Chairwoman Linda Dubock's Speech

Princess Mabel, Mr President, distinguished guests, dear delegates,

On behalf of the Board of the Thimun Foundation I would like to welcome you to the 42^nd session of The Hague International Model United Nations conference. I would like to begin by thanking Princess Mabel for her continued support  and for being here today to address this very serious subject. At the same time, I would like to extend my thanks to the Corps diplomatique for once again giving up their time to make the opening ceremonies such a meaningful event. This always sets the tone for the rest of the week. A special thank you goes to ARAMCO for their very generous sponsorship.

Our main topic this year, Good Governance , is indeed a very difficult one – not only for you delegates but for the real UN. For me, it is mostly about the implementation of human rights and the enforcement of human rights standards. There are several mechanisms for strengthening the legal character of the UDHR but although the UDHR standards are clear, they are, to a certain extent open to interpretation. Most of the core human rights conventions have established committees to scrutinize periodical State reports on the implementation of their treaty obligations, there are regional human rights courts and commissions, the African Human Rights Commission, the earth Charter – I could go on, but there are so many and yet Good Governance is so difficult to universally achieve. But freedom of speech is quintessential to transparency and freedom of the press plays agreat role in this.

I quote from a paper produced in 2006 on Making Governance Work for the Poor :

“Good governance is not just about government. It is about political parties, parliament, the judiciary, the media, and civil society. It is about how citizens, leaders and public institutions relate to each other in order to make change happen,”

Sustainable and successful democracies require more than elections, the existence of an independent judiciary and other democratic institutions. They require a legitimate relationship between state and citizen. For governments to be accountable, responsive and effective, citizens need opportunities to communicate their perspectives and needs. Political processes are – essentially – communication processes, ongoing dialogues between people, parties, pressure groups and governments. Through Model United Nations you young delegates learn how to communicate your ideas to your peers and thus prepare to be communicative world citizens. At this large conference your aim should not only be to express your ideas but also to listen to those of others and through dialogue try to come to a peaceful solution. The THIMUN Foundation is an accredited NGO to the UN and as such, has an obligation to maintain standards in debate  and commitment. It is not a game where you use your power of veto to block a resolution or to declare war on another country. If this is what you think MUN is about, then you should leave immediately.You are here to communicate and learn  diplomacy in the hope that when you leave at the end of the week, at least some of you will want to put words into action for the sake of global peace, and that all of you will be more aware of global issues.

Finally I would like to remind you of how privileged you are to be here and to have benefitted from  your education. About 4 years ago I attended the MUN conference in St. Domingo, in the Dominican Republic – a conference held in Spanish, English and French. For the first time young Haitian students had been sponsored, and allowed by the Haitian government , to attend. My colleague Alain Meidinger and I held a workshop in French for these students on “Le Droit des Hommes” . On the first day they were afraid to say anything, constantly looking around for spys, their shoulders were rounded, their body language told you they wanted to disappear, but on the second day they had already grown a little, and by the third day we had confident, almost eloquent delegates. It is sad to think that for these students and for any Haitian students in the foreseeable future it was a unique opportunity and one which will probably not be repeated for a long time. Precisely these young people need to learn about communicating their ideas effectively to ensure  a return to stability. We must try to think of ways of getting humanitarian aid efficiently to them. We have all seen the devastation and heartbreaking images of the recent earthquake in Haiti and I hope you will be reminded of our privileged status and of our responsibility to put back into society what we have been so fortunate to take out. The collection for charity this year will be for the victims of the Haitian earthquake.

I wish you all a productive and communicative conference.

Thank you.