NGO

Hello everyone! NGO Forum has a unique format which some of you may not have seen before. Debate time is going to be split between a more conventional debate on addressing the limits on NGOs, and open agenda where delegates will be traveling to different committees. This guide will be on what the chairs are looking for delegates to accomplish during open agenda. What is Open Agenda?  NGO Forum's open agenda is similar in format to the Press Corps committees that happen at other conferences and BMUN in past years. Delegates will be visiting different committees representing their NGOs, and will use their own knowledge of their NGO's work, mission, and goals to contribute to debate. However, just because debate isn't taking place in one room doesn't mean there's nothing to do! Delegates will be accompanied from committee to committee by chairs, and will be evaluated just like other members of their host committees. There are also a few tasks for delegates to acco...

Hi everyone! My name is Joanne Qi and I am one of the vice chairs for the NGO Forum. I'm so excited to meet everyone in committee this March, and I hope you are all ready for an exciting and enlightening debate. I am a sophomore electrical engineering and computer science major, with a minor in art history. I am from Redondo Beach, California, but was originally born in Singapore. I have been debating since freshman year of high school. In fact, coming to BMUN in sophomore year of high school was a big influential factor in me coming to Cal. Model UN has absolutely changed my life, and I love that I can continue being a part of the community in college. Outside of MUN, I like to draw, read comics, watch movies, and visit national parks. NGO Forum is going to be a very unique debate experience. Since the time is split between visiting different committees and substantive debate, I promise there will never be a dull moment! I hope that what you learn from the first half of de...

Hello NGO committee! My name is Kendra Singh and I will be your Head Chair for BMUN 66. I am super excited to meet all of you and hope you are excited to start researching for the committee as well.  At Berkeley, I'm an Economics major and Public Policy minor, and this is my last year of college (and MUN)! Model UN was actually what initially made me interested in pursuing Economics as a major, and its ability to help delegates find different areas of interest is definitely my favorite thing about it. When I was a delegate, my favorite thing was delving into research areas that varied from energy to historical crisis, and I had a lot of fun with it. NGO Forum will definitely be different from your typical committee experience, but our entire dais will be working hard to post materials and background research on this blog so that you will be prepared when conference comes along. Looking forward to meeting all of you and having a great BMUN 66 session! If you have any questi...

Hey guys! My name is Billy Lin and I'm going to be one of your vice chairs for the NGO committee this year at BMUN 66. I'm from Vancouver, Canada, so if you want any tips on how to snowboard extremely politely just ask! Just kidding, I can't snowboard. Sorry. MUN was a big part of high school for me, and what made my experiences so great were the chairs and secretariat of all the conferences I went to (and the delegates! Well, most delegates. Haha! I'm sure you guys will all be cool, winky face.). That's why I wanted to continue in my passion for diplomacy here in Berkeley - I'm so glad to have been given the opportunity to initiate and guide in your debates! When y'all registered for the NGO committee you certainly made the right choice - there's going to be a mix of very different and fresh styles of discussions and debate. You'll have to see for yourself all the wonderful aspects of the NGO committee! Welcome to our committee!!

The suppression of NGO activity is not a novel concept. There are multiple ways that this can occur, from requiring the NGO's funds be kept in a government bank to making the act of registering NGO's extremely difficult. Russia in particular has control of NGO funds - as the president of the country, Putin, claims, "Not a single state that respects itself [allows overseas funding of NGO's], and we won’t allow it either". There are a few possible explanations for Russia's political opposition to NGO's. First off, Russia's government has authoritarian traits, often covertly carrying out brazen attacks on unfriendly politicians (Boris Nemstov, an unlucky opposition leader and critic of Putin, died after getting shot near the Red Square, one of the Federation's largest and busiest tourist attractions - while the killers haven't been caught, the investigation is personally being handled by the Russian government. It doesn't take a genius to add ...