RAUN Regional Academy on the United Nations Szeged, Hungary, 18-20 October 2012 Second Session Report November 2012 By Dr. Anikó Szalai
Introduction Following long and careful preparations and selection of participants, the Regional Academy on United Nations (RAUN) which was launched in January 2012 at the United Nations Office in Vienna, formally began the activities of its academic period 2012-2013, with the first session taking place from 9-11 May 2012 in Prague, Czech Republic. About 40 students, from 10 nations, accompanied by a group of facilitators were given lectures and presentations about the United Nations system and foreign policy by UN officials, academic professionals and diplomats. This first session covered topics such as the role of the Czech Government in the UN; the laws governing outer space, the future of the United Nations, NGOs involvement in delivering humanitarian and development aid; and the work of diplomats, particularly in the European Union. The session ended with a formation of groups in which students were assigned research topics related to the United Nations on which they will work throughout the RAUN academic period (May 2012 January 2013). Participating students showed a great deal of satisfaction in the program and enjoyed the hospitality of the Czech organizing team and the beauty of Prague. The second session of the Academy took place in Szeged, Hungary between October 18-20, 2012, while the third and last session will be held in Vienna, Austria in January 2013. The Vienna session will include presentations of the research findings by the students. Students will be awarded with a certificate of successful completion of the program, by the United Nations Information Service in Vienna, thus concluding the first academic program of the RAUN 2012-2013. Present session report covers in detail the events of the second session, which was titled Refugee and migration issues in Central-Europe.
The Program Thursday 18 October 2012 Warming up Szeged is a city at the South of Hungary, with a population of approx. 170 thousand. The main intellectual centre of the city is the University of Szeged, which has 30 thousand students at 12 faculties. This University, especially the Faculty of Law, hosted the second session of the Regional Academy. Since Szeged is a smaller city and less known than the other hosts of RAUN, namely Prague and Vienna, the organizers thought that a sight-seeing in the city would be a good kick-off. At the guided tour participants got acquainted with the history of Szeged, important events at the life of the university (for example the Nobel Prize for the discovery of Vitamin C) and enjoyed the sunny walk along around. This was also the time of reunion, because participants haven t met since May. Lecture of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - Central Europe office The official program started with a short opening ceremony where participants were greeted by representatives of the university, especially of those departments which supported and sponsored the session. Péter Kruzslicz welcomed the students in the name of Ambassador László Trócsányi, who is the head of the European Studies Centre. Dr. Anikó Szalai, as the main organizer of the session and on behalf of the
Department of International and European Law, thanked the participants for coming and informed them about the program of the subsequent days. The afternoon s main event was the lecture of Dr. Ágnes Ambrus, Head of the Hungary Unit of the Regional Representation of UNHCR. She described the definition of refugees, migrants and stateless person, gave a thorough insight on the work of the United Nations and the Regional Representation. Dr. Ambrus highlighted the successes and challenges, provided examples of good practices and presented the students with numerous interesting cases. She showed how different the trends of migration and refugee issues are in Africa and in Europe. She proposed food for thought with the problems of refoulement and the notion of safe third countries. Participants of the Academy asked her lot of questions, a very lively discussion finished this program. Project discussion 1. The Szeged session provided platform for the project teams to discuss their research topic and to arrange the tasks. Both on Thursday and Friday time was allocated for this purpose. The Thursday afternoon after the lecture of UNHCR followed with the preparation of the participants for their projects. This was the first time students met with their project partners since May, when they formed project groups. This preparation helped them to discuss their tasks, their schedule and to define the challenges of the project.
Opening reception Thursday concluded with a reception in a beautiful Art Nouveau building, in Reök Café, where lively discussion of professional and social issues took place, accompanied by a glass of wine. Friday 19 October 2012 Roundtable discussion Friday morning was dedicated to illegal migration and refugee issues, especially with respect to Hungary. Three national experts, namely Dr. József Seres, director of the Regional Immigration Office, Dr. Tamás Várkonyi, vice-head of the border control department of the Hungarian Police and Dr. Judit Tóth, expert in refugee law, held 20-minute long presentations which was followed with a discussion, questions and answers session. They provided the different perspectives on the human rights, national security and social side of illegal migration. Dr. Seres highlighted the nationalization issues, the cooperation of EU member states and provided numerous statistics. The representative of the police, Dr. Várkonyi showed the means of border control and protection from illegal migration, while Dr. Tóth expressed the human rights concerns, social aspects of inclusion (or exclusion) of migrants into society. Participants gained a deep insight into the subjects, became acquainted with the different aspects and the challenges when these aspects should be taken into account in national or international policies. Project discussion 2. Friday afternoon was spent with the in-depth discussion of the project topics, assigning tasks to the participants. The organizers of the conference assisted the participants in their roadsearching. By the end of the afternoon all teams had a clear notion of their objects and further tasks. Owing to some changes among the groups, some of the topics had been reorganized.
The finalized topics 1. Nuclear safety, energy in the 21st century 2. Financing terrorism and state responsibility 3. Refugees and trafficking in people 4. The challenges of development in post-conflict societies 5. What should follow the MDG, what is the future of development? 6. How should the UN handle failed states? 7. Nuclear disarmament 8. What should be the role of the UN in the 21st century? Social events Friday evening was spent with social events in restaurants and bars, some even tasting Hungarian specialties like Szeged fish soup. This informal setting assisted networking among the members and also to concert their positions for the following day s model UN event. Saturday 20 October 2012 Model UN Modelling the decision-making of the United Nations is an excellent way to learn more about the organization and how it works. A Crisis Committee, similar to the Security
Council, just with more members, had been formed. Each participant represented a state and the topic of the discussion was the Syrian conflict. Vigorous debates formed around the issues of people fleeing from the civil war, the acceptance of their refugee status, the role of Turkey in preventing an international crisis, and the humanitarian assistance to the insurgents. Resolutions were drafted, amendments proposed and voting took place with close results. Participants stuck to their roles however they were also able to implement the lessons learnt in the previous days. The modelling was followed with an informal closing reception and farewell until the next session in Vienna.
Conclusion RAUNs organizers believe that the second session further proved their strong belief in the importance of making the UN accessible to young people and to train them on the UN system and the work of foreign institutions. Although some of the original members of the programme resigned owing to personal reasons, the participants still showed strong interest in the program and actively participated in the discussions and asked challenging questions that concern them as future leaders and policy makers. Indeed, it s the UN and foreign institutions which will be the main beneficiaries of having knowledgeable and committed students in the field. Thus, the success of this initiative is of a paramount importance to the world community as a whole. RAUN Regional Academy on United Nations The world needs ordinary people to understand the realities and complexity of today s world affairs. RAUN is dedicated to training and equipping the next generation of civil servants with the necessary tools to provide needed solutions.