Peace has a price

Roleplay Library
1

Welcome to the International Conference on the Auroran Monetary Fund
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Introduction and background
The Auroran Monetary Fund was conceived by the Foreign Ministry and the National Treasury of the Oan Isles under the leadership of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arana Marama.

She published an article in the Oan News online media platform in which she provided the thrust behind the idea. In summary, the purpose of the AMF is the act as a conduit through which private and public financial institutions and Auroran governments can provide credit to governments of Auroran nations. It would regulate the conditions of contracts and the creditors and debtors allowed to participate, coordinate the financing process, enforce debts on behalf of creditors and arbitrate disputes. Its primary goal is to create an environment conducive for poor countries to access the funds to fuel investments in services and infrastructure that will bring prosperity and ultimately peace to those nations, while at the same time protecting the interests of creditors.

The White Paper on the Auroran Monetary Fund was published shortly after the article published by Minister Arana Marama. The paper explains in more detail how the organization is to function, what its goals are, and what the economic and political implications for the Auroran Continent will be. The AMF is conceptualised as a branch of the UNAC, so members of the UNAC, are by extension members of the AMF, and only Auroran based financial institutions can participate.

Event information

  • Location: Tokapa International Conference Center, Tokapa, TKM, The Oan Isles

  • Duration: 3 days, December 2019

  • Invitees: The Council of the UNAC. Member states of the United Nations of the Auroran Continent, who are free to bring along private sector and civil society representatives as part of their delegations.

  • Discussion: Negotiation and approval of the Treaty of Tokapa which will bring the AMF into being. Should sufficient nations agree during the conference, then we can also go on to discuss the location, appoint officials and so on.

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OOC: The RP is open from here. Feel free to arrive and mingle, but the official discussion will only begin when I say, so that we have order. Dates aren’t relevant, just say Day 1, 2 and 3 depending on when your post is happening. If you must RP before the conference actually starts on day 1 then just say nth day before the conference at the top of your post.

2

Topaka International Airport, Topaka, TKM, The Oan Isles, 2 days before the conference

While waiting for their flights to start boarding, people often idly look out the windows of the airport out upon the tarmac. However, that day an unusual-looking plane was getting clearance to land on the runway. It was painted blue and gold, and sported the Oscrelian coat of arms.

Inside that plane sat Chancellor Ernest Harvey, who was staring out the window watching the city of Topaka grow larger and larger as the plane declined. He sipped his coffee and decided to review the notes he took during his briefing.

He recalled when the Oan delegation first distributed the White Paper during a previous summit of the Auroran Council. He felt that discussing the White Paper was, at the time, a good respite from the then-ongoing discussion on Thalria, which had gone from a vote to a debate over things from stymieing foreign influence to a discussion over the factors that led to the failure of Kostromastan.

His thoughts were interrupted by a quick beeping sound, and he noticed that the “buckle your seat belt” light had turned on. He did so, and hurriedly drained his cup of coffee. The last thing he needed was the beverage spilling over him and his notes.

Harvey looked out the window again. The plane was approaching the runway. As the wheels made contact, the aircraft jolted as the landing gear engaged the ground. The brakes were activated, slowing the plane to a halt.

Harvey started reading his notes again. He had extra time to kill as the plane was being taxied, and he wanted to make the best of it.

3

1 day before the top:

The Blueacian delegation sat in the plane for the not so long journey to the Oan Isles. In the plane were Secretary of Treasure Ympkje Fokkema and some of her workers, and CEO of LabiaTurtle Banking Group Bo Bendsneyder, and representatives of all the banks that fall under that group. Normally you wouldn’t see this combination in the plane of the goverment, but for this occasion there was chosen because it would be weird if only a few people arrived with 2 different planes. The two were joining talks with almost complete opposite goals, Ympkje and therefor the goverment is alright with lending money to nations in Aurora who aren’t as rich as Blueacia. But she wants to be absolutely sure that the money doesn’t fall in the wrong hands, let say corrupt regimes.
Bo and his following just want to know how they can make money by lending money to different projects. They also want to know what the terms for lending money and pay backs are.
The atmosphere isn’t really bad between the people, they realize they might need each other during the talks and maybe it was better to join forces instead of fighting with each other. some discussions were going around in the plane, even though Ympkje and Bo didn’t talk to each other during the flight. Or at least not officially……

After a few hours the plane was about to descend to the airport where it would land. Just before the light for the seatbelts lighted up Ympkje walked over to Bo gave him a hand and wished him luck with the talks, she knew her and Bo probably aren’t after the same but she hoped both she and Bo could go home with at least having the feeling of knowing that other countries know how they look at things. Bo, almost surprised by this gesture, shook the hand of Ympkje and wished her luck. “I hope we both get what we’re after” he said, giving her a wink.

4

Tokapa International Conference Center,Tokapa, Tokamotu, The Oan Isles : Day 1

Arana Marama, the incumbent Oan Minister of Foreign Affairs, took the podium and addressed all the delegates gathered to discuss and finalise the foundation of the Auroran Monetary Fund.

Good afternoon to all the honoured dignitaries and guests representing he nations of Auroran. We welcome you to our home and hope that you have and will continue to enjoy your stay in the Oan Isles. The thrust for this meeting arose from previous discussions held in Aura in which the Oan delegation led by former Ambassador to the UNAC, incumbent Prime Minister Tīpene Rahua presented a preliminary outline of the Auroran Monetary Fund, a financial mechanism that could be used to facilitate long term stability and peace. We further proposed the idea in media outlets and distributed the white paper to all delegates gathered here today".

She paused, assessing the reactions of the delegates and continued, “In that vein we want to use this session to negotiate an international agreement that will commit us to and provide the framework for the Auroran Monetary Fund. Through this treaty, the Auroran Monetary Fund will come to fruition. Although the working document we circulated to you earlier may provide us with the skeleton of what the Auroran Monetary Fund may entail, it is necessary to have the contributions and input of all the nations, criticism and praise alike. Moreover, we must approach the work we are doing here today in a spirit of good faith and mutual benefit”.

Again, she took a drink of water and continued, “With that in mind, it is crucial that I succinctly describe what the AMF is: it is a coordinating mechanism, or middleman, that allows private and public financial institutions to provide development finance to member states. The AMF itself is not intended to have a pool of cash that it loans out to nations directly. The AMF is simply a go-between for nations and banks that are interested in doing business together. What makes the AMF unique is that it provides technical and bureaucratic infrastructure, a legal framework, enforcement mechanisms and a regulatory structure that protects lenders and borrowers, allowing countries that would ordinarily struggle to get access to affordable loans to get the money they need to use on projects that promote their economic development.”

Having gotten through the first part without ‘boos’, she elaborated on the purpose of this, *“The need for such an organisation arises in that it allows us to pool finances between the private sector and public sector and make them available for development projects without taking that money out of the financial system. This means that every major country and bank commits to availing “x” portion of their financial capital to the AMF without actually transferring the money meaning that the process of availing these resources will only be triggered when a nation requests a loan. Please stop me now if I’m not making sense or you disagree with what the Oan government is proposing and would like to offer an alternative suggestion”.

5

Day 1, Immediately following the above event

Trimola Eknol, the Tuvalt representative for the UNAC, stood up.

"M(r)s. Marama, the vast majority of what the AMF stands for and what it strives to achieve are all well and good, but I have a few hangups regarding a few positions. I’ve read through the initial white paper released, and assuming that the white paper still stands as the same proposal as you bring to us now at this meeting, those hangups still persevere.

Firstly, I would like to point to the section explaining the AMF’s Organisation, specifically the portion stating, and I quote, ‘the powers and functions of the AMF fall outside the remit of the law-making powers delegated to aforementioned authorities.’

If I’m understanding the excerpt correctly, it seems that you are suggesting in the white paper that the AMF should exist outside the law-making powers of the UNAC, essentially contradicting the intent of the UNAC Charter entirely. I understand that, in context, the excerpt is also suggesting the establishment of the AMF through treaty rather than law, however I still am wary about the specific wording used. Would you care to elaborate on that?"

6

Day 1: Arana Marama’s response Trimola Eknol’s question

“Thank you Ambassador Eknol for your question. The text in question was not an instruction or prescription of the set up of the AMF, it was our interpretation of the Charter. Allow me to explain. Many of the powers and functions which the AMF possesses lie outside the legislative power of the Council of the UNAC and the Auroran Parliament. These are powers which lie within the exclusive jurisdiction of the domestic law of national parliaments. This includes matters such as the prescription of financial assets held by banks and the regulation of private-public sector lending. The Council and Parliament cannot legislate on these issues, so the AMF cannot be founded in terms of UNAC law because these powers lie within the exclusive control of national parliaments. As such, we were stating that a treaty, rather than a law, will be the appropriate legal instrument for the creation of the AMF. Given these considerations, it is physically impossible for the Council and the Parliament to pass laws abrogating or augmenting domestic powers voluntarily surrendered by member states to the AMF by a treaty. It will only be possible for the Council and Parliament to legislate on these issues if the charter is amended. Unfortunately, amending the charter falls outside of the scope of this meeting. I hope this makes sense”.

7

Day 1: Trimola Eknol’s response to Arana Marama’s explanation

“Thank you for the explanation Minister Marama, however a couple questions still remain; Firstly, I am understanding that many of the functions of the AMF would need to be handled at the national level rather than among the Auroran Council and Parliament which makes sense, but considering the fact that the AMF would operate internationally and bilaterally, I’m still unsure why it wouldn’t be beneficial to at the very least use UNAC law as a basis for those international functions? Secondly, I don’t see how discussing whether amending the UNAC charter to create the AMF isn’t an option for this meeting? I would be more than willing to discuss it.”