The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs' salute to the RomeMUN2013 delegates

A UN legend at RomeMUN- Staffan de Mistura

Many presentations at the Rome Model United Nations 2013 opening ceremony have charmed the audience, but Staffan de Mistura brought history to the floor.

42 years under the UN flag working in peace-building could mean a lot- work, diplomatic relations in their most delicate aspect but also anecdotes.

He recalled the beginning of his career, when  as an intern for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in the Cyprus of the early 1970s, he witnessed the death of a child, shot by a sniper. The child had wandered over the 'green line' dividing Cyprus and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. He found this incident profoundly shocking and since then he grew a desire to study humanitarian emergency relief and dedicate his life to working for the peaceful resolution of conflict.

Staffan de Mistura
foto credits: ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano



De Mistura helped solving the Embassy crisis in Tirana (Albania) when 3,200 people occupied four foreign Embassies to escape from the communist regime, washed himself with beer during the three months siege of Dubrovnik, when 4,570 people were evacuated and organized and implemented operation “San Bernardo” with a massive airdrop operation using both NATO and Warsaw Pact air assets to reach 870,000 starving Ethiopians. Practically, in the Cold War when nobody would have conceived cooperation between the two military blocks, the desire to help people in need made this possible, under the name that recalls nothing but neutrality, since the Saint Bernard (San Bernardo) dogs are the symbol of Switzerland.

A great speech followed by a short FAQ section, suggestions to the RomeMUN2013 delegates and a reminder-  every country has a say in the General Assembly of the UN, giving the powerful opportunity to the delegates- to say their opinion.

Honorable guests have the floor

What an inspiring opening ceremony! International careers, gender roles, youth commitment, passion, education, diseases due to food shortage, life experiences in developing countries: many topics were discussed yesterday during the first day of the biggest international model UN conference in Italy.

All these issues were the subjects of the guests’ speeches.

The first one has been Fernanda Guerrieri, FAO representative, guest and host of this event. She said to the cameras that it was “such a multicultural and international event”, and that she was extremely proud to welcome all the delegations in her institution.

Similarly, Filippo la Rosa, diplomatic counselor of the major of Rome Alemanno, showed his enthusiasm for Rome MUN 2013 by recalling the weeks he spent in New York and Brussels while he was getting familiar with official diplomacy through simulations like this.

This excitement was shared by Roberto Costantini, currently director of the International Relations Department of Luiss University in Rome. He defined Rome MUN 2013 as a fascinating educational tool, a valuable way to put into practice what has been learnt from the books.

Staffan Domingo de Mistura

Maybe the most appreciated and moving intervention was the one made by Staffan Domingo De Mistura, Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He charmed the audience with jokes as well as personal souvenirs. However - especially during the Q&A session - he reported his own working experiences in conflict zones, such as Croatia, Ethiopia, Somalia and Russia.

Referring to his speech, CNN International has asked him if the fact that the young generation has more “tools” (University courses, MUNs, etc.) to get to know about international cooperation will lead to a larger number of people involved in this field.

According to him, if more people have easy access to information they will be surely more sensitive to problems international organizations deal with.

As Dr. De Mistura said, a high level of enthusiasm and commitment has already been shown by all delegations yesterday. Will that last throughout the next days too? 

THIS POST IS WRITTEN BY THE ROMEMUN JOURNALISTS' TEAM

FAO welcomes RomeMUN Delegates

Today the FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) building hosted the Opening Ceremony of the 2013 RomeMUN. In the following days, delegates from all over the world will act as diplomats from different countries, supporting their policies, sharing opinions and contributing to the achievement of global MDGs.

The youth involved in the RomeMUN negotiation game is showing great interest in the main issues of this year’s conference. Walking in the hallways of the FAO building, the atmosphere you can feel is marked by the delegates’ enthusiasm and willingness to contribute to and play an active part in solving problems concerning the whole world.

“The world we want” emerged as the main topic of the meeting and many opinions have been expressed by speakers and participants. The debate ranged from preventing war in developing and least developed countries, to the reduction of the world gap between “the rich and the poor, the black and the white”, as stated by FAO Goodwill Ambassador Al Bano Carrisi. Particularly, the eradication of hunger and the struggle against spreading diseases linked to malnutrition has been addressed in depth by participants and panellists.

Delegates were impressed by the opening ceremony guests and organisation. These young and determined people are eager to cooperate for achieving a better future. Delegates found further motivation in the speech by FAO Cabinet Director Fernanda Guerrieri “If you want to go quickly, go alone, but if you want to go far away, go together”. Moreover, participants showed interest in Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan De Mistura’s intervention. He shared his experiences in overcoming difficulties, working together with foreign diplomats. The core message that received general appreciation among delegates was that international cooperation and intercultural dialogue are key to solve current problems, even though in some cases it seems that no bridge can be built between conflicting parties.

 POST WRITTEN BY THE JOURNALISTS' TEAM

RomeMUN 2013- 1200 young people to act as world leaders

Rome (March 7, 2013)-- 1,200 young people from all over the world will assume the role of the UN member states representatives to discuss issues of international importance at the fourth edition of Rome Model United Nations (RomeMUN), opening today in the Plenary Hall of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The participants, coming from 108 different countries, will debate topics like the fight against hunger and poverty, women's rights, issues related to sustainable development and the right to basic education for all and will have the opportunity to meet leading experts of the national and international panorama: Corrado Clini, Environment Minister in the Monti cabinet, Eve Crowley, FAO Deputy Director General for Gender, Equity and Rural Employment, Stefano Vella, Director of Department of Medicine Institute of Health, Luis Jimenez-McInnis, Special Adviser to IFAD President, and Staffan de Mistura, Under-Secretary of State in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The event is sponsored by the UN agencies in the agro-food pole in Rome: FAO, IFAD and the World Food Programme, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Representation of the European Commission in Italy, some Italian regions, and was made possible thanks to the invaluable contribution of many private entities.

The Giovani nel Mondo Association, together with other sponsors like Education First, Bonduelle, Giorgio Tesi Vivai and Hotel Villa Mercede, put at stake 100 scholarships to facilitate the participation of young people with great resumes, who otherwise would not have been able to attend the event.

This year's edition is going to evolve around the Millennium  Development Goals, the eight international development targets aimed at encouraging development by improving social and economic conditions in the world's poorest countries.

About half of the participants are from abroad (from Afghanistan to Egypt, Ghana, Brazil, Uzbekistan and Nicaragua) and are united in their desire to be the leading actors of RomeMUN, experience the simulation to the full, reach agreements and solutions to problems that the big actors of the international diplomacy struggle to solve, learn each other, make friends, share experiences and dreams.

The delegates' activity, the workshops and the debates will be described and documented by other young students who will assume the role of journalists and reproduce the work of some major international networks as CNN, BBC, RaiNews, Al Jazeera, France 24, Russia Today.

Summary of the program and conference venues:

7 March - from 9.00 to 17.30 FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla

8 March - from 9.30 to 19.00 Luiss, Center of American Studies, Hall of the Parliamentary Groups

9 March - from 9.30 to 19.00 Luiss Guido Carli, Viale Romania 32

10 March - from 9.30 to 19.00 Luiss Guido Carli, Viale Romania 32

11 March - from 9.00 to 13.30 Eataly, Piazzale XII ottobre 1492

Giovani nel Mondo Press Office