Coexisting in Harmony : Navigating a Multifaceted World
We are delighted to announce that Notre Dame du Grandchamp's MUN club will be hosting a conference on the 14th of April 2023, from 8am to 6pm.
Participants in selected committees at the 1st Session of Grandchamp Model United Nations (GRANDMUN) will debate the following topics:
- Countering unemployment caused by automation (ECOSOC)
- The militarization of artificial intelligence (Special Conference 1)
- Confirming the sovereignty of former Soviet states (Special Conference 2)
- Resolving issues of statelessness by addressing discriminatory practices (HRC)
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Who We Are?
GRANDMUN is the first ever official Model United Nations conference hosted by the Lycée Notre-Dame du Grandchamp. From the very beginning of this project to now, our board of directors, Secretary Generals, and student officers have been hard at work to provide you with a memorable day of debating. GRANDMUN is a student-led, non-profit conference, hosted annually in Versailles. As per the MUN (Model United Nations) format, this conference is a simulation of the proceedings within the United Nations, giving students the opportunity to experience the diplomatic work of UN delegates, ameliorate their communication skills, and broaden their horizons.
Anyone interested in joining is welcome to participate given they are between 14 and 19 years old, and speak English fluently.
Guest Speakers
Ambassador Carmelo Inguanez
After graduating from the universities of Malta, Oxford, and Bruxelles, His Excellency Mr. Inguanez started what was to become a busy and successful career as a diplomat for Malta. In the United Nations Organization, H. E. Mr. Inguanez worked for the UN Organization for Food and Agriculture from 2011 and was named permanent representative of the Maltese Republic at the UN in 2016. H. E. was appointed ambassador to Russia (2009-2011), to Italy (2011-2013), to Tunisia (2013-2016) and to France (since december of 2019). Mr. Inguanez also played a role in the integration of Malta into the European Union, by holding the position of Coordinator of foreign relations with the EU during negotiations Malta’s entry in the union.
We have had the immense honor to be able to interview His Excellency Mr. Carmelo Inguanez at the Maltese Embassy in Paris within the framework of GRANDMUN 2023. This inspiring interview will be broadcasted during the conference on April 14th.
We would like to thank H.E. Mr. Inguanez for welcoming Amaury Michaux (videographer and photographer), James Rebiscoul (delegate of the USA in SPC2) and Marine (Co-Secretary General) at the Malta Embassy for this insightful talk. The GRANDMUN board will forever be grateful for this amazing opportunity.
His Excellency Mister Diégo Colas
H. E. Mr. Diégo Colas has dedicated his whole career to representing France abroad and taking care of foreign affairs within the French government. After working in European Affairs for the Foreign Minister’s Cabinet, H. E. Mr. Colas was appointed advisor at the French Embassy in London (2004-2008) and at the French Embassy in Algeria (2008-2012). Then, from 2016 to 2019, Mr. Colas held the position of judicial affairs at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, before being named Ambassador to Georgia, in August of 2019.
Mr. Colas studied at Georgetown University, Science Po Paris and at the Ecole Nationale de l’Administration (ENA). He was also a French Air Force Reserves officer, earlier on in his career.
There is no way the GRANDMUN board could thank His Excellency Mr. Colas for accepting our invitation to come and speak at our event about the sovereignty of former Soviet states. His many years of experience in international relations and his interest for Eastern European countries will surely make for an enlightening speech.
Committees
Special Conference 1
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to improve the health and well-being of individuals, communities, and states. However, certain uses of AI could also undermine international peace and security by, raising concerns about safety and security of the technology, accelerating the pace of armed conflicts, or loosening human control over the means of war. How can we, as delegates, mitigate the potential catastrophic effects of these state-of-the-art weapons?
Special Conference 2
The Soviet Union was dissolved more than 30 years ago. In its wake, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), produced 15 sovereign states. These states included: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Each of these countries is now self-governed and is internationally recognized as a sovereign nation. However, recently events have transpired that potentially threaten peace in the region, and the right to autonomy of former Soviet republics. Is a peaceful solution between conflicting former Soviet States conceivable?
Economic and Social Council
With the rapid technological advancement of recent years, computers are increasingly encroaching on domains that were previously considered exclusively human. The astonishing progress in such areas as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, 3D printing and genetics has enabled computers to perform the tasks of architects, medical doctors, music composers and even a 16th century Dutch master of painting. This is furthermore made unsettling by recently unveiled world population trends. Latest UN DESA data show that, by 2050, our population is expected to reach 9.8 billion people, over 6 billion of whom will be of working age. Meanwhile, we are already struggling with finding decent employment for 71 million young people worldwide.
It is easy to see why new technologies are increasingly viewed as a major threat to labour markets. Some estimates even claim that a staggering 80 per cent of jobs run the risk of being automated in the coming decades.
Nearly every day brings news of remarkable feats achieved by computers or robots, and with them a gnawing question: Will machines edge us out of brain jobs?
HRC
The issue of statelessness is usually portrayed as an "invisible problem" in today's world, since most of the people take membership of a State for granted. More than 10 million individuals in all regions of the world are stateless, which means that they are not considered as nationals by any state under the operation of its law. Most of the time, and so as to temporarily cease the chaotic procedures and vanish proof of those groups, stateless persons are being registered as persons of "unknown nationality" or "non-citizens". This phenomenon comprises violation of one fundamental right protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which affirms that "everyone has the right to a nationality". As a result, stateless people are dealing with issues such as lack of education, healthcare and employment, amenities that all nationalities provide on a daily basis. Will these people ever manage to find a place in this world?