Berkeley Model United Nations

Despite this being my fourth annual attendance of Berkeley's Model United Nations conference, I've only gotten up to speak in front of the committee five times in total. I could be fearful or lazy, but I think I'm mostly just skeptical of an extracurricular activity that promotes diplomacy as the answer to modern problems, which makes me wonder why I am the president of the club. Here I mean no disrespect to diplomats, international organizations, or bilateral dialogue.

As a partner delegation, my sister and I represented Equatorial Guinea in SOCHUM (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee) though in the past I've been a delegate of South Korea, Cuba, and Canada in committees ranging from the UN Human Rights Council to the World Health Organization. SOCHUM's committee meeting covered two topics, Rights of Prisoners and LGBT Discrimination in Religiously Controlled Nations. Equatorial Guinea, being a small nation of 500,000, maintains a limited influence on debate, but shares the experiences of the bloc of post-colonial, Sub-Saharan, resource rich African nations. There are only 500 prisoners of Equatorial Guinea, yet incidents of abuse occur frequently. While homosexuality and sex reassignment surgery are both legalized by EG, members of the LGBT community continue to face prejudice in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation. Corruption in the Equatorial Guinean government, under the presidency of Teodoro Obiang (instated in 1979), can be traced to English, Spanish, and Portuguese colonial governments that were not overthrown until 1968. Now, with its vast oil reserves, the country faces a modern form of colonialism as multi-national corporations work closely with the Obiang administration to manage natural resources. Thus, the Equatorial Guineans do not reap the benefits of their land and the majority grapple with poverty, poor education, poor healthcare, and a stifling lack of mobility.

After considering, debating, and proposing solutions to LGBT discrimination for a day and a half, seven blocs drew up seven resolution papers to be presented and then voted on by the committee. None of these resolutions were passed. Although the issue at hand is widely debated in any international forum, the stagnation of the committee in the face of urgency and staggering statistics left me disheartened. Today, with 24 hour news on Coronavirus, the crash of the stock market, chaotic primary elections, and an increasing panic in discussions of the climate crisis, I find it difficult to do my school work, or anything administrative. I don't mean to sound alarmist, but my future seems to be approaching a tipping point. Will it exist as I imagine it or won't it. --The answer is likely no whether this is a plague or not. -- I just hope diplomacy and negotiations work efficiently and with time on their side.