represented by Paul Fabel und David Kettner

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is one of the regional bodies that reports to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). As stated in its name, it deals with economic issues but as well as with other topics like social policies or regional integration. It consists of two main bodies: the secretariat, conducting research and reporting the results to ECOSOC, and the commission that has been simulated at the National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference. On a two-year basis, all 33 Member States of the region as well as 11 other countries having economic, cultural or historical ties with the latter discuss relevant problems trying to augment the economic and social development in the area.

During the NMUN conference, we had the opportunity to speak and discuss with other international students about very actual global affairs. The agenda's first topic, The Mitigation of the Economic Crisis at the Regional Level, has been a major point especially considering solutions not only on a national but rather on a international level. It was prioritised by all Member States present as well as by the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) The Third World Network and Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) unanimously. Thus, it actually was the first topic to be discussed. The two items following up were Strengthening Social Protection for the Most Vulnerable and Access to Information Technology and its Impact on Social Cohesion. It was based on a broad consent to change the order of those two on the agenda and therefore emphasise Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Spain therefore had the agenda set up as we hoped it to be. It took some effort to convince other European countries to focus on the field we are specialised on, but we succeeded. So when the meeting was started, we voted on changing the order to I, III, II and thus adopted the agenda:

1. The Mitigation of the Economic Crisis at the Regional Level;

2. Access to Information and Communication Technology and its Impact on Social Cohesion;

3. Strengthening Social Protection for the Most Vulnerable.

Spain had the honour to be one of the first 8 speakers to be able to talk to all delegations before the first informal caucus. We considered this to be very important to be able to introduce ourselves and state our country's position. During the suspended meetings, we moved together with Uruguay to split up the committee into working groups: Economy diversification, education, financial security, the creation of emergency funds and microfinance networks.

By the end of the first two and a half days, it became clear to everyone that we would probably not be able to tackle the third topic at all. We had a slight chance to get to the second one though. But that was not within reach yet. Nine working papers were circling around which were merged into seven draft resolutions. Spain was a sponsor of two of them and a signatory of four of the drafts.

It was very tough to get everyone in the same boat. Since ECLAC is a consensus reaching body, that was what we had to do and intrinsically worked for it as well. On our last and as well longest day, we were able to move into voting procedure. We actually managed to vote on seven draft resolutions. Staying in character, we voted very ECLAC friendly and pro LAC countries. Once though we voted against a draft since the USA was opposed to that as well. Spain was present and voting for all times during the simulation.

In the following, we would like to elaborate on a few topics that we were especially involved in and concerned about: Together with MSF, Canada, Haiti and the Netherlands, we stressed the need to stabilise currencies in the region by fixing exchange rates. We called upon the expansion of FLAR (Latin American Fund for National Reserves) in order to create a stable and predictable environment for sustainable economic development for both firms and governments, by also expanding membership to non-regional countries as well. In co-operation with especially the Netherlands we reminded the international community of the established macroeconomic dialogue network (REDIMA I and REDIMA II) and to deepen trade policies for the purpose of strengthening the EU-LAC relationship. We augmented the favourable conditions for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by e.g. eliminating restrictions of current FDI to increase the total amount available for reaching economic growth. Together with Chile and Mexico we emphasised the need of an All-American Free Trade Zone which unfortunately was not accepted by the vast majority of the delegations.

Having had time to start working on the second topic, we got permission to start working right away in the first break, before the actual session. It was for that tiny bit of extra time, that the UK and Spain in very close co-operation set up the basic grid for the eight draft resolution, the first one on ICT. All but four perambulatory clauses were written by the UK and Spain, integrating our national Plan Avanza as a role model and stating our commitment to gender policies and the Millennium Development Goals. With the co-operation of Suriname and the UK, Spain wrote the first of eight operative clauses, establishing LACFISt, the Latin American and Caribbean Fund for the Information Society: Since Spain puts a great emphasis on ICT, we urged the EU-LAC countries together with the United Kingdom to install this very institution in order to guarantee improvement in the sectors of education, gender equality, achievement of the MDGs and governance stabilisation – which all are high priorities in Spain's foreign policy. We thus contributed to the generation of a perpetual basis, establishing the possibility for developed countries to augment the region's ICT sector by getting granted incentives and trade advantages on other terms of economic co-operation.

For both of us, NMUN 2010 was a great experience to learn about international negotiating procedures as well as practicing them. Speaking and discussing about different topics within our committee gave us the great chance to enhance our personal skills in negotiation techniques and bargaining. In addition, we were able to make a lot international contacts. Summing up, we appreciated a lot the time in NYC and were content with the outcome of our committee's work.