CIHSMUN 2010

Agenda Topics

Security Council

1. Situation in Pakistan

The Problem:

Pakistan is a large Muslim country of about 170,000,000 people with about a one half trillion dollar economy. Its neighbors include India, China, Afghanistan, and Iran. Pakistan, along with India, became an independent nation in 1947 following British rule. Since then, Pakistan has frequently shifted back and forth between authoritarian and democratic forms of governance. This instability reflects competition for power between various political parties including the socialist-oriented Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), the PML-Q, and a newer coalition of Islamic fundamentalists (the MMA). There has also been significant competition at the elite level, especially between civilian and military/intelligence groups.

Pakistan has experienced considerable conflict with India over the years especially relating to territorial disputes (in Kashmir and Jammu), and relating to nuclear arms. Both are nuclear-armed, neither is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). These countries have fought wars with each other in 1948, 1965, and 1999.

Since 9-11, Pakistan has developed much closer military and economic relations with the United States. Pakistan has a strong interest in stabilizing the conflict in Afghanistan. The US and NATO are prosecuting war in Afghanistan against Taliban and al-Qaida forces. But the instability and conflict in Afghanistan has negatively affected Pakistan’s own security situation, been a drain on the economy (especially because of the associated refugee and IDP problem), and caused a certain amount of political instability too.

Several regions of Pakistan, especially in the north and northwest, (the Northern Areas, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas - or FATA, Wajiristan, and the Swat Valley), have seen considerable violence and disruption of civilian populations as Government troops, with support and pressure from the US, try to push back radical Islamic fundamentalist groups including Taliban and, according to many sources, al-Qaida.

These difficulties, along with concerns about nuclear weapons, raise serious concerns about Pakistani, regional, and global security. Delegates should review all the issues identified above with an eye toward finding ways to promote confidence building, overall stability, and human development in the future.

Relevant Institutions, Programs, Conferences, and Treaties:

UN Security Council

Questions:

1. How can the UN help to simultaneously promote stability in Afghanistan and stability in Pakistan?

2. What measures might be taken to improve relations between Pakistan and India during this time of regional conflict and political uncertainty?

3. Can the UN do more to assist the Pakistani Government in its efforts to provide for the basic needs of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP’s) affected by military conflict?

4. Can the UN do more to promote social and economic development of the people of Pakistan?

5. What measures might be taken to help increase levels of trust and transparency between the US, NATO, and Pakistani military and intelligence officials as they pursue common interests in securing a stable political situation in Afghanistan?

Resources:

See the Pakistani Mission to the UN (www.pakun.org), the UNMOGIP (UN Peacekeeping in India and Pakistan), the United Nations Democracy Fund, US State Dept. Background Notes on Pakistan, and the US State Dept for recent political news (www.state.gov), UN Security Council (for Resolutions, Press Statements, and Reports on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Taliban and al-Qaida etc), UN News Centre, Global Issues (www.globalissues.org), and for recent news stories see BBC, NY Times, the Pakistan Tribune (www.paktribune.com), and the India Times (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com).

General Assembly

1. Implementation of the Convention on Chemical Weapons and their Destruction

The Problem:

The first international restrictions on chemical weapons were agreed to in 1925 under the Geneva Protocol that prohibited the use of certain chemicals and bacteriological agents in warfare. In 1993, the UN extended regulation over other aspects of chemical weapons. All the signatories to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and their Destruction must commit to destroying all the chemical agents identified as weapons components under the treaty. Under the Convention, member countries must curtail the production, storage, and transfer of chemical weapons, and also agree to destroy chemical weapons facilities, as well as weapons. Two Review Conferences have been held since 1993, one in 2003, and the other in 2008. Along the way, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was created to inspect and monitor the progress made by member states toward compliance with the Convention.

Some of the work remaining to be accomplished under the Convention includes guaranteeing effective and timely destruction of chemical weapons, enforcement of non-proliferation requirements, promoting international cooperation that advances scientific research geared toward increasing the effective implementation of the Convention, and increasing the number of signatory countries so that the Convention might one day become universal.

Delegates should focus on the issues outlined just above.

Relevant Institutions, Programs, Conferences, and Treaties:

General Assembly, Geneva Protocol, the Chemical Weapons Convention (1993) and Review Conferences (2003 and 2008), OPCW, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, GA Resolution A/Res/47/39

Questions:

1. Can the GA do more to assess and understand the reasons why some countries have not yet become members of the Convention? Can more be done to alleviate if not eliminate the concerns and apprehension these countries may have for not yet signing the accord?

2. What can the GA do to assist the OPCW and member states (especially those significantly behind schedule) to more effectively eliminate their stockpiles of chemical weapons?

3. Can the GA support additional research into “dual use” technologies and chemical components in an effort to identify appropriate boundaries between military and civilian uses of chemicals, and advance work on the necessary export-related and other controls and restrictions relating to the former?

4. Is the GA satisfied with the current identification of known or existing stockpiles of chemical weapons and chemical weapons facilities reported by signatories? What more needs to be accomplished to get a better accounting of chemical weapons and weapons facilities in non-signatory countries?

Resources:

UNOPCW, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, GA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, Pugwash Conferences (www.pugwash.org), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (www.thebulletin.org), Arms Control Association (www.armscontrol.org).

2. Strengthening the Role of the UN in Combating Transnational Organized Crime

The Problem:

As the nation-states and societies of the world continue to integrate in economic terms, the movement of money, goods, services, and to some extent, workers also increases and accelerates. At the same time, the increased porousness of national borders that comes about from relaxation of trade and investment barriers and global communications networks, also introduces occasions and opportunities for organized crime to increase its transnational organizational capacity and reach. Increasingly, the growth of transnational organized crime shows the underside of economic globalization given the equally growing ability of criminal organizations to profit from prostitution, human trafficking, illegal arms sales, money laundering, securities and investment fraud, and cybercrimes.

In 1994, the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime was adopted. The Convention identified the need to advance clarification and standardization of national and international criminal law. This is especially important in terms of promoting effective identification, investigation, and prosecution of transnational criminal activities.

Delegates should focus on the new and alarming nature of the challenge of transnational organized crime (TOC). Delegates should explore ways of identifying and eliminating such activities.

Relevant Institutions, Programs, Conferences, and Treaties:

UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Convention against TOC and Regular Sessions of the Parties to the Convention

Questions:

1. What can be done to enlarge the scope and level of commitment to a truly global and universal Convention on Transnational Organized Crime?

2. Can the GA do more to improve understanding of the specific operations and capacities of TOC and prioritize needs in terms of international enforcement and crime-fighting capabilities?

3. How can more efficiencies and clarification be realized in the standardization of international criminal activity?

4. What improvements can be made in terms of developing more cooperation between national and international policing and judicial agencies and systems?

5. Can the understanding of the sources of recruitment for TOC be improved? Can these sources be weakened, eliminated, or perhaps redirected into more desirable behaviors?

6. What are the relationships between TOC and instances of terrorism across the globe? Can the GA identify linkages between the two and formulate integrated responses?

7. What are the underlying causes of the various types of TOC? For example, what are the underlying causes of human trafficking? Can more be done to eliminate the underlying causes of human trafficking? Would focused attention on conditions of poverty and gender inequalities in some regions, for example, help to decrease the amount of human trafficking in women and children?

Resources:

UN Crime and Justice Information Network (www.uncjin.org), The Millennium Project (www.millennium-project.org) see Transnational Crime, International Peace Institute see Blue Paper #2 (www.ipiinst.org), US Dept. of Justice Office of Justice Programs see transnational organized crime (www.ojp.usdoj.gov),

ECOSOC

1. Provision of Humanitarian Assistance to Refugees and IDP’s in Conflict

The Problem:

One of the main functions of the UN since its inception has been to do its utmost to support humanitarian objectives globally. For example, much has been accomplished in terms of the articulation of human rights, the promotion of development, and the rescue, care, and reestablishment of individuals and communities affected by various natural as well as human-caused disasters. There are about 40 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP’s) in the world. The latter, amount to about two thirds of the total, and are defined as persons who have been forced away from their homes by violent conflict or natural disaster, and have taken up temporary settlement in another location in their own country. A refugee is a person who seeks asylum or domicile in another country due to natural disaster, war, or political repression. There are many troubled regions of the world, with a great number of refugees and IDP’s found in the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan and Syria, the African countries of the Sudan, Chad, Yemen, Uganda, and the Congo, and recent IDP’s in Sri Lanka, and many more in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Columbia, and other countries of the world.

Delegates should focus on the plight of refugees and IDP’s displaced as a result of political conflict and war. Delegates should note that while refugees fall under the domain of International Law, IDP’s do not, since they remain inside of their country of residence. At the same time, the UN has recognized the Guiding Principles of Internal Displacement, as a way of formulating and executing plans to assist IDP’s in legitimate ways.

Relevant Institutions, Programs, Conferences, and Treaties:

ECOSOC, WHO, UNOCHA, GA Third Committee, UNHCAR, UN Convention and Protocol Relating to Refugees, UN Guiding Principles of Internal Displacement

Questions:

1. Can ECOSOC do more to assess the current needs situation globally? Are there priority areas that require more immediate response than others?

2. Can ECOSOC do more to clarify the political and material (capacity or resource-based) obstacles and challenges that hinder international efforts to meet the needs of those refugees and IDP’s displaced by political violence and warfare?

3. What might be done to encourage governments and their armies, and other armed groups to provide safe haven for innocent refugees and IDP’s fleeing the travesty of war?

Resources:

ECOSOC, WHO (esp. Bulletin of the WHO Vol. 87, no. 8, Aug. 2009 avail. at www.scielosp.org), UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Doctors Without Borders (http://doctorswithoutborders.org see About Refugees), Institute for Security Studies (www.iss.co.za), Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org), International Red Cross (www.icrc.org).

2. Role of the Private Sector in Advancing the MDG’s particularly for Sustainable Development

The Problem:

In the year 2000, representatives of member states of the UN and world leaders convened a conference on the global problem of poverty. The meeting resulted in the UN Millennium Declaration. This was one of, perhaps, the most significant, undertaking of the United Nations in the post-Cold War era. Since 2000, many UN agencies, state governments, and partners in the private sector have organized a massive campaign to drastically reduce global poverty by 2015. Included in this general objective is serious attention to promoting sustainable development (MDG #7). Sustainable development is a concept that envisions achieving levels of economic growth sufficient to promote human development and sustain the natural environment for future life.

Over the years, much attention has been given to building partnerships between public and private sectors in ways that guarantee public goods (e.g., equitable development) and ensure a satisfactory level of profit to private sector partners. Delegates should focus on finding ways to promote mutually beneficial relationships between public (member governments) and private (small and large business corporations) geared toward sustainable development outcomes.

Relevant Institutions, Programs, Conferences, and Treaties:

ECOSOC, UNDP, WHO, UNEP, WFP, WB, UN Millennium Declaration, 2005 World Summit

Questions:

1. What can ECOSOC do to promote further public-private partnerships relating to the construction and management of development projects especially those meeting the criteria of sustainable development and focused on provision of basic goods and services (such as clean water and energy, adequate housing and health care, and sanitation)?

2. What incentives or encouragements can be given to private credit and financial

businesses to provide greater access to loans for individuals, groups, and governments committed to starting up businesses and other economic ventures that meet sustainable development criteria?

3. Can ECOSOC do more to encourage private sector businesses and corporations to “do no harm” and to perform the basic obligations of “good corporate citizenship” (including submission of tax payments, truth in advertising, avoiding monopolistic practices etc.)?

4. What can be done to encourage more public policy debate and discussion forums between governmental, business leaders, and civic groups especially at local, municipal levels on the possibilities and opportunities for sustainable development?

5. Can ECOSOC advance research into the successes and failures of past public-private partnerships in an effort to get a better sense of what works and to further develop of a “business case” for more engagement in the area of sustainable development?

Resources:

ECOSOC, UN Millennium Goals (www.un.org/millenniumgoals), Global Issues (www.globalissues.org), World Business Council for Sustainable Development (www.wbcsd.org), OECD Annual Meeting of Sustainable Development Experts (www.oecd.org), allAfrica.com (Sustainable Africa), Sustainable Development Network (www.worldbank.org/infrastructure).