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R
AUN
Regional
Academy on
United
Nations
Prague, Czech Republic, 9-11 May 2012
First Session Report
June 2012
By Billy Batware
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 will take place in Szeged, Hungary in
October 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.
The 2013-2014 RAUN program will be further developed throughout 2012
and early 2013.
The Program
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Czech Republic in the United Nations
The program began on Wednesday 9 May at
the Foreign Ministry of the Czech Republic
under the theme “Czech Republic in the
United Nations”. The students were privy to
lectures from the Political Director – Security
and Multilateral Issues Section, Mr. Pavel
Fisher; the Officer in the United Nations
Department of the Foreign Ministry, Mr. Rene
Miko; the Director of Common Foreign and
Security Policy Department, Mr. David
Konecky; and the Representative of the Czech
Republic to the UN Human Rights Council,
Mr. Karel Komarek.
In their presentations, the officials presented
the working relations between the Czech
Government and the United Nations‟
institutions, in particular, the Human Rights
Council, of which the Czech Republic became
a member in 2011. The White Paper on
Defence and the Security Strategic Paper, were
referred to as the two main frameworks for the
Czech Republic Foreign Policy regarding the
United Nations. These two papers place the
UN at the top of the agenda, according to the
Deputy Minister.
Furthermore, the officials recognized the
unwillingness on the part of some United
Nations‟ Member States to support the UN
system but emphasized that the Czech
Government focuses only on its commitment
to working with the Human Rights Council
rather than criticize those who fail in their
obligations.
The main role of the UN Department in the
Czech Foreign Ministry is to coordinate the
permanent missions of the Czech Republic to
the UN (New York, Geneva, Vienna and
Nairobi). The Permanent mission in Nairobi
was closed due to constraints caused by the
financial crisis.
There is an unwillingness on the part of some
UN Member State to support the UN system
but emphasized that the Czech Government
focus only on its commitment to working with
the Human Rights Council rather than criticize
those who fail in their obligations.
Concerning the Czech Republic position on
reforming the UN, they believe that both
permanent and non-permanent membership
should be expended. Therefore, the Czech
Government supports the enlargement of the
UN Security Council.
On the matter of the recent voting in the
General Assembly, the Czech Republic voted
against Palestine‟s bid for recognition by the
UN. The reason being, that, the Czech
Government supports the two-states solution as
the only means of creating an independent
Palestinian state.
With regards to Czech relations with NATO,
the officials referred to the efforts of the Czech
Government and other Visegrad Group
Members, to explain the importance of NATO
in the region.
Wednesday‟s program ended with an official
reception at the University of Economics,
during which the students got to know each
other.
Thursday 10 May 2012
The second day of the program kicked off with
two lectures on Outer Space and the Future of
United Nations, by Dr. Lubos Perek, and Mr.
Michael Broza.
Outer Space
In the first lecture, Dr. Perek, a Czech
Astronomer whose accomplishments include
introducing the problem of space debris to the
UN Committee on the COPUOS in 1979,
serving as President of the International
Astronaumical Federation from 1980-1982
and holding positions in the UN, International
Academy
of
Astronautics,
and
the
International Institute of Space Law.
In his presentation, Dr. Perek talked students
through this rather unfamiliar topic, starting
from defining outer space, deep space and
orbit, and continuing to explain the importance
of having legal frameworks that regulate outer
space and its use. One of the main problems
dealt with in his presentation was space debris
and how it is managed. Dr. Perek presented
the main frameworks that guide outer space
use, including UN Treaties such as the GA
Outer Space Treaty, the Agreement on Rescue
and Return of Astronauts, the Convention on
Liability, the Convention on Registration, the
Agreement on the Moon and other Celestrial
Bodies, and the ITU Constitution.
The importance of having multiple monitoring
systems is to limit the possibility that any
object can go undetected thus posing a danger
to activities in the space or the earth.
Space debris is monitored by two systems –
the US Space Surveillance Network and the
International Scientific Optical Network. The
ESA-ESOC is used to receive reports from
these two monitoring networks. The
importance of having more than one
monitoring system is to limit the possibility
that any object can go undetected thus posing
a danger to activities in space or on earth.
Problems posed by removal of space debris:
 several methods for removal of orbital
debris have been proposed but all are
very expensive, different methods are
needed for different sizes
 no method has been tested
 with available technology only
minimizing of generation of new
debris is possible
Some methods of removal of orbital debris:
 Using high energy lasers, project orion
for small debris
 Grapple large objects and using sling
 Increasing surface of objects: inflected
balloon or light plastic
 Solar sail using solar radiation
 Magnetic sail using solar wind
However, none of these methods have been
tested to date.
The Future of the United Nations
The second lecture was given by Mr. Michael
Broza who serves as the Officer-in-charge, at
the UN Information Centre in Prague. He also
works as the UN National Information Officer
and has worked at the UN mission in Liberia.
Mr. Broza opted to engage students in a lively
discussion rather than a lecture by showing a
debate video clip by the BBC entitled “The
UN is terminally paralyzed; the democratic
world needs a forum of its own”. In this
debate, three speakers made a case that the
UN has totally failed in its mandate and
advocated for a new organization (The League
of Democracies). The other three defended the
UN and cited reasons why the world is better
and safer with the UN; and encouraged the
other side to support the UN efforts instead.
After watching the clip, students engaged in a
discussion on how they regard the UN; and
what they would suggest to make it work
more efficiently. Students also asked
challenging questions that ranged from
internships and high level UN staff selection;
to political deadlocks and concerns about the
behavior of UN peacekeepers, with regards to
human rights. In the end, students showed
support to the existence of the UN, but wished
to see it function more efficiently.
Networking and research topics
The last activity of the second day was a
networking session and group formation. In
this session, students presented their academic
backgrounds. They were then assigned topics
which they will work on throughout the
program. Their research findings will be
presented at the Vienna session in January
2012. The following topics were assigned:
1. Nuclear safety, energy in 21th century
2. Financing
terrorism
responsibility
&
state
3. Refugees and trafficking of people
4. The challenges of development in
post-conflict societies
5. The future of MDGs
6. The UN handling of failed states
7. Nuclear disarmament and security
8. Main international security issues in
Central-Europe
9. The role of the UN in the 21st century
After being assigned topics, students were
given instructions on how to conduct their
research which they will receive as part of a
formal instructions manual which will become
part of the Academy‟s guidelines, that are
currently being further developed.
Friday 11 May 2012
The Prague session was concluded on Friday
11th May, 2012 with lectures on the
“Neutrality of NGOs – Experience from
Afghanistan” and the “Work of diplomats” by
Mr. Jan Štěpán and H.E Ambassador
Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff.
Neutrality of NGOs – Experience from
Afghanistan
Mr. Jan Štěpán is Senior Manager and
Learning and Development Leader for Eurasia
at
PricewaterhouseCoopers
based
in
Kazakhstan. From 2009 to 2011, he was Head
of Mission in Afghanistan at People in Need.
Mr. Štěpán believes that the military is using
development aid as a „soft weapon‟ in
Afghanistan and did so in Iraq through the
principle of „winning hearts and minds‟ of the
local people. He strongly believes that the
military should focus only on military related
activities
and
support
civilians
in
development projects by providing them
security.
Some of the challenges faced by Afghan
society include the multiethnic nature of the
country, which allows the formation of
conflicting factions along ethnic lines; the
illiteracy rate has reached 75% and the
corruption within the Afghan Government is
increasing.
The military should focus only on military
related activities and support civilians in
development projects by providing them
security
Coming back to the topic of NGO neutrality,
there are important elements that should guide
NGOs in their activities:
 The basic security principle is the
acceptance by the local population.
This is only possible if the NGOs are
impartial, are delivering, and are
behaving according to local norms
 Some recent trends include targeted
insurgency, militarized aid (winning
hearts and minds), and national
political pressure. All these lead to a
shrinking humanitarian space
 In the development landscape are the
NGOs;
private
companiesconstructors; international, multilateral
institutions;
governmental
organizations, institutions; military and
security
institutions;
provincial
reconstruction team (PRT)
 The basic dilemma however is
between the conflict area and postconflict reconstruction. In other words,
post-conflict and conflict realities.
Looking towards post-2014, the Allied Forces
would have trained an army good enough to
take care of the security of Afghanistan by the
time of the withdrawal but they [the Afghan
army] will have to work with the Taliban in
order to find a long lasting solution. Finally,
the rest of the world should support trade and
development projects in Afghanistan in order
to avoid the donor fatigue that is already
taking a toll on the current efforts.
The work of diplomats
The last activity of the Prague session was a
visit to the residence of the Austrian
Ambassador to Czech Republic, H.E. Mr.
Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff, who also served
as the Ambassador of Austria in Egypt, Libya,
and Portugal. Mr. Trauttmansdorff has
previously worked as the Director of the
International Law Department of Austrian
Foreign Ministry. In his presentation, Mr.
Trauttmansdorff talked about the realities in
the everyday activities in the diplomatic field,
both on EU level and between Austria and
Czech Republic. This complex working
environment requires strategic rather than
tactical thinking. Nowadays, the media plays
a very important role in agenda setting which
makes it difficult for politicians to focus on
their original policy implementation.
Cabinet members in the ministries handle
rather very sensitive requests because the
Ministers just do not have enough time to
cope with the flow of their work.
NGOs play a very important role in the
process of bringing change to humanitarian
aid, environmental issues, etc., but it is far
more difficult to communicate with NGOs
than any other stakeholder. Like politicians,
NGOs also need access to the media in order
to promote their agenda and sometimes it is
difficult to judge the intentions of their
comments.
The other area of concern is the
communication within the Ministries. At
every level of the Ministry, often young and
inexperienced cabinet members are the ones
who have to handle rather sensitive requests,
because Ministers do not have enough time to
cope with the flow of their work.
Despite problems between the two countries,
Czechs and Austrians are still the same people
speaking different languages and both
countries remain vital to one another. No one
can be more important than one‟s direct
neighbor. That‟s why the concept of
neighborhood is of major importance.
In his final remarks, the Ambassador wished
students well in their career and encouraged
them to stay open-minded and take advantage
of their multinational group formation to learn
from one another and look at the work of the
UN, diplomats and foreign services in a critical way.
Conclusion
RAUN‟s organizers believe that the first session 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, will eventually pay off. Students 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.
R
AUN
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.