This year's OLMUN is approaching. There are only a few hours left until the Opening Ceremony marks the beginning of OLMUN 2022. As every year, the Secretariat has invited several guest speakers to attend the ceremony or to film a video message. Among them are the mayor of Oldenburg Jürgen Krogmann, David McAllister, member of the European Parliament and Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Commitee and Susanne Menge, member of the German Parliament and the Alliance "Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen".
Four days of the OLMUN conference with exciting debates in the committee sessions as well as evening entertainment lie ahead. About 350 delegates from different countries like the Netherlands, Turkey and the Czech Republic are participating in this year's conference.
In 2022, the OLMUN revolves around the slogan “Causes of Conflict and Proposals for Peace”. Examples all around the world demonstrate that conflicts of any kind can arise anywhere, sometimes even when they are least expected. A recent one is the ongoing war in Ukraine which has and will continue to have fatal consequences for its citizens and the relationships between nations within and outside of Europe.
In order to resolve existing conflicts as well as to prevent them from arising altogether, it is essential to identify how and why they emerge in the first place. To allow students to inform themselves and open their minds for a look at the causes of conflicts, the conference offers seven committees for the delegates. Each committee will discuss a different topic however, they all relate to the overall theme of the OLMUN 2022.
Especially contributing to the slogan, the First Committee of the General Assembly (GA 1st), which is led by Keara Hartschuh, Arik Luhn and Juliana Rashidwill, will evaluate the topic “Ethics and Handling of Drones and Self-Firing Weapon Systems”. Also dealing with the issue of war is the Security Council (SC). The discussion about the topic “Yemen – A War With No End In Sight” will be supervised by Clara von Kirchbach and Isabella von Jan.
The majority of people living in Europe has the privilege of fundamental human rights and their enforcement. Others, however, must fight daily to ensure their rights and it is crucial for those who are privileged to support the ones who are not. In this regard, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) will elaborate on how to “[ensure] Women's Rights in Developing Countries”. Anna Siebels and Christopher Hoyer will be chairing the committee. In charge of the Human Rights Council (HRC) are Duru Savda and Tom Siebels. Their task will be to lead the discussion to “[improve] the Treatment of Children and Adolescents in Crisis Areas”. A third committee revolving around the topic of humans and their rights is the Social Cultural and Humanitarian Council (SOCHUM). Led by Arman Kamar and Mika Niederheide the delegates will deal with the “Ethics of Human Genetic Engineering”.
Climate change and the fact that we, as humans, must stop destroying and exploiting the earth are not new knowledge yet their significance as issues does not cease to exist.
Due to that, two committees are dealing with topics concerning natural and environmental protection. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), chaired by Janna Hinrichs and Louis Sachse, will seek ways to “[reduce] the Overfishing of the Oceans”. The second committee will be the Arctic Council, a new committee established this year, which is supervised by Rasmus Conrad and Younes El Guernaoui. During the committee sessions the delegates will discuss possibilities for “[protecting] the Natural Ecosystem of the Arctic Region and its Indigenous People”.
Throughout the week the Press Team will draft reports about the committee sessions to offer an insight into the delegates' work and to provide information about their resolutions.