1. No category

AU
The African Union
topics:
 Desertification
 Boko Haram
Chaired by the Honorable
Leo Leighton, Claire Grimes, and Emma Coopman
S i n c e
HBHS
April 25th, 2015
1 9 7 8
Novice
hbhsmun.webs.com
Huntington Beach High School Model United Nations
African Union
April 25th, 2015
Welcome to the African Union!
Greetings! My name is Leo Leighton, and currently I am a junior at HBHS.
This year is my 3rd in MUN but sadly, I’ve never chaired before. I can’t wait to be
one of your three chairs for Novice 37! Apart from school, my life consists of
lacrosse, my family, and my friends, which combined keep me very busy. The
African Union is an interesting committee because of the wide variety of topics
seen and I am especially excited to hear every second of debate on the two
topics we have prepared for you! Have fun!
Hi delegates! My name is Claire Grimes, and I am a junior here at HBHS. I
am so excited to be one of your chairs for this conference! This is my third year in
the MUN program, and I have loved every moment of it. Outside of school, I
enjoy spending most of my time outdoors, whether it’s on the soccer field or at
the beach. I also love to travel and experience new things. AU is one of the most
interesting committees, so I look forward to hearing all of your innovative
solutions and ideas at the conference! Have fun!
Hi everyone! My name is Emma Coopman and I will be one of your cochairs this year for the upcoming 2015 Novice Conference! This is my second
year in the MUN program at HBHS and it will be my first time chairing during a
conference as well. Outside of school and MUN, I play soccer for both the
school and club teams. Apart from sports, I participate in a community service
group called, Lions Heart, and am also a member of the Down Syndrome
Awareness Club at HBHS. I also enjoy going to the beach and hanging out with
my friends in my spare time. I’m really looking forward to chairing the AU
committee with my co-chairs and can’t wait to see what solutions you have in
store for us. Good luck!
Position Papers must be submitted to your Dais’s central email no later than 11:59 PM on
April 19th, 2015 to be considered for a Research Award. Research Awards will be presented
during committee; please be sure to follow the HBHSMUN Position Paper format available on
our website. Your Dais’s central email is: [email protected]
2
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648 I hbhsmun.webs.com I [email protected]
African Union
April 25th, 2015
I. Desertification
Topic Background
population relies on the land and the natural
resources it offers in order to survivevii. A
main issue is that excessive use of soil is
often necessary in most regions in order to
provide ample amounts of food to a
community; however, the overuse of soil for
these types of necessities often increases
the chances of being negatively impacted
by erosion with time, ultimately leading to
desertificationviii. In addition to this,
desertification also arises as an issue
simply as a result of the misuse and lack of
proper treatment of the soil. Commonly
occurring examples of this include, but are
not limited to: unsuitable or improper use of
fertilizer, the planting and harvesting of
crops that can be harmful to the soil or are
not meant to be tended to in dry
environments, and incorrect preparation of
the land before crops are planted.
In order to completely comprehend
why desertification is such a tremendous
issue, it must first be taken into
consideration that Africa suffers from a large
amount of poverty, with more than 70% of
its population residing in rural
environmentsix. Furthermore, more than 218
million people live in extreme poverty in
Sub-Saharan Africa alone, and this number
is continually increasingx. The lack of
economic stability within the continent
establishes a huge dependency on the land
for survival. Without the ability to properly
harvest crops in fertile soil that benefits the
environment, other issues such as
starvation will become more visible within
the area. Furthermore, desertification can
lead to even higher rates of unemployment,
as crops will be unable to grow in unfertile
soil that fails to give reliable growth
conditions. Diminishing the effects of
desertification will help to develop a greater
sense of sustainability throughout the
continent.
According to the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), desertification can be defined as
“land degradation in arid, semi-arid and subhumid areas resulting from various factors
including climatic variations and human
activitiesi.” Recent research and data
conducted by the UNCCD has proven that
over 24 billion tons of fertile soil disappears
annuallyii. Moreover, desertification
threatens more than a quarter of the global
environmentiii. One half of the land within
the African continent alone suffers from this
harsh degradation of the soil. In fact, it has
been predicted by the UN Food and
Agricultural Organization that if
desertification in the African regions has not
been put to a permanent stop by the year
2030, then Africa will completely lose two
thirds of its land that is absolutely necessary
for farming and other important economic
purposesiv.
Desertification typically occurs when
either one of two things happen: climatic
variations with extremely little rainfall, or
human activities that require overusing the
soil in order to provide agricultural
efficiencyv. In Africa, climatic variations are
one of the primary causes of desertification
because in areas with high temperatures,
the lack of yearly rainfall provides an
insufficient environment for vegetation,
which therefore leads to drought and dry
soil. In specific areas of Africa such as the
Horn and the Sahel, the effect of climatic
variations on the land is most noticeablevi.
These variations in temperature are harmful
to the soil, which makes them harmful to the
economy as they continue to put local
farmers and their businesses at risk.
Human activities play a main role in
African desertification as well, mostly
because the majority of the African
3
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648 I hbhsmun.webs.com I [email protected]
African Union
April 25th, 2015
Almarez and Eswaran published the “Land
Resource Stresses and Desertification in
Africa,” recognizing the importance of land
quality and how climate change can further
affect progress in African regions.xvii Lastly,
the most recent UN Convention on
Desertification Issues and Challenges took
place in 2014, addressing what nongovernmental organizations have been
aiding with, as well as what progression and
humanitarian help is still needed, in order to
pursue the goal of ending desertification
completely.xviii Throughout all these
conventions and conferences, nations were
able to get an overall basic understanding of
what they were up against, along with how
to overcome it fully.
Finally, many resolutions have been
passed reiterating plans of action and
solutions for the eradication of
desertification in African countries from the
late 1970’s to current day. Resolution
A/RES/44/172 focuses on the creation of
preparatory committee within the UNEP that
attends all conferences and only targets
desertification.xix The importance of the
promotion of desertification and land
sustainability, as well as dealing with
problems such as drought and malnutrition,
can be found in resolution A/RES/67/211.xx
The UN continues to aim towards bettering
all African communities that are being
affected by the drastic problems
desertification allows, however urges all
countries to work with them to speed up the
progression process faster to ensure
thorough eradication.
United Nations Involvement
The United Nations is viciously
working towards fulfilling the land in African
countries and trying to prevent further
desertification. Created in 2001, the AU has
been striving towards bettering the African
nations after being launched in order to
replace the Organization of African Unity, or
the OAU.xi However, major environmental
problems have been abrupt due to the
major problems that are imposed by
desertification. The most recent program of
action that has been set in place in 2014 is
called the Action Against Desertification,
which involved the collaboration between
the EU and the Food and Agricultural
Organization, or the FAO.xii Therefore,
these two organizations have been aiming
towards the management of drylands and
restoring them. The plan consists of
educating nations on how to bring about
income, increase jobs in these harsh
environments, help increase food security,
as well as managing their accessible
resources. By doing this, they will be able
to prevent further economic downfall in
countries that are losing excessive amounts
of income due to the lack of production and
the health of workers. Similarly an African
partnership was created and organized
through UNEP, or the United Nations
Environmental Programxiii known as The
Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the
Sahel Initiative. This program works towards
ending desertification and land degradation
completely.xiv
In May 1977, the UN held a
conference concerning desertification,
discussing the problems and benefits that
appeared within the resolutions’ drafts. A
specific resolution draft that was brought up
was the UNEP/GC/95,xv which was the first
draft regarding the Plan of Action to Combat
Desertification and further elaborated on the
1976 data and accounts that were collected
that explained the investment process.xvi In
addition, in the early 2000’s, both Dr.
Case Study: Botswana
Over half of the African continent is
either desert, or drylands and much of these
areas and the land around them is
deteriorating at harmful rates. Botswana, in
the Kalahari Desert climate, is the African
nation most affected by desertification and
the degradation of land, where it has
completely changed the livelihood of large
4
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648 I hbhsmun.webs.com I [email protected]
African Union
April 25th, 2015
parts of the nation. Natural occurrences
contribute to this issue, but in the case of
Botswana, large-scale farmers and herders
have irresponsibly taken too much from the
fragile ecosystem, which doesn’t have the
stability to replace what is taken. An
increase in the amount of people and
livestock present, the development of a
larger market for cattle, and water
prospecting have all pushed the people of
Botswana to move west towards the
Kalahari Desert and take even more from
the borders of this desert, allowing it to
expand. This process was started by the
fragility of the ecosystems in Botswana and
the arid areas within the country but instead
of working with these issues, the
government of Botswana went for years
allowing its people to take advantage of
short-term agricultural techniques without
any long-term solutions.
As a result of this desertification,
animal species are declining, drinking water
is becoming scarcer, flood failures are
ruining wildlife, livestock and crops,
groundwater is decreasing, wind-erosion is
increasing and the cycle of regrowth of
vegetation is halting. All of these factors
lead to an economy and a community where
fighting deforestation becomes even harder
because of the lack of resources. In
Botswana, the government is working very
hard to combat the degradation of land with
new policies and programs designed to limit
irresponsible use of land and provide costeffective alternatives for those who rely on
the land. Botswana sees the first step to
fighting desertification as containment so
they are focusing, with limited success, on
containing degrading land to smaller areas
before they make any attempt to reverse the
process.
II. Boko Haram
Topic Background
donations, drug trafficking, smuggling and
poaching which together easily cover their
relatively inexpensive operations. Since a
violent uprising in 2009, this group has been
becoming larger and more sophisticated
and in 2014, they were responsible for over
4,000 deaths including hundreds of
childrenxxi.
Current leader Abubakar Shekau
who seems to appear sporadically in videos
replaced the founder, Mohammed Yusuf,
killed in the 2009 uprising, but the Nigerian
military claims that the real Shekau has
been killed and any claiming to be him are
false.
In April of 2014, Boko Haram
kidnapped 276 Nigerian girls and, although
over 50 escaped initially, the rest are still
Boko Haram, translated loosely to
“Western education is forbidden,” is an
Islamic extremist movement with an initial
focus of opposing western influence. Based
in northern Nigeria, it now aims to rid the
country of its current government and
replace it with an Islamic regime, which has
caught a large amount of international
attention in recent months; it has been
named a terror group by the United States,
New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia, the United Arab Emirates and the
United Nations. The majority of funding for
this group comes from bank robberies,
ransoms from their many kidnappings,
5
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648 I hbhsmun.webs.com I [email protected]
African Union
April 25th, 2015
missing as Shekau claims to have sold
them into slaveryxxii. In January 2015, the
group seized Baga, a large Nigerian town
containing a sizable military base, and
burned much of it down, killing those who
tried to flee; some estimates put the death
toll near 2,000 but this is speculation as
Boko Haram still controls the area and
investigators can’t get close xxiii .
The
Nigerian government has dealt with these
terrorist acts in criticized ways such as
claiming that agreements had been made to
free the captive groups, and that the Baga
massacre had much less casualties than
other sources suggested.
Most recently, Boko Haram has
pledged its allegiance to the Middle Eastern
terror group ISIS in a video of a man
claiming to be Abubakar Shekau, which has
been responded to and approved by ISISxxiv.
Boko Haram has also made connections
with Al-Qaida and al-Shabab but their new
connection with ISIS is one between two
openly violent and warring terrorist groups
acting as militaries for a Islamic caliphate,
which could hold much more dangerous
results than previous alliances. It also
poses a new threat because the previous
Boko Haram alliances weren’t as close in
nature; Al-Qaida has held praise from
multiple Boko Haram operations because of
their unnecessary violencexxv.
Security Council Resolution 2083
recalls the dangers of terrorism and the
extreme threats to peace and society in
which terrorism imposes on the international
community xxvi .Throughout the entire
document, the Al-Qaida Sanctions List is
mentioned several times. The Al-Qaida
Sanctions List names and targets all in
association with Al-Qaida, whether it is
other terrorist groups or specific individuals.
Those found on the list have three sanction
measures imposed upon them: a freeze
upon assets, a travel ban, as well as an
embargo on armsxxvii. Last year, on May 22,
Boko Haram was added to the list by the
Security
Coucil
Al-Qaida
Sanctions
xxviii
Committee . Therefore, this declares that
any nation, group, or individual willing to
provide any means of aid to Boko Haram is
also at risk of being added to the sanctions
list. Security Council Resolutions 1267 and
1989 display further attempts to initiate
actions such as those seen against groups
within the Al-Qaida Sanctions List by
reporting individuals associated with the
terrorist groups at handxxix.
On March 13th of this year, a draft
resolution for the United Nations Security
Council has backed the establishment of a
force by Nigeria and its neighboring African
nations to take action against Boko
Haramxxx. The main objective of this force is
to “create a safe and secure environment in
the areas affected by the activities of Boko
Haram xxxi .” The African Union became
involved in this initiative through the
approval of a 10,000-troop force to take
further action in the issue xxxii . A donors’
conference is highly encouraged to take
place in the next month through this draft
resolution; moreover, this conference will be
coordinated by the African Union in order to
discover new entities for financial aid to
support the initiative. Furthermore, this draft
resolution sees it imperative that the global
community takes part in the action through
supplying assistance in intelligence and
information that could potentially provide a
United Nations Involvement
The United Nations has taken an
extremely active role in working to
effectively and efficiently combat the Boko
Haram terrorist group. Seeing as this issue
has posed a tremendous threat mostly
within the past two years, especially in the
first few months of 2015, the Security
Council, in coordination with the African
Union, has given several statements and
has taken several new initiatives in
response to the inhumane actions in which
Boko Haram has been a part of most
recently.
6
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648 I hbhsmun.webs.com I [email protected]
African Union
April 25th, 2015
more efficient prosecution of Boko Haram
terroristsxxxiii. More specifically, governments
are highly encouraged to provide names of
those providing either financial or material
support for Boko Haram so that their names
can be added to the sanctions list.
Boko Haram's deadliest act," Amnesty
International stated shortly after hearing the
newsxxxvii. Over the following five days that
the attacks took place, Boko Haram was
able to gain control over Baga, and more
importantly the multinational military base;
causing the terrorist group to become one
step closer to their goal of taking over
Nigeria. In fact, a major concern for the
state of Nigeria is that the attacks appeared
to occur five weeks in advance from the
presidential elections that have continuously
been pushed back. This indication of timing
confirms that the voting elections will be
more opposition-based, due to the lack of
supporters within the region. Furthermore,
the various methods of brutality and warfare
the Boko Haram militants have been using
in this attack of Baga, is seen as a major
concern for the well-being and stability of
the citizens that continue to stay in Nigeria.
Attacks made by them in the past include
numerous suicide bombings, the kidnapping
of over 276 schoolgirls from the Borno State
who are still reported as missing, and the
burning of oil refineries, religious buildings,
and homes filled with villagers in towns they
were currently raidingxxxviii. With this in
mind, African countries must remember the
destructive and harmful threats they inflict
on Nigeria.
Victims and survivors that shared
their horrifying experiences with The
Guardian, CNN, and other news reporters,
state that a major concern for the state of
Nigeria now would be trying to solve the
refugee crisis and the furthering
displacement of the Nigerian people. As of
right now, there are currently 30,000 IDP’s
and 13,000 refugees who have been trying
to reach safety in neighboring countries,
such as Cameroon, Chad, and the Central
African Republicxxxix. In addition, the
UNHCR has been working with countries to
help establish equal humanitarian aid
distribution to the refugees and help with the
funds countries need in order to continue
with refugee camps. Boko Haram continues
Case Study: Nigeria
Nigeria houses one of the most
violent, yet ever-growing terrorist groups
known throughout the world, Boko Haram.
In the past year, Boko Haram has been
accused of killing up to 10,000 people alone
within Nigeriaxxxiv. As seen in the past, Boko
Haram, has made it clear they will use
violent, diminishing methods to reach their
goal of a centralized Islamic State through
the implementation of Sharia law. For
example, the continuance of attacks on
many cities within Nigeria through suicide
bombings and the setting of towns on fire
have shown relations between the terrorist
group adjoining with other rebel and
religious-extremist groups. Moreover, ISIS
recently declared the partnership between
Boko Haram and themselves to achieve the
caliphate soonerxxxv. Due to the demand for
the Nigerian government to gain control
over the extremist group, as well as have
protection available to all citizens, Boko
Haram has pursued further detrimental
attacks and raids which have ended in
disastrous results and pushed back the
elections within Nigeria due to the serious
problems the group imposes.
On January 3, 2015 Boko Haram
razed the entire town of Baga, which is
located in the Borno State of Nigeria. Here,
Abubaker Shekau, Boko Haram’s leader,
claimed the religious-extremist group killed
about 2,000 people and attacked another 16
towns, meanwhile wrecking more than
3,700 buildings in the processxxxvi. The
attacks started when Boko Haram militants
opened fire on the city of Baga; therefore,
announcing that, ”The attack on Baga and
surrounding towns looks as if it could be
7
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648 I hbhsmun.webs.com I [email protected]
African Union
April 25th, 2015
to strike more often against major cities and
locations within Nigeria. Thus, all countries
must take these threats into consideration
before deciding on a unanimous plan of
action to overcome the growing terrorist
group.
8
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648 I hbhsmun.webs.com I [email protected]
African Union
April 25th, 2015
Questions to Consider
Desertification:
1. Does your country combat desertification within its own borders or help any other
country combat desertification?
2. What are some ways for countries to provide incentives and alternatives for farmers and
herders to use less profitable, but more stable techniques?
3. What are some solutions as to how desertification be prevented in the future?
4. What roles do your country play in regards to economic and sustainable development for
agriculture?
Boko Haram:
1. Does your country view Boko Haram as a terrorist group? If not, should the international
community let them wage war within Nigeria freely?
2. Has your country been affected in any way by Boko Haram? If so, how?
3. How does your country believe that terrorism should be dealt with?
4. If your country has dealt with or is currently dealing with terrorism, what are some
actions that your country has taken in order to attempt to provide protection for its
people?
i
http://www.unesco.org/mab/doc/ekocd/chapter1.html
ii
Ibid.
iii
http://www.unccd.int/en/regional-access/Africa/Pages/alltext.aspx
iv
http://www.un.org/africarenewal/web-features/desertification-threat-africa’s-development
v
http://www.unesco.org/mab/doc/ekocd/chapter1.html
vi
http://www.unccd.int/en/regional-access/Africa/Pages/alltext.aspx
vii
http://www.unesco.org/mab/doc/ekocd/chapter1.html
viii
Ibid.
ix
http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/region/home/tags/africa
x
Ibid.
xi
http://www.au.int
xii
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/261498/icode/
xiii
http://www.unep.org
xiv
http://www.fao.org/partnerships/great-green-wall/great-green-wall-home/en/
xv
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.Print.asp?DocumentID=65&ArticleID=1295
&l=en
xvi
http://www.unep.org/Documents.multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=65&ArticleID=1255&l=en
xvii
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/use/?cid=nrcs142p2_054025
xviii
http://www.e-ir.info/2014/04/30/united-nations-convention-to-combat-desertification-issuesand-challenges/
xix
http://www.un-documents.net/a44r172.htm
9
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648 I hbhsmun.webs.com I [email protected]
African Union
April 25th, 2015
xx
http://www.preventionweb.net/files/resolutions/N1249126.pdf
xxi
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/boko-haram-deadliest-massacre-baga-nigeria
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-31862992
xxii
xxiii
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/boko-haram-claims-nigeria-massacre-killed-2-000article-1.2086546
xxiv
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/09/africa/boko-haram-violence/
xxv
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/09/africa/boko-haram-violence/
xxvi
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/boko-haram-deadliest-massacre-baga-nigeria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Boko_Haram_insurgency
xxvii
xxviii
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/10/boko-haram-escapee-yanaye-gremaislamist-fighters-baga-nigeria
xxix
http://daccess-dds-
ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N12/652/82/PDF/N1265282.pdf?OpenElement
xxx
http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/aq_sanctions_list.shtml
xxxi
http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11410.doc.htm
xxxii
http://daccess-dds-
ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N14/672/81/PDF/N1467281.pdf?OpenElement
xxxiii
http://www.channelstv.com/2015/03/13/a-u-seeks-u-n-fund-for-boko-haram/
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/UN-boosts-assistance-in-fight-against-BokoHaram_18557905
xxxv Ibid.
xxxvi Ibid.
xxxvii Ibid.
xxxviii Ibid.
xxxix Ibid.
xxxiv
10
1905 Main Street Huntington Beach, CA 92648 I hbhsmun.webs.com I [email protected]