Speeches

The speech below is intended to serve as an example of how an opening speech for JPHMUN should be written. In order to give a consistent example of how a foreign policy is presented at JPHMUN, the topic of the protection of civilians in armed conflict, which was used in the example of how to write clauses for draft resolutions, is retained, and the speech is written from a Canadian perspective. Delegates are encouraged to refer back to that example in order to see the relationship between opening speeches and clauses proposed for draft resolutions at JPHMUN. Although Canada has a fairly broad foreign policy agenda on this issue, this speech focuses specifically on the issue of anti-personnel landmines in order to demonstrate this relationship. As you will probably notice, there are other points in this speech that could be used to write additional clauses to go along with the one example that was given earlier.

Delegates are encouraged to notice and integrate into their own speeches, four things that are included in the following speech:

1) The speaker identifies the global dimensions of the problem and a rationale for global action in terms of common beliefs or interests.

2) The speaker refers to progress which has been made on this issue at the international level.

3) The speaker relates the issue to his/her own country. This can be done by emphasizing this particular country's opinion on the issue, the implications of the issue for that country, and/or steps taken by that country to address the issue.

4) The speaker closes by reasserting his/her country's commitment to the issue and appealing for an international effort to address the problem.

Speech by the Delegate from Canada On the issue of "The Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict"

Mr./Madame Moderator, Mr./Madame Director, Honourable Delegates, I am pleased to be able to take part in this committee's debate on behalf of the government and the people of Canada.

The United Nations must make progress on the issue of the protection of civilians from the effects of armed conflict if we are to live up to the principles entrenched in the organization's Charter. The victimization of civilians has become far too common in modern warfare. The principles of humanity upon which the UN was founded demand that we do a better job of protecting them. In the pursuit of peace, the security of people, and not just the security of states, must receive increasing effort and attention from the international community. In reality, this is not a problem that any of us can afford to ignore, since, in an increasingly interconnected world, the insecurity of people who are directly affected, sooner or later, will affect our own security. Therefore, our common interests, and our common humanity, require us as an international community to take common action to address this problem.

One issue which Canada sees as being of particular importance is the elimination of anti-personnel landmines. Landmines are hidden and indiscriminate killers, which cannot tell the difference between the footsteps of a soldier, and those of a child. Their relative low cost and easy deployability, have meant that they have been widely used in some of the world's poorest countries, and they have claimed more than 1 million casualties, most of them civilians, since 1975. They also prevent people displaced by war from returning home, where fields, roads, bridges, or entire communities have been mined, and result in the loss of productive farm-land as well. All of this amounts to a humanitarian crisis of global proportions.

Fortunately, the international community has taken steps to combat this problem, and Canada welcomes these efforts wholeheartedly. The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, in which Canada took a leading role, is a significant step forward. It has now been signed or acceded to by 137 states, and 92 states have ratified it. However, the intended protection of the Convention will not be complete until all states have become party to it. While there have not been large-scale deployments of landmines in the past two years, there are still states who are producing, stockpiling, trading, and using anti-personnel landmines. The international community must seize the opportunity provided by the current momentum to encourage the universal acceptance and application of the Convention.

As well, the Convention has not, and cannot, solve the global humanitarian crisis caused by the millions of mines which are already in the ground. Canada has also been a leader in this respect, having, among other efforts, created in 1997 a $100 million Canadian Landmine Fund dedicated to supporting activities such as mine clearance, mine awareness training, victim assistance, and the development of new mine action technologies. We would encourage other countries to become further engaged in the effort to eliminate the millions of landmines which have already been deployed. Not until every anti-personnel mine is removed from every mine-affected country can we be sure that the killing and injuries resulting from the use of these weapons will stop.

The elimination of anti-personnel landmines should be a part of a comprehensive effort on the part of the international community to protect civilian populations from armed conflict. For Canada, this is part of a security agenda which puts people first. We will continue to work aggressively toward this goal, and encourage all members of this body to join with us in this effort. If the UN is to live up to its obligations under the Charter, and to give new hope to the peoples for whom the organization was founded, the security of people, including their rights, safety and lives, must become a collective priority.

Thank you, I yield the remainder of my time to the Moderator.

1. This structure of opening speeches is based on the model developed by Dr. William Vaughn in Appendix A of his paper, "The National Model United Nations: Discovering its Subject Matter and Pedagogy."

2. This speech borrows heavily from an address delivered by the Hon. Lloyd Axworthy, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Canada, to the United Nations Security Council on the same topic on April 19, 2000.