MUN 2013 Committees*Position Papers are due January 29, 2013. *Resolution Papers are due February 5, 2012.*Note: Resolutions should not exceed one page in length with a maximum of 5 operative clauses. "The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them." Resolutions for the Human Rights Council should focus on finding the connections between human rights (as addressed in the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights") and economic justice. Some starting points for ideas and research are looking at the issues of: promoting economic growth and sustainability while protecting human rights.; addressing the human rights regarding education, gender equality, and poverty and their correlations to economic justice; and/or exploring the possible connections between human rights violations and the implementation of economic sanctions. UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights UNHRC's Frequently Asked Questions on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights UNHRC's The International Convention on Migrant Workers and its Committee UNHRC's The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights UNHRC's Human Rights Indicators: A Guide for Measurement and Implementation UNDP's Human Development Reports National Economic & Social Rights Initiative Human Rights Watch "Better or Worse? The Effect of Economic Sanctions on Human Rights?" "Human Rights and Economics: The Conceptual Basis for their Complementarity""International Trade and Human Rights: An Economic Perspective" "Human Rights Approach to Development Programming" The United Nations Security Council is one of the most important bodies and the most powerful council within the United Nations and deals with all matters relating to national security and sovereignty. The Security Council (SC) consists of fifteen nations; five of these nations (Russia, Great Britain, The United States, China and France) permanently hold a seat in the Security Council. The other ten seats are taken by Argentina, Azerbaijan, Australia, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Morocco, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Rwanda and Togo who hold a seat in the SC on a rotational schedule that lasts for two years after selection to the council and a new member is selected to replace the departing member. Even with such a high turn over rate, at least 70 nations have not been able to serve on the Security Council. The United Nations Security Council is the only body capable of making binding Resolutions within the United Nations, the power to levy sanctions, embargoes and all other punitive actions come from this ability to hold a country to a resolution or agreement. The subject of the 2013 Model United Nations is Global Economic Justice and many different current events and situations can fall under that subject, however due to the responsibility of the MUN Security Council other Resolutions and issues that are not focused on Global Economic Justice will end up being discussed on the Model United Nations Security Council (MUNSC). It is crucial to remain focused on all global events dealing with sovereignty, security, and pending conflict as we prepare for the conference. This year, it is very important for students to focus on the increasing conflict between Israel and Iran as they continue to develop a nuclear program and what the global implications of an open war between the two nations would be. Also, the developing technological and military advancements by China have increased tension between China and the United States, as well as potentially escalating disagreements between China and Japan over disputed islets in the East China Sea. I would also like to remind students to continue to follow events in Syria as the conflict within the nation has yet to be settled and Iran and Russia have openly discouraged foreign military intervention within the country and voiced their support of Syrian leader Bashar al-Asad. Finally, conflict continues to loom between the Republic of Korea and their Northern cousins. If any students have questions, comments or concerns regarding Resolutions or issues for the MUN 2013 Security Council please contact me at the email address list on the Secretariat 2013 page. When writing Resolutions for the MUN Security Council please keep them to one page in length with no more than 5 operative clauses. The following are links provided to give you more information on the United Nations Security Council and get you started on issues that should be dealt with this year. Remember to use credible websites and publications when collecting your information and be able to identify and adapt accordingly to the proper biases of the nation you are representing in regards to that information. http://www.un.org/en/sc/members http://www.un.org/en/sc/documents/resolutions/index.shtml http://www.un.org/en/sc/documents/missions/ http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/security_council/index.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/ http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/index.html http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/ http://www.israelnationalnews.com/ Resolutions in this committee should pertain to the exploration, production and usage of energy. Energy is arguably the most valuable commodity there is. Energy sources easily become the cause of contention as they are sought ever more desperately. The overarching topic of this year's conference is global economic justice, which leaves many opportunities for exploring how interrelated economics and energy are. Another facet to the subject of energy is the environment; green energy and environmentally friendly practices have become more important and should certainly be taken into account for any resolutions. Resolutions also need to be country specific, nothing too broad or vague. It is also very important that resolutions should benefit the authoring country. In summary your Resolutions for this committee should deal with the broad and exciting topic of energy as it pertains to the subject of global economic justice. **Note: Resolutions should not exceed one page in length with a maximum of 5 operative clauses.Useful Links: http://globalenergyobservatory.org/ http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/ http://www.worldenergyjustice.org/ http://www.who.int/indoorair/publications/energyaccesssituation/en/index.html http://www.aucegypt.edu/gapp/cairoreview/pages/articledetails.aspx?aid=164 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html http://www.energyjustice.net/solutions/factsheet The 2013 Model United Nations Committee on Water will focus on global issues ranging from the use of drinking-water – to improved access to proper sanitation. Some areas of issue for the 2013 MUN Water Committee that will be focused on are underlined with a brief description of each: Climate Change and Water - Integrating newer technologies and enhanced water management practices to be resilient to future climate changes; Water scarcity- Water is being wasted, polluted and unevenly distributed; Water quality - 1.5 million children die each year from drinking contaminated water, and it is estimated that 2.5 billion people are still without improved sanitation; Gender and water - In Africa, 90% of the work of gathering water and wood is done by women, and improper sanitation in schools is another challenge for young women and girls because many of the latrines do not accommodate females; Water and Food Security - Agriculture uses about 70% of the world's fresh water, and with the global population continually rising, the amount of water that it takes to produce food will also increase; Transboundary waters - or waterways that cross political boundaries. For example, Israel and Jordan have a treaty so both countries share the freshwater from the River Jordan.These are a few examples of the types of issues that the UN Water Committee will be working to resolve. The drafting of your resolution may include one of the issues listed above.If you have other issues from the UN Water website, or other links that you are interested in writing your resolution about, please let me know.As you brainstorm and formulate your resolution, I would highly encourage you to refer to the links to find the issues you will suggest be improved in your proposal. I look forward to working with all of you in this year's Model United Nations of Alaska. *Note: Resolutions should not exceed one page in length with a maximum of 5 operative clauses. Links: http://www.unwater.org/index.html http://www.unwater.org/statistics.html http://www.unwater.org/downloads/brochure_EN_Web_2012.pdf http://www.unwater.org/downloads/UNWclimatechange_EN.pdf http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/sanitation.shtml http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/gender.shtml http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/gender.shtml http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/transboundary_waters.shtml http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/food_security.shtml http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/quality.shtml http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml "Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, UN Women, among other issues, works for the: elimination of discrimination against women and girls; empowerment of women; and achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security." Resolutions should include but are not limited to the topics of women migrant workers, gender-responsive budgeting, and economic empowerment pertaining to unemployment, nominal wages, land and property rights, and job security. Resolutions may pertain to financial assistance to women seeking economic empowerment and financial atonement for women who have become victims to trafficking, female genital mutilation, violence and assault, HIV and AIDS discrimination, and forcible relocation. Resolutions should not be longer than one page in length and should contain no more than five operative clauses. http://www.unwomen.org/resources/annual-report/ http://www.unwomen.org/resources/world-survey-on-the-role-of-women-in-development/ http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/gender_budgets.html? http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/ http://www.unifem.org/materials/item_detail3017.html?ProductID=123 http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/women_migrant_workers.html http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/facts_figures.html http://members.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gender_gap.pdf http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/economy.htm http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/unifem_takes_action.html http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/ http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/equality-and-discrimination/gender-equality/lang--en/index.htm Most delegations will be writing a Resolutions. The Resolution should be no more than one page in length, no more than five operative clauses and in the proper format, which you can find on pages 22 – 30 of the Delegate Guidebook (on the MUN website). The Director of the World Bank committee has high hopes for the resolutions to address real life issues that pertain to the World Bank. 1.For instance, currently there is a lot of contention about the role the World Bank plays in Global economic policies. The majority of the funding for the World Bank comes from the G8 nations, and therefore often their interests tend to be represented to a disproportional leave. How can this issue be addressed without ostracizing the funding nations? 2.What role can NGOs play in the issue stated above? 3.Resolutions that would possibly restructure funding to the World Bank to address the issue of Economic Justice would also be welcomed. The Euro Zone Crisis is a good place to look for issues regarding the World Bank and the current role it has in the world. A good case study for World Bank intervention is Argentina from 1999-2002, although this is to be viewed and reviewed to understand the effects of the World Bank, it is NOT to be used for resolutions, CURRENT EVENTS ONLY. http://www.globalexchange.org/resources/wbimf/reform http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/imfwb.htm http://www.portal2business.com/world-bank.html http://www.bicusa.org/en/institution.5.aspx http://library.duke.edu/research/subject/guides/ngo_guide/igo_ngo_coop/ngo_wb.html http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTRANETSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/SDP-28.pdf http://www.fundsforngos.org/multilateral-funds-for-ngos/the-world-bank/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/12/eurozone-crisis-developing-growth-world-bank http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/182_financial_mdg/page2.shtml |
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