Engaged with issues of global importance: Service and Creativity (Student League of Nations)

Finding out the countries ICS was given to represent at Student League of Nation was very exciting as my partner Melanie and I had both done extensive research on Saudi Arabia for previous school projects so for us it was a natural choice. We began our research, which was very interesting but also often quite difficult and at times confusing. Saudi Arabia is a state often under great scrutiny and criticism for terrible human rights violations and so it was very important to find positive things about Saudi Arabia in an attempt to find some ammunition against the likely attacks on Saudi Arabia from our fellow delegates. It was difficult at times to argue Saudi Arabia’s controversial stance, being a woman I found it particularly difficult to find solid support for Saudi Arabia’s blatantly discriminatory society and laws. A lot of my research comprised of interviews found online with Saudi Arabian business men and diplomats when questioned on their country to see what answers they game for their country’s often atypical views. Analyzing Saudi Arabia’s foreign relationships was also key to the conference as it turns out. Saudi Arabia has a tangled relationship with many western and neighboring states, what particularly interested me was the Saudi’s relationship with America and also with Israel, as this often plays a deciding vote in a states foreign policy choices. I wrote two speeches for Saudi Arabia one was condemning surrogacy and pushing a worldwide ban on it put forward by the Holy See and the other on supporting Security Council reforms put forward by Brazil.  

On the first day of the conference it was fascinating to be in the actual UN building in Geneva. When you walked the hall with real UN workers it was intriguing to think about what they had been doing that day. This particular day neither Melanie nor I had any resolutions we had prepared speeches on but we kept our ears sharp in case Saudi Arabia was mentioned and we had a “right to respond”. The chairman and the whole set up of the conference was particularly serious, maybe it was the setting but everyone did things very properly, correctly address the chairman and the delegates, not saying I and trying not to offend any countries. Although we didn’t talk that day we spent most of the day agreeing to Arab alliances and generally trying to make sure we were signing friend agreements not foe ones.

The second day was definitely the more interesting day for me, within the first couple of speeches on the Brazil Security Council reform resolution, Saudi Arabia was mentioned and I jumped on the chance to get a word in. Without thinking I raised my placard, and in a slightly nervous voice thanked Qatar for putting forward the suggestion of Saudi Arabia as a regional veto power holder for the middle east and mentioned a couple of key reasons why Saudi Arabia would be a good choice. After that via the messengers offers for Alliances came swarming in. We formed Arab coalitions, multi lateral agreements and even abstention pacts to try and ensure Saudi Arabia or one of her Arab brothers could have a veto power.  In the end we were unsuccessful as we found out someone had sabotaged our alliance by not giving the agreement paper to the chairman. In the end Saudi Arabia participated in the abstention pact put forward by Bahrain.  The last but most exciting moment of the day was when I came to speak on Surrogacy. To say I was nervous was an understatement, my speech had a religious angle and I was sure I would get a couple of questions fired back at me. Little did I know what would happen. The speech went well I stumbled over a couple of words but the general speech was good, I took my fingers of the microphone and relaxed. Then the questions came bombarding in from all over the place.. States were demanding I explain my use of the word God, why I thought religion had a place in the debate… and they kept coming. I must have answered over 20 questions. Each time monotonously I had to address the chairman, the delegates and refer to myself as Saudi Arabia and the trickiest part, answer each questions with a dignified and concrete response. Delegates were starting to laugh in shock at the amount of questions the chairman was letting me receive, the questions kept coming and somehow I kept answering. I was amazed at my answers and as soon as they came out of my mouth I forgot them instantly. After what seemed like forever the chairman decided to close the floor to questions and I was flooded again with messages telling me their country agreed or their country disagreed, or just to tell me I spoke well. And then like always the Arab coalitions started to come round.  The same day we also were lucky enough to go on a tour of the building. What a place, amazing paintings, marble hallways and wooden conference suites. If a place has and will change the world, the United Nations building in Geneva  definitely has a chance.

Below are pictures of the trip and a picture of my infamous surrogacy speech: