LGSMUN VII UNHRC

Social Cultural and Humanitarian Committee

Hesham AminSalaar Chugtai

Mahnoor Tiwana Rabia Nawaz

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Dear Delegates,

My name is Hesham Amin and it is my distinct pleasure as both, the president of this conference and as the chair of this prestigious committee to welcome you all to the 7th annual LGSMUN Conference 2014. A realm where one may hypothetically reshape the world- but the best way to exemplify it would be to look at it as a phenomenon which promotes the acquirement of knowledge, the breeding of ambition and the instilment of responsibility within the delegates who are well-researched and have crystal clear understanding and cogent arguments. 

I am an AII science student at LGS Phase V and am an extremely fervent 'MUN-er'. I have always been avid about international relations and I’ve crafted an extra-curricular schedule to mirror these interests. To name a few, some of my recent MUN achievements include Harvard MUN India, ACMUN and CSMUN. Achievements aside, I have also been the chair of UNSC at BNUMUN, just recently of TechBates Committee at LGS Match, now your chair in SOCHUM and the president of this prestigious conference, so rest assured you're in safe hands. When not engaged in Model UN conferences, I tend to spend the rest of my time engaged in parliamentary debates around the local circuit or can be primarily found jamming to rock songs on my drum kit.

Delegates looking forward to win brownie points can either get me food or demonstrate an interest in rock music. Iron Maiden, Guns n' Roses, Dream Theater, Pearl Jam, Dio, Dave Matthews Band and Joe Satriani should be your 'areas' of concern. As a member of this prestigious committee, you will be expected to draft multi-layered approaches to political issues that incorporate economic, diplomatic and military responses. I am sure that you will be able to impress me with your creativity and the depth of your analysis. Brace yourselves because the debate will be fast, flames will be kindled, and shots fired. 

Once again I welcome you all to the 7th annual session of the LGSMUN conference. I look forward to meeting you all soon.

Best,Hesham Amin

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Topic Area A: Reducing the gender gap in education and

employment

Introduction:

There is yet not a single region of the developing world where women uphold the same legal, economic and social rights as

men. Nowadays around the world, issues such as extreme poverty, increasing distances between educational sectors and residential areas, religious and cultural beliefs all act as barriers to gender equality

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in both the educational and employment sector. Around two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population constitutes of women and more girls on an average fail to complete their primary education as compared to boys around the world. These statistics need to be changed as education is both a path way to a brighter future and is vital for survival. Parents from all circumstances and walks of life now hope for their children to be educated, despite the fact that the obstructions that girls seeking education in these countries face are in many cases not insurmountable.

This is merely a brief description of a crisis that dominates the world today- Gender disparity. Gender disparity is such an issue that exists in all areas countries around the world: countries that are suffering from devastating poverty, wealthy countries and hunger-prone countries.

Many solutions to this crisis have been presented and several resolutions have been proposed time and time again, yet few countries actually succeeded in reaching the level of the level of success demanded by the proposed resolutions. Still, millions of young women globally face barriers such as premature and forced marriage, domestic slavery, gender and sexual violence and discrimination, lack of access to a basic

healthcare system or school fees. At the other hand, a dedicated shift towards the establishment of gender equality in education can deliver a broad base of derivative benefits from economic growth, a decline in both infant mortality and in a country’s population, stabilizing and supporting a country’s GDP and an increased literacy rate within a country.

In 1989, the enrolment of children in pre-schools was varied in developing countries, with high rates of enrollment amongst children in Central Europe and the Baltic regions as opposed to much lower rates in the Caucasus and Central Asian states. This is possibly due to the high unemployment rate that during this time in Central Asia, which raised the amount of fees of pre-schools and therefore encouraged parents to keep the girls at home, according to a study done by the UNICEF. Latin America, where the expansion of education systems started prematurely, there had been practically no formal education ,in effect, for women during colonial times – although women did often receive education at home to enable them to be able to perform domestic tasks and to help them bring up their children to get educated.

Although the most significant factor limiting female education is poverty. Economics also plays a crucial role when it comes to dealing with direct costs such as tuition fees, cost of textbooks, uniforms and transportation, amongst other expenses. Wherever, especially in families with many children, these costs exceed the income of the family, girls are the first to be denied schooling, and it is often female education that is sacrificed

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to be able to send a male child to school. This is disadvantageous as educating females has many underlying benefits that are not accessed. Educated women have better job prospects and thus have a greater value in the global community. They get married later, have fewer children and are able to influence family decisions better. A population decrease is also inevitable. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, as the number of years of completed schooling for women increase, the total fertility rate and their desired family size each decline, contributing to both an improvement in family planning and a general decline in the population of a country.

Proposing no immediate solution to the ongoing crises regarding gender gaps at hand, researchers say, “female education is a necessary goal, and it needs to be pushed even more vigorously to cross the threshold of secondary education beyond which the net effects on female autonomy are all positive.” In the field of social development, gender issues are becoming increasingly persistent. Previously this issue was primarily the focus of Church groups, non-government organizations (NGO’s), and women’s rights organizations, however, in today’s day addressing gender inequality is now firmly in the mainstream movement of development activities. Ex- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon had announced a new gender equality agency during his tenure to combine the minor gender- related departments and better manage intergovernmental resources. At the root of every socio economic project are gender implications. The ‘gender implications’ are

an integral part of almost any project in the fields of social or economic development. The Millennium Development Goals set out in the Millennium Declaration of 2000 are the world’s agreed development objectives. Gender inequality is a recurring theme throughout the MDG’s. While gender issues and gender inequality are clearly understood in the third MDG, women have limited access to education, and thus financial independence clubbed with issues related to child mortality and maternal health, and HIV/AIDS. From a policy forming standpoint economic growth is always linked to issues relating to gender disparity. Economic growth is generally correlated with improvements in a number of the other MDG’s, however simply focusing on the financial aspect of development, it alone is insufficient. For over a decade now, institutional economists at leading institutions like the World Bank have researched the links between equality in education and employment - and the education of women in particular - leads to improved economic development in the form of including higher productivity and faster growth rates.

At the same time, a small body of economic literature has emerged which looks at the effect of different measures of gender inequality on economic growth, in which gender inequality is typically measured by the gender distribution of capabilities, and gender gaps in income, health, education, and employment. As compared with the past two decades ago, an increased number of young people are entering school, completing primary school, and pursuing

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secondary and tertiary education. In low-income countries, average enrollment rates in primary education have surged upwards of 80%, and primary completion rates are now well above 60%.

History of the problem:

Gender inequality or gender disparity is one of the great puzzles of modern society. We have largely discarded the belief that it is necessary or fair for women to have a lower status than men has been discarded, we as global communities have created programs, extinguished practices that would treat women differently than others. For centuries we have rejected or suppressed the idea of having an educated or literate class of women in our society. Through resolutions passed over the past years, or protests made by people, the community hoping to of having literate women circulating their society has have broadened but still countries still exists where girls travel miles and miles to collect water from the river or are doing household chores and are burdened with the fact that they are just an excess burden excess “luggage”, while in the same family boys are sent to schools, sent to local universities or are given extra classes for them to get educated. Apart from the domestic household practices that are forced on girls. Girls’ lack of access to education isn’t always related to scarcity of places in schools, it also emerges from the expectations, attitudes and biases in communities and families. Economic costs, social traditions and norms, and religious and cultural beliefs limit girls educational opportunities.

Whilst Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 on ‘Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment’ has been successful in spreading mobilizing resources and garnering political will, the targets of the goal have been criticized for being overly narrow in their domain of

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focus. Several studies have found that expanding women’s access to quality employment opportunities is integral and important for economic growth and development. However, discriminatory social institutions, which undermine women’s position in the family, may mean that women are less able to negotiate paid work with caring responsibilities. Violence against women has also been found to be another social norm institution associated with female employment and unemployment. Similarly, restrictions on women’s access to public space such as the law providing that husbands have the sole authority to choose the place of residence and are allowed to have multiple wives in some states, or women’s limited access to economic resources such as land or credit can influence women’s employment opportunities massively. Discriminatory social mindsets institutions often reflect social norms that reinforce stereotypes of women as inferior, less able or less deserving candidates of quality jobs. Thus, in countries with higher gender discrimination, it can be expected that women may be assigned to jobs or sectors that offer lower opportunities, poor working conditions and lower wages. In countries with low-moderate levels of discrimination, there is a higher percentage of women employed in the service sector, as co compared to men. On the contrary, in countries with higher levels of discrimination, there are a higher proportion of men in the services sector as compared to men.. Gender differences in the industry sector do not appear to be correlated with discriminatory social institutions, as there

are a consistently higher proportion of men in this sector, as compared to women. Improving child health outcomes is a derivative goal of the current MDGs framework. While many countries are on-track to meet the targets on this goal, UNICEF (2012) estimates that 19,000 children under age five were dying every day in 2011. Several studies have showcased demonstrated the link between aspects of women’s empowerment and child health and the infant mortality rate. Records and statistics have found that women’s enhanced autonomy and authority (the two dimensions of women’s status used within this study itself)in the study) significantly reduced post-neonatal mortality and child mortality respectively. Apart from this, these statistics have shown that there is an important significant relationship between child stunting (i.e., the measure of child nutrition used in the study) and attitudes towards domestic violence, maternal height, maternal education and age at first marriage. A study in Nepal also found a strong co-relation association between women’s land ownership and improved child health. As such, it can be expected that discriminatory social mindsets be related to child mortality. Gender inequality effects the economic growth of a country. Gender inequality in education has a direct impact on economic growth through lowering the average quality of human resources. In addition, economic growth is indirectly affected through the impact of gender inequality on investment and the population growth of a country. Gender inequality in education has a significant negative impact on economic growth as seen due to its’ appearances also

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be an important factor contributing to Africa and South Asia's poor growth performance over the past 30 years. In addition to increasing growth, reducing the gender gap greater gender equality in education promotes other important development goals, including lower fertility and lower child mortality. In fact, it appears that promoting gender equity in education and employment may be one of those few policies that have been termed as successful ‘win-win’ strategies. It would further economic prosperity and efficiency, promote other critical human development goals such as a lower mortality and fertility, and it would be extremely valuable as well. However, it is also important to know that the countrywide policies that support rapid growth are also indirectly contributing to gender equality.

Current situation

In South Asia, women have only half as many years of schooling as men receive. In much of Sub-Saharan Africa women obtain land rights, primarily chiefly through their husbands as long as the marriage persists, and women account for only ten percent of seats in Parliaments all over worldwide.

So until nations are able to address and raise this issue of gender inequality and resolve it, the vicious cycle of poverty will continue to survive. This is because poverty leads to, and further aggravated gender discrimination – it is in the poverty-ridden sections and nations that instances of gender biases and inequality are more evident. Women and girls who are at the bottom of the social, economic and political ladder in

these societies, get the bare minimum even lesser opportunities to have a command over productive resources such as land or credit, as access to the means to influence surrounding the social the development process is a rare and difficult possibility for women.

Mobile schools have been set up in remote locations of the Sahel region of Africa, which have been successful up to a certain extent. Mobile schools have challenge challenged old-formed well established ideas of what a school is as; - mobility may necessitate a shortened school day, involve multigame teaching (sometimes including adults too) and need an adapted curriculum that requires specific relevant training coursework for teacher. Also, basic education has also been provided over the Somali region in Ethiopia and schools have a flexible calendar, based on the seasonal movement of the community, and school timetables haves been formulated in order to allow both boys and girls to attend classes. Association Links with the formal education system have been established in order to allow children who complete the three-year alternative basic education cycle to join the second cycle of primary education in the formal system. This system may promote the education of women, which would reduce the gender gap and unemployment rate of women.

Situations in:

Afghanistan

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The political instability and terrorist activity in Afghanistan has hindered and affected the education system in Afghanistan massively, as attacks are made on schools and threats against teachers, students, and principals too. are common in parts of this country where the Taliban is re-emerging, or was never fully ousted . The recurrent violent attacks against school girls and teachers are crucial chilling reminders of the enormous disparity between the reality on the ground and the equal rights to education that have been, on paper, enshrined in the laws of the country. Deeply rooted Islamic ideologies have a major role to play here as it is this ideology that has been manipulated to control and subjugate the lives of Afghan women—and the men around them. Another social mindset is that girls have always been excluded from formal Islamic education.

After the elementary instruction they get in the Mosque Schools or Madrasas, their opportunity to get Islamic education is only through attending the primary school - if there is any and if offered to girls students.

Recently a UNDP associate, Administrator Rebecca Grynspan, launched a US$ 30 million project to promote gender equality and help build schools and strengthen the countries literacy system. Establishing economic opportunities for women will also be prioritized. Through this current gender equality project, about 300 female women entrepreneurs will each year receive assistance in establishing their own businesses, with a total of nearly 1,000 new women entrepreneurs established by 2015.

According to government statistics, there are currently only 458 registered women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh has always been a remained as a country below the poverty line and a country with a massive gender discrimination crisis. Many families marry off their daughters in their prematurity and adolescence to older men to avoid higher dowry costs and the economic burden associated with having more dependents. According to the Social Institutions & Gender Index (SIGI) presented by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Bangladesh has the “highest rate of early marriage in Asia, and ranks among

the highest worldwide.” An UNFPA report also states that nearly 50 percent of girls in Bangladesh are married by the age of 18.

However, But this hasn’t prevented the country’s governmental bodies from trying to improve their current situations. Over the years, the government has recognized the power of investing in female primary education to reverse the effects of poverty. Together with organizations like the United Nations, UNICEF, and the World Bank, Bangladesh has enrolled itself in and initiated programs to help the female population gain equal access to primary education in order to fight extreme poverty and improve their quality of life. By 2008, the World Bank reported that the total amount of government expenditure on the education sector accounted for about 2.4 per

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cent of the country’s GDP, compared with less than 1 per cent of the GDP in 1981.In rural areas, the percentage of females age 6 and above with no education fell from 50 percent in 1993 to 32 percent in 2007, while urban areas witnessed a slightly less drastic, but still sudden drop from 34 percent to 23 percent, respectively. These numbers are increasing evidence leading to the prioritization of pointing to education as a major determinant of empowerment, especially for women, as empowerment creates a better future by that is paving way to provide for by increasing their mobility and decision-making capabilities.

While it is true that women today have more income- generating opportunities than ever before, Ms. Kamal and Mr. Zunaid’s findings support the United Nations and World Bank’s call for increased action.

India

Cultural, social and economic factors still prevent girls from getting education opportunities, questioning the existence of gender equality in India so the question of equality is still a mirage. However, the rural and the urban areas present a contrast in gender-related. In the rural areas, a young the girl is made to fulfill domestic chores. Children are made to perform household and agricultural chores. This is one of the many factors limiting girls’ education. Cleaning the house, preparing the food, looking after their siblings, the elderly and the sick, grazing the cattle and collecting firewood are some of the domestic key tasks young girls they are made to have to perform. Households are therefore reluctant to spare

them for schooling. Physical safety of the girls, especially when they have to travel a long distance to school and fear of sexual harassment are other reasons that act as barriers to impede girls' education. In the urban areas, however, there is a discernible difference in the opportunities that girls get for education and employment. Though the figures for girls would still be low as compared to boys, what is heartening to see is that whenever given the opportunity, girls have excelled more than boys. For instance, in the Central Board of Secondary Examinations for grades 10 and 12, which are at an All India level, girls have for an average of a decade, scored over a decade now, bagged all the top positions and secured a higher over all percentage as compared to boys.

In employment opportunities too, women in India today have stormed all male bastions, in fields such as. Be it piloting aircraft, heading multi-national corporations, holding top bureaucratic positions, in leading industrial houses, making a mark as photographers, filmmakers, chefs, engineers and even as train and lorry drivers, women have made it to all hitherto considered male bastions in India. However, this is not enough to negate the still-existing gender disparity in India. However, this is not reason enough for cheer. For the number of girls and women who have been left out of education and employment opportunities, still far outweighs those who have got them. Furthermore, And what needs to change this scenario, is not just governmental efforts but a change in societal norms, in cultural and traditional biases and in general social

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mindsets and constrictions of people, for which the entire society and media needs to contribute.. And in this the media, the civil society, and the youth, the women and girls have a lot to contribute.

Proposed solutions and UN actions

Several UN projects are under way to eliminate gender disparity and promote gender equality around the world. The most widely known are the Millennium Development Goals, , which are a set of goals that were said to be accomplished by 2015. In Taking Action: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, the Task Force on Education and Gender Equality under estimates scores the need to place women’s empowerment as the priority the center of development plans—an emphasis that is shared by Investing in Development. In 2007, the ex- UN secretary General Kofi Annan said,

“There can be no development, and no lasting peace on the planet, if women continue to be relegated to subservient and often dangerous and back-breaking roles in society.”

The Millennium Development Goals

It is the job of the global community and those engaged in social development to o ensure that Goal 3 (promote gender equality and empower women) is met by 2015, the task force has identified seven strategic priorities. These seven interdependent

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priorities are the minimum necessary to empower women and alter the historical trail legacy of female disadvantage that remains in most societies of the world:

• Strengthen opportunities for primary education for girls.

• Invest in infrastructure to reduce women and girls’ time burdens.

• Guarantee women and girls’ property and inheritance rights.

• Eliminate gender inequality in employment by decreasing women’s reliance on informal employment, closing gender gaps in earnings, and reducing occupational segregation.

• Increase women’s share of seats in national parliaments and local governmental bodies.

Some International agreements relating to gender inequality and gender discriminating unemployment include the Cairo Program of Action and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The recommendations

made in these international agreements remain important for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, but the task force sees the seven priorities as areas needing immediate action if Goal 3 is to be met by 2015. Although all women and men should enjoy empowerment and equality, the task force believes that action on the seven priorities is particularly important for three subpopulations of women, as categorized below:

• Poor women in the poorest countries and in countries that have achieved increases in national income, but where poverty remains significant.

• Adolescents, who constitute two-thirds of the population in the poorest countries and the largest cohort of adolescents in the world’s history.

• Women and girls in conflict and post conflict settings.

Eliminating gender inequality is a multidimensional and a multispectral effort. For this reason, the monitory costs of financial costs of these efforts are difficult to calculate. An accurate cost analysis is the first step in efforts to mobilize the financial resources needed to implement the various interventions and policy measures that have been put forward. With the aid of UN Millennium Project Secretariat, the Task Force on Education and Gender Equality adapted the general needs assessment method developed by the UN Millennium Project for approximating the financing requirements of the gender-related interventions. There are several cautions or

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problems concerning this method. First, the needs assessment comprises only some of the actions and strategies essential necessary to meet the goal of gender equality. Adequate resources alone will not achieve gender equality. Second, a gender needs assessment is possible only at the country level and meaningful only as part of a Goals-based national poverty reduction technique in which all stakeholders participate. The estimated costs that such assessment yield depends on the interventions to be included, and these need to be locally identified based on nationally determined targets. Third, gender need research assessments should be carried out in conjunction with similar exercises in such other Goals-related areas as education, health, transport and energy infrastructure, water and sanitation, agriculture, nutrition, urban development, and environment.

This simultaneous estimation of needs is necessary to ensure that the total resources capture all gender-related interventions and strategies. The UN Millennium Project approach to assessing the needs for gender- related interventions follow two tracks. The first track covers gender interventions to meet all other Millennium Development Goals affecting gender equality and empowerment of women, and the second track covers the additional specific interventions to meet Goal 3.

Girls and their families may find little to no reason to attend school if the curriculum or their teachers or counselors convey the message that girls are less important than boys or if the school tracks girls into fields of study or training for low- paid

occupations considered appropriate for females. Analyses of textbooks in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa consistently find heavily stereotyped material, with women portrayed as subordinate and passive and men as intelligent, leaders, and dominant. Providing female teachers for girls may acknowledge address some security concerns as well as provide useful role models. International cross-section data suggest a positive correlation between gender parity in enrollment and the proportion of female. Qualified female teachers are in short supply, however. Young women are now being recruited, particularly in rural areas. Their lack of educational qualification may be compensated for by their knowledge of and dedication and commitment to local communities. A large body of evidence shows that providing education for uneducated or illiterate mothers of young children can facilitate better education outcomes for their children. Support to literacy programs for adult women can be a significant important complement to interventions to increase access and retention rates of children in school. Adult literacy programs, especially when combined with the acquisition of other skills relevant to the learner, may be particularly useful where there are many underlying groups pockets of undereducated women, such as among ethnic minorities and native communities.

Better transportation facilities, improved roads and transportation services are needed to increase women’s access to all resources and services. Feeder and main roads can

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greatly reduce the burden on women’s time and expand their opportunities, especially when combined with accessible and affordable modes of transportation. They can improve women’s chances of finding employment or training, selling their goods and increasing their income, expanding their social networks, accessing health care, and visiting local government headquarters for redress for their problems. The probability that girls will attend school also increases and thus the education rate also improves. A rural transport project in a remote area of Morocco eventually led to the tripling of girls’ school enrollments in the area. Transport projects have been implemented which has also identified addressed the safety and security needs of women and girls, such as adequate street lighting and also ensuring that bus stops and terminals are not located in remote or secluded areas.

Women’s work, both paid and unpaid, is crucial to the survival and security of poor households and an important route by which households escape poverty. Paid employment is critical to women’s empowerment. Despite the low pay that women receive, their income has significant important welfare consequences for children and families. An extensive literature reports that women are more likely than men to spend their incomes on food, education, and healthcare that improve and enhance the welfare of their children as well as their own. Women’s access to jobs empowers them by improving their self- esteem and bargaining power. Women and men typically perform different tasks and are located in different industries and

occupational sectors. About fifty percent of half of workers worldwide work in occupations in which at least 80 percent of workers are of the same gender). Occupational segregation by gender is heavily commons extensive in both developed and developing countries but is greatest in Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by North Africa and the Middle East, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and East Asia In many countries occupational segregation is highest among the least educated workers. The International Labour Organization’s Decent Work initiative provides a framework at the international level for calling for promoting equal access to employment and equal treatment. This initiative seeks to generate foster rights at work, provide employment and social protection, and encourage social dialogue. Its goal is “to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and human dignity”. The gender sensitivity of the decent work framework and the gender-disaggregated indicators it proposes for monitoring country results and performance charts performance make it suitable for tracking a country’s progress toward eliminating gender inequalities in labor markets. The task force recommends that the International Labour Organization be given the resources and authority to take the leadership in collecting and analyzing the disseminating data and monitoring progress for this initiative, in order to achieve said goals at an accelerated pace.

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Bibliography

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/10564/gender-disparity-and-education-for-all/

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001325/132513e.pdf http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jackson/causes.of.gender.inequality/

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jackson/causes.of.gender.inequality/Readings/DownSoLong- -WhyIsItSoHard.pdf

http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/15_02_03.pdf

http://www.e4conference.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/01en.pdf

http://www.ungei.org/resources/files/oxfam_edPaper4.pdf

http://www.bridgew.edu/SoAS/jiws/Vol13_no4/Article_2.pdf

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2012/11/16/new- undp-project-zeros-in-on-gender-inequality-in-afghanistan-/

http://www.theinternational.org/articles/174-education-programs-an-encouraging-way-to

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDK :20298916~menuPK:617572~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html 14 |

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jackson/causes.of.gender.inequality/Readings/DownSoLong- -WhyIsItSoHard.pdf

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Topic Area B: The protection of Refugees

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History and discussion of the problemRefugee protection is a rather intricate issue that additionally intersects with a multitude of other issues in international affairs, thus making it a highly complex issue to understand and resolve. The following section provides a historical survey of the issues faced by the international community. Within the historical review are incorporated the following ideas;

(i) The definition of the term “refugee”(ii) Historical review of conflicts(iii) Methods of refugee protection(iv) Current state of affairs

Definition of “Refugee”The first aspect of refugee protection that needs to be addressed is the definition of ‘refugee’ and how the idea of a refugee has evolved through the last decades. The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was formally established in 1951 and provided the first unified definition of a “refugee” The following is an excerpt from the convention:

A. For the purposes of the present Convention, the term “refugee” shall apply to any person who:(2) As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.

In the case of a person who has more than one nationality, the term “the country of hisnationality” shall mean each of the countries of which he is a national, and a person shall not be deemed to be lacking the protection of the country of his nationality if, without any valid reason based on well-founded fear, he has not availed himself of the protection of one of the countries of which he is a national.

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Although the above definition is a clear attempt to encompass and anticipate different circumstances, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) deemed it insufficient. In fact, in 1967 the convention was amended to remove the geographical and temporal restrictions that the 1951 convention had placed upon “refugees”. The geographical restrictions, although not seen in the excerpt, are framed in such a way that only European events count towards the definition of “refugee”. Through the implementation of the 1967 protocol, also referred to as the New York Protocol, the definition presented in the Convention and Status of Refugees became universal. In other words, a person can be considered as a refugee regardless of the spatial or temporal position of a conflict or displacement mechanisms. Therefore, the1967 protocol was important in establishing the universality of refugee protection.

The convention may appear to provide a solid definition of “refugee”. However, upon a closer inspection one can discern some difficulties with the current definition. First, the phrase “owing to well-founded fear” is a highly subjective idea that depends solely on the individual’s experience of a situation. Second, the notion of “membership of a particular social group” is vague insofar as it allows for many different types of groups to be encompassed by the definition. On the other hand, given that no formal requirements have been explicated, social groups could equally well find themselves to be overseen by the international community. The danger posed to the definition is in essence one of uncertainty and vagueness.

The unclear and open definition can result in uncertainty to displaced individuals.

In 1969, the Organization of African Unity- today: African Union - decided to establish a legal framework concerning refugees in Africa. At the time, Africa as a continent was struggling with the effects of decolonization. That is, in transitioning to independence, many African states suffered from civil and ethnic tension. After gaining independence from their colonizers, the possibilities to pursue other regional interests became much more prominent and in many cases, rivaling forces resorted to violence. Naturally, the violent effects decolonization had on states led to the uprooting of people across the continent and the Organization of African Unity realized the need to anchor refugee protection, rights and obligations in legal doctrines, thus also affirming the commitment to the previous United Nations convention on the Status of Refugees. The following is an excerpt from document the Organization of African Unity produced, namely, the “Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa”:1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “refugee” shall mean every person who, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country, or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual

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residence as a result of such events is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.2. The term “refugee” shall also apply to 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.

Common Threats Associated With RefugeesCan Refugees Benefit the State? Refugee Resources and African State building, Karen Jacobsen discusses the potential consequences of hosting refugees. First, Jacobsen discusses how the flow of resources associated with displacement, ranging from economic assets and humanitarian aid to human capital, can benefit state-building in the host country.Furthermore, refugees can be used for political leverage by host countries. Jacobsen categorizes these political, economic and social resources are categorized as “refugee resources”. The nature of refugee resources is differing insofar as the resources could provide benefits to the host country, but also result

in security issues. For instance, Jacobsen discusses how “the problem is compounded when refugee flows occur in rebel contested territory, or when there is spillover of conflict from sending countries.” Control over resources becomes a matter of dispute between the relevant actors in a region and in turn result in fewer resources actually being put to use where they are needed. In terms of security, the access to refugee resources by insurgents, rebel-groups or corrupt governments poses a threat to the region and the international community. The resources can be misused to provide supplies for the rebel groups and economic aid may be used to finance weapons acquisitions.

Jacobsen asserts that refugee resources in a non-corrupt country with control over the resource distribution can greatly benefit from hosting refugees. However, the difficulty is to ascertain that the state has control over the resources, or in the case of failed states or corrupt governments, that the international community can monitor and control the distribution of resources. Otherwise, the aid initially intended to help refugees can become a source of income and thus perpetuate the conflict. Another issue arises from mixed population flows of asylum-seekers.

Forced migration is caused by many different mechanisms, ranging from direct proximity to a violent conflict to economic migration or fear of political prosecution. Recently, many Western states have introduced stricter policies for gaining entry

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to a country. From a government’s view, the mixed population flows, originating from different conflicts and regions, can present an administrative problem for governments to coordinate their resources when dealing with asylum-seekers. From the perspective of asylum-seekers, the entry restrictions force many to illegally enter a country. In response to illegal immigration, many Western countries are “undermining the right to asylum and [contribute] to the criminalization of both refugees and economic migrants in the process” by treating asylum-seekers as illegal immigrants.

Additionally, the criminalization of refugees can in many cases make asylum-seekers search for assistance in entering a state, thus promoting human smuggling and trafficking. Therefore, to decrease the possibilities for human trafficking and to ascertain that refugees are given the international protection that states are responsible for providing, the UNHCR emphasizes that it is important for host countries to construct immigration systems that discern who is a refugee and asylum-seeker and that gives them the necessary protection.

Methods of Refugee Protection

After having discussed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ working definition of a “refugee” and historical events that have significantly influence the current state of affairs, it seems appropriate to move on to a discussion of the methods

that have been employed in refugee protection. This section will focus on a few different approaches to refugee protection, namely;(1) refugee absorption methods(2) in-camp refugee issues (3) a standardized approach to refugee

management.

The three well-established methods of refugee absorption that have been employed for decades are resettlement, refugee camps or repatriation. In a conflict, the immediately accessible solution is to construct refugee camps that can absorb the masses of refugees or internally displaced persons that are fleeing the direct consequences of the war. The camps are normally constructed under the supervision of either nongovernmental organizations or governmental organizations. Although the camps are places where aid can be provided to the refugees, protracted refugee situations can make the camps into potentially harmful places due to the spread of diseases, violence or insurgent forces recruiting refugees, as seen in the Great Lakes Crisis.

Repatriation means the reintegration into the place of origin for the refugee. That is, it is the return home for the refugees. Repatriation is the most desirable solution as it attempts to return to the pre-conflict property conditions but moreover because it allows the refugees or displaced persons to return to their homes, cultures and societies.

Secondly, there is a huge medical and safety risk associated with these refugee camps.

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Naturally, given that the refugees have recently experienced a significant trauma, there are high rates of psychological problems related to the distress experienced in the conflict or other motivation for forced migration. Also given the poor conditions in the absolute majority of refugee camps, human exploitation is not unheard of. On the contrary, it is suggested that it is rather common that some refugees experience sexual exploitation or violence.

The Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has established a standard treatment for refugee emergencies that is internationally recognized. In all refugee emergencies efforts are made to keep borders open, provide access to safe territory and ascertain that temporary protection is given when needed. Furthermore, a no-discrimination policy was established to prevent refugees who have entered a country “unlawfully” from being treated unfavorably and it is also asserted that refugees still are under the protection of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Additionally, “the basic necessities of life, such as food, shelter and basic sanitary and health facilities” ought to be provided to refugees by the international community.

Recent Conflicts and Forced Movements

AfricaThe African continent has during the last centuries been subject to intrastate warfare,

genocide and ethnic conflicts. Regardless of the triggering factors, be it primary commodity exports or ethnic heterogeneity stemming from arbitrarily drawn borders during the colonial times, the fact remains that there are numerous displaced individuals who have been forced to migrate due to violence, political prosecution or other reasons. In fact, Africa is the region most affected by the issue of internally displaced persons with approximately 11.1 million internally displaced persons in 21 of the continents 47 countries. The following are the major conflicts that have occurred in Africa during the last half-century.

The following are the major conflicts that have occurred in Africa during the last half-century:

AngolaAngola is a former Portuguese colony that gained independence from Portugal on 11 November 1975. The independence was a result of the work of three liberation movements that ended up fighting each other for control over Angola. Following the exodus of Portuguese nationals, the civil war resulted in additional forced displacement. Earlier estimates of the number of refugees and internally displaced persons reach a staggering 4.6 million. Out of the 4.6 million around 4.1 million are considered internally displaced persons whereas the remaining 500,000 are refugees that reside in bordering states. However, recent statistics from the UNHCR estimate that around 860,000 internally displaced persons have returned to their homes, thus lowering the number of

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internally displaced persons to approximately 3.24 million.

Great Lakes CrisisThe genocide in Rwanda in 1994 was followed by a large scale refugee crisis. In Zaire (today: the Democratic Republic of Congo) millions of Hutu refugees from the genocide established refugee camps. The defeated Hutu leaders and proponents of the ethnic cleansing started recruiting and training refugees found in the refugee camps and later several attacks against the newly established government in Rwanda were made from the refugee camps. The conflict ended with the Rwandan Patriotic Front invading the refugee camps on the border to prevent further attacks.

Libyan Civil WarBy early spring 2011 the social turmoil that had begun in Near Eastern countries and states in Northern Africa reached Libya. Protests aimed against the oppressive regime led by Col. Muammar Gaddafi spread throughout the country. In response, the Libyan government took severe measures to contain the protests, thus far resulting in over 360,000 people assuming the status as refugees and thousands of internally displaced persons.

AsiaThe Asian continent, like most other continents, has witnessed conflicts that have resulted in widespread displacement. In total, there are approximately 4 million refugees in Asia.76 The following are the

major conflicts that occurred in Asia during the last half-century:

Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War took place in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and the conflict was dominated by the involvement of the United States. The conflict stretched from 1955 to 1975 and was defined by guerrilla warfare. The prolonged and violent conflict resulted in over 3 million people leaving Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos as refugees. Since the end of the conflict, only half of the refugees have been resettled or repatriated.

Europe

World War IIThe story of World War II is a familiar one and it is therefore not considered necessary to elaborate on the details of the enormous conflict. In the aftermath of the conflict, several hundreds of thousands Jewish survivors were displaced within Europe. At the same time, Germans were being expelled from several countries. For instance, Czechoslovakia expelled 2.2 million Germans in the immediate post-war period. The British Broadcasting Corporation reports that when the expulsion from Czechoslovakia peaked, approximately 14,400 people were daily being forced across the border. In total, the “Germans who were expelled or who departed voluntarily from Eastern Europe ... mounted to 11.5 million.”

Yugoslav Wars

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In the first half of the 1990s, former Yugoslavia constituted the battle ground for a sequence of wars, referred to as the Yugoslav Wars. The conflict was fundamentally based in ethnic strife between the many peoples of former Yugoslavia. Ethnic cleansing, massacres and a NATO intervention led to massive internal displacement and refugees that spread across Europe. By 1992, around 1.8 million people were internally displaced within the former Yugoslavia borders, and half a million and half a million people had left the region, thus becoming refugees.

The New York Times reported in 1992 that an additional “850,000 people are trapped in their homes in four Bosnian towns besieged by Serbian nationalist forces -- Sarajevo, Bihac, Tuzla and Gorazde.”

Middle EastThe Middle East as a region has been given tremendous attention due to, among others, the invasion of Iraq. However, prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the region was subject to several conflicts that resulted in the displacement of millions of individuals. Furthermore, the continuing conflicts perpetuate the displacement mechanisms in the region.

AfghanistanAfghanistan has been affected by internal conflict and foreign invasions for four decades; from the Soviet Union invasion in 1979 and the Taliban takeover in 1996 to the United States invasion in 2001. Additionally, the region is extremely vulnerable due to the high poverty and

natural disasters. Refugees International and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees approximate that there are around 4.4 million people of concern in Afghanistan. Circa 350,000 of the population of concern are internally displaced persons whereas 3 million are refugees residing outside Afghanistan.

Iraq WarThe invasion of Iraq in 2003 has had profound impact on the lives of millions of Iraqi civilians. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees there are over 4.7 million displaced individuals as a result of the war. That is equivalent to approximately sixteen per cent of the entire populace. Around 2 million are considered as refugees and the remaining 2.7 million people are internally displaced persons. Additionally, the New York Times reported that more than forty per cent of the Iraqi middle class has sought refuge outside Iraq as a consequence of the middle class being targeted by insurgents.

Post-Conflict IntegrationIn any given conflict, the most crucial undertaking is to provide immediate protection for displaced individuals that are still directly affected by the conflict. Such measures could include humanitarian aid, armed intervention and international sanctions. However, when the immediate

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danger posed by the conflict is over, or when individuals have managed to escape the region affected by the conflict, a new aspect of refugee protection can be discerned. That aspect is how to successfully integrate refugees in the hosting society, either with the aim of a temporary stay or of permanent residency. Effective integration is essential not only for the quality of life for the refugees that are entering into a new society, which in many cases vastly different from their own culture, but for the hosting countries as well.Unfortunately, it is the case in many European countries that the received forced migrants have not been well integrated. Rather, distinct social groups have been established within the country and indeed today the increase of extreme rightwing parties in European politics can partially be seen as a reaction to immigration. In securing the protection of refugees, it is equally important to focus on the steps following the initial conflict. That is, refugee protection ought to focus not only on immediate humanitarian relief but additionally regard the post-conflict integration in new societies as a problem of equal status.

Past International ActionThe international legal framework surrounding refugee protection and forced displacement is rather condensed to the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.

Additionally, the Organization for African Unity’s “The Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in

Africa” also belongs to the legal sources that are used in international law and decision making concerning refugees. It is important to reemphasize that the 1967 Protocol was the only amendment made to the 1951Convention on the Status of Refugees. Therefore, there are few relevant United Nations Resolutions that are concerned with the fundamental legal perception of refugees, internally displaced persons or statelessness.

However, the European Union has in recent years proposed the establishment of a Joint European Union Resettlement Program. The program is partially motivated by the fear that refugees are endangering themselves as they attempt to illegally enter European countries through relying on, for instance, human trafficking. The European Commission is responsible for the execution of the proposal, which if implemented, would mean that the member states are given €4,000 for each resettled individual. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, “EU member states would ‘remain free to decide whether they want to resettle at all, and if so, how many refugees they wish to resettle’. Under the new scheme EU nations would decide together every year which refugee groups should be given priority for resettlement, and receive more money from a joint fund to give them a new home.

Timeline of Significant Events• 1950 - UNHCR: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on 4 December 1950 to provide assistance in helping all the

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displaced Europeans to resettle. Initially, the United Nations General Assembly only issued a three-year mandate, after which the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would be dissolved. However, the Hungarian Revolution and later the decolonization of the African continent were merely two instances of several refugee crises that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees were involved in resolving, thus proving their adequacy.• 1951 - Convention on the Status of Refugees: Sixty years after the establishment of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees the agency published a document discussing the significant events relating to refugees. In the document, one can find an eloquent description of the Convention on the Status of Refugees and its future role. The document reads: “Grounded in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of human rights1948, which recognizes the right of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries, the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, adopted in 1951, is the centerpiece of international refugee protection today. The Convention entered into force on 22 April 1954, and it has been subject to only one amendment in the form of a 1967 Protocol.”

• 1967 – Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (New York Protocol): Mentioned above, the only amendment to the Convention on the Status of Refugees was made through the 1967 Protocol. The Protocol was very important for the legal framework surrounding refugee protection.

That is, whereas the first Convention only discusses refugees in a European context, the Protocol removed the geographical and temporal limitations previously put forth.The amendment resulted in a universally applicable model for defining refugees, their rights and their obligations.

• 1969 - Organization of African Unity: The document “The Convention Governing theSpecific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa” was produced in 1969 by the Organization of African Unity, today referred to as the African Union. The document was intended to affirm refugee rights, both as defined in the document itself and in the United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees, in a continent suffering through the often violent effects of decolonization.

• 2011 - Joint European Union Resettlement Program: The European Union has acknowledged the need for European states to assist in the resettling process. The European Commission has proposed a Resettlement Program initiative in the European Union. The following is an excerpt from the Commission’s debate on the proposal: “According to the UNHCR, around 200,000 refugees need to be resettled into a third country every year. While around 100,000 refugees are annually resettled to the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil and Chile, resettlement is scarcely used currently, 10 Member States carry out resettlement, which represents a total

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number of only 4 500 refugees annually hosted by the EU. Given the current situation in North Africa where some of the refugee camps are located, it is more important than ever that the EU initiates the resettlement program.”

Proposed SolutionsIt is important to reemphasize the complexity of refugee protection when discussing potential solutions. The broadness of the subject in combination with the many aspects that influence refugee protection require that a solution is multifaceted and that it addresses the many different levels at once. That is, the solution must address the policies of state-actors and the international community as well as nongovernmental organizations and individual citizens in order to resolve the problems of refugee protection in an efficient and sustainable manner. Initially, there are two important steps that are extremely important in order for a solution to be drafted. First, the Red Cross writes it is important to recognize “that movements of refugees will continue until their causes are eliminated” It may appear to be a rather simple statement; however, it has profound implications for approaching refugee questions. It illustrates that although immediate relief is a necessary and important aspect of refugee protection, a solution must additionally target the initial mechanisms that cause and perpetuate displacement. In the event that the causes of

displacement are not interrupted and the movements of refugees continue, the international community will pay a higher price in terms of the required economic and humanitarian assistance to refugees in protracted refugee situations. Second, the responsibility to host refugees needs to be fairly equally distributed.

The current state of affairs is one where some countries are hosting a majority of refugees whereas other countries have highly restrictive immigration policies. The very fact that the United Nations has to reassert the right of asylum, which has been discussed in the historic section of this study guide, illustrates that some states are failing to provide refugee protection and are furthermore shifting the responsibility to other countries. Given that hosting refugees is a costly endeavor, it is strange that not all countries are bearing the responsibility. Therefore, a solution ought to address the distribution of responsibility among states, with special attention to developed countries that have the economic and political structures that are necessary for hosting refugees. In return, states need to have resources to assist them in hosting refugees, for instance, assistance in establishing a system that identifies asylum seekers and that provides protection to those individuals. Another aspect that is important is how to secure refugee camps. In the Great Lakes Crisis, refugee camps became the recruiting base for insurgent forces. The insurgents took advantage of the overcrowded camps’ poor living conditions and used the threat of

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force in order to recruit refugees to become soldiers. Within the issue of securing refugee camps lies the issue of protecting women in these camps. It is a necessary condition for stability that women are not constantly in fear of violence or rape.

Furthermore, the United Nations initiative to provide economic empowerment for women is a program that needs to be strengthened. By promoting economic empowerment of women, one is additionally constructing a decision-making structure that is more inclusive. The definition of a refugee must be expanded to include individuals who have been forced to migrate due to environmental changes. The matter has been briefly discussed in the Current Situation; however, it cannot be stressed enough how this new group of refugees, namely climate change refugees, is a group at risk. There are few policies that provide guidelines for states on how to deal with individuals that have been displaced due to environmental changes. The international community needs to address the definition of a refugee and implement the necessary changes to provide equal protection to all individuals whohave been displaced, regardless of the initial mechanisms that triggered the forced migration.

Questions a Resolution Must Answer

Does refugee protection lend justification and legitimacy to humanitarian interventions?

What responsibilities can be assigned to country with regard to hosting refugees?

If one recognizes a duty among states to protect refugees, ranging from immediate aid to resettlement or granting asylum, do countries have different levels of responsibility? That is, ought countries with a higher GDP per capita income, democratic rule or other given features assume a larger responsibility than developing states?

What measures can be taken by the United Nations in order to affirm the rights and obligations put forth in the Conventions and Protocols related to the Status of Refugees?

How can the general commitment to refugee protection made by United Nations member states be transformed into a moral obligation that requires a stronger commitment?

How will the United Nations ascertain that potential humanitarian interventions are efficient in protecting refugees and upholding human rights and other responsibilities that have been set forth through United Nations conventions, protocols and resolutions?

Given that hosting refugees in most cases is a costly process, can it be imposed on any state the responsibility to host refugees?

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Do democratic states have a greater responsibility than other states to protect refugees?

What role should Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play in refugee protection?

Position PapersThe purpose of the a position paper is to give each delegation the chance to summarize his or her understanding of the issue at hand, to delineate a nation’s stance on the issue, and to propose possible solutions that could be debated in committee. You should summarize your country’s past actions with regard to the issues in question, so as to gain a broader understanding of your country’s involvement with the two topic areas throughout history. You should also specify your country’s current views on the issues on question, bearing in mind the influence of your country’s international agreements and alliances and its present-day interests. Finally, you should discuss what your country’s official opinion would be regarding any proposed solutions, with an emphasis on the provisions that your country will allow exclude from any given solutions.

Your position paper should not exceed one singles paced page per topic; brevity is encouraged.

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