kclmun - "millenium development goals in countries emerging from conflict" (25/10/2011)

KCL Model United Nations Society 2011/2012

UN Economics and Social Council: " Millennium Development Goals

in countries emerging from conflict"


"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza”

1

Table of Contents An introduction to the Committee ............................................................................ 2

Introduction to the topic ......................................................................................... 4

Summary and areas a Resolution must address ........................................................... 10



2

An introduction to the Committee ECOSOC was established under the United Nations Charter as the principal organ to coordinate economic, social, and related work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions. The Council also receives reports from 11 UN funds and programmes. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States and the United Nations system. It is responsible for: promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and economic and social progress; identifying solutions to international economic, social and health problems; facilitating international cultural and educational cooperation; and encouraging universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

It has the power to make or initiate studies and reports on these issues. It also has the power to assist the preparations and organization of major international conferences in the economic and social and related fields and to facilitate a coordinated follow-up to these conferences. With its broad mandate the Council's purview extends to over 70 per cent of the human and financial resources of the entire UN system.

The five policy areas in which ECOSOC has taken a lead role in the last five years: first, during the 2010 High-level Segment, the Council organized its second Development Cooperation Forum and focused its fourth Annual Ministerial review (AMR) on the theme of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. The adoption of the Ministerial Declaration coincided with the establishment of the new entity, United Nations Women. ECOSOC President Hamidon Ali described the 2010 Substantive Session as a "groundbreaking session". A key message emanating from the High-level Segment is that gender equality and the empowerment of women sit squarely at the heart of development and peace worldwide, and that the international community must remain fully committed to these efforts. Second, at the 2009 High-level Segment, the Council adopted its Ministerial Declaration on the theme of the third Annual Ministerial Review (AMR), "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health". ECOSOC President Sylvie Lucas said that the Ministerial Declaration contains concrete measures to advance the realization of the global public health goals. Third, during the 2008 High-level Segment, the Council organized its first biennial Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) and second Annual



3 Ministerial Review (AMR). The AMR focused on the theme, “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development”, which resulted in the adoption of a Ministerial Declaration. The President of ECOSOC, Mr. Léo Mérorès, described the 2008 Substantive Session as "historic" as it implemented the new functions of the Council in their entirety. Fourth, the 2007 High-level Segment marked the first Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) and the launch of the Development Cooperation Forum (DCF). During the Annual Ministerial Review, the Council reviewed progress towards the implementation of MDG1, including through the national voluntary presentations by six developing countries, namely, Bangladesh, Barbados, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Ethiopia and Ghana. With the adoption of the ECOSOC Ministerial Declaration, the international community reaffirmed its commitment to strive for the eradication of poverty and hunger by the agreed target date of 2015. Fifth, the 2006 High-level Segment focused on the issues of full and productive employment and decent work, and its impact on the sustainable development. The ECOSOC Ministerial Declaration of 2006 identified a number of concrete steps for further implementation of the 2005 World Summit to make full and productive employment and decent work a central objective of national and international policies.



4

Introduction to the topic Countries that have experienced a violent conflict in the recent past are among the most vulnerable countries and face bigger challenges in meeting the targets than other developing countries. Of the 34 poor countries farthest from reaching the Goals, 22 are in or emerging from a conflict. Depending on the scale - from isolated violence to full-scale civil war - the nature and root causes as well as the duration of the conflicts, the concrete circumstances in the affected countries vary.

For many countries emerging from conflict,The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are often seen as a powerful tool for finding long-term and sustainable way for promoting stability. They are the most obvious focal point between economic and social affairs and peace-building, since the advancement of economic growth and development and the promotion of the MDGs — especially ensuring that the poorest segments of the population share in the benefits of development, which is essential for the sustainability of peace.

The Economic and Social Council has been addressing the impact of conflict on development since the late 1990s. Its ad hoc advisory groups have attempted to bring the special needs of specific countries emerging from conflict to the attention of the international community. Two of the countries previously on its agenda are now being considered by the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC). Continuing with the efforts of 2009 to



5 strengthen the informal interaction between the two intergovernmental bodies, the President of ECOSOC and the Chair of the PBC have decided to jointly chair a meeting of the two bodies on the MDGs in countries emerging from conflict. On 19th of July 2010 a second joint meeting between the ECOSOC and PBC took please, at that meeting were outlined the main challenges that stand before the countries emerging from Conflict, posing some of the biggest threats to attaining the MDGs, such as: the critical level of justice, security, and respect for the rule of law; degraded health and education systems and poor access to clean water; forced migration; lack of job opportunities for young people and the adequate response to internal and external risk factor. At that joint meeting were also outlined the opportunities to strengthen the countries emerging from conflict, for example investments aimed at strengthening the conditions for peace and security; strengthening capacities to prevent, monitor and mitigate conflict; promoting participatory decision-making structures; investing in rebuilding administrative capacity of Government institutions and so on. The outlined challenges and opportunities raise three specific issues: first, how exactly to measure the progress, what kind of benchmark should be set up; second, how to use the MDG’s as a tool for creating trust towards local and national governments and reinforce their commitment to peace process and third, how they can serve as a platform for fostering national unity.



6

Relevance of the problem and the discussion so far

The discussions on the correlation between the MDGs and peace-building began officially at the World Summit that took place on 14th to 16th of September 2005, in the same year was published a document that identifies strategies for countries affected by conflict called “Investing in Development” . After that the issue was discussed at two joint meetings between ECOSOC and PBC in 2009 and 2010. The same topic found its place in the Secretary-General’s 2010 report “Keeping the promise” and for the last time it was discussed on the High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs that took place in September 2010.

World Summit 2005

The main purpose for the 2005 World Summit was to review progress since the Millennium Declaration, adopted by all Member States in 2000. The Summit adopted an Outcome Document on 15th of September which the general opinion identifies several positive aspects as well as some week points.

Some of the positive aspects of the outcome include: On the human rights front, there was agreement to create a Peace Building Commission, and a Human Rights Council; Stopping genocide. Wording on this was more concrete that other issue: nations agreed on a collective responsibility to protect civilians facing genocide and similar atrocities. Governments can no longer use sovereignty and non-intervention norms as excuses to avoid having to act to protect civilians from mass killings. Countries reiterated the need to achieve MDG, even though US initially wanted to strike all mention of it. Education: supporting elimination of



7 user fees for primary education Debt relief: acknowledges the G8 commitments (which were imperfect, though a starting point), and acknowledges that others such as middle-income countries may also need some sort of debt relief. HIV/AIDS: endorsed the G8 commitment to universal access to HIV treatment by 2010. Tax evasion: more mention of this problem Reiterated the need for member states to provide the UN with adequate resources as needed (because the UN has a financial crisis of its own whereby some states, the US in particular, has long withheld its dues — and then blamed the UN for being ineffective!).

The problems or weaknesses include: generally the final document is considered quite vague in many areas, and often simply reaffirming past commitments, without adding anything new or substantial. The urgency of reaching the Millennium Development Goals was lacking, it was felt by many. That most of the world is behind on this right now was not really stressed. Trade: risks remaining unequal. There was not much text and what there were weak and favored rich countries, mostly. There was mention of endorsing trade liberalization but nothing about eliminating the harmful and hypocritical rich country subsidies, or giving more power to smaller/poor countries to have more say in their destiny. Poor countries are still subject to neoliberal economic policies prescribed and pressured onto poorer countries by the richer countries and institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. Nuclear non-proliferation and Nuclear disarmament was not mentioned. “This is a real disgrace,” Kofi Annan said (recently the US has indicated the desire to use nuclear weapons more offensively than previously indicated, which is a reverse of the direction the UN wants to go). Terrorism: did not get a definition of terrorism, so while condemnation of it was strong by all, more specific issues were not discussed. The International Criminal Court was not mentioned either. Aid: not only was there little commitment to foreign aid, but it was again tied to conditions often deemed as unfair.

The Outcome Document specifically highlights the need for continued, coordinated and effective international support for achieving the development goals in countries emerging from conflict, in order to achieve sustainable peace.

ECOSOC-PBC joint meetings (2009-2010)

The joint meeting in 2010 was a continuation on the efforts made in 2009 to better coordinate the work of the two councils in order to attain the MDGs in post-conflict countries.

The most important of this meeting was the recognition of the fact that most of the countries that are lagging behind on reaching the MDGs are the ones that are either submerged in conflict or are in post-conflict situation. The three other important things that came out of this meeting were: first, the understanding of the need for adequate way for measuring the progress towards the MDGs. This need comes from the fact that there are striking horizontal inequalities among regions that are masked when the data is aggregated at the country level. Such



8 inequalities risk sparking conflict when certain groups feel marginalized or excluded. If the MDGs are monitored at the sub-national level, however, governments would be able to target their limited resources more effectively, directing them to the areas where they are most needed. This type of sub-national monitoring is especially valuable in countries emerging from conflict because it helps prioritize the use of resources in an environment where everything appears important. Moreover, in these contexts severe horizontal inequalities are not simply a reflection of uneven progress towards the MDGs; they can trigger renewed violence and even a relapse into conflict.

Second, the understanding that the MDGs can be used as a tool for building trust in local and national government. This is because the governments in post-conflict societies are often weak and distrusted by the population – particularly in the early days after conflict, before new elections are held, when the legitimacy of transitional governments may be questioned, but

through efforts to reach the MDGs for example, by providing or through the delivery of education or health services governments can provide a peace dividend that increases people’s confidence in, and commitment to, the peace process. Third, the understanding that the MDGs can serve as a framework for fostering national unity. This is because in fractured and factionalized societies, a sense of common purpose is vital. Activities designed to achieve widely shared progress towards the MDGs can promote social cohesion. Involving communities in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of such activities can build bridges between them.

High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs (2010)

On 20th to 22nd of September 2010 was held a High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs as a follow-up to the ECOSOC-PBC joint meeting earlier the same year. Its primary objective was to accelerate progress towards all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, taking into account the progress made towards the internationally agreed development goals (A/RES/64/184). The summit is expected to undertake a comprehensive



9 review of successes, best practices and lessons learned obstacles and gaps, challenges and opportunities, “leading to concrete strategies for action”.1 The discussions, never the less, did not yield a comprehensive strategy on how to aim and use the MDGs as a policy tool for building trust in local and national government and a framework for fostering national unity. The two things that came out of the Meeting were the review of all that has been done until then on reaching the MDGs and the recognition on the part of the Secretary-General that “countries in, or emerging from, conflict are more likely to be poor and face greater constraints, because basic infrastructure, institutions and adequate human resources are often absent and lack of security hampers economic development”

1 http://onevoicesouthasia.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/united-nations-high-level-plenary-meeting-on-the-millennium-development-goals-mdg-summit-20-22-september-2010-new-york



10

Summary and areas a Resolution must address In the years that followed the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals one correlation became more and more apparent namely that economic and social development is a preset condition for sustainable peace. The understanding that derived from that correlation was that the MDGs can be used as a proactive policy set for achieving that sustainable peace. This on its own raised three issues that remain unaddressed until today: first, the need for a more adequate system for measuring the progress towards the MDGs; second, how to use the MDG’s as a tool for creating trust towards local and national governments and reinforce their commitment to peace process and third, how they can serve as a platform for fostering national unity.

Areas a resolution must address

• How exactly to measure the progress, what kind of benchmarks should be set up?

• How to use the MDG’s as a tool for creating trust towards local and national governments and reinforce their commitment to peace process?

• How can the MDGs serve as a platform for fostering national unity?