051 A Rant on Boko Haram

I should warn you now that I'm about to embark on a very heated rant about politics, of all things.

I am a strong believer in the fact that knowledge is central to change. "Innocence is bliss", yes, but bliss never saved the world. You have to know the facts before you can do anything. You need to know the context before you can even think about using your agency (thanks Mr. Burns).

And it is for that reason that I'm writing this post.

Hands up if you don't know what Boko Haram is.

Lets start with some background knowledge. Nigeria is mainly separated into two parts, the north and the south. Actually, fifty years ago, it was literally separated into two parts: Nigeria (the north part) and the Republic of Biafra (the south part with all the oil and doctors and bureaucrats). These two parts, although the "border" is much blurrier today, are still drastically different, which makes Nigeria a very economically, educationally, and medically diverse place.

To put things in perspective, here's a quote from John Green's vlogbrothers video on Boko Haram: "[Nigeria] has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and very little national debt. It's the largest economy in Africa and the 20th largest in the world. Their film industry generates 10 billion dollars in sales a year. But it's also the last nation in Africa that still has polio, which is found only in the north [of Nigeria], and life expectancy in Nigeria is 52. That's lower than it is in Somalia, which doesn't even have a government. In much of Northern Nigeria, fewer than half of kids even go to elementary school. Female literacy is over 50% and while the country's overall economy grows over 8% a year, in the north, absolute poverty is actually increasing... but in the southwest, female literacy is over 90% and the economy is growing really well."

Now let's get back to Boko Haram, which was founded in Northern Nigeria in 2002 by a guy named Mohammed Yusuf. (Fun fact I: the words "Boko Haram" literally mean "Western education is forbidden"). Boko Haram didn't actually start out as a military organization, but when Yusuf was executed in 2009, over a thousand people were killed in the riots following and Boko Haram became increasingly violent and unpredictable. (Fun fact II: The new leader, and current leader, of Boko Haram is Abubakar Shekau.)

Boko Haram gets its funds mainly through drug trafficking and bank robbery. In 2013, a gunman from Boko Haram kidnapped a family of seven French tourists on vacation in Cameroon. Two months later, they released the hostages in exchange for $3.15 million.

So what next? Let's go back to John Green for the stats: "In 2011, Boko Haram was behind Nigeria's first ever suicide bombing. On Christmas of that year, they killed 41 people via bombings and shootings in churches. In 2012, they killed at least 792 people. And in 2013, they murdered nine women who were distributing polio vaccines. Polio vaccines! They also murdered 54 mostly Muslim college students while they were sleeping in their dorms. And then, in 2014, Boko Haram got worldwide attention when they kidnapped 276 girls from inside of classrooms. The attacks since then have only gotten worse. On January 3rd of this year, they seized the town of Baga, burned it to the ground, murdered as many as 2000 people. And now, Boko Haram controls the northeastern corner of Nigeria where they've instituted a version of sharia law so extreme that not only has the likes of it never been seen in Sub-Saharan Africa, but it's, like, too extreme for al-Qaeda [??!]. They regularly massacre people who won't fight for them, and they've begun attacks in Niger and Chad and Cameroon." All in all, the 7000-10000 militants in Boko Haram have killed more than 5000 civilians since July 2009, not to mention the thousands of kidnappings.

But it's also important not to generalize. Boko Haram does not equate to Nigerians, much less all Muslims- in fact, 99.9% of Nigerians do NOT support Boko Haram and just a few months ago, two Muslims sacrificed their lives to keep a Boko Haram *preteen* girl from suicide-bombing a city market, where she would have killed hundreds of people. Most ten year olds are jamming out to One Direction and doing times tables, and these ones are being forced by Boko Haram to commit suicide and murder those around them!

I haven't done a very good job of putting everything into my own words, because John Green's video does such a great job of it. I do think that it's important that we are aware of Boko Haram and realize that the only reason it's been allowed to grow so dramatically in the past 10 years is because we, the global community, haven't been aware enough of it and it's actions. I myself am not sure what I can do to help, but everything adds up in the end and small steps do matter in the long run, despite seeming otherwise.

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to be awesome.
Quibbles

050 Quibbles writes a post for new MUNers.

I just came back from my first MUN this weekend and I absolutely loved it. Some basic facts about my experience:

Who - Bolivia
What - UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
When - 2/6/15, 2/7/15, 2/8/15
Where - Boston Marriott Copley Place
Why - BosMUN

Basically, I was a delegate from Bolivia for the UNDP for BosMUN (which stands for Boston Model United Nations, of course). My two topics were:

1) The development of post-conflict nations.
2) Access to and the sustainable use of water.

My committee had about 60 people, we had desks, and our chair's (the chairwoman's, not the furniture's) name was Tova Levin. We were on the first floor in the Tremont room. I didn't have to stay at the hotel because I live about 40 minutes away from it.

A CHRONOLOGICAL STEP-BY-STEP OF MY EXPERIENCE AT BOSMUN:

Preparation - Trust me, this requires more than just 20 minutes before the conference.

Committee choice - If you're looking for an easy conference with lots of beginners, join an ECOSOC (IAEA, ECOWAS, CCPCJ, UNHRC, UNICEF, UNDP, OAS) or a General Assembly (DISEC, SOCHUM, SPECPOL, WHO). For more focused, intense committees, look for Crisis Committees (more on this later), World Bank, US Senate, Press Corps, and UNSC (United Nations Security Council).

Okay, Crisis Committees. Do not be surprised if you are sitting near a crisis conference and hear screaming and weird noises. Basically what happens is that you're handed a crisis and a 15 member committee makes super fast choices about everything. A person will come in periodically and be like "hey so Bulgaria has invaded the capital of Uruguay" or "the President of Russia had been assassinated by the Austrians" or something and you have to deal with it. These are super scary and there's always the chance that you'll be assassinated. By the end, usually you've blown up the world, or Russia's annexed everywhere. My friend was in a crisis committee and they had to meet at 1:00-4:00 AM to simulate a real crisis because, I quote, "They're not going to wait for the president to finish breakfast before telling him China's nuked Brazil". Touché, Olivia.

If you're planning on doing a Crisis conference, please have already been at least two MUNs. It can get kind of crazy.

More information at bosmun.org.

Dress Code - LADIES: Top: Preferably collared blouse, cardigan/blazer, necklace/earrings. Usually white shirt, black jacket. Bottom: Pencil skirt with tights/dress pants. Usually dark colored or dark patterned skirt. PLEASE don't be that girl with the 2-inch skirt. Shoes: high heels. Everyone wears high heels. Deal with it.

GENTS: You have it easy. Top: White collared shirt. Any color/patterned tie, but have some discretion. Black jacket. Bottom: Black/khaki pants. Shoes: Some sort of formal footwear. Don't be the guy wearing Timberlands.

Position papers - You actually need to do this. They WILL check. Basically, you need to write a paragraph or two on each topic saying what the topic is, what your country believes about the topic, and what you hope to see about the topic. It's fairly simple; if you're not going for a position paper award, you really only need to stall your way through. I don't even think chairs read through them, as long as you have one to turn in, you're good. For awards, you need to finish them early and submit them through email by a deadline. The email will be [your committee]@[your MUN].org. For instance, mine was undp@bosmun.org.

There are some much better ones online and on the BosMUN website, but here is mine on Topic A. I wrote it five minutes beforehand; trust me, you do not want to do that. And writing the position paper will clear up exactly what you're arguing for so when you make your speeches, you know exactly what side you're on and which resolutions you want to pass. Writing the position paper is like writing a study guide for the whole conference.

Research - CIA World Factbook will save you. Also, the BosMUN website has a "background guide" and "mini guide" for every committee that will help you SO MUCH. Download them, print them, read them, highlight them, worship them. You absolutely NEED to read them.

Supplies - Print out the Miniguide, Background guide, CIA World Factbook page, and other notes. This will be about 70 pages long, so also bring a binder. You need a binder because in some conference rooms, there are no tables and you need to write on your lap.

BRING STICKY NOTES! A huge part of MUN is passing notes, and sticky notes will make it so much easier. Unless you want to be tearing bits of paper, bring two pads of yellow, 3 in x 3 in post-its. Totally worth it.

Also bring lined paper, pens, pencils, etc. Money for lunch is important too.

Small snacks are allowed (depending on your chair), so bring a bag of pretzels or Swedish fish or trail mix to munch on, because committee sessions often run 3 hours long without break. Drinks are okay too, so coffee or hot chocolate is really nice while listening to speakers. Don't make a mess.

Of course, bring your phone even though you're NOT ALLOWED TO USE IT DURING SESSIONS. MUN often runs late (11:30 PM -12:00 AM type late) so the parentals will get worried. There are also dances, so you might need a change of clothes and shoes (flats), but I wouldn't know seeing that I didn't go to any of them.

And finally, bring a bag (tote or backpack) to carry everything in.

Procedure - As long as the floor is open, you can propose a motion or point by saying "Motion to..." or "Point of..."

Placards - Everyone gets a cardstock sign that says your country. You will need to raise this during role call, every time you vote, every time you want to propose a motion/point, and every time you want to speak. People in the back of the room may want to bring a Sharpie to rewrite their country's name really big because the chair will not be able to read tiny font from the front of the room.

Nobody calls each other by their names, only by their countries. So I would walk by someone in my committee at lunch and they'd be like "Hi, Bolivia!" and I'd be like "Hello, Uzbekistan!" It's a thing.

Motions - Basically, if you want to start something (a debate, discussion, vote, etc), raise your placard, wait to be called on, and say "Motion to..." when the floor is open. Then, everyone votes and if the majority votes, then your motion is passed. If your motion is passed, you're the first speaker (generally).

Open/Close Debate - Before every session and after it, someone needs to say "Motion to Open/Close Debate". This basically means you're opening/closing the session. A rather useless formality.

Speaker's List - When there is no moderated caucuses or unmoderated caucuses, there's a generic speaker's list. I suggest you propose a "Motion for a speaker's list with 45 second speaking time on backgrounds of each country" when starting a new topic. Your chair and your committee will love you. What that means is that the chair will call on about 20 people with raised placards to speak for 45 seconds each on what their country thinks about the topic. If there are no caucuses on the floor, the chair will revert to the speaker's list.

Moderated Caucuses - Mods are for discussion on a specific topic. For instance, you can propose "Motion for a five minute moderated caucus on education with 30 second speaking time". People will vote, and if you get the majority, you will get to speak first. These are useful for finding people's positions on the topic and seeing what resolutions are being made. After you speak, the chair will call on someone with their placard raised.

If you want questions, you can say "Motion for a five minute moderated caucus on education with 30 second speaking time with 15 seconds for two questions". That way, people can ask questions to speakers.

Unmoderated Caucuses - Unmods let you get out of your seat and talk with groups of people. You can walk around and make resolutions, make blocks, etc. More on this in the "Resolutions" section below. To propose an unmod, say "Motion for a fifteen minute unmoderated caucus for resolutions". Usually committees will alternate between mods for positions, unmods for making groups, mods for ideas, unmods for writing resolutions, and mods for explaining resolutions.

Voting - This is simple. Chair will say "All in favor for the motion to..." or "All against the motion to..." and you just raise your placard. Majority = pass. For voting on resolutions, it's a 2/3 vote and you will not be able to leave or enter the room.

Yielding - If you have extra time after your speaking time, you can yield your time to the chair, to another delegate, to questions, etc. "I yield my time to the chair" means your time is gone. "I yield my time to China" means China will have the rest of your time (useful when explaining resolutions). "I yield my time to question" means people can ask questions.

Points - Points are for personal use. If you have a question, need, or concern, say "Point of ___. [Insert question here]?"

Point of Personal Privilege - Use this if you need to go to the bathroom or get a drink. Raise your placard during an open floor and say "Point of Personal Privilege. May I go to the bathroom?". You can technically also do this during someone's speech, but is it really that hard to wait fifteen seconds?

Point of Inquiry - If you have a question on procedure, use this. Raise your placard, and when you're called on by the chair, say "Point of Inquiry. [Insert question here] ?". You can also use this to ask stuff like "What continent is Bolivia on?" except then you look underprepared and stupid in front of 60 teenagers in suits.

Point of Order - If you use this, you will be known as "the bitch". Points of Order are basically for when people are doing things wrong, but everyone was a beginner once and is it really necessary to call someone out on every little mistake? The chair will correct them if they're doing something wrong. Not your job, please sit down.

Resolutions - This is the hard part: the fancy-shmancy writing. Unfinalized resolutions are called "working papers".

Passing Notes - This will be a huge part of your experience at BosMUN. Since you're not allowed to talk, you're supposed to write notes and pass them assembly-line style. This is where the sticky notes come in... write "To Libya" on the top or on the back, write your note, and write "From South Sudan" on the bottom. Since stick notes are sticky, you can stick the sticky end to the not sticky end to make a roll and write the "To Libya" part on the outside of the roll for more private conversations. Use notes to write clauses, ideas, and find what other people's positions are on topics.

Format - Resolutions go like this:

Title - Usually an acronym. My block's resolution's title was the "RSI Plan", which stood for Recovery, Sustainability, and Infrastructure.

Sponsors - These are the people who helped write the Resolution. You can only sponsor one resolution per topic. A good number for sponsors is between 10-15. NGO's can also appear here.

Signatories - These are the people who support this resolution and would like to see it go through. You can be a signatory to as many papers as you want. Ours had 15 signatories. NGO's can also appear here.

Preambles - Here are all the circumstances. For instance, some of ours were "Recognizing the roles of the World Health Organization in promoting the reintegration and social growth of citizens into post-conflict communities," and "Acknowledging the role of the UN Human Settlements program (UN Habitat) in improving living conditions of urban dwellers through enhanced physical infrastructure, housing capacity, water, and sanitation conditions." These are listed in bullet form. Our group had four preambles.

Operative Clauses - Here is everything you want to do in your resolution. This takes up about 2-3 pages. It starts with "[your committee, e.g:] United Nations Development Programme," (with the comma) and then continues in numbered form in little paragraphs. After each number you can also write a), b), etc to list some things. You can use i, ii, iii, iv, etc to write lists under each a) and b). This should look kind of like an outline with all the indents. Your clauses should start with a verb ending in 's' and are not complete sentences. Basically you want to write a clause that could be a full sentence if you started it with your committee name. E.g: "[United Nations Development Programme] 1) Calls upon member states to use programs such as UNESCO's Technical Vocational Education Training Program in order to reintegrate vulnerable populations..." Here is a picture demonstrating the format of a typical resolution paper:

Blocks - Blocks are groups of people working together to create a resolution. Typically blocks are 5-15 people big, and they are usually make up the "sponsors" section of the resolution. When you present or explain your resolution, you can say "My block came up with ___" or something like that.

Additionally, when you do present your resolution, only 1/3 (rounding down) of your block can go- e.g if you have 14 people in your block, only 4 can go represent your group. These four people will summarize your preambles, clauses, and answer questions from other blocks.

NGO's -  NGO's are a big thing. They provide the funding for your resolution, and when you're presenting your resolution, often opposing blocks will ask, "Where are you going to get the funding for your program?" To be able to answer this, you need to rely on NGO's. NGO stands for Non-Governmental Organizations, with some notable examples of Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and Greenpeace. Representatives of NGO's will wander in and out of your conference room, and during unmods, you can talk to them (or you can pass notes to them). If you have a clause saying "Recommends use of Life Straws in post-conflict nations to...", then you should approach drinking/health NGO's and ask them for funds. Usually they will give between 1-50 million dollars, so be nice to them. Your resolution will be more popular if legit NGO's support it. They can also write a clause for your resolution, and be a sponsor, or they can be a signatory. NGO'S ARE IMPORTANT!

Opening/Closing Ceremonies - These aren't as important, but it's good to go to them. The opening ceremony is really just a bunch of boring speeches. The closing ceremony includes awards, so that's pretty important. Oh, and more speeches as well.

Awards - There are lots of categories you can be awarded in. Best Position Paper, Best Delegate, Verbal Commendation, Honorable Mention, and Outstanding Delegate. Best Position Paper and Best Delegate mean exactly what they look like. Verbal Commendations are for if you're a good speaker. Honorable Mention and Outstanding Delegate are pretty much the runner ups for Best Delegate. If you win any of these titles, you will go to the front and get a certificate, except for Verbal Commendation. VC's will just stand up and sit right down. But you get bragging rights.

Overall, just have fun at MUN. Everyone was a beginner once too, and if you make mistakes, you're probably never going to see these people again, so it's alright. Make friends, go to the Jazz Socials, and be appropriate. BosMUN has been one of my best experiences ever, and you get to meet great people who are intelligent, cultured, and talented. Even though this was my first MUN, I feel like I've gotten to know everything so well. So even if you're hella confused right now, or in your practice sessions, within 30 minutes you will get how to do everything and really, it's pretty low stress. If your chair was a great as mine, she'll guide you through and be super nice about everything. Just chill, and have fun.

- Quibbles
Post Scriptum: I used the word "basically" seven times in this post. I'm disappointed in myself.