Friday Night
Friday night saw UCMUN XXI’s first committee sessions! Delegates debated topics ranging from peace keeping and militaristic actions in Myanmar to protecting LGBTQ+ marriage rights. Read on to see what each committee was up to:
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
CCPCJ began by discussing the opioid crisis. The delegations recognize that many turn to drug tracking as a last resort to provide for their families. One solution brought up by many delegations was to promote job creation as a means to deter trafficking and drug smuggling, giving many other options to turn to.
Commission on the Status of Women
On the first night of the 2019 Model UN conference, the Commission on the Status of Women discussed the important topic of child marriage. They covered the important aspect of the issue, which was thinking of ways to separate child marriage from religion, and how to do so in a way which supports women instead of putting them down.
“We need to get rid of the stigma among women and fund female empowerment to uplift and give confidence to them to make them see that they can really live on their own,” the delegate from Chad said.
“Not only do we need to educate women, but we need to do the same to the parents of these children,” the delegate from Egypt said.
Counter-Terrorism Committee
Delegates in the Counter Terrorism Committee were addressing Topic A: International Travel and Terrorism.
Delegates from France and Saudi Arabia wanted to fund the sources of more protection and security of other countries. Terrorism and international travel have been linked since the advent of modern terror groups.
“It easier for terrorism to find their way into a country,” one delegate said. The countries’ goals were to find solutions to stop terrorism.
A Russian Federation delegate came up with a solution of advertising terrorism.
The Israel delegate stated, “We need to end hate speech online and in our communities to stop terrorism.”
France replied,“Wouldn’t that step on freedom of speech and cause more issues?”
Disarmament and International Security Committee
International Law Commission
The UConn Model United Nations International Law Committee opened debate on the complicated relationships between nations and their territories.
“Those of you who are preaching national sovereignty are being hypocrites because you have a say in this and your territories do not,” the delegation of El Salvador said.
The delegates discussed the possibility of independence for territories
“If you want them to be independent, they can revolt if they want to,” the delegation from Cuba said.
Cuba’s suggestion of revolution left many delegates unnerved.
“If a [territory] wants to seek independence, it should be allowed to do so,” the delegation from the Republic of Korea said. “But the transition should be ensured to be a smooth one to ensure the best outcome possible.”
Switzerland brought attention to the issue of climate change for territories. Many territories are small islands which are facing the worst impacts from rising sea levels.
“Staying with the parent country, but demanding more rights is the better way to go,” the delegation from Switzerland said.
The United States, which has 3.6 million people living in its territories emphasized the importance of education and assimilation into the mother country.
“We believe education is the most important thing at this moment and education on how they can become incorporated into the mother country is essential,” the delegation from the United States said.
Brazil said independence and assimilation should be considered last resorts. Brazil said countries should work to increase the situation within territories first.
“We need to stop assuming all territories want independence or total assimilation,” the delegation from Brazil said. “We should be more focused on increasing political rights and civil liberties in territories.”
Joint Crisis Committee 1&2
On the first night of the 2019 Model United Nations conference, the Delegates in the Joint Crisis Committees (JCC1 and JCC2) learned about the Chilean Discovery of 2034, a discovery where geoscientists discovered vast amounts of oil under the fastest melting portion of the Antarctic territory.
The Delegates were each given a role: Either a puritan, extreme environmentalist, or somewhere in between. Then they were tasked with deciding what the right course of action was in regards to this newfound oil. They need to ensure that they use it in a way which not only benefits all of the countries and companies equally, but environment as well.
United Nations Development Programme
Delegates in the United Nations Development Programme discussed Energy Production in Developing Countries. France’s Delegate was fighting for a long-term effect of changing nonrenewable energy to renewable energy instead of thinking about Short term effects of changing between both until 2030. France wanted to get rid of fossil fuel all together.
“Fossil fuel can be expensive depending on how it’s used, and we need to look for solutions for nonrenewable energy and get rid of fossil fuels,” the delegate from France said.
Delegates from China, Ethiopia, Chad and Egypt were fighting for more coal, oil and fossil fuel use due to the fact that it is more efficient and cheaper.
“Some need energy for survival, we need to provide that energy as soon as possible and provide the cheapest route in order to jumpstart more green energy,” the delegate from Egypt said.
United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
United Nations High Commission for Refugees
The UNHCR Committee began by discussing the Economic Refugees in Latin America. Honduras proposed an economic plan in coordination with the IMF that would help revitalize countries to provide basic services in developing nations.
United Nations Human Rights Council
On the first night of the 2019 Model UN conference, the Delegates in the United Nations Human Rights Committee voted to discuss workers rights violations. They discussed how optimistic they were in regards to forming a resolution to ensure better working conditions, higher wages, and limiting child labor for all.
“Big businesses and corporations don’t care about the treaties we will form, they care more about making money and satisfying their customers,” the delegates from the Bahamas said. “Therefore, many times they will not follow the laws and rules we implement.”
“We can not put all the blame on the United States, and they cannot do everything to solve the problems developing countries have,” the delegate from Afghanistan said. “We as smaller countries need to do what is right for our people, while still gaining help from these developing nations.”
“We have laws about minimum wages and working hour limits, and we would like to see international laws made with similar concepts which we would help fund,” the delegate from the United States of America said.
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
Delegates of the UNICEF committee discussed teaching children with disabilities and how to best integrate them into the workforce.
The delegates from Romania, Guatemala, and the United Kingdom all voiced that children with disabilities do not limit themselves; rather, society places limits on them. They said it is not their responsibility to learn about their disability in school; rather, it is the responsibility of other students to learn how to include them.
The delegate from India voiced a different opinion- they stated that those with a disability should be educated about their own disability in school in order to best fight back against discrimination. In an interview with the Press Corps, the delegate from India stated that it is necessary to focus on practicality of all these policies, even if it results in a policy that some see as controversial. He stated that it is important to educate all people, with or without disabilities.
The delegate from Nigeria voiced that breaking social stigma is necessary to integrate those with disabilities. The delegate from France agrees with the delegate from Nigeria and that the best way to integrate children with disabilities is by keeping all children regardless of ability in the same classrooms. The delegate of Nepal stated job programs are needed in order to teach those with disabilities necessary job skills. The delegate from Guatemala stated that creating a quota would increase being targeted by coworkers and integration must be with the cooperation of businesses.
The delegates from Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Samoa agreed that funds are needed in order to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce. The delegate from Ethiopia cited that 98% of children in that country have no way to get to school of job training and that funds are needed in order to improve this situation by improving educators and creating other new ways to educate their students. In an interview with the Press Corps, the delegate from Ethiopia called for awareness about how people get to school. The delegate stated that many people in more developed countries are unaware about how much of a problem it is that so many Ethiopians cannot get to school, especially those with disabilities.
United Nations Security Council
The UConn Model United Nations National Security Council discussed peace keeping and militaristic action in Myanmar as a response to the genocide of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, Friday night.
“As nations we can take sides, but as the UN, we’re supposed to be pushing for peace and prosperity, and we’re not doing that if we utilize military force,” the delegation from the Russian Federation said. “If we just push for guns ablazing, it can only cause backlash from the nation.”
While several nations objected to Russia’s rhetoric, the United States emphasized the benefits of more aggressive peacekeeping missions.
“The terms guns ablazing have had a lot of positive effects,” the delegation from the United States said. “Though it’s taken a while, we’ve destroyed a lot of bad regimes and we’ve improved the condition of refugees.”
Some nations advocated for the role of peace keeper troops as objective agents. Others, however, argued that the human rights violations Myanmar has perpetrated justify more direct action.
“It’s very clear which side we should take. We should take a side against genocide. Everyone in the room can agree on that,” the delegation from Bangladesh said. “We need to ensure our peace keepers can protect the people.”
India supported an observation group in Myanmar that would report to a regional authority about the actions of insurgency groups and the Myanmar government.
Germany emphasized that the Rohingya people should be part of this regional authority.
“One of the biggest groups of people hurt by this are the Rohingya people and so they should be part of the conversation,” the delegation from Germany said.
Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Affairs
The UConn Model United Nations Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Affairs Committee opened debate on protecting LGBTQ+ marriage rights.
“As one of very few South American countries that has legalized LGBTQ+ marriage, countries really should consider protecting their citizens no matter what their views,” the delegation from Columbia said. “it is unjust for a government to punish citizens for things they cannot control.”
Some nations have legal protections for the safety of LGBTQ+ people, but not marriage rights.
“We recognize that they have a right to love but we cannot condone their marriage,” the delegation of Brazil said.
The delegation of Cameroon presented himself as ‘a devil’s advocate’ in the debate.
“LGBTQ+ persons are a danger to themselves...and a danger to others,” the delegation from Cameroon said. “We hope delegates will approach us to discuss our viewpoints.”
The delegation from Afghanistan echoed this sentiment, referring to LGBTQ+ people as having a mental illness.
“The country of Thailand is frankly shocked and appalled by this statement,” the delegation of Thailand said in response. “Being LGBTQ+ is not a mental disorder...it is more who you choose to love....We still believe it is a person’s inalienable right to love whoever they wish.”
Saudia Arabia was one of the most outspoken countries against progress toward LGBTQ+ rights.
“It’s just against the law in Saudi Arabia...this is illegal, they are criminals, this is against what we believe,” the delegation from Saudi Arabia said. “If they don’t like it, they can leave Saudi Arabia.”
World Health Organization
The WHO Committee began by discussing vaccines. The delegations recognized that while availability is the primary issue at hand, developing countries lack a trained staff with proper sanitary conditions to administer a vaccination.
Nigeria urged developed countries to support developing nations with funding through a “buddy system” where a developed country would provide funding to a developing nation.
Many, however, were concerned with this idea. Pakistan and the Dominican Republic argued that there is no incentive for developed countries to actually fund developing nations, citing some countries inability to even pay their UN dues.