AGENDA 2001: Southwest Model
United Nations
ISSUES WORKSHOP AGENDA SOUTHWEST FLORIDA MODEL UN PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE
1st
Committee: Disarmament and
International Security
·
Civil Conflict in the
Developing World: Responding to the
Organization of African Unity Report on Rwanda.
The report holds France and, to a lesser
degree, the United States, responsible for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Delegates will debate the report's major
conclusions and craft resolutions that 1) reflect the consensus of the body
and/or 2) advocate policies that represent the lessons learned from this
experience.
Authors: Steve Wenig
Communique
(From Issues Workshop)
·
International Security
and Missile Defenses. The U.S. is considering implementing a
missile defense system, which threatens to undermine the ABM (Anti-Ballistic
Missile) treaty. The US is responding
to what it regards as threats to its security in the form of “rogue” nations
(e.g., North Korea and Iran) acquiring the capacity to deploy long range
nuclear warheads. Delegates should
address this issue by considering the new security environment and the
consequences of missile defenses within it.
Communique
(From Issues Workshop)
NGO: Center for Defense Information http://www.cdi.org/;
The Carter Center http://www.cartercenter.org/
2nd
Committee: Economic and Finance
·
Responding to the
debate on global institutions. In Seattle in November of 1999 and again in Washington
in April of 2000, protesters sought to disrupt the meetings of, respectively,
the WTO and the World Bank and the IMF.
What role should these institutions play within the global economy? Delegates should prepare for this topic by
familiarizing themselves with the different voices in this debate and by
seeking to accurately represent their country's point of view towards these
institutions. Resolutions on this issue
will provide an opportunity for the international community of states to weigh
in on this issue. Resolutions may also
advance proposals for change in the agenda or mission of these
institutions.
Communique (from the Issues Workshop)
NGO: The Development Gap: http://www.igc.org/dgap/
3rd
Committee: Social, Humanitarian and
Cultural
·
Responding to the AIDS
epidemic in Africa. What sorts of cooperative efforts on the
part of the international community can be undertaken to stem the tide of the
AIDS epidemic in Africa? Delegates
should prepare for this topic by familiarizing themselves with the scope of the
AIDS epidemic in Africa and in other parts of the developing world. They should
also study the different proposals that have been made to fight the AIDS
epidemic. Resolutions should address
the roles which donor countries, target countries, relevant industries, and
non-governmental organizations should play in responding to the AIDS epidemic in
Africa.
Communique (from the Issues Workshop)
·
World hunger and food
security. Hunger continues to claim the lives of many
of the world’s people. Up to five million children per year die from
malnutrition. In preparing for this
topic, delegates should consider the underlying causes of world hunger
(population growth, resource scarcity, powerlessness, etc.) They should analyze how the current debate
on world hunger applies to their own countries and formulate resolutions that
reflect these circumstances.
Resolutions that aim to secure consensus on the nature of this issue are
also welcome.
Communique (from the Issues Workshop)
NGO:
OXFAM International: http://www.oxfaminternational.org/
4th
Committee: Special Political and
Decolonization
·
The Question of an International Regime for the
Jerusalem Area and the Protection of Holy Places. Last Summer’s
Camp David negotiations between Israel and Palestine broke down over the
question of Jerusalem. Israel has
occupied East Jerusalem since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Proposals for the establishment of an
international regime for the governance of Jerusalem, however, date back 1948
and the establishment of an Israeli state.
Delegates should review past and present proposals for an international
regime for the Jerusalem area as well as General Assembly resolutions on the
Israeli Occupation of East Jerusalem.
Delegates should also consider the relevance of international governance
to other contested areas of the world.
Communique (from the Issues Workshop)
·
Human Rights Abuses
and International Justice. Last year, a Spanish court sought to bring
charges against former Chilean dictator, Augosto Pinochet. While visiting the United Kingdom, Pinochet
was placed under house arrest while British officials decided whether or not to
extradite him to Spain for trial. Jack
Straw, the British Home Secretary, decided against extradition on account of
Pinochet’s deteriorating health.
Significantly, the principle of transnational accountability for human
rights abuses seems to have been affirmed in the process. Delegates to the fourth committee should
debate the implications of this episode for the administration of international
justice. They should prepare for this topic by considering the relevant
precedents to this episode, especially the Nuremberg trials conducted against
the leaders to Nazi Germany following that country’s defeat in World War
Two. Delegates should also consider the
experiences of UN Human Rights Tribunals in the Hague (with respect to the
conflict in Bosnia) and Tanzania (with respect to the genocide in Rwanda) as
well as the role of the International Court of Justice with respect to crimes
against humanity. The underlying
questions are: 1) should there be
transnational accountability for human rights abuses? 2) how should this form
of international justice be administered?
Communique (from the Issues Workshop)
NGO: Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/
United Nations
Commission on Sustainable Development
· The UN Commission on Sustainable Development was created to facilitate implementation of Agenda 21, a document that expresses an international consensus on achieving sustainable development in the 21st century. The Commission meets annually to review the progress that the international community has made in specific areas and to offer recommendations for further progress. In 2001, the Commission will consider the areas of atmosphere and energy. Delegates should prepare for this committee by reviewing their own nation’s positions and policies with respect to management of the atmosphere and the development of sustainable energy polices. Delegates should also familiarize themselves with the previous work of the international community on each of these topics.
Communique (from the Issues Workshop)
NGO:
Greenpeace: http://www.greenpeace.org/ and World
Business Council on Sustainable Development http://www.wbcsd.ch/aboutus.htm
Proposed Member States for 2001 Southwest Model United Nations
Africa Asia Europe The Americas
|
Mali SC, SD |
China SC, SD |
France SC, SD |
United States SC, SD |
|
Tunisia SC, SD |
India SD |
United Kingdom SC, SD |
Jamaica SC |
|
Namibia SC |
Bengladesh SC |
Netherlands SC, SD |
Argentina SC |
|
South Africa |
Malaysia SC |
Ukraine SC |
Canada SC, SD |
|
Mozambique SD |
Indonesia SD |
Russia SC |
Brazil SD |
|
Cote d’Ivorie
SD |
Pakistan SD |
Germany SD |
Mexico SD |
|
Democratic Republic of Congo SD |
Japan SD |
Italy SD |
Cuba SD |
|
Egypt SD |
Iran SD |
Czech Republic SD |
Colombia SD |
|
Libya SD |
North Korea SD |
Greece SD |
Guatemala SD |
|
Rwanda ** |
South Korea SD |
Hungary SD |
Nicaragua SD |
|
Tanzania |
Australia SD |
Ireland SD |
Peru SD |
|
Kenya |
Lebanon SD |
Poland SD |
Chile** |
|
|
New Zealand SD |
Spain SD |
|
|
|
Thailand SD |
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
|
|
|
Palestine** |
|
|
|
|
Israel** |
|
|
Abbreviations: SC = Security Council; SD = UN Commission on Sustainable Development
** signifies countries considered essential to specific agenda items.