Press Releases

Update from the Field

June 21, 2002 - From the region of Peje in Kosovo, UNA-Canada's Model UN Project Officer, Jeronimo De Miguel, writes:

Catherine and I met yesterday in Zurich to catch our flight to Pristina. It was delayed and an experience in itself… flying to Kosovo!

This morning we began our work with the teachers and school principals from the region [Peje]. We are staying in the building next door to the OSCE here in Peje in an apartment that is very comfortable although lacking basic facilities like running electricity (from time to time) and water. It has been a truly extraordinary experience for us both since the start. Stephanie from OSCE is very dedicated to her work with the students and believes strongly in the potential of Model UNs. A lot is happening here at the administrative level and therefore there are obstacles to institutionalizing the initiative that we have been facing. In addition, we are working with both Serbians and Albanians, which means constant military oversight for the Serbians present and occasional comments from the Albanians in regards to Serbian allegiance to Belgrade and not Kosovo... all in all, the dynamics of this place are like nothing I have ever seen before. The UN and NATO are literally present in every corner and at all hours of the day and night. More than half the vehicles in the street belong to these organizations. Military staff patrolling as KFOR [NATO] is from all corners of the world, including, believe it or not, Argentina!

It looks like there's a lot of work to be done here and we have an extremely enthusiastic team of students to get things rolling. It is the adults and institutional, as well as legal, limitations that may jeopardize the speed and efficiency at which we can move forward with KOSOMUN. I have met with the Interim Minister of Education for the Peje region, who is a UN official working for UNMIK from Japan. More dialogue will follow before anything concrete can come out of this. Next week, I'll be meeting with a couple of officers from the Canadian Liaison Office in Pristina who will come to observe one of our sessions. I hope to get them onboard in any capacity they can afford.

So all is well here and we're 100 percent energized to do everything we can in the next few days to see KOSOMUN grow... with the ultimate goal of making it sustainable to ensure its existence once the international community ceases to govern the region.