2018 Social Humanitarian &

Cultural Committee

Background Guide

The University of Notre Dame

Model United Nations Conference

February 2-4, 2018

Dear Delegates,

Welcome to NDMUN II! I am very excited serve as the chair for the SOCHUM this year,

and I am eager to watch the energy and thoughtfulness which I am sure you will all bring to

discuss the very important issues which we will address during this conference. I am a

sophomore political science major, and will likely double major in either Spanish or Economics. I

have been involved in Model UN for over four years, and I am very excited for the opportunity

to chair my first committee this year. If you have any questions about anything related to the

conference, parliamentary procedure, our topics, background guides, or pretty much anything.

Don’t hesitate to email me or any of the NDMUN staff with questions.

I am sure that we are going to have a lot of fun during the conference, but we are also

going to be having lots of great debate and resolution writing as well. I think you will all find

that the more preparation and work you put in, the more you will get out of the conference.

Similarly, the more you all collaborate and listen to one another, I believe that the process of

the conference will become easier and much more rewarding for all of you. In order to make

sure that our debate remains constructive and easier to tackle, we are going to be placing a big

emphasis on staying within the boundaries of this committee’s actual powers and

responsibilities. As such, I highly encourage all of you to spend some time before the

conference doing further research on our topics, and preparing yourselves in terms of

parliamentary procedure and how the UN operates. We do require that you send us a position

paper before the conference starts, if you do not, you will automatically be disqualified from

getting any awards.

The Social Humanitarian and Cultural Committee is the Third Committee of the United

Nations General Assembly. The committee discusses social and humanitarian issues around the

globe, as well as issues of human rights, and cultural issues on an international scale. As a body

of the UN General Assembly, this committee can pass resolutions, essentially recommended

actions for the United Nations and its member states to take. These resolutions are

non-binding, meaning that the General Assembly has no power to enforce the resolutions it

passes, however, the General Assembly can refer issues to the Security Council, which can pass

binding resolutions, for consideration. Please keep this in mind during the conference.

According to the UN Charter, Article 13, in addition to matters of international peace and

security; “The General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the

purpose of: A. promoting international cooperation in the political field and encouraging the

progressive development of international law and its codification; B. promoting international

cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, educational and health fields, and assisting in the

realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex,

language or religion.” This will be the focus and scope of our debate.

Sincerely,

Charlie Alldredge

calldred@nd.edu

Topic 1: Refugees

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, there were 21.3 million

refugees worldwide in 2015. That number is likely significantly higher today. Since the 1967 1

“Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees”, a refugee is defined as: "every person who, owing

to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public

order in either part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality, is compelled to leave his

place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin

or nationality." It is important to remember the distinction between a refugee, who has been 2

forced to flee their country, and Internally Displaced Persons, who are forced to flee their

homes, but not necessarily their country. Both categories are supported by the UN High

Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but most of the issues we will address in this conference

will apply only to refugees.

The most notable cause of the refugee epidemic today is the Syrian Civil war, but

refugees flee from conflicts today in nearly every region in the world, most significantly in parts

of Africa and the Middle East. Because the United Nations, through the UN High Commissioner

for Refugees, already has well established and effective procedures for responding to refugee

crises, we will seek to dive deeper to address some of the outstanding challenges facing

refugees. Particularly, we will examine quality of life and living standards for refugees, and

issues regarding relations between refugees and their host communities. This Committee will

1 http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html 2 OAU Convention on governing the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa, 1969. Pg. 3. http://www.unhcr.org/about-us/background/45dc1a682/oau-convention-governing-specific-aspects-refugee-problems-africa-adopted.html

seek to address with detailed resolutions, both the humanitarian and logistical challenges

surrounding the issue of refugees, as well as social and cultural challenges relating to refugees.

When someone is forced to flee their country because of war or persecution, or natural

disasters, generally, they will apply for refugee status with the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees. In some cases they may apply for asylum directly with the nation

they fled to. In areas with large populations of refugees, such as near Syria today, the UNHCR

will often set up or sponsor refugee camps to receive and host persons fleeing from the

conflict. In these cases, refugees often travel long distances through dangerous conditions.

They may travel on foot, or may pay smugglers to take them to the camp, perhaps through

hostile territory or over a border. Many refugees suffer from severe dehydration or

malnourishment, or from injuries and diseases which have gone untreated. Once at the refugee

camp, they must stay outside the camp for possibly weeks or even months as they await

reception and processing, with minimal aid, food, or medical attention provided. There have

been many instances of refugee seekers dying while waiting outside camps. Eventually, the

UNHCR and the host country will interview the refugee seekers, record their information, often

take fingerprints or eye-scans. Except for rare cases, refugees are then accepted into the camp

and further interviewed and examined to determined what kind of medical care and

accommodations they will need. For the first time since arriving they are given food rations,

instead of simply high-energy biscuits. Life in refugee camps is cramped, with families as large

as 7 people living in makeshift shelters on 10 x 12 meter plots of land. Sanitation facilities and

latrines are minimal and usually shared among many families. Garbage can often pile up, there

is no running water and each refugee usually gets less than 20 liters of water per day. That 3

means less than 20 litres for showering, sanitation, cooking, drinking, washing clothes, etc.

Despite these conditions, it is remarkable that the UNHCR has now established a standard of

responding to every refugee crisis around the world. The ability of the UN, along with host

countries and other organizations like the Red Cross, to provide shelter and relative security for

so many millions of refugees is a massive leap forward from the conditions which had faced

refugees in the past. However, significant issues remain and challenges are evolving,

particularly when refugee populations remain displaced for years or more.

Healthcare and education among refugee populations are minimal and usually of poor

quality, both for refugees living in camps, and often for those granted asylum and living outside

of camps. According to the UNHCR, only about 50% of refugee children have access to a

primary education, and only 22 percent of adolescent refugees attend secondary school, those

are compared to 91% and 84% worldwide, respectively. The UNHCR generally supplies 4

emergency healthcare, treatment for HIV, malaria nets where needed, and reproductive

healthcare. The Red Cross or host countries may provide additional heath care aid, but beyond

that, there is debate over how much health care refugees should be provided with. There are

also difficult issues regarding the freedom to travel for refugees, and employment for refugees.

Although two thirds of Refugees live outside of refugee camps, mostly in large urban areas in

the middle east, refugees who do reside in camps are generally not allowed to move freely

3 http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/latest/2013/7/51d5443f9/liquid-treasure-challenge-providing-drinking-water-new-refugee-camp.html 4 http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/education.html

outside of the camp, unless they obtain a movement pass from their host country.

Nevertheless, many refugees find ways around these rules, and travel often between cities and

camps. The UNHCR often tries to provide refugees with employment opportunities, to increase

productivity and quality of life for refugees, as well as dignity for refugees and their families.

However, most countries that host refugee camps do not allow refugees to be employed legally

outside of the camps, unless they are granted a higher level of asylum and are then able to

move out of the camp. Studies have shown that if given enough aid and allowed to work,

refugees can provide a significant boost to the local economies that host them. The UNHCR also

provides Cash-Based Interventions, essentially cash provided to families so that they can better

meet their own needs as well as benefit the local economy of their hosts. 5

These are just some of the many policies and issues which dominate refugee life. In this

committee, we will seek to write a detailed resolution with specific recommendations about

how much, and what types of aid the UN should provide to refugees, and especially with a

focus on how to improve the quality of life in refugee camps, and how to help refugees become

more self-sufficient. How can more employment opportunities be provided to refugees? How

much healthcare should the UNHCR or host nations provide refugees with? How can we

improve the access to primary and secondary education for refugees?

Deeply connected with these questions are issues of the relations between host

countries and refugees. Controversial issues include the debate around the resettlement of

refugees, and the fear of security issues and backlash against refugees from some right-wing

constituencies in the west. Whenever large populations of refugees move into a new country,

5 http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/cash-based-interventions.html

they can cause substantial unrest. They must be processed and identified, provided with

healthcare, fed and given shelter, often at the expense of the taxpayers in their host country. In

recent years especially, a main argument for turning away refugee populations is that refugees

coming from places like Syria could include terrorists posing as refugees. Some argue that it is

very difficult to screen refugees for terrorist links, and therefore nations should err on the side

of caution and not admit refugees from high-risk areas. While the probability of a terrorist

posing as a refugee is extremely low, and most countries have very thorough screening

processes for refugees, the fear is still real among many. One of the terrorists involved in the

Paris bombings in 2016, for example, came to Belgium as a refugee. Additionally, many argue 6

that refugees disrupt local communities by requiring public money to fund refugee services, or

by providing cheap labor that might force some locals out of a job. Further, the optics of the

European migrant crisis are often very disturbing, which makes this problem even harder to

overcome. With each country establishing quotas for refugees, and using long application

processes, many refugees are desperate to reach Europe. Perhaps to join family or friends, or 7

to try and find work in a new country. As a result, many refugees have resorted to illegal border

crossings to make their way into Europe. Many refugees coming from north Africa have been

forced to pay smugglers to ship them across the Mediterranean in small, crowded boats. Often

these boats will sink or tip over, and many refugees may die, or the coast guard will have to

intervene to rescue the stranded migrants. Large refugee camps made up of migrants who

6 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/20/paris-attacks-france-launches-un-push-for-unified-declaration-of-war-on-isis 7 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911

attempted illegal border crossings have sprung up across Europe, none more infamous than the

so called “Calais Jungle”, made up of migrants who attempted to enter the United Kingdom

through the French port city of Calais.

These factors and more have caused an anti-refugee backlash in many European

countries. Anti-migrant protests have taken place in some countries, such as the Pegida

movement in Germany. Some nations, like Hungary, have tightened border controls, technically

in violation of EU treaties. Finally, right-wing, populist and anti-immigrant parties have gained

strength in many European nations, such as the National Front in France, the PVV in the

Netherlands, or Liga Nord in Italy. These issues all beg the questions of how the UN can

promote better relations between refugees and host nations, how they can better

communicate the plight of refugees to elicit empathy rather than fear, and how refugees could

be better integrated into their new communities as to benefit those communities rather than

hurt them.

As you research these two topics, how to improve the standard of living for refugees,

and how to foster better relations between refugees and host countries, I think you will find

that they go hand in hand with one another. Refugees who are healthier, who go to school, and

who are more self-sufficient will be much better situated to be received with an open mind in

their new countries, and more able to positively benefit the communities they join. This is an

extraordinarily complex issue, with many facets that I have not even hinted at in this

background guide. I highly encourage all of you to do additional research. The conference will

be much more productive, and more fun, if everyone is familiar with this topic.

There are no clearly defined bloc positions for these two issues. However, it will be

important to research the political alignment of your nation’s current government, and their

attitudes towards refugees. It will also be crucial to examine your nation’s current refugee

circumstances. Whether your country is a major source or destination for refugees, or if your

country does not play a large role in any refugee crises, will probably determine a lot about how

your nation would respond to these issues.

Questions to consider:

1. How much aid should refugees be provided with? Who should provide it and pay for it?

Can the UN, the Red Cross, and host countries better work together? Other

organizations?

2. How can refugees be encouraged to become more self-sufficient? What types of aid are

most important for this? How can employment opportunities be improved?

3. Why are refugees met with backlash and fear in some countries? How could this be

mediated?

4. Should refugees be allowed to travel freely? Should they be allowed to work in their

host countries? Will this help or hurt the communities that host them?

5. Is there a real threat of terrorists posing as refugees to enter new countries? If yes, can

the UN do anything to combat it? If no, can the UN do anything to communicate that?

Links for Further research

● You should look for additional sources as well. Wikipedia is a good starting point

1. http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/refugees.html The UNHCR’s website

2. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/StatusOfRefugees.aspx Text of

the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees

3. http://refugees.org/ US advocacy group for refugees. Includes information about issues

and stats

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_migrant_crisis Wikipedia page on the European

Migrant Crisis

5. http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/161026113641-07-calais-jungle-camp-1026-

super-169.jpg The “Calais Jungle”, do you really want this in your hometown?

6. https://www.buzzfeed.com/lynzybilling/these-are-the-most-powerful-photographs-of-t

he-syrian-refuge?utm_term=.rx359lGN8D#.wweKmzNrbe Images of refugees. How can

you ignore these people?

Topic 2: World Hunger

As part of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, put forth in 2015, the

goal was set to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote

sustainable agriculture.” This was chosen as one of 17 priorities which the UN has chosen to

address and accomplish in the coming years because of its immense magnitude and urgency. In

our modern technological world, no region or nation should have to struggle to have a

sustainable food supply, and no human should ever die from starvation or be harmed by

malnourishment. Even so, 800 million people in the world today are undernourished, including

more than 1 in every 8 people in developing countries. 3.1 million children under the age of 5

die each year from causes related to undernourishment and malnutrition. 1 in 4 children in the

world today will suffer stunted growth because of poor nutrition and a lack of food. During this

conference, we will develop an action-based strategy to combat and eliminate starvation,

undernourishment and malnutrition, employing sustainable food policies and emphasizing

self-sufficiency.

The UN does more than perhaps any organization in the world has ever done to address

the issue of world hunger. The World Food Programme (WFP) was established in 1961 to serve

as the world’s pre-eminent food aid organization. The WFP claims to provide aid to 80 million

people each year and distribute 12.6 billion rations, while employing a staff of 11,500 stationed

around the world. The World Food Programme’s priority is responding to food emergencies. In

most cases, hunger and malnourishment are not a constant state of affairs. Crisis scale hunger

or starvation is usually the cause of famine, war, epidemics, drought, or natural disasters.

Nevertheless, undernutrition and malnutrition persist in large numbers across much of the

developing world. The international community, through the WFP, various NGOs, and national

governments, has become quite adept and efficient at responding to food emergencies around

the world. There are still challenges, of course, but those will not be the focus of our debate.

Instead, we will concentrate our efforts on two of the WFP’s stated goals, to “reduce risk and

enable people, communities and countries to meet their own food and nutrition needs”, and to

“reduce undernutrition and break the intergenerational cycle of hunger.” To address these

challenges, we must look closely at issues like: Agriculture, governance, trade policies,

agriculture and development aid and strategies, and corruption and waste.

Sources such as the World Food Programme, Action Against Hunger, and Global

Concerns USA identify some of the major causes of hunger as poverty, lack of access to food

(because of location or time of year), disease, war and displacement, population growth,

unsustainable agricultural practices, market instability, and climate change. At the heart of

most of these causes is a factor of volatility and upredicability. Countries and farms which lack

the resilience and capacity to cope with and adapt to these changes will be the greatest victims

of these causes. These are why so much focus is placed upon policies that support agriculture,

that protect a stable food economy, and that guard against unsustainable practices, the effects

of climate change, and potential health crises. Most of these factors can be overcome by smart

food and agricultural policies.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that there are

570 million farms worldwide, of which 500 million are family farms. These are usually very 8

small, 200 acres or less, and many are subsistence farms, 84% of farms are less than 200 acres

8 http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/i3729e/i3729e.pdf, Pg. 10

in area, but make up only 12% of all agricultural land. However, Small family farms are 9

concentrated in Africa, south and southeast Asia, and the middle east. By contrast, In Latin

America and the Caribbean, almost 50% of all agricultural area is occupied by farms larger than

100,000 acres. A stable and productive agricultural sector is essential for securing food supplies

and stability in any part of the world. But both small and large farms pose problems in reaching

this objective. On one hand, small family farms are often poorer and more isolated, without

access to modern technology than larger farms, especially in developing countries. This means

that they are especially susceptible to climate change, fluctuations in weather, and disease

which may affect crops or the farmers themselves. On the other hand, a concentration of huge,

corporate-owned farms can potentially lead to a decrease in agricultural diversity and a loss in

food supply even when farms are productive, as these types of farms often export a large

number of their crops. These large farms may practice unsustainable or damaging activities

more often than others. The WFP emphasizes that investment in agriculture has been shown to

be 5 times more effective at reducing hunger and poverty than any other type of investment. 10

Specifically, investment in infrastructure such as roads, warehouses and storage, irrigation and

water systems, or electricity, can do wonders to help communities in developing countries

establish food stability and self-sufficiency. For example, in Sierra Leone, where palm oil is

prevalent, most communities do not have access to the proper equipment to store and

transport palm oil in order to sell it in a city. Something as simple as loaning containers and a

truck out to farmers could allow countless families to add a steady source of income, and allow

9 http://www.fao.org/docrep/019/i3729e/i3729e.pdf, Pg. 12 10 https://www.wfp.org/stories/what-causes-hunger

communities to slowly improve health, education, and food support in their community. On a

much greater scale, the UN recommends that all forms of agricultural export subsidies should

be eliminated. The World Trade Organization had also adopted this action in 2015. According to

Brookings, export subsidies for agriculture create artificially high prices in producing countries,

and the put local suppliers out of business in importing countries. I do not expect you to know 11

about the intricacies of agriculture subsidies, nor the palm oil industry. I simply encourage you

to think both big and small for ideas. If every delegate does an hour of research before the

conference and comes prepared with 2 policy ideas to reduce hunger and malnourishment,

then this committee will be able to write a very comprehensive resolution if it works together.

The growing effects of climate change on global food supplies must be closely

considered. Most crops have a range of temperatures which they can grow in, as well as an

optimum temperature, rising global temperatures affect that, usually in negative ways. A 12

more volatile climate, with more unpredictable weather events, can wreck entire harvests if

these events take place at the wrong time. Rising water levels threaten billions of acres

agricultural land around the world, and could displace hundreds of thousands, if not millions of

people from their homes in the near future. Helping local communities, national governments,

and international bodies like the WFP to develop the abilities to deal with the effects of climate

change must be a priority.

In 2010, the UN Security Council reported that at least half of the WFP’s

11 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2016/02/08/the-wtos-decision-to-end-agricultural-export-subsidies-is-good-news-for-farmers-and-consumers/ 12 http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/sectors/agriculture

half-billion-dollar-a-year aid program in Somalia was being siphoned off to contractors, Islamic

extremist militants, government officials, and even local United Nations staff. The report 13

describes a corrupt cartel of contractors, collaboration between Somali officials and pirates off

the coast of the horn of Africa, and auctioning visas to Europe to the highest bidder. It led to

the total dismantling and reconstruction of the Somali program. Although Somalia stands as an

extreme and dramatic example, the confluence of weak and young governments, few oversight

mechanisms, and heaping flows of food and cash inevitably lead to corruption and waste. This

deprives the needy and the suffering from the help they deserve, and makes issues of world

hunger all the more difficult to solve.

This topic is incredibly broad and complex. None of you will know all the details of these

issues and the policies and organizations which surround them, and I do not know much more

than you do. It will require you to do some additional research, but don’t worry if you don’t

understand every part of this issue. Focus your research. Pick a few ideas, or policies, or events

in the past which you find and which you can contribute to the debate. Like I said earlier, if

everyone brings a few ideas, and has a good background understanding of this topic, we will

have a successful debate and resolution. You should focus on ideas to help build self-sufficiency

and food stability among families, local communities, and countries; the effects of climate

change on agriculture and food and how to combat it; and how to eliminate corruption and

waste in distributing food aid.

While world hunger is one of the least divisive issues among nations at the UN, different

nations will still take different approaches and have differing priorities. Firstly, nations that are

13 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/world/africa/10somalia.html

developed will have differences with developing and underdeveloped nations. For instance,

developed and wealthy nations will want to make sure that their aid is getting to the right

places, being used wisely, and will want to see progress shown by receiving countries.

Developing countries, however, will want to get as much aid as they can for their citizens, and

will want to make sure they have control over the aid in their country rather than wealthy

nations or the UN itself. Because much of the debate will involve the economics of agriculture,

it will be important to be familiar with your country’s main crops and products, how much they

import and how much they export, and their major trading partners. Finally, you will want to

understand how circumstances in your country (political, war, drought, etc.) will determine

where to focus your efforts at the conference.

Questions to consider:

1. Why is there still so much world hunger and malnourishment? Why do so many people

simply not have access to enough food? Why does malnourishment and poverty lead to

a worsening cycle?

2. How can aid at the local level help build self-sufficiency and fight hunger? How can

things like microloans to families and small businesses, improving community health, or

providing vaccines for livestock, help to support famers and families in the developing

world

3. How can investment in infrastructure, agriculture, and trade policies affect the market

for food and the access to food for millions around the world? What policy

recommendations have the UN, the WFP, the Food and Agriculture Organization or

other governments made about these issues?

4. What threats does global climate change pose to food security? Will agriculture and

infrastructure be hurt by it? Will the market for food become more unpredictable? Will

more be hungry if they are displaced from their homes?

5. Why is there so much corruption and waste in international aid projects? How can we

stop it and hold those involved accountable?

Links for further research:

● I encourage you to find other sources as well. CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia are

good places to start

1. http://www1.wfp.org/: The World Food Programme’s website. Information about WFP

programs and activities. Info about the causes of hunger, and possible solutions

2. http://www.fao.org/home/en/ : The website of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Includes UN policies and research on agriculture and food around the world, including

timely issues

3. http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/sectors/agriculture : National report on the

effects of climate change. This section is about agriculture, but there are others.

4. http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/eb/wfpdoc063833.pdf?_g

a=2.92948061.1585225053.1494974756-362754839.1493588276 The WFP’s policies

and priorities for 2015

5. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg2 UN page on Sustainable Development

Goals, outlines the UN’s goal for eliminating hunger

6. http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/hunger-facts?gclid=CPO5kJGe99MCFVGAaQodCiA

Brg Action Against Hunger. Includes stats and information about fighting world Hunger

7. http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/issue/global.html Outlines issues and obstacles for

global food security in the coming years

Works Cited

“UNHCR-The UN Refugee Agency”, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

accessed May 15.

Assembly of Heads of State and Government (Sixth Ordinary Session) (September 1969). "OAU

convention governing the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa"

Author not listed, “Migrant Crisis: Migration to Europe explained in seven charts”. BBC, March

4th, 2016

“US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants”. Accessed May 15th, 2017. http://refugees.org/

Sarah K. Lowder, Jakob Skoet, and Saumya Singh. What do we really know about the number

and distribution of farms and family farms in the world?. (April 2014, Rome: Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

“World Food Programme”. Accessed May 15th, 2017. http://www1.wfp.org/

Heinz Strubenhoff, “The WTO’s decision to end agricultural export subsidies is good

news for farmers and consumers”. Brookings, February 8th 2016.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2016/02/08/the-wtos-decision-t

o-end-agricultural-export-subsidies-is-good-news-for-farmers-and-consumers/

“Agriculture | National Climate Assessment”. Accessed May 15th, 2017.

http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/sectors/agriculture

Jeffrey Gettleman and Neil MacFarquhar. New York Times, “Somalia Food Aid Bypasses Needy,

U.N. Study Says.” March 9th, 2010.