On the 31st of November and the 1st of December in the „Nauchni saveti“ hall in the UNWE a simulation of the UN Security Council for the conflict in Syria took place. The event, organized by IRRSA and the „United nations association of Bulgaria“, gathered 28 students from several universities for debates. Two of the delegates were still students in the 12th grade and made their first steps in the field of international relations.
The purpose of the simulation was to make the operating principles of the UN more known to the participants. As well as the Permanent members of the UN’s Security Council (the USA, Great Britain, France, PRC and the Russian federation) there were also representatives for the ten non-permanent members up to this moment: Australia, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Luxemburg, Morocco, Pakistan, Republic Korea, Ruanda and the Tongan republic. The counties were represented by two people, all of which had the chance to feel as a diplomat from the highest levels.
The first day was meant for the fundamentals, which were going to be later included in the resolution. First all the countries expressed their opinion on the current situation in Syria and after that started some very profound debates on the conflict, which is blemishing the country for three years now.
It was talked about the great number of victims, the flow of refugees to the other countries, the permanent gun supply, the legitimacy of the Al-Assad regime. Every single delegate had to forget his or hers own view on the conflict and play the role of a diplomat from the country he or she represented. The organizers form the „United nations association of Bulgaria“ had thought of interesting games for the attendants throughout the breaks.
After considering eventual economic sanctions, arms embargo, meetings with the both sides of the conflict, on the second day the representatives discussed the humanitarian crisis and how to solve it. On this point the delegates were unanimous and decided that the UN needs to send more humanitarian aid and to build medical centers. Finally there were two draft resolutions made – the first was initiated by the USA, Great Britain and France and the other – by the Russian federation and the PRC. The main dissension was about the arms embargo. That’s why such a point was not included in the draft resolution. In the spirit of the simulation the permanent members of the Security Council did not have the right of veto. On the contrary all the participants unified the two draft resolutions into one, which they thought best fits the interests of the Syrian nation.
At the end of the event every participant received a price and a diploma from the organizers and three of them – Ivelina Atanasova, Aleks Petkov and Panayot Nikolov were honored as the most prepared for the event.
The simulation was visited by the Bulgarian youth delegates in the UN – Milena Andreeva and Petar Mladenov. They greeted the attendants and encouraged them to take part in such future activities.
