NationStates Jolt Archive

"Welcome, friends, to the first conference of the International Development Co-operative. Together, we are stronger. Together, we will be unstoppable in our resolve. Together, we can bring an end to the atrocity that is poverty. For this common purpose to improve the lives of all the world's citizens, I declare this conference open!"

To all nations: Welcome to the International Development Co-operative, an organisation dedicated to wiping out poverty and ensuring a high standard of living for the world's peoples. Our first conference is being held in Tavast-Carelia, our chair nation. All nations are invited to attend, but only IDC members will have the right to vote - if you are interested in becoming an IDC member, please post below. We welcome both developed and developing nations who share our common vision.

Just for the record for ease of RP, the conference is held in Porvoo, the capital of Tavast-Carelia, on the Alcaeran continent, and it can be reached by plane or ship.

Amanda Sverre was, by far, the richest member of the government; she had arrived in her own private jet to Porvoo just a few days before the start of the conference to scout the scenery and the nation. She had never before been outside Svea Riga and certainly not outside Aperin. Her view of Tavast-Carelia was no different than the one any other Rigan had, from what they knew from their history-books they read in school; Tavast-Carelia was a former colony which had broken free from Rigan supremacy and cowardly fought their way from civilized society and joined bonds with their lesser developed neighbours.

This was not what she saw now, Tavast-Carelia was like a warmer version of Svea Riga without the alarming presence of guards and security everywhere, it was awesome.

Dmitri sighed as they entered the conference hall. Finally, they were here. It had been a long plane flight from Demo-Bobylon to East Hackney, before a much shorter flight which was unfortunately diverted to Aboa "for security reasons" - not for the first time that day, he cursed the President for making them use public planes only. Luckily the high-speed railway got them to Porvoo on time, but he was still thoroughly exhausted.

A smart young woman in a suit walked up to the two Demo-Bobylonian diplomats. "Comrade Dmitri Andropov?" she asked. Dmitri nodded. "And you must be...Comrade Borikkov, Minister for Economic Planning?" she said to the large man sitting on a nearby bench. He rolled his head up and down as though it would fall off. Poor Boris, thought Dmitri. He never did travel well.

The woman beamed at them. "Your rooms have been booked. The proceedings will start tomorrow with a presentation and press conference, and then the delegates will withdraw for private discussions. In the meantime, why not take this opportunity to explore Porvoo?"

To all IDC members - the new IDC Wiki entry is at http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/International_Development_Co-operative

Feel free to edit anything!

Bertolemoh Gogglez accompanied by the usual contingent of Military Dancers and UC Diplomatic Staff will arrive just in time to attend the conference proper where they shall wait with baited breath to hear how the Shiree might benefit from the IDC

As mr. David Fulguera put his bags down in the Porvoo hotel room where he would be spending the coming nights, he let out a long sigh. Sure, development issues were some of the things he cared most about in his life, along with his partner and kids, but still... Hell, he'd even initiated some of ParEcon's more successful bilateral development and aid programs, but still a man had feelings, no? If it weren't for the government's polite order that he should go here, that this conference "could be interesting to you" and the heap of parecoins he'd get for delaying his vacation, he'd bail on the rest of his diplomatic council and get out of Dodge.

David let his eyes sweep over the room's interior and stopped when seeing himself in the mirror. Suddenly he felt a pang of embarrassment from his previous thoughts. A Pareconian development diplomat, bailing on a diplomatic mission? Unthinkable. Such procedure could be accepted in places like Rehochipe or Watfordshire, but in his homeland? The papers would screw him over like rabid dogs, gladly assisted by his friends, family and conscience. David took a deep breath.

Your government, your people, chose you. Not just because you know what you're doing, but because you're damn good doing it, too.

He felt his self-esteem and will slowly return. His vacation could wait, it would come about anyway, sooner or later. If not later, his ulcer would make it damn certain he got it sooner.

*tag*

"Ahem. E-excuse me."

The conference spokesman was straining over the noise of several hundred diplomats, politicians, representatives and experts in the lobby hall. He tried once again to get some attention.

"If you w-would just like to quieten down, the presentation will begin now."

No effect. One of the very few security guards present pushed his way up to the microphone and bellowed into it, causing a sharp cacophony of squeaks and groans.

"Oi! Quieten down now. Quieten down." Silence fell on the assembled congregation, apart from one lone diplomat who continued talking unaware of his colleagues' embarassed looks.

"You! Shut up!" The security guard paused. "I will now hand you over to our conference organiser."

The man next to him had blushed a bright purple. "Thank you. Erm, as I was saying...we will now have a short film, presented by noted grassroots activist, Bertolemoh Gogglez".

The crowd politely applauded as the Shiree herald moved up to the stage, and took their seats as the film on poverty worldwide began.

The presentation and press conference were over, and it was time to get down to business. The assembled representatives were led into a private conference room and seated. Dmitri walked to the front of the room.

"Ahem. I would like to raise the first point of our agenda, namely the structure of the IDC and application requirements. I have a copy of our proposal."


Structure of the IDC
1. Any nation can become a member if they have signed the International Fair Trade Treaty.
2. A pledge of 0.01% of budget is compulsory, except for nations with economies Developing or under.
3. If any nation has an objection to a new member, the new member may be admitted by a popular vote, requiring a simple majority.
4. All IDC members have voting rights.
5. Executive rights of the chair nation...[to be completed]

"Does anyone have any questions, objections, or suggestions?"

"Does anyone have any questions, objections, or suggestions?"

Mr. Fulguera raised his hand and waited to be given the word.

"Well, I have some suggestions that we have discussed in the foreign aid division of the ParEcon Foreign Affairs Council."

He put an overhead up for everyone to see.

Structure of the IDC (ParEcon amendments)
1. Any nation can become a member if they have signed the International Fair Trade Agreement and comply to its standards.
2. A pledge of 0.01% of national budget is compulsory, except for nations with economies classified by the UN as 'Developing' or under.
3. If any nation has a strong objection to a new member, the new member may be admitted by a popular vote, requiring a simple majority by IDC members. The plaintiff must present the objections before the IDC.
4. All IDC members have voting rights.
5. The IDC chair nation is elected by simple majority vote. Executive rights of the chair nation...[to be completed]

"Here you can see our brief proposal. First of all, we think that the first paragraph should read '...signed the International Fair Trade Agreement and comply to its standards.'"

David paused, scanning the crowd. They were listening, which was good sign. He continued.

"Second, the requested aid in paragraph two must be defined further, perhaps as '...0.01 % of the national budget' or GNP or some other measure. Furthermore, the sentence on developing countries needs to be defined.

Third, we think the third paragraph should be refined a bit and making it clear that only strong objections are viable reasons to reject a potential member of the IDC. Any objection must be made with a presentation to the IDC as to why the objection is made."

They were still intent on hearing him out. They're better than the bloody sleepy-headed General Assembly.

"And to finish, there could be a number of responsibilities for the IDC chair, but some of the most important ones are the right to cast the deciding vote when voting is even and the ability to initiate investigations to exclude members that have not complied with IDC regulations, which by the way is something that needs to be further defined in the statute. Are we to exclude members that don't meet IDC rules? How should this be done?" David noticed he was drifting. "Ah... well. Other responsibilities could be hosting conferences such as this, co-ordinating joint aid from members and furthering potential aid partners to the IDC community."

Dmitri rose to his feet. "Thank you, Mr. Fulguera. Very valuable suggestions indeed, and I can find no objection to them. Perhaps we should consider the expulsion of members - requiring a simple majority vote, or should a larger majority be needed?"

Suvi-Anne Siimes, prime minister of Tavast-Carelia and the nation's official representative to the conference (the current chairperson being Duke Daniel, who had insisted on taking the actual job of the chairman), rose up for the first time.

"It is our opinion that a larger number of votes should be required to expulse a nation from IDC membership. A super majority might be a better requirement than a simple majority. Additionally the nation under threat of expulsion should be given the right to explain as to why they cannot meet IDC rules, before any votings are carried out."

Deciding she might as well bring up another issue while she was at it, minister Siimes added:

"We also feel that a separate, detailed discussion should be held in order to decide the precise rights and duties of the chair nation, as coming to an agreement on all the details about their chairmanship can be a rather difficult task."

"The charter so far reads:

The Charter of the International Development Co-operative

Applications
1. Any nation can become a member if they have signed the International Fair Trade Agreement and comply to its standards.
2. A pledge of 0.01% of national budget is compulsory, except for nations with economies classified by the UN as 'Developing' or under.
3. If any nation has a strong objection to a new member, the new member may be admitted by a popular vote, requiring a simple majority by IDC members. The plaintiff must present the objections before the IDC.
4. All IDC members have voting rights.
5. Any IDC member may be expelled by a two-thirds supermajority.

Rights of the chair nation
1. The IDC chair nation is elected by simple majority vote.
2. The chair nation serves a six-month term.
3. Executive rights of the chair nation include hosting conferences, managing the budget and co-ordinating aid, and casting the tie-break vote in an a situation of a tie while voting. Furthermore, they will also lead the IDC in attracting new members.
4. If the IDC is unhappy with the chair nation, a new election may be forced before the completion of the six-month term if a two-thirds supermajority are in favour of an election.
5. If for any reason the IDC chair nation feels unable to complete their duties, they may call an election at any time.
6. After they have served their term, the IDC chair may not stand for election in the next consecutive term.

We belive the application segment of the charter is fairly complete. As for the chair nation, however, point 3 needs to be addressed. I would personally propose that a two-thirds majority could force a new election for chair."

The Free German Commonwealth of Rammsteinburg will send somebody from the International Relations Ministry to attend the conference. Whether or not Rammsteinburg decides to join the IDC will depend on his/her observations.

"Comrade Dimitri?" mr. Fulguera said "Perhaps the third paragraph on the chair nation should read '...if a supermajority of all members demand a new election to be held.'. We should also settle on how long the chair nation will hold that position within IDC. Should it be forever, for a year, six months, or what? Personally, I don't think the chair must be exchanged that often, perhaps twice a year?"

"I believe there was a preliminary agreement that a nation is elected for the chair for six months at the time, although that seems not to have made it to current draft for some reason," prime minister Siimes said. "That seems like a fairly decent time for me. We also agree about the requirement of a supermajority in holding new elections prior to the six-month limit. Additionally, we would suggest that a chair nation may request new elections at any time themselves, should they find that for some reason they are no longer able to perform the duties of their chair. What still needs to be adressed is whether or not one nation can stand as a candidate for consecutive terms as the chair."

"A good point, my friend. I would suggest that we disallow nations to stand for chair in the next consecutive term if they have been chair last. Extending this to all nations may make the system more democratic, but could result in a shortage of candidates.

Furthermore, may I extend my heartiest welcomes to Rammsteinburg, who I hope will join us in the near future in combatting global injustice."

OOC: I've just been invited here by Demo-Bobylon. Is there anything I need to do before I join the conference?

OOC: You're free to observe and make comments as you wish. If you want to become a full IDC member, TG me and I'll tell you how. If you'd like to discuss the IDB and IDC working together, I'll speak to the chair of the IDC and we'll arrange something. Is that OK?

OOC: At present, we'd rather just observe the conference. We don't especially wish to sign the IFTA at this point - and given that that is a prerequisite of IDC membership, we would not be able to apply at this point. However, we are very interested in your organization, and would be keen to maintain links. Furthermore, the idea of the IDC and IDB working together appeals to us very much. We'll await further information: for now we'll dispatch an observer team to the conference.

EMERGENCY MEETING FOR ALL IDC MEMBERS: Following the outbreak of war between Watfordshire and Svea Riga, two members of the IDC, we are requesting that this is brought to the top of the agenda.

tag

The small plane seemed to make a slow gain towards the airport. Its shinning chrome body glinted the foreign sunlight like a shard of glass coming in to land. As it dragged along the runway the diplomatic emblems painted on the wings revealed it to belong to the distant and relatively unheard of government of Geuvara. Martina Jacques was one of eight members of the International Affairs Corp, the ‘student body’ of the diplomatic service. She suspected this provisional assignment could mean important things based on indications of that the government was looking to expand its international relations. Possibly, hopefully, this would end up with her becoming the chief U.N. representative for her country… but those were dreams for another time…

OOC: presume ourselves present the whole time

"As we are short of time, I would like to suggest moving on to other matters. Firstly, which countries should be illegible for aid. Economies classified by the UN as Developing or under should be able to receive aid. However, here is a dilemna: should nations with a poor human rights record or corrupt governments be illegible for aid? Perhaps we should support NGOs in those countries, rather than bilateral agreements."

"In our opinion, we should aid all countries in need. However, it is true that aid given to the goverments of corrupt nations is highly unlikely to reach the people it is meant for.

This actually brings up the point of the precise form of aid given. Pure monetary aid is problematic for member nations that do not use money; it is also the thing most likely to disappear into the pockets of corrupt rulers. Material aid on the other hand would need to be carefully coordinated with the local authorities in order to ensure that the locals recieve precisely the things they have need for."

"A good point: aid can be provided in the form of food, money or capital goods. It is my opinion that the chair nation should choose the most appropriate form of aid, and who it is delivered to."

Bertolomoh Gogglez rises - eyeing any Rigan representatives darkly.

"Friends the Rigan Dictatorship has shown its true colours. Far from aiding nationstates in need, it clearly wishes simply to annex them. I call for all nations in attendance to join me in condemnation of this unprovoked military expansionism. It would appear Watfordshire relies on your help now more than ever."

Dmitri rose to his feet. "I believe the IDC condemns, as written in its mission statement, war. War is ultimately a failure of dipolmacy and an enemy of global justice. Furthermore, we hope that the hostilities between our two member nations can be quickly ended through a fair peace treaty, although the IDC must remain neutral in any conflict."

Martina wondered allowed, "If the IDC is to be a 'neutral' body then why raise concerns about the domestic operations of a nation? Surely it's just as legitimate to expres concern about the violations of humane rights within a sovreign nation as it is when events are between nations... however regardless of how you want to debate interntional affairs i can agree with your sentiment that aid should be directed to satisfying the needs of people in the most direct and applicable means and not by pumping another form of monetary investment into such economies."

"Thank you, Guevara. The IDC should make sure that its aid money is not being used to fund dictatorial or barbaric regimes. Our greatest goal is to ensure that every citizen of the world enjoys a safe, healthy and happy life; this goal is in our opinion incompatable with human rights abuses. At the same time, denying nations aid on such grounds will harm the populace more than the leaders, and so a compromise must be found.

We feel that if the chair nation determines what kind of aid is provided (food, machinery, medicine) and who manages it (NGOs, an IDC workforce or a foreign government) we can satisfy both our support of human rights and our dedication to the poorest people of the world."

"My government feel that all nations should be eligible for aid, on principle, but that the IDC as a collective can choose to exclude certain nations from aid, based on different factors such as the human rights situation, corruption, etcetera. The chair or any member of the IDC could bring the situation in any nation recieving aid to the attention of the IDC community." Mr. Fulguera replied "We also think that we should be careful about using NGOs, since they are often overly bureaucratic, disconnected from the people and soak up huge sums of cash from well-meaning governments and individuals."