Greetings! My name is Katie Simpson and I am very happy to be your ECOSOC director at DAYMUNC XI!! My first Model UN experience was at DAYMUNC VIII representing Iran on ECOSOC. (You know the SG Anthony? Yeah... I beat him at that conference... please remind him of that next time you see him!) Since then, I have attended many conferences as a delegate. This is the third time I will be a staff member at a Model UN conference (first time at DAYMUNC!! Yikes!!).

I am writing my MA thesis on United States foreign policy and ethics through a dual degree program at Ohio University. I'm focusing on four separate policies and programs: aid to Sierra Leone compared to aid given to Kosovo, the wars in Iraq, aid stipulations to Latin American countries, and AIDS relief in Africa. I'm trying to find whether or not ethical models can explain United States actions as well as realist foreign policy models can. 

Before the conference I will be updating the background guide, so as to help keep us informed of new developments relating to: the rights of female refugees, the right to a decent standard of living, and food security through international cooperation. Please check up on the DAYMUNC website for additions! 

Before participating in the conference it is important that you know the rules of procedure and know how to write a resolution. BUT IT IS MOST IMPORTANT THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO REPRESENT YOUR COUNTRY!! Look at your country's website, your country's constitution, speeches from diplomats, international organization membership, and into any bilateral organizations to which your country may be a party!

Try out some of the following sites for your preliminary research, paying close attention to United Nations resources AND to resources from your country:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html (can be a very good research guide... pay very close attention the "transnational issues" section! Don't forget to look in the appendices!!) 

http://www.un.int/index-en/webs.html (use this to find the homepage for your country's permanent mission to the United Nations) 

http://wwwl.umn.edu/humanrts/ (ahh, this is one of my favorite sites... the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library. You can find every treaty, speech, conference, convention, declaration, agreement, etc. on international human rights here!) 

I look forward to seeing all of you in February! If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email. 

Katie Simpson, Director (ks369699@ohio.edu)

Chair: Deborah Hirt

Rapporteur: Kim Edlund

I. Rights of female refugees

 "In any refugee population, approximately 50 percent of the uprooted people are women and girls. Stripped of the protection of their homes, their government and often their family structure, females are often particularly vulnerable. They face the rigors of long journeys into exile, official harassment or indifference and frequent sexual abuse even after reaching an apparent place of safety. Women must cope with these threats while being nurse, teacher, breadwinner and physical protector of their families." (1)

Refugee women become leaders in refugee society, as most healthy males have been recruited to armed service. As many countries do not allow women to join armed services, most women remain at home or in a shelter during armed conflict. However, by remaining in the 'safety' of home or of a shelter, they become most vulnerable. This is especially true for women as they attempt to escape conflict.(2) For example, Under Sierra Leonean tribal law, women generally own property through their husbands and children. If the husband is killed or dies and the wife does not have an older son who can claim the property, she often must yield to her husband's in-laws, who decide whether to allow her back.(3) 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has recognized the special needs of female refugees since the mid-1980's. Despite increased attention given to females, problems in the protection of women and the distribution of aid continue to occur. For example: 

• 72 percent of the Sierra Leonean women surveyed had experienced human rights abuses, and more than 50 percent had been victims of sexual violence.(4)

• Desperate refugee women and girls enter into relationships with aid workers, some of whom take advantage of their position to extract sexual favors from refugees in exchange for additional food or nonfood items. A February 2002 report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children found that women and girls in camps in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia had suffered sexual exploitation by aid workers on an alarming scale.(5) Although these actions are strongly discouraged by all member states, they continue at an alarming rate.

As of November 20, 2002, UNHCR expected a funding shortage of more than $200 million. This funding shortage has contributed to decreasing assistance for at-risk populations.(6) As long as states are unwilling to cooperate and donors are unwilling to contribute, violence in against women in refugee camps will continue. 

Efficient cooperation among member states is crucial to help refugees.(7) Currently, more than 20 million people fall under the mandate of UNHCR. Member states are asked to work together to help prevent violence against women and exploitation of women in refugee crises. 

Many member states have entered into bilateral arrangements in order to alleviate the suffering of at-risk peoples. What has your state done? With whom does your state work? Is your state currently experiencing a refugee influx? Exodus? How many of UNHCR's "people of concern" live within your states boundaries? 

II. Right to decent standard of living

 According to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."(8) 

According to many Scandinavian and western European human rights specialists, human rights do not have a hierarchy.(9) This means that the right to "a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being" of an individual and that individual's family is of equal importance to the right to life without torture and the right to marriage. 

Due to global and localized crises, populations have been denied a decent standard of living. How can we as a body move to provide a decent standard of living for everyone on our planet? In the past, the Group of 77 moved to introduce the New International Economic Order, stressing the need for globally northern states to support many third world countries. However, the proposal did not convince all states to act. 

Is your state involved in a bilateral or multilateral arrangement to help ensure a decent standard of living? Does your state believe in a 'heirarchy' of human rights? 

III. Food security through international co-operation

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.(10)

 "The Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) aims to help those living in developing countries, in particular the low-income food deficit countries (LIFDCs) to improve their food security through rapid increases in food production and productivity, by reducing year-to-year variability in food production on an economically and environmentally sustainable basis and by improving people's access to food, in line with the 1996 World Food Summit Plan of Action." (11)

Despite numerous agreements throught the United Nations, roughly 20% of the world's population is chronically undernourished.(12) In incidences of famine, food becomes money.(13) The organization or state with the most food to offer a starving population becomes the most powerful influence on that society. In complex emergency and extended emergency situations, this disrupts local economies and agricultural bases.(14) It is vital that member states cooperate to ensure that basic human needs are met, especially during times of crisis and complex emergencies. 

Currently, the United Nations has dozens of programs that work to secure food for 'at-risk' populations. The World Food Programme, the Special Programme for Food Security, the Food and Agriculture Organization work together to help ensure that food is being delivered to needy populations. However, is this level of United Nations involvement necessary and is it producing unnecessary waste? Or, is the fact that twenty percent of the world is malnourished a clear example of why more programs are needed? Some may argue that the multiplicity of organizations leads to widespread waste, both economically and humanitarianly.(15) Other states may argue that more organizations are necessary, as adequate aid is still wanting in many areas of the world. 

Because of recent and continuing wars and because of natural and manmade disasters, different populations are in need on a daily basis. What steps should the United Nations take to help the hungry and malnourished in Iraq? In Palestine? In China? In France?(16) 

Does your state want to help the world's hungry? Why or why not? What role does your state play in international organizations that relate to this category? Is your state involved in any agreements made to deal with this issue? 

Notes:

1. http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home?page=PROTECT&id=3b83a48d4 

2. Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict; Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 3318(XXIX) of 14 December 1974 

3. USCR "Notes from the Field: Sierra Leonean Refugee Women and the Challenge of Reintegration" July 19, 2002. http://www.refugees.org/news/press releases/2002/071902.cfm 

4. USCR "Notes from the Field: Sierra Leonean Refugee Women and the Challenge of Reintegration" July 19, 2002. http://www.refugees.org/news/press releases/2002/071902.cfm 

5. USCR "Notes from the Field: Sierra Leonean Refugee Women and the Challenge of Reintegration" July 19, 2002. http://www.refugees.org/news/press releases/2002/071902.cfm 

6. Dumtra, Jeff. "Unmet Needs Put Refugees at Risk: Funding Crisis in Refugee Assistance: Impact on Refugees." 

7. UNHCR "Coordination" http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home?page=PARTNERS&id=3b9f739bd&ID=3b9f739bd&PUBLISHER=TWO 

8. Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Article 25 

9. Baehr, Peter. Human Rights. 

10. http://www.fao.org/spfs/index.asp?lang=en 

11. http://www.fao.org/spfs/index.asp?lang=en 

12. http://www.fao.org/spfs/objectives_en.htm 

13. Michael Maren. The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity, 1997. 

14. Michael Maren. The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity. 1997. 

15.Michael Maren. The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity, 1997. 

16. Thousands of elderly French men and women died in August 2003 due to the combination of dehydration, lack of attention, and an excessive heat wave.