Day 1
My suitcase arrived late last night!
Today is spent arguing with the Heads of Delegation about whether the wording of the Draft Declaration is acceptable. The process is bizarre, but given the number of parties involved it is probably the only way to make it work.
The original draft has been substantially rewritten and we are now faced with a huge number of alternates for specific paragraphs. It is as if countries actually read the declaration for the first time after it was drafted and have now decided to redo entire sections. Trying to keep track of where we are in the document, and merge in the written changes that are appearing left, right and centre, together with verbal interjections is tiring. Chairing this must be a nightmare, and it shows.
Country A: “If we change para x to this, then para y should come out, and para z will need to be changed”. Country B: “We want to change para x to something else …”
By mid-afternoon I am drained, and we haven’t got through a quarter of the paperwork.
We break for a snack at 7pm, and it looks like we will be going at this until midnight at this rate.
Today is spent arguing with the Heads of Delegation about whether the wording of the Draft Declaration is acceptable. The process is bizarre, but given the number of parties involved it is probably the only way to make it work.
The original draft has been substantially rewritten and we are now faced with a huge number of alternates for specific paragraphs. It is as if countries actually read the declaration for the first time after it was drafted and have now decided to redo entire sections. Trying to keep track of where we are in the document, and merge in the written changes that are appearing left, right and centre, together with verbal interjections is tiring. Chairing this must be a nightmare, and it shows.
Country A: “If we change para x to this, then para y should come out, and para z will need to be changed”. Country B: “We want to change para x to something else …”
By mid-afternoon I am drained, and we haven’t got through a quarter of the paperwork.
We break for a snack at 7pm, and it looks like we will be going at this until midnight at this rate.
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