CSocD

DAY 1

First session: Fervent first interaction and opening speeches

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On the first day of Posmun, the committee CsocD (Commission for Social Development – Sectarian Conflicts in the Middle East) started its first session with an icebreaker game: everyone had to tell two truths about themselves and one lie.  Afterward the rest of the participants had a good time together trying to guess which statement was false. Besides the initiation was a great opportunity for everyone to get to know each other better, many also felt free to share funny stories about themselves (tragic confessions like "My grandmother killed my Betta fish" were also made). Still during this first moment of the morning, the chair (Gabriela Reis) and the vice-chair (Isabela von Tein) went over the Rules of Procedure, since many of the participants were attending a MUN for the first time.

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To effectually start the session, the delegation of Russia did the honors to start delivering the opening speeches. Subsequently, the delegates of China, France, Israel, Germany, Brazil, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Australia and United States also exposed their initial considerations to the committee. It is accurate to affirm that in this first moment all participants demonstrated an extremely diplomatic posture towards the conference. The speakers presented the sectarian violence present in the Middle East as the main topic for the debate, in addition to showing themselves applied in developing proposals to improve such scenario.

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The debate itself was opened through a motion for an unmoderated caucus of 15 minutes, in which delegates who were present in person joined the participants online per Zoon to start writing an agenda. Delegations from countries such as Russia and Afghanistan were very influential when discussing the document. The deliberation lasted until lunchtime.

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Second session: Military aid/intervention or education?

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Later, in the second session of day one, the final version of the agenda was presented to the chair and vice-chair. The delegates of Afghanistan and Russia presented it aloud to the rest of the committee and as the majority voted in favor of it, it was democratically approved. 

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The afternoon period also marked the beginning of the speakers list. As most delegates were sheepish about signing up to pronounce themselves, it was necessary for the chair to encourage them to express their political beliefs. Despite the timid start, the delegations of Russia, Afghanistan and China demonstrated a clear agreement in their positions, defending the idea that the separation of the Sunni and Shia would not be beneficial for the appeasement of the civil wars placed in the Middle East. At the same time, the delegate of Israel stated that the education must be encouraged to fight intolerance among different adherents of the Islamic tradition. Still regarding this point, the delegation of Australia demonstrated a lot of astuteness in raising the question that the notorious cultural difference present between these groups could be a hindering factor in this process.

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A few moments before the approval of the motion for an unmoderated debate, the delegate of Iran showed in favor of a cooperation between multiple countries in combating political instability in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the delegate of Russian found it necessary to establish an exact definition for the term extremism, which was most deeply debated among the committee during the unmoderated caucus.

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The return of the moderated debate was marked by a fluid discussion among the participants about the barriers imposed on education in the process of interference in the internal conflicts of the Middle East. Regarding this topic, the trio formed by the delegations of Russia, China and Afghanistan defended the idea that it takes a long time to have significant effects for the situation in question. For this same reason, these delegates deemed it necessary to introduce a military aid in the conflicting territory. 

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While this suggestion was supported by countries like Israel, the Palestinian and France delegations showed different points of view on the issue. Both argued that before there is a military intervention in the conflict, it is necessary that the poverty in the countries in question be combated through the supply of primary necessities, such as food and water. In this regard, the suggestion was also supported by the Chinese delegation, which even offered to provide money to interfere in the situation: “A Middle East at war automatically means a world without peace”. Finally, the delegate of Iran showed a calming position amidst the diversity of opinions, arguing that both investment in education and military aid are valid. To end this discussion, the chair held a vote between education and military intervention: the last one was the preference of most of the delegations present.

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Shortly before the second coffee break of the day, there was a misunderstanding of ideas between the Turkish and Russian delegations. After the first stated that there is a predominance of extremist power in Middle East regions where political instability is critical, both debated about the origin of the term “extremist” and its other uses throughout history. At the end of the discussion, the delegate of Turkey affirmed that their country is against people who use violence to defend their beliefs. 

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After the short break of 20 minutes, the committee mobilized to deal with the news brought by the President of the General Assembly (Gabriela Mesquita) and the Secretary General (Carolina Almeida). According to their recommendations, the delegates should discuss previous statements made by the Iraq and Israel delegations about making a military intervention in the Middle East. With this, the working paper produced by the committee was sent to the chairs for correction and possible future approval.

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In the following, the delegations of Afghanistan and Iraq defended to the committee that the actions of the Taliban should be discussed as a major topic. In this context, the delegate of Russia demonstrated support for the Islamic fundamentalist and nationalist group. Ambiguously, the country's representation also stated that it considered itself completely against any terrorist action. Such controversial statements caused confusion in the committee, mainly on the part of the Israeli and Palestinian delegates.

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At the end of the first day of Posmun in CsocD, the working paper created by the committee was approved by the chair and vice-chair, with the general condition that it will be changed in its final resolution.

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DAY 2- Headline: Chaos or the beginning of a new purpose?

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First session: Afghan human rights crisis

Serene, diplomatic and friendly… That's how the second day of Posmun started at CsocD. Right at the start of the debate, the committee was surprised by the visit the members of the Press and the Management Team. The Secretary General (Carolina Almeida) and the President of the General Assembly (Gabriela Mesquita) announced the official decree of a crisis: “The Taliban invaded Iran, took power and established an authoritarian government in the country. They also took hostages the American and Turkish embassies. Every 30min another hostage dies.”. The delegates were also informed that it would not be possible to leave the room at any cost before the submission of a conflict resolution document.

Thus, an unmoderated caucus began. At first, the delegate of Russia stated that human rights would remain guaranteed in Iran. In agreement, the delegate of the country in crisis said that the new government would not maintain the same measures as the last one installed in the territory. On the other hand, the delegate of Israel raised in her speech extremely important issues, such as women's rights, which are in crisis after the establishment of the Taliban power. Supporting this contrary position, the delegation of Iran stated that it does not want the power of an extremist government.

With the committee running out of time until the death of another hostage happened, the Russian delegation demonstrated a worried and exalted behavior amid the imminent danger. Outrageous charges were made and strictly directed at the delegates of the United States and Turkey, who did not position themselves during the political crisis in which they are involved. 

Amidst the chaos, another shocking news was published: a confidential anonymous letter was exposed to the committee, addressed to the Taliban leader “General Hibatullah Akhundzada”. Its contents exposed the terrorist group's desire to transform the Iranian population into Sunni and thus combat the Shia predominance in the region. In addition, the unknown sender also confessed that soon leisure activities would be banned in the country. Women's rights would also be directly affected. In panic, the delegates mobilized to write a letter addressed to Taliban to assess whether a consensus could be established between the Iranian government and the nationalist group. 

At the peak of the crisis, the committee was surprised with an unexpected visit: a Taliban member (Co-Chair: Isabela von Tein) attended the conference in person to clarify the intentions of the new government. According to him, the group wants the citizens of Iran to be ruled by the Sunni commandments. Furthermore, it was informed that the group took control of the capital Tehran. Despite the Iran delegation's attempt to establish a power division between both political groups, without civilians having to give up their beliefs, the Taliban has kept its position intact.

After the committee realized that it is not up to the CsocD to directly intervene militarily in the territory and in the politics of a country, the delegates came together to produce another document aimed at protecting the population in danger. After the correction of the chair and co-chair and a vote between the conference, the document was approved, and the crisis was successfully resolved.

Since everyone agrees that it is much better to debate after coffee, the conference reconvened after a short break. Following the schedule foreseen in the agenda, the Syrian and Palestinian delegations started a discussion about the difference between the terms “extremism” and “terrorism”. Examples involved in the committee's theme, such as the Taliban and Hamas, were also mentioned. 

In a discussion on how to combat the terrorism present in the Middle East, polemic allegations by the delegation of China made the delegate of Palestine question them intrigued: “Are you inferring violence should be combated with violence?”. Determined from their position, the delegate of China stated that only drastic measures, equally strong to the terrorist power in the region would be able to bring the situation under control.

Subsequently, the writing of a document of suggestions to prevent terrorism spanned an extended period of time into the last moments of the morning debate at CsocD. After a time of unmoderated caucus, the debate continued to be organized by the speakers list until lunchtime.

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Second session: The darkest hour is just before dawn

The second session of the committee started agitated and with new visits: an unexpected delegate representing Bahrain joined the conference. From, the new participant demonstrated a critical and well-founded position on the topic discussed. According to the delegation, “the darkest is just before dawn”, attributing to the conference a climate of hope and new perspectives, which were lacking in the committee until the moment in question. 

Statements made by the Russian delegation regarding the non-acceptance of refugees in their territory led the delegate of Bahrain to affirm that the CsocD has as its main objective the joining of different delegations in favor of a greater good. Subsequent to such speech, the other delegations agreed with the magnitude of the responsibility conceived to the committee.

By the end of the second day of Posmun in CsocD, two working papers were approved. The committee also started discussing the third topic of the agenda, which will be better developed on the last day of the event.

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DAY 3

First session: The last breaths of the debate

Tough but necessary: At the beginning of the third and last day of Posmun in CspcD, the committee was busy having a conversation about the events of the last day of debate. Right after this first moment, the debate started and was organized by following the speakers list. The first topic to be discussed was the issue of the health of civilians in the Middle East, which has an enormous importance and urgency to be improved. Related to the topic, the delegate of Russian suggested the action of the non-governmental organization (NGO) "Doctors Without Borders" to act directly in contact with those who need help. The delegate of Afghanistan agreed with the action of international groups in combating the health crisis in the region, given the serious impacts that civil wars cause in the region.

Still in this context, the delegations present at the conference also discussed the possibility of foreign countries investing in a monetary aid to help the conflicting Middle East countries. When commenting on this request for foreign aid, the delegate of Iraq stated that although the country does not have the resources to help other nations, they fully agree that this suggestion would be tremendously beneficial to those who need it. The delegations of Brazil and Australia have also pronounced themselves about being able to accept refugees from Middle East in their territory, although the distance could be a hindering factor for this process. 

During a short time of unmoderated caucus, the committee started to write a working paper for the critical political and social situation placed nowadays in Asia. After the coffee break, the delegates finished the document and sent it to the chair for correction. 

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Second session: The final resolution of CsocD

During a short time of unmoderated caucus, the committee began to write a working paper for the critical political and social situation placed nowadays in Asia. After the coffee break, the delegates finished the document and sent it to the chair for correction. Directly after, the delegations of Russia, Iraq and Afghanistan offered themselves to present the final version of the archive. Speeches of one minute only were made against or in favor of it, as for example the case of the delegation of Israel.

The beginning of the second debate session at the CsocD was also marked by a discussion between the Iran and Palestine delegations, concerning the purposes of the debate in the final moments of the event. In these circumstances, the return of the topic “terrorism” and the actions of the Taliban and Hamas divided opinions in the committee, as in the case of the delegate of Australia, who defended the importance of providing a draft resolution as soon as possible. The speech of the delegation inspired other members of the conference, such as the delegates of Afghanistan and Russia, who encouraged the writing of the document.

Before the official presentation of a final resolution document, last points were made between the delegates of Afghanistan and the delegate of Russia regarding cultural and religious diversity in the Middle East. In the following, the delegates organized themselves in form of an unmoderated caucus, until they presented a complete resolution draft to the chair. The last moments in CsocD were marked by sentimental and honest final speeches, attributing to the conference a calm and diplomatic atmosphere.