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How to Learn from UN Resolutions | Erika Simpson | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: How to Learn from UN Resolutions
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This content provides an overview of the United Nations' operational procedures and the nuances of UN simulations, emphasizing the shift towards consensus-building and the impact of modern technology like AI on resolution drafting.
Okay, in this uh lesson, the final
lesson, how to learn from and write UN
resolutions, I just got off a board
meeting, and I was hoping that
Ambassador Peggy Mason would attend the
meeting. there was only six or seven of
us and that she would therefore consent
to do this lecture with me recalling
that I tried to get this lecture done uh
in my last class in 2135 and she
canceled on me no less than three times
including on family day when I sat here
in my office waiting for her to come and
she canled. So today she didn't come to
our board meeting. I have officially
given up and that's also an explanation
for why I am 24 hours late posting this
lecture because our board meeting was
today at 1:30 to 3:30 and uh anyway what
can we do? Earl Turkot was there but
he's talking to you about landmines next
week so I'm not using him. And then the
other UN ambassadors that I know uh Bob
Ray is retiring November the 17th. Okay.
So, let's move and learn ourselves uh
without the help of a guest speaker this week.
week.
Here's a picture of the back of the
United Nations garden where you're not
allowed to go in. The public's not
allowed to go in anywhere more. And I
took a lot of pictures when the public
was allowed to go in. So, I'm showing
you what the ambassadors and diplomats
see, but what you would not see anymore.
Uh here's the UN Rose Garden where a lot
of diplomats come out to look at the
Hudson River to have a cigarette and
actually to consult with each other
without being in the hallways. Uh so
they want to be outside here.
Uh here's the UN cafeteria which is for
uh there's many there's two or three
cafeterias in one restaurant but this is
the one more for the mixing of civil
society and diplomats where they could
have a coffee and they could discuss how
they would amend a resolution or even
suggest a resolution.
So you can see everyone is wearing very
formal uh what I call powers suits. They
have cell phones and uh people do not uh
dress shabily or they really try to to
dress professionally at the United Nations.
Nations.
Here are the UN procedures as we follow
them in my UN simulation which I used to
do in person uh in my classes and I had
240 students. So we had ambassadors,
deputy ambassadors and so on. But I'm no
longer teaching those courses in person.
and we're teaching these huge classes
online. So, what can I do here? What I
want to teach you is the basic rules of
any kind of a UN simulation. Anything
that you might be able to participate
in. I know there's a UN club at Western,
but many of you are overseas or abroad
or in a different time zone. Maybe you
can participate in a UN club there. So,
the first point is English is not the
speaking the language of the UN. There's
actually six languages. You've learned
that already. Um I always say
we have the participation of
non-members. So Palestine is officially
a non-member state. It has been
recognized by Canada and by um other
countries but that does not mean that
the UN General Assembly recognizes
Palestine as a member state. So the
observers have the same rights to uh
participate Israel and Palestine as the
full members do in all the debates
everything Israel is a member except
that the observer countries may not vote
on substantive issues.
Okay. So in any kind of a UN assembly
which is a simulation there will be a
sec secretary gen a sec secretary
general we always say segen and they
control the debate. they decide when to
proceed and so on. In most uh UN
simulations a majority simple majority
is 50% plus one of the members that are
there at the substantive vote. A quorum
the number of people the number of
member states that is there represented
by an ambassador for each country will
be assumed to be pres present unless
specifically challenged and shown to be
absent. This never happens. courtesy. Uh
the idea is that the members will show
courtesy and respect to the staff and to
other delegates, which is why President
Trump, who was just at the UN, had a
right to um argue that he was not uh he
was not shown respect.
So, you can watch uh President Trump's
address on September the 25th. When was
it September the 25th or was it the
20th? the 20 23rd.
23rd.
So that's not going to be on the that's
way too small a little fact, but you
know, he just spoke um at the UN. You
can watch the speech on UN Web TV. You
can watch every delegate their speeches
and it's always very interesting. You
learn a lot about global diplomacy and
global violence by watching how they
address each other.
So just go to the UNV and here's just an
excerpt. He announced many things. Uh he
spoke for a whole hour and uh I wanted
just to draw your your your attention to
the fact that he thinks empty words
don't solve war and uh the only thing
that solves war and wars is action. Uh
he also was very critical of the United Nations.
Nations.
Um and and I'm not going to go into all
of his debate about the teleprompter,
but he used the electronic device of a
teleprompter. In the uh UN um
simulations nowadays, you can use your
cell phone and you can Google
information. It used to be that you
weren't allowed to do that. It was like
the UN. Now you can use your your cell
phones. And the first order of debate is
always the agenda. Debating what will be
on the agenda. And this is important.
the Roberts rules of order for pretty
well every organization that you become
involved with on at the board level. I
just was in a two-hour board meeting and
the first thing we talked about was the
agenda. What are we going to talk about
today? And then we have, you know,
somebody motions that they agree to the
agenda that the chair has put forward
and somebody else seconds it and then we
vote unanimously in favor and then we go ahead.
ahead.
Rules governing debate. So the only
rules here that at my UN simulations
have to be presented in electronic form.
You can't just write out a resolution
and present it anymore in a handwritten
fashion to the SEC gen. In my UN
simulations, we debate the resolutions
that had the most number of signitories.
That was debated first on the agenda. So
often we would have 21 signitories, 25
signitories and then it would build up
at the UN cafeteria which I had outside
the classroom with uh UN cookies and UN
mugs and things and so then um the
speaker the segen constructs a for and
against speakers list. So this is easy
to do electronically now. It's very
different um in a UN simulation now than
it was let's say 10 years ago. What
about closing the debate? Um here when
you close debate often is felt by the
sectgen they can feel a consensus to
close debate. Uh so they may then close
debate or even table the resolution
which means there's not enough uh
there's not enough consensus there's not
enough discussion. So we're going to
table this for further discussion.
Once the agenda has been determined one
continuously open speakers list will be
established for the purpose of general
debate. This is what I do and it is what
the section does. This speaker's list
will be followed for all debate on the
topic area except when interrupted by
procedural motions or discussion of
amendments. This is really hard to teach
this way. You really learn it if you are
in a UN simulation. How people are very
good at using uh I have a point of uh
procedure. I have a point of information
um at stopping uh the debate and and
trying to delay it so that the sun goes
down and people get tired as well. Many
people are good at amending and
suggesting amendments to slow down the
debate. Um you can also close for
different reasons um substantive or
procedural matters and the section may
recognize that we should disclose the
debate and we should have a vote.
Closure of debate can require can
require that the support of twothirds of
the assembly if an s issue is contentious.
contentious.
So I'm showing you pictures in the
background of the UN and these are
important too like if I put that picture
there you would surely know that that's
the United Nations and not UN
headquarters. Uh okay
here these are just rules eight and nine
resumption of debate tableling
adjournment and so on. These were very
popular in UN simulations because they
were more divisive. It used to be if you
did this in high school or university,
the whole idea was to show that you were
debating each other and you could not
come to any agreement and it was sort of
fun. But now the UN has changed its way
of operating and there's much less um of
a focus on argument and more on trying
to get toward a consensus outcome.
Rule 10, speakers list. The committee
will have an open speakers list and so
on. And a country a country adds its
name to the speakers list by submitting
a request in writing to the day. The day
is where the section gen sits in the
front on their desk. A section may call
for members that wish to be added to the
speakers list trying to get more of a
debate. Speeches are supposed to be made
in the third person, but you'll see that
President Trump, you don't have to watch
it as part of the exam, but he he he he
definitely addresses certain countries
and ignores the rules about speaking in
the third person. If your absence from a
vote, let's say you're having a coffee
or something, then that means you your
country lost the vote. So, they're
always keeping an eye on everything. If
they go out, they they put someone else
in their chair uh to run out and get
them and so on. Right of reply. A right
of ply is when you feel that your
personal or national integrity has been
impuged. You've been insulted by another
delegate and you can ask for an
immediate right. I would I I demand a
right of reply. Uh the the delegate from
any country you want to say. Kazakhstan
has um has insulted the has insulted my
office by referring to the right to
nuclear power as something that we
should get rid of.
I just had a big debate with Ambassador
Mason about this because about article 4
and this was a big debate. Oh, we got
into such an argument it was not fun.
Uh and that's what happens in the
cafeteria. So here you can see some of
the Canadian uh representatives civil
society from reaching uh critical will
and you can also see in the background
some of the diplomats interacting
and that's the idea is that we're
supposed to interact politely
procedurally and we're supposed to if we
have points of personal privilege we
have to always um not interrupt. you
don't interrupt if another speaker is
speaking and that's very difficult for
many many people I know including many
ambassadors points of order uh you can
rise to a point of order I was just in a
board meeting where somebody corrected
the chair like five minutes ago or just
before I started this corrected the
chair because he had missed a point and
we had to go back to the agenda. So once
you know these rules, it really helps
you in life. If you can get any
opportunity to watch how these sort of
meetings uh work, then it will really
help you to understand when someone
rises to a point of parliamentary
inquiry or why they are um not supposed
to interrupt.
Rule 17, look at all these rules. Uh
signing a draft resolution need not
indicate support of the draft
resolution. What this means is let's say
Iran and Iraq or um Nigeria and South
Africa can sign a resolution because
they want it debated at the UN. It
doesn't mean that they're taking a side.
And that's really important to
understand. So in my UN simulation,
that's how we get 50 countries to sign a
resolution is because they want to
debate that resolution. Shows how
important that issue is like COVID or or
nuclear weapons or tariffs.
more rules and there are many. Uh so
here are some of the rules about draft
resolutions. Um when do we consider it?
Uh clarification on points. I usually
read the resolution out loud and kind of
massage it to make it more spelled
correctly and and clear. And then the
amendment has to have the approval of
the segen and be agreed to by at least
two of the original signatorries of the
motion. So amendments can really take up
your time. There can be many many
frivolous amendments that are just
designed to slow things down and there
can be substantive amendments that both
signitories have to agree to.
Rule 21, procedure voting. Now, um how
do you vote in the UN simulation? We
vote by putting up our our cards or our
flags. But at the UN, what they do is uh
they vote um by the secretary general
recognizing the each country by name.
It's a procedural call. It takes a long
time and sometimes just you sit there
for an hour while they go through the
votes. Um that's called rule call voting
and you can request that so that it is
definitely written down which countries
uh uh were in favor against or
abstained. Abstain means they have no
decision and they don't want to vote yes
or no. Okay. So you can vote yes, no or
abstain. But usually in UN simulations
and often at the UN the the section at
the day at the front there in the green
desk there he or she decides on the on
the consensus and and kind of senses
War rules governing voting. When the
United Nations was created in 1951 1945
there were only uh 51 member states.
It's it's quite interesting. And so it
it grew bigger and bigger over time.
It's kind of good news because it means
you could establish something like a UN
parliamentary assembly of great people
eminent persons and you could make it
very small at the beginning and maybe it
would grow over time. So I'm always
saying you know you can start these
organizations students you can and you
never know it might roll into something
really big. Right now there are 193
member states and roughly 80% of the
general assembly resolutions are adopted
by consensus that is without taking a
vote. So in that means you don't need to
get the 50% plus one. It means that
everyone has has kind of bypassed the
divisive approaches and tried to adopt a
resolution by consensus. And that means
they've already engaged in negotiations
that have resulted in compromises so
that different points of view are taken
into consideration. The process of
consensus is inclusive and and it you
can aim for it. Not in all things, but
it is good.
Given the dramatic increase in member
states over time, reaching a consensus,
the widest possible agreement is really
quite vital in order to make progress on
the issues that afflict us today. The UN
uh general assembly resolutions are not
they are not backed up by a police
force. They are recommendations. They're
usually not even financed. They're not
even legally binding on member states,
the United States and Russia, China.
They don't have to u have to do this.
So as a result, de delegates also have
to think about implementation. And
that's why consensus is a much more
popular way which is not reflected in
the model UN conferences. The model UN
conferences they tend to still uh focus
on conflict and on a majority a simple
majority vote. But if you value
consensus then that means that
simulations are not really teaching you
properly how to get a uh consensus. I've
had some students that were ambassadors
and they're very good at at at helping
everyone reach a consensus. One of them
is a medical doctor now um in residence
very good at I've never seen a student
that was so good at consensus.
Okay, here you do not need to know this
for the exam. Um and this is I I need to
emphasize that, but I need you to read
it. So what is what what are the
precedences here? Precedences. I'm not
going to ask you which one goes in which
order, but I want you to read it with
your eyes and say, "Okay, I see there's
certain things that come forward first."
And if you're a chair, you need to know this.
this.
Format your resolution. Now, I used to
make you write resolutions and ask
students to write resolutions, but now
chat is writing the resolutions for you,
and they it is writing beautiful
resolutions. So, I had the unfortunate
experience last year of asking students
to write resolutions and I received u
many resolutions that were beautiful.
I've never seen beautiful resolutions,
but all they've done is feed the
information into chat and chat created
the draft, the body, the resolution that
even put the letter head in there.
So, the how does the resolution begin?
You can look at the UN resolutions
online or you can just ask chat to write
you a UN resolution so you can learn.
But essentially there are parameulatory
phrases that say things about that
describe the problem being addressed
like recalling past actions explaining
the purpose of the resolution. And then
there's the operative clauses. What are
we going to do? They're numbered and
what's the action to be taken by the UN
or whatever body it is. These clauses
all begin with the present tense active
verbs. I I'm not going to emphasize any
longer how to do this so much because
chat has taken over and it it does the
resolution for you. So let's say you did
a UN resolution, you put it into
artificial intelligence, it will write
it um in the format that it needs to be done.
done.
So here the delegates at the UN, this is
when I was there in 2010 and I took some
internal pictures here uh which I I
realized later that I wasn't supposed to
take. So you're seeing the inside of the
UN here
and then um this is a sample resolution.
So so there you can see the
parameulatory clauses recalling concern
that and so on and the and what the
topic is
and then still more. So a lot of times
the parameulatory clauses go on for like
three pages recognizing noting and so
on. Then we're looking for the operative
clauses. By the way, that's a picture of
Guteras, the current seg of the United
Nations behind me, Antonio Guteras
here. Okay, so they're starting to talk
cuz they've just got the draft
resolution. Many of them are phoning
back to their capitals, which are
sometimes 12 hours time difference and
they don't have a lot of time to figure
out what they're going to agree to.
And then here more pictures. There's the
Russian Federation and Germany. Um, so
this is a sample resolution that had
only five sponsors in my class. So it
wasn't even considered. We didn't even
talk about it. Um, the sponsors Chile,
New Zealand, they had this resolution
here, but we didn't even talk about it.
And that's usually the case if you have
so few countries.
Note some people are phoning here. Um,
and note there it's always in
alphabetical order. So Cameroon and then
Cambodia. So where's Canada? You can
guess coming along. Um, so there they
are phoning their capitals
and there we are in the UN General
Assembly. Um, and here is another sample
resolution in my classroom. Be it
declared that the UN declare war on
Iran. See how I immediately go to the
operative clause just to check. Um, and
they they couldn't get two speakers for
against so was rejected on procedural grounds.
grounds.
Sample resolutions from my model UN's in
the past. this one um redirecting money
uh Kazakhstan and so on. This resolution
had seven sponsors, but actually we
ended up debating it because during the
two hours we were together. It's too bad
we can't do that anymore. Um we just
have too many students. They managed to
get more and more signitories. So only
the two co-signatorries at the beginning
must favor the resolution. Everyone else
could just want to debate it. I'm going
to a reception with Kazakhstan um on
October the 24th. They've invited me to
the um a reception there to celebrate
the founding of their country. It's in
Ottawa. It's kind of interesting.
Here you can see people phoning. It is
all very exciting. I pick up a stray
document which happens to be the draft
resolution. And so um you can see
there's Ethiopia, Estonia.
Can you use these parameulatory phrases?
So here I've put in u alphabetical order
many parameulatory phrases for you to
think about using and this is kind of
how you might have constructed your
resolution thinking about it in previous
years but of course now artificial
intelligence will help you to do find
those clauses phrases there's the day at
the front
and then the operative clauses these are
the steps at the UN and diplomats often
stand on the on this uh right here
waiting for people from civil society to
come and talk to them. It's kind of
interesting. So these are the operative
clauses what the what you're
recommending the body the agency maybe
the UN does.
Here's the UN General Assembly room. So
you can see here it's full with all the
delegates and there's civil society
representatives at the back and also
people from news agencies.
And these are the stairs at the UN. So
these are all kind of helpful uh for
meeting with people
and we're pretending that we are there
today uh
at the UN
and then more here on consensus. So when
I'm talking here about the consensus
adopting a draft without a vote is is
really what a consensus means. And so if
193 member states actually manage to
agree on the text and there's just one
country that disagrees, well then
consensus is not reached. So that means
that it's a lot harder to to get your
resolution to be um passed by consensus.
When a resolution is adopted by simple
majority, then that means those that
were not um part of the agreement are
likely less likely to implement the
agenda. So the the segen now tends to
look for a consensus.
Okay. So here's Randy Redell who who
write wrote the UN draft resolutions
that got the most consensus back in
2010. Excellent writer, the guy in the
middle smiling because that's the moment
where his resolution was 64 planks
reached consensus. I mean it was a great
triumph. It's probably the greatest
triumph of his of his entire career. Uh
so there he is. I took a picture of him smiling.
smiling.
He's retired now. Uh happy people. This
is back in 2010. So this is when the
moment where the consensus was reached.
This was a very pivotal moment. And um
you can see all the people I took
pictures of that are looking very happy.
I thought I would show that to you uh
also because um it just shows you that
it does take a lot of work. But if you
get a resolution adopted by consensus,
that's a pretty big deal.
Uh finally, let me mention that um
here's Bob Ray uh the um uh Art Canada's
UN ambassador and he will be replaced by
David Lametti on November 17th, but I
haven't put a picture of David because
that will happen after the midterm exam
and he's the former minister of justice.
So Bob Ree was the ambassador for five
long years for uh the United Nations and
we will just continue to conduct the
class as if he is the ambassador. Uh
even if you're taking the makeup exam in
let's say February next year by that
point it will be lamei. So I'll have to
change the answers to uh I'll have to
change the questions obviously but
anyway the whole point being here Bob
Ray the former premier of Ontario and
NDP Peter stepping away um and being
replaced under the Mark Carney
government. Okay, that's it for today.
Thank you very much and I hope that you
um are getting ready for the exam and
that you are doing the required
readings. I am happy to uh talk to any
of you during office hours which are on
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