan Ministerial Police chief Netzer Ochoa, the Mexican Justice Prosecution Office stated Thursday.

Delegates;

I waited a while before I posted the following links up, because I had hoped some of you might have found them appropriate material for your extra credit comments. However, I do realize that I had not emphasized the organ trade in the topic synopses, but I want you realize that efforts made to combat it fall under the jurisdiction and guidance of the UNODC. Therefore this topic is appropriate to include in your research, your discussions in committee, and for your comments here on this board.

~ Francis

ABCNews.com - Indian Illegal Kidney Trade:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4217154&page=1 http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4224506&page=1

Delegates;

If you weren’t already aware, the research award deadline is February 1st. Tomorrow is February 1st. Your paper must be postmarked February 1st in order to be eligible for a research award. However, if you suddenly found your best and brightest ideas happen to have occurred to you at 1 am last night or… even perhaps feeling that inspiration might strike you at 1 am tonight, then e-mail us directly at unodc.bmun56 (at) gmail.com. We can discuss your options, which may include an extension. Good luck.

Delegates;

I hope your return to school and your week has been a good one. As we here in Berkeley continue our preparations for your upcoming conference, we encourage you to take an active role in your committees by participating on these weblogs. For those of you interested earning research awards and for those of you who seek distinction during our evaluation process for committee awards, we offer you this:

If you participate on these weblogs by posting comments, we will give consideration towards your paper or your performance evaluation in committee. If you have turned in your position paper before the February 1st deadline to be eligible for research awards, then we will first assign any credit towards your paper. Subsequent credit will be assigned towards in committee evaluations.

These comments must be substantial and relevant. An example might of a good comment might be a short paragraph paraphrasing a news event, a link to that news article, and a paragraph or two examining it from your country’s perspective and policy. Another example might be an engaged debate between your delegation and another. You are not strictly limited to those formats, but they serve to give you an idea of what we will be looking for.

Do not flood this weblog in a thinly veiled attempt to win an award. A few excellent comments is by far better than many mediocre ones. Irrelevant or uninformed comments will not count against you, but we will remember.

The most important thing to do before sending your comment is to sign it. At the bottom, sign it with your country and school.

Here is an example: Republic of Berkeley, Smalltown High School.

As always, questions and comments pertaining directly towards this extra credit, our topics, research, and the conference are welcome.

If you are uncomfortable posting these, you may e-mail us directly at unodc.bmun56 (at) gmail.com.

~ Francis

P.S.

This offer only applies to delegates in UNODC, as each chair has discretion over their own committee weblog.  If you’re not a delegate from this committee, but would like to see a similar offer concerning your own committee’s weblog, then I would suggest contacting your chair directly.

In addition, I want to sweeten the pot. Your chairs will be giving the top 5-10 commentators (depending on the number of participants) a small Berkeley memento as a token of acknowledgment towards your efforts here on this weblog, for helping to create a dialogue and community.

Delegates;

It has come to my attention that many of are enjoying your first few days of the spring semester by furiously researching and writing position papers for Berkeley Model UN. I must say that it warms us, your chairs, to know that you’re all putting forth as much heart and effort into this conference as we are. If you were here, you’d certainly see the smile on my face.

Many of you are veterans of many conferences, and will need no further direction in writing your position papers. However, there are many other delegates who will be attending their first conference ever in March at Berkeley Model United Nations. I’m sure that your advisors have given you enough direction on how to formulate a position paper, but perhaps you are unsure what I and my fellow chairs expect from your paper, and what we are looking for in particular.

I would like for you to demonstrate a strong grasp of our topics. The UNODC provides a wealth of information that will be able to give you a good understanding of our topics.

Write about our topic in general, and then write about our topic as it applies to your country. Tell us how your country is affected, and what steps your country is doing to address it. What has your country done that address that issues that is effective? What is not effective? In our topic synopses, we asked questions of you. You can directly discuss these questions, but by no means do you have have a solid answer for them because they are there for your consideration. You may also bring up your own questions. What solutions has your country enacted that might also be effective for the international community? Will these solutions be any better than what the UNODC has already previously proposed?

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