NationStates Jolt Archive

I have submitted this proposal so read it and feel free to ask any questions or send me a telegram if you have any isues or anything you're wondering about. If you like it, don't forget to go approve it! Thanks!

The General Assembly,
Deeply disturbed by the deaths and wars caused by the illegal trade of conflict diamonds,
Noting with approval the steps taken towards the prevention of these conflicts with the Kimberley Process and resolution 55/56 of December 1, 2000,
Noting with deep concern the lack of further steps towards achieving peace and the end of this illegal trade and consequential conflicts,
Realizing the difficulty of taking action for this issue of the trade of conflict diamonds,
Recognizing that ceasing the trade of conflict diamonds might not end these conflicts,

1. Calls upon all states to cooperate in an effort to address the conflicts caused by these conflict diamonds;

2. Urges the United Nations to realize the increasing severity of this trade and that its actions in the past have been insubstantial for the task at hand;

3. Supports the creation of the organization Ceasing the Conflicts of Conflict Diamonds (CCCD) which will meet and specifically address the sources of these conflicts and how better to address the situation at a convention occurring within three months featuring experts of African economy and those with new technology to possibly aid in this process, and inviting countries involved in the trading of conflict diamonds and jewelling companies;

4. Trusts in the support and funding of the UN and NGOs, such as
ActionAid and Global Witness, as well as requesting up to 0.0001% of GDP as determined and seen fit by the UN;

5. Condemns those who do not follow regulation set out by the UN and will enforce punishments as needed;

6. Further proclaims that a sanction shall be imposed on the trade of conflict diamonds and that any diamond found to be in violation of this sanction will be considered contraband and treated as such;

7. Supports a system similar to the Kimberley Process to be implemented for all minerals;

8. Encourages the creation of a subcommittee of CCCD titled Monitoring the Trade of Conflict Diamonds (MTCD) specifically created to enforce all regulations set forward by the UN concerning the trade of conflict diamonds;

9. Further requests an annual conference at which complete records of all diamond trade shall be submitted and reviewed.

4. Trusts in the support and funding of the UN and NGOs, such as
ActionAid and Global Witness, as well as requesting up to 0.0001% of GDP as determined and seen fit by the UN;


I'm a bit ashamed to admit it publically, but I don't completely understand how this clause works with the others. Could you or somebody else go into a bit more detail here (I'm not suggesting a rewrite, because I don't believe UN resolutions need to be written to the lowest common demoninator ... which in this case is me). ;)

Thanks,
10kMichael

We'd prefer this proposal if the reference to African economists wasn't in there, since this is NationStates and this kind of conflict might not be limited to Africa, or even occur in Africa, or so on. We're not opposed to UN resolutions targeting specific nations or regions, but it's bloody hard to see why they should be thus targeted given the level of information we've got to them. We've got a very non-reactionary UN, really; we can't respond so we mandate. Not that this isn't a universalisable issue, however.

It would have been better with an explicit and careful definition of what conflict diamonds are; this may seem obvious, but what you're talking about here is associated with a particular type of conflict, and that should be made explicit. If I conquer a neighbouring state and discover they've got their entire treasury converted into diamonds, can I sell them off in order to rebuild our economies? If terrorists stage a brief but vicious attack on one of my diamond mines (deep within peaceful territory) before being driven off, are all diamonds that come out of that mine conflict diamonds? Clearly not, but without a definition we can't be sure.

Also, we're concerned about what looks like a tax in the 'you don't have to pay it, but we're relying on you to and we're sure you will and if you voted for this resolution you can't very well not' sense. Which would break the spirit if not the letter of the UN taxing laws.

We, the scientific community at the Laboratories of Psychotropics, have succeeded in cloning humans. Therefore we abuse clones so as not to violate any UN mandates. We advise you do the same for your various projects..... some examples:

1. Extra power for your cities.... clones on excersize bicycles hooked up to generators.

2. Sewage cleaning

3. Medical resaerch

4. Weapon lethality research

the list could go on.... but you should get the meaning.

Cardinal Kevorkian, Minister of Clone based Research for all Psychotropics

Is this an NS problem?
If so, we were hitherto unaware of it.

Sorry I'm a little late in responding, but for anyone who doesnt know what GDP is, heres a definition. (Also, you're definitely not the lowest common denominator, I had no idea what GDP was until I started doing Model UN.)

GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product, which is the total value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year, minus net income from investments in other countries. A miniscule fraction of the GDP of a country is actually a considerable sum of money.

To address various issues brought up by other nations, I would first like to say that, although there may not be an Africa in NationStates, let alone one with problems with conflict diamond trade, there is, I am sure, a way to look up past situations that have occured in our own Africa. Also, research will not only be limited to Africa, for we can and should also look at nations within NationStates with this problem.

Secondly, I have found this definition of conflict diamonds to be understandable and clear, and hope that it will suffice in clarifying any questions about exactly what a conflict diamond is:

Conflict diamonds are diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments.

Lastly, any tax would be enforced by the subcomittee MTCD (described in proposal).

In addition, it was brought up that the trade of conflict diamonds was as yet unheard of in NS. In response to that, I would just like to say that we have many new nations and will therefore undoubtedly have this sort of conflict. Also, I may very well be wrong about this, but it had not come to my attention that there were any specific conflicts relating to the ballast water, either. If anyone can correct me, please feel free to do so because I do not by a long shot know all or even most of all the aspects of NS.

Thank you to everyone who has responded thus far and I encourage anyone else with questions to do the same! Again, if you like this proposal you can approve it under the title of "Conflict Diamond Trade".

Our point was not that we don't know what conflict diamonds are, but rather that the proposal doesn't define what they are; if the definition's not in the proposal people will be able to twist the meaning.

Secondly, getting a subcommitee to impose taxes on the UN's behalf is still the UN imposing taxes, and still against past UN resolutions.

I'm sorry for that misinterpretation. Including a definition would be helpful, however, conflict diamonds already have a pretty much unviersal definition and if someone wants to know specifically what they are I'm pretty sure they can type it into a search internet and find a sufficient definition.

In response to your second point, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I just joined this UN and had wrongly been under the assumption that this UN's powers were the same as in our world. I will see if I can perhaps rewrite the proposal to exclude a subcommittee, but if you have any other suggestions as to how I should correctly and effeciently approach this I would be very grateful, for I am pretty sure that you have had much more experience on this site than me. Thank you, again.

Piggy Clones is another of my nations, so occassionally I speak from it, so assume that any comments from Piggy Clones are also mine. (It's not a member of the UN, though, so don't worry about me cheating.)

I just reread people's comments and, correct me if I am wrong, but I think that I may have misinterpreted one. The subcommittee which my proposal speaks of creating is actually not specifically under the UN. Instead, it is under the organization CCCD (see proposal) which is only monitored by the UN, rather than a direct part of it. The organization is also affilliated with the UN and the UN has a major say in most things it does. I hope that this is acceptable under previous resolutions (please tell me if it doesn't!).

4. Trusts in the support and funding of the UN and NGOs, such as
ActionAid and Global Witness, as well as requesting up to 0.0001% of GDP as determined and seen fit by the UN;


I'm a bit ashamed to admit it publically, but I don't completely understand how this clause works with the others. Could you or somebody else go into a bit more detail here (I'm not suggesting a rewrite, because I don't believe UN resolutions need to be written to the lowest common demoninator ... which in this case is me). ;)

Thanks,
10kMichael

This clause is basically about how we're going to get funding for organizations being created or regulation of trade or basically anything related to this topic that requires funding.

Hmm. I think this might concievably be able to get around the wording of the no-taxation bill as it stands. But.
First off, if it's not under UN jurisdiction it doesn't enjoy UN membership - that is to say, if it's not part of the UN, why are UN member states assumed to be under its mandate?
And I'm thinking of precedent here. If this passes, then every proposal in future will be able to say 'okay, we'll create a body that's not under our jurisdiction but will work to further [whatever's in the proposal], and that'll enforce taxes.' And this'll render the tax bill effectively defunct, which I'm sure a great many nations would be very unhappy about.

Sorry I'm a little late in responding, but for anyone who doesnt know what GDP is, heres a definition. (Also, you're definitely not the lowest common denominator, I had no idea what GDP was until I started doing Model UN.)

GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product, which is the total value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year, minus net income from investments in other countries. A miniscule fraction of the GDP of a country is actually a considerable sum of money.

Actually I knew what GDP stood for, but it certainly doesn't help to have these international acronyms spelled out. I hate to have too many sticked threads, but I honestly never read all of the useful links thread. Is there a site (OOC: perhaps a MUN site) that defines these things?

[OOC: I did MUNs for years, first in high school and later in college. I also participated in a Model Arab League as well. I think the nations I had the most fun with would be Zimbabwe, Belize, and then North Korea. When I was playing North Korea I found everything intrusive, but as Belize I got to play the complete opposite end of the spectrum: mess with us, and the Queen will kick you in the rump!]

10kMichael

Hmm. I think this might concievably be able to get around the wording of the no-taxation bill as it stands. But.
First off, if it's not under UN jurisdiction it doesn't enjoy UN membership - that is to say, if it's not part of the UN, why are UN member states assumed to be under its mandate?
And I'm thinking of precedent here. If this passes, then every proposal in future will be able to say 'okay, we'll create a body that's not under our jurisdiction but will work to further [whatever's in the proposal], and that'll enforce taxes.' And this'll render the tax bill effectively defunct, which I'm sure a great many nations would be very unhappy about.

Youre absolutely right about that. I certainly hadn't thought of what effect creating an organization to enforce taxes could have on other future proposals. Thank you very much for bringing this to light. Perhaps the subcommittee should only enforce new rules/laws.

Call me stupid, but where in the proposal does it say anything about taxing conflict diamonds?

Actually I knew what GDP stood for, but it certainly doesn't help to have these international acronyms spelled out. I hate to have too many sticked threads, but I honestly never read all of the useful links thread. Is there a site (OOC: perhaps a MUN site) that defines these things?

[OOC: I did MUNs for years, first in high school and later in college. I also participated in a Model Arab League as well. I think the nations I had the most fun with would be Zimbabwe, Belize, and then North Korea. When I was playing North Korea I found everything intrusive, but as Belize I got to play the complete opposite end of the spectrum: mess with us, and the Queen will kick you in the rump!]

10kMichael

I realized after I had already posted that you werent asking for a definition of GDP, I seem to be doing a lot of misreading, as of late. However, it's a great idea to have a link with all MUN terms, I'll work on it.

On another note, that's really awesome that you did so much MUN. I jsut started this year (it only starts in 9th grade, otherwise I would have started sooner) and this proposal is actually a resolution that I wrote for a previous MUN conference. This UN seems a great opportunity to work a little more on UN stuff. Thanks a lot for all your remarks, and anything else that you can point out would be awesome! It really helps to have someone who has actually worked so much in MUN.

On another note, that's really awesome that you did so much MUN. I jsut started this year (it only starts in 9th grade, otherwise I would have started sooner) and this proposal is actually a resolution that I wrote for a previous MUN conference. This UN seems a great opportunity to work a little more on UN stuff. Thanks a lot for all your remarks, and anything else that you can point out would be awesome! It really helps to have someone who has actually worked so much in MUN.

[OOC: That was when I started as well, actually sorry, the school started with 9th grade, but I didn't join til the 11th grade, and started with a completely idealistic resolution to come up with an international version of the Federal Register. Impratical, but I was 10 ft tall and bullet proof, not because I had sound arguements, but I was in a strong Middle East bloc and through sheer voting power the third world pushed whatever it wanted. *Then* in the off season is when I became the head of Belize and spent much more time reading about Latin America. I'd never want to play a European or North American country in a MUN. You don't learn nearly as much.

There are several other MUNers in this forum though. Trust me, the way people debate, you'll be able to tell who has done MUN, as unlike pure debate roleplaying is a very important thing. Some of the stinkers in non-friendly governments *actually* know exactly what they are doing and on a player to player level have my total respect.

The very best advice I can offer is:

1. Spend Time Here:
http://www.unausa.org/
Granted UNA organizations worldwide are liberal, but if you are lucky enough to live in a city with a local organization, they used to be good with outreach programs. There is a MUN forum there, but come conference time, don't be caught unprepared. Bring in a book or two: including the UN Charter.

Every argument against a resolution you see here, you'll see in conference. To be honest, the debates typically come down to sovereignty related issues. I think if you can demonstrate standing and in simple terms describe what the problem and solution is, at least a third of the people are open-minded enough to give your idea a try. After that you only need another third (just in case they make the issue "An Important Question").

2. If you or a school library have $20

Have your school buy you a copy of the UNA's A Guide to Delegate Preparation. I wasn't lucky enough to get mine til my college days, but still ... the book rocked 10 years ago. I'm sure it is just as good today.

I could give more advice, and would love to hear MUN stories ... but the above two are what really will make the difference between a good debater and an even better MUNer.

So what country(ies) did your school get?
/OOC]

Somewhat off-topic, but...

When I saw the title of this thread, I immediately thought: "yes, we'll just let the subtle ones pass".

Come on everyone! This is your last chance to approve this proposal! If you have any last minute questions ask me here or send me a telegram, but if you agree, be sure to approve it!