CCBMUN
Press
United Nations International Children's Fund
UNICEF was founded by the United nations after World War 2, with the goal of protecting the lives of Children and mothers of developing countries who happen to be endangered due to conflicts. The main tasks carried out by this commission include helping
The Official CCBMUN will be covering two topics, 'Rising rates of malnutrition in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa' and 'Recruitment of child soldiers in conflict-ridden countries '.
children living in disadvantages, through campaigns tackling contagious deseases in zones that don't offer this services.
Topics
Model
Topic 1: Rising rates of malnutrition in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa
Topic 2: Recruitment of child soldiers in conflict-ridden countries
Presidents
President: Emilia Arabia
School: Colegio Colombo Británico
President: Laura Serrano
School: Colegio Colombo Británico
Contact: unicef@ccbcali.edu.co
The United Nations Children’s Fund is a special program created by the United Nations General Assembly after World War II. This commission was founded on 11th December, 1946 with the goal of defending the rights of children, and to help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through to adolescence.
Today, it works with children in 190 countries, and its main goal is to improve their quality of life and give them all the opportunities to thrive. In recent years, UNICEF has striven to improve the education and health of boys and girls around the world. This commission works for gender equality, innovation in education and improvement in nutrition, among other issues that affect children.
In this model, we expect all delegates to give their best, to learn, and to enjoy this enriching experience. We are here to help with any questions that you may have about the commission.
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CCBMUNXVIII
Day 1
A heated debate was being held in the UNICEF commission. The topic: rising rates of malnutrition in Southern Africa in children below 5 years of age. Malnutrition is something that doesn’t discriminate against a determined age group, but it is known to have fatal consequences in children, being one of the top mortality causes. Although malnutrition is often associated with starvation, obesity is also considered to be part of the category.
Around the world, there are about 47 million children that suffer from this, from which about 14.3 million are severely malnutritioned. Although the debate was centered mostly in the opening statements of each country and their position regarding this serious issue, it soon turned into a true concern regarding the lives of the children that are being affected by this.
It is in the commission’s best interest and hope that upon the following days they will all agree upon a solution that is in the best interest of the children.
Day 1
By: Julieta Erazo
Today, in UNICEF, yesterday's topic “rising rates of malnutrition in Southern Africa in children below 5 years of age” was continued. Malnutrition, a part of the category of starvation and obesity, is one of the top mortality causes and fatal consequences in children.
As of yesterday's debate. Today the delegates defended each of their positions toward this issue. Additionally, they expressed their concern because of the lives of the children that are being affected by this.
Today the commission started with a debate. Then proceed to start the draft resolution of the previous issue. This commission agreed to arrange in 1 block and finally got 1 solution that is in the best interest of the children and all the presents.
Finally, the commission began the second topic "Recruitment of child soldiers in conflict-ridden countries". Basically, this talks about the countries where children are recruited as soldiers, the use of children and armed conflict around the world, and its connection to conflicts taking place in the Middle East, Africa, South America. They will continue debating the laws regarding child soldiers, Reasons, why children are recruited as child soldiers, and their consequences and the actions, were taken by governments and organizations. hopefully the commission will likely agree on a solution that will benefit most of them.
CCBMUNXVIII
Simulation Day
Child labour in Southeast Asia
By: Michelle Karam
Child labour is the exploitation of children doing any type of work that deprives them from their childhood. This issue is currently affecting Southeast Asia. There are about 250 million economically active children in the world, and around 61% or 153 million of these children are working in Asia. Some of the causes of child labour are: inequality, lack of resources, and the absence of education. And some of the risks and consequences of this activity are: injuries, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional and physical neglect. In Southeast Asia child trafficking, prostitution and using minors for household help is very common. Countries like Thailand and Singapore are not reporting to the UN regarding this topic. On the other hand countries such as India are creating laws to prevent and stop the exploitation of minors.
Today a debate was held in the commission of UNICEF regarding this topic. There were parties bothe in favor of child labour, like China, claiming that working is the only way for these minors to have access to food and resources. On another hand, there were countries that disagreed with this, such as UK, India, Japan, Greece, Thailand, U.S.A, Russia, France, Vietnam, South Korea and Cambodia. Developing countries like Thailand and India argued that these countries are sponsoring child labour by hosting companies that hire children to do “cheap” labour. “They are taking advantage, their kids have education, while our kids are working so they can have clothes, rice, and housing” Claimed the delegation of India. Countering this, the UK, a developed country that has companies, which use countries that currently have a lot of child labour say. “Why are they blaming us for buying the products to improve our economy if you keep making them” Stated the delegation of UK.
After some time, the delegations of China and Afghanistan made a joint intervention: they spoke about how delegations are not giving possible solutions and about how there is a lack of interest from the delegates on this matter. They mentioned the multiple problems that were present in Afghanistan such as the lack of economic support from other countries as well as deficiency of awareness about the subject. They also provide possible solutions such as monetary support from other countries such as China.
Then a crisis came along. The situation was that, it had come to the attention of someone whose identity was not mentioned. That the American company of Coca Cola, has factories in India and they are using children to manufacture their products, part of the problematic was that someone in the government of India was signing permissions so the company could work there. The delegate of India mentioned that the permissions were just signed to improve the economy of the country, and that Coca-Cola is an American company so the U.S has the responsibility.
Then, the working papers were presented, and two of these were presented one was sponsored by India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Afghanistan, United States Ukraine China and Cambodia. This paper proposed for the developed countries to send economical support for these children if they wanted to keep the production in their countries, to donate to the SOS children’s village, educate the families on why education is important and why child labour is wrong, give a greater number of families more opportunities, and ensuring more children are protected by the law.
Another working paper was proposed, this one was sponsored by Canada, U.K, Russia, Germany, Japan, France, Greece and South Korea. It was proposed to look after all the resources that will be donated. It was also proposed to check all businesses monthly to ensure that no minors are being employed there and to assign someone to fulfill this task.
Day 1
Separation of migrant children in the Mediterranean.
By: Michelle Karam
Children are very vulnerable and they have very special needs and considerations. Children represent more than half of the migrant population. These children are constantly being victims of hunger, violence, and sickness. In 1998 the UNHCR released guidelines that stated that children need special consideration. Infants are specifically vulnerable when they're not with their families because they've got no one to take care or lookout for them. When kids are separated from their families there are a lot of very bad long term consequences. Like, for example, trouble adjusting to another country, stress, PTSD, depression, anxiety, behavioral and emotional issues, fear, amongst others.
Today a debate was held in the commission of UNICEF regarding the separation of migrant families in the Mediterranean. At the beginning, all the delegations agreed that the separation of families was an issue that must be addressed. In this debate, there were both parties in favor of the separation of migrant families under some circumstances, like the delegation of the US, claiming they were receiving all the migrants they could, but they had to look out for their own country first, and the UK, this delegation said that they weren’t responsible for all the migrants that other countries were producing. And some parties against, for example, India, Bangladesh including Afghanistan. These parties claimed that no matter the conditions a family should never be separated.
The delegation of the United States stated that there are some cases in which migrant families need to be separated, for instance when the parents of the child have a criminal record, this family needs to be taken apart. So that these children won’t follow their parent’s example, to this Italy counter-argued, “How do you ensure that they will follow their path instead of making their own, our responsibility is with these children”.
Later on, countries such as India argued that as developing countries they were doing everything they can to help their migrant situation, “But as a nation, we need help” the delegation of Bangladesh.
Later, the delegations re-stated that they see the separation of families as an issue. The delegation of Myanmar accused Greece of being politically dishonest and a hypocrite because they were constantly turning down migrants from Africa.
Finally, the delegation of Spain presented a video which showed the conditions some refugees had to endure in a refugee camp in Afghanistan, these children had no drinkable water and no edible food, they lived next to dumpsters and they only dreamed of going to more stable countries. Overall, the majority of the delegates agreed that no children should ever be separated from their families. And I think that they will be able to arrive at a conclusion that will favor all the migrant children that were discussed in this debate.
Day 3
The traffic of children within ethnic minorities from developing Asian countries to Europe
By: Michelle Karam
Child trafficking is currently affecting 1.2 million children in Asia, making this a top issue for the world. According to the UN, the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation is considered “trafficking in persons.” Child trafficking is currently considered the worst violation of children’s rights. From all the minors that are trafficked in the world, most of them come from ethnic minorities because they are often considered inferior. A lot of this traffic happens between nations which makes the problem even bigger.
On the second and last day of the MUN, a debate was held regarding the topic of the traffic of children within ethnic minorities from developing Asian countries to Europe.
When it came to this topic all the delegations were against the trafficking of children minorities, but some with limitations. Delegations such as Vietnam, India, China, and Myanmar, are countries which children are trafficked from, they argue that they are doing everything in their power to help these minors, but they need the help from other, more developed countries. These delegations also claimed that developed countries such as the UK, France, and Italy are participating in the trafficking of these children because of their citizens, who help keep the 40 billion dollar industry of trafficking going. When they buy these people. An example the delegation of India made was that countries such as the UK were going to other countries and sexually abusing children who have been trafficked.
On the other hand delegations such as the UK, USA, France, and Italy argued that it is the countries responsibility to eliminate child trafficking, they also suggested that these countries such as China should make their laws more strict and effective so that there are no more cases of child trafficking. The delegation of the United States blames child trafficking on the armed conflicts.
Later on, the delegation of the United States showed a video set in China. It was about the father of a child who had been kidnapped and sold to trafficking, the video showed that the father used to look for his child every single day.
After. the drafting resolutions were presented, the first one 1.1, was by the delegations of India, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, etc. Some of the most important points that were proposed were. That they help the victims of child trafficking and that the more developed countries help with monetary resources. The second, 2.2, drafting resolution that was presented suggested further protection on border control, to prevent trafficking, and they also proposed to create further conscience and awareness on this topic.
Finally, the delegations voted and the drafting resolution 2.2 was chosen.
