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The Topics in the General Assembly:
1. 10 Year review of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
There are eight international MDGs focusing on different global problems. All 192 countries of the
United Nations and 23 international organizations have commented themselves to reaching these goals
by the target date of 2015. With only five years remaining until the 2015 deadline, hard pressed review
is necessary for each of the goals to be achieved. The eight MDG goals are as follows: Goal 1: Eradicate
Poverty and Extreme Hunger; Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education; Goal 3: Promote Gender
Equality and Empower Women; Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality; Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health; Goal
6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases; Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability; and Goal
8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development. Goal 4, 5 and 6 are strongly centered on the themes
of access to reproductive information and supplies and to prevent the number of deaths infants and
young children. The aim of the committee is to ensure the measure advancements amongst the goals
and increase the implementation of the MDGs, especially the situation for Child Mortality and Women’s
health.
2. Climate Change/Environmental Degradation as a Source of Conflict
Climate change and environmental degradation have been treated only as environmental problems.
While policy makers start to link the topic to international security, some researchers doubt that climate
change really is a source of conflict. It is recently become one of the most high profile issues facing the
global community. Climate change is a phenomenon of multiple dimensions. In order to provide a clear
scientific view on the current status of climate and its consequences, the United Nations Environmental
Program (UNEP) together with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) founded the
intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) According to the IPCC, the definition of climate
change as a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alerts the
composition of the global atmosphere. The IPCC observed a significant rise in greenhouse gas
concentrations since the mid 20th century caused by human influences. Current studies demonstrate
how climate change impacts the environment. The United Nations has addressed climate change,
through several organizations such as UNEP and UNDP as well as legal frameworks such as the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. The aim of the
committee is to demonstrate how climate change impacts the environment and to explain the linkage
between climate change and international security.
The Topics discussed in the Economic & Social Council:
1. The Role of Microfinance in Promoting Development
The most widely accepted origin of microfinance is probably the experiment led by economist
Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grammeen Bank and 2006 Nobel Prize Winner. In 1976, Yunus
conducted a series of experiments in Bangladesh, first with his own money, then with funding where he
would lend very small amounts of money to poor people so that they could get their own businesses
started up. One of the observations he made from these experiments was not only that money helped
the borrowers but also that they reimbursed the money most of the time It is important to define the
difference between microcredit and microfinance. According to the glossary, microfinance refers to
loans, savings, insurance, transfer services and other financial products targeted at low income clients.
Microcredit is part thus of microfinance, a small amount of money loaned to a client by a bank or other
institutions. The United Nations have shown a growing commitment to microfinance. This dedication to
microfinance was demonstrated in the implementation of the International Year for the Eradication of
Poverty. The aim of the committee is to demonstrate how microfinance can offer new opportunities for
development and to provide new tools. How can IMF and World Bank contribute in the Microfinance
program?
2. Women’s Role in Capacity Building within Civil Society Movements
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the 21st Century, call for poverty
eradication and equal opportunities for women and men. These two aspects of the MDGs bring together
the issues of development and women’s empowerment, which is linked by women’s role in capacity
building. The commission on the Status of Women CSW, guided by its mandate to empower women and
advance gender equality, strives to improve the status of women worldwide. The main objective of the
CSW in Beijing is to improve women’s role in capacity building within civil society movements a new and
emerging trend. All women can play unique roles in society, bring unique skills to organizational
management and negotiation, and act as important voices for issues of societal concern. The
commission needs to focus on the role of women in capacity building and determine if there are ways in
which it can and should help women, especially in developing nations. For example, how can the CSW
provide for capacity building for women to strengthen their roles in civil society movements? Which are
the best ways to support the unique way women approach capacity building, management and
leadership?
The Topics discussed in the Security Council:
1. Combating Maritime Piracy
Since goods were first moved across the oceans, pirates have sought to intercept and plunder maritime
trade. Committed on the High Seas where no State has sovereignty, nations have long had to work
collectively to combat piracy, developing international customs and law to regulate its excesses. The
threat of piracy to global shipping has risen substantially over the past few years. Over a third of these
incidents occurred in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia. Other areas prone to piracy include
South East Asia, particularly around the Indonesian archipelago and Malacca Straits and West Africa,
particularly off the coast of Nigeria. Both the Convention on the law of the Sea and the Convention on
the High Seas define piracy articles define piracy as:
a. Any illegal acts of violence committed for private ends by crew or the passengers of a private
ship or aircraft
b. Any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of
facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft
c. Any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating violence
The treaties address the issue of jurisdiction. Territorial jurisdiction is the most common form of
jurisdiction, because a State almost always has the power to enforce laws within its recognized
sovereign territory. The committee mission is to understand theft operations and take appropriate
actions against persons committing unlawful acts against ships.
2. Illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons
Article 11 of the United Nations Charter authorizes the General assembly to consider the principles
governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments. While much discussions on arms control and
disarmament has centered on preventing the use and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction –
which include nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons – it has become clear that conventional
weapons, in particular small arms and light weapons (SALW), are weapons of mass destruction in their
own right. Despite its best efforts, however, the illicit trafficking of conventional weapons – those
weapons which are non-biological, non-chemical and non-nuclear – has continued to threaten the
international community. Many Security Council members have talked about the need to address a
number of issues, such as strengthening physical security and stockpile management, surplus
destruction, marking and tracing, strengthening export and border controls, and controlling brokering
activities. The committee main mission is to establish clear international guidelines for the export of
conventional arms through enforcement and treaty. How should national governments reconcile Article
5, of the Charter recognizing the legitimate right of self defense with regulating conventional arm
transfer?
The Topics discussed in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
1. 2010 NPT Review Conference: Towards General and Complete Disarmament
In the early 1980s as fears over the proliferation of nuclear technology spread throughout the
international community, estimates put the number of countries that would possess nuclear weapons
by the beginning of the 21st century between 15 and 34 nations. In upcoming 2010 review of the Non
Proliferation Treaty NPT provides a great opportunity to make strides in creating an international
community focused on sustainable peace by realizing the goals of general and complete disarmament.
As efforts are made to reduce the barriers towards universal adherence of the NPT, the international
community must focus on stemming new threats to nuclear proliferation by limiting proliferation both
indirectly through improving international security and directly by enhancing export controls and
limiting access to nuclear knowledge while upholding the of every Member State to develop peaceful
uses of nuclear technology. As delegates prepare to address these issues, several important aspects
must be addressed. Does the need to limit the trade of nuclear materials outweigh the provision of
nuclear materials for peaceful purposes? What can be done to require nuclear weapon States to reduce
their stockpiles of strategic and non strategic nuclear weapons?
2. Water and Nuclear Technologies
The advantage of the IAEA’s work with regard to water is that water issues can become highly
politicized, and IAEA assistance can help to alleviate political tensions surrounding limited water
supplies, lack of knowledge, etc… For instance, desalination may be a viable option where water sources
and unstable and rapidly depleting. IAEA research and technical assistance can also assist in making
valuable water technologies available to developing states without the financial capacity to develop
them independently. In further exploration of the topic of water and nuclear technologies, delegates
may wish to consider some of the following questions. What part should the IAEA play in mitigating the
effects of climate change, and what connections are these between climate change, water sources, and
nuclear technologies? How might efforts in this area bolster efforts of the IAEA to ensure sustainable
peace in other areas? Are their regional areas you feel the IAEA should increase their concentration?
What new aspects of water and nuclear technologies should the IAEA be concerned about and pursue?