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Letter from the Secretary-General
Dear Representatives of the Distinguished Nations,
I, in lieu of the Secretariat, am thrilled to welcome you to the third annual session of
Kabataş Model United Nations Conference). I, Orçun DOĞMAZER, have been
studying at Kabataş Erkek Lisesi for four years and am receiving the privilege to
serve as the third Secretary-General of this society.
KMUN Conference is the biggest student initiated organization in the illustrious 107
years old history of this community. How Buckingham Palace was used by King
George III to host diverse reputed bureaucrats and royal families, likewise Kabataş
High School was utilized to serve for those certain purposes at the times of Ottoman
Empire. KMUN 2013 and KMUN 2014 have the distinctive honor to comprise more
than 350 national and international participants. As it was planned and announced a
year ago, the conference will be hosting more than 500 participants coming from
various countries in 10 different committees this year.
Academic and organization teams of the conference have been challenging
themselves to set a different level of understanding in MUN for KMUN’s participants.
Experiencing both of the previous editions of KMUN, this year`s KMUN will differ from
its previous editions by not only mixing the interesting sides of the Model UN
examples in Turkey, but will also try its best to combine the understanding of the
international Model UN.
All the research reports of the conference are written by the directors of the
respective committees with the guidance of the academic team of the conference. I
do thank the Student Officers namely Bartu Kutlu and Panagiotis Manolopoulos for
writing this very guide for the GA-2. Appreciating their efforts on this research report,
I do believe that this report will be a great start for our participant’s on their
researches to prepare themselves for the debates on the given agenda items.
In case you require any further instruction as to the academic content of the GA-2),
you may always contact your Committee Directors or me via
[email protected].
After a year full of work and dedication, I do believe that KMUN 2015 will manage to
create its dreamed atmosphere by taking further steps on its previous editions.
Orçun DOĞMAZER
Secretary-General
1
Letter from the PGA
Dear Participants,
I consider it my greatest pleasure to join the student officers of the GA-2 in
welcoming you all to Kabatas Model UN 2015.
On the following pages of this document, there might be various challenges
that await you, assorted problems that the rest of the world has failed in
addressing to a satisfactory extent so far. I am not sure if the nature of my
position permits me to say so, but I have to assert there`s absolutely no denial
that what is expected of you is abundantly demanding, so much so that it is
quite likely to end up being rather quixotic, just the opposite of what we all
have striven for.
Yet, this should not lead you to underestimate your skills, capabilities and the
potential you have to offer whether you attempt to recreate a momentous
event in history and alter it or cope with the contemporary obstacles on our
way to stamp out the instability worldwide, and I truly am confident that this
report will manage to enlighten your way throughout the journey that you have
dared to go on.
If you feel the need to, you may contact the committee directors or me via
[email protected] to make any enquiries relating to academic
matters.
Have it mind that the slightest change we manage to generate will grow into
something greater in time, and this May is meant to be the beginning of that
change.
Regards,
Oya Gursoy
President of the General Assembly
2
Letter from the Student Officers
Dear Delegates of GA2 Economic and Financial Committee,
“We are here to make a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why even be here?” This
rather inspiring quote is a simple yet effective definition of what MUN represents. The
heavy burden of diplomacy rests on the shoulders of enthusiastic high school students. For several days students from all over the world meet and take part in diplomatic talks in this intellectually demanding experience. This being the case I feel a
deep sense of respect for all delegates attending KMUN 2015. I also want to thank
the kind KMUN executive team for their assistance and making this conference possible.
It will be a delight to serve as the chairs for the Economic and Financial Committee
with Panagiotis. We have put a lot of effort into this study guide and I sincerely hope
it proves useful in preparing you for the conference. As for myself, I am currently attending Uskudar American Academy. I have been doing MUN for almost 5 years now
and KMUN 2015 will actually be my 20th conference. I simply love being a part of
what I like to call the MUN Family. It is always a delight to take a break from our demanding academic struggles and serve as diplomats once in a while. Thanks to
MUN, I have made precious friendships and have travelled to many different parts of
the world, a few being Jordan, Italy, Holland and United Arab Emirates. Besides
MUN, I actively take part in Greenpeace activities and served as the Budget and
Sponsorship Manager for our schools very own Tedx Conference. I hope to study in
the USA and long for a career in Business and Management.
It is with great privilege that I introduce my fellow chair Panagiotis. Even though we
haven’t really been able to meet in person, Panagiotis definitely showed his fun personality during the preparation meetings. First off, he lives in Greece. He studies in
the 14th General High School of Thessaloniki. He is currently a senior and was recently admitted to the Erasmus University Rotterdam so congratulations! Amongst
his hobbies he names volleyball and football. He has won several championships
with his volleyball team in Thessaloniki. KMUN will be his 9th MUN conference, unfortunately his last as a high school student. He is eager to meet all of you as much
as me, maybe even more considering the distance he is travelling.
With less than a month to go until the conference, I wish everyone a good time and
look forward to meeting every single one of you.
Yours sincerely,
Bartu Kutlu
President of GA2
3
Topic A: Developing Regulations to Generate and Sustain
Green Growth through Maintaining a Balance between Industrialism and Preservation of Nature
Introduction
In terms of economics, economic growth refers to the increase in a country’s
gross domestic product, in other words its total real output. A vast majority of
economies experience economic growth yet very few experience green
growth as well. A nations capability to increase the value of real output, while
ensuring environmental sustainability determines its rate of green growth.
Currently, our world has a multitude of examples of economic growth whereas
only some countries cope with the challenges of remaining environmentally
sustainable. Many economists express the desperate need for green economies and voice their concerns about the current status of the world. Industrialism has shredded many countries vision and caused them to fail understand
the significance of environmental harmony. It will be the Economic and Financial committees’ responsibility to reiterate once and for all that our world cannot survive rapid economic growth without careful consideration of environmental damage. This study will hopefully provide an insight on the conflict and
define some key terms and concepts.
Definition of Key Terms and Concepts
Gross-domestic
product
(GDP)
GDP is defined as the market
value of all final goods and services produced in a country over
a time period. Economists tend
to use a measure called Real
GDP which is basically the real
4
value of total output, without taking inflation or deflation into account. A country’s economic growth is represented with an increase in real GDP over time;
hence this value is an important indicator/variable. GDP includes all sorts of
consumer expenditure, government spending, investments and net exports.
Ultimately, GDP provides information about a country’s rate of production
however; GDP is not a measure of life standards. The determinants of life
quality are totally different and are not associated with GDP. The false premise that these two are related causes most problems concerning environmental damage.
Green GDP:
Green GDP will be an important term used throughout the study guide. Green
GDP is found by subtracting the value of resource and environmental destruction from a country’s GDP. This measurement is precisely difficult bearing in
mind the fact that economists need to calculate the monetary value of damage caused to the environment. Green GDP is often praised by economists as
it clearly shows a countries progress and its impacts on sustainability.
Economic Growth:
Countries produce an amount of goods in a certain amount of time. The
changes in the amount of goods produced causes positive or negative economic growth. An increase in total output leads to positive economic growth
whereas a decrease in the amount of output leads to negative economic
growth. A vast majority of states experience constant economic growth and
Free-Market Economy Theory suggests that there is always economic growth
in economies despite changes in the short-run.
Green Growth:
Similar to economic growth, Green GDP is
the change in the value of Green GDP. The
5
utilization of Green GDP rather than Real GDP makes it possible for economists to evaluate environmental progress of countries. As mentioned before,
most countries are economically growing however only very few are experiencing Green Growth. This state poses risk to the environment as well as the
global economy and will be investigated later on.
Sustainability:
Sustainability is defined as the capability to utilize something without depleting
it but preserving it over time. Many of the resources we use aren’t sustainable,
some important examples being coal, petrol and natural gas. Evidently, these
resources will be depleted after a certain amount of time and cannot be used
forever. This rather worrisome matter has started the search for environmentally sustainable resources better known as renewable energy sources. The
shift to renewable energy sources will be discussed in the following chapters.
Focused Overview of the Issue:
The world is starting to acknowledge the importance of Green Growth yet the
current measures taken in regards to environmental sustainability aren’t
enough. The world is rapidly depleting its fossil fuel reserves, cutting down
trees, causing pollution and ultimately resulting in the loss of biodiversity. The
time has come to put an end to these flaws and this chapter will focus on the
main lacks in the ongoing state of the world.
Excessive use of Fossil Fuels
“A fundamental transformation is required in the way we produce, deliver and
consume energy.” (OECD Green Growth Strategy for Energy) Presently, the
utilization of fossil fuels for energy purposes constitute for %84 for of all
greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Unfortunately, due to population
growth and industrialization the demand for oil and coal is increasing year by
year. Earth’s fossil fuel reserves will not be able to withstand more severe ex-
6
ploitation and will be depleted. OECD thus calls for new governmentally policies focusing more on renewable energy sources. These policies aim to provide cleaner energy by decreasing Carbon dioxide emissions and by increasing efficiency. OECD claims that with an adequate amount of investment in
the energy sector, the world can decrease Carbon Dioxide emissions by %50.
Causes of Excessive Fossil Fuel Utilization:
Current factories, and the industry sector is mostly energy-inefficient, meaning
a lot of usable energy is going to waste.
Fossil Fuels are very commonly used for transportation despite advancements in hybrid engines.
Many companies in the private sector decide not the implement new energy
policies because they are intimidated by possible costs.
Nuclear Energy:
Nuclear energy is the energy stored in the nucleus of an atom. Nuclear plants
produce energy by a reaction called nuclear fission, which is basically a
method to split an atom. The reaction causes a burst of energy in extreme
amounts in the form of light and heat. Uranium is an element commonly used
for nuclear fission.
Nuclear Power Plants are tremendously useful in terms of producing energy
and some developed countries such as France
tend to establish Nuclear Power Plants. Yet
there is an ongoing debate on whether this process is too risky or not. First of it is reasonable
to list the advantages of nuclear power. Nuclear
power plants produce close to no carbon gas
emissions, differing from the environmentally
harmful fossil fuels. Uranium, only the size of a
fingertip can generate energy as much as 564
liters of oil. Considering this abundance of energy, changes in the price of
uranium doesn’t necessarily affect energy prices. The reliance on nuclear en-
7
ergy has made many countries energy independent. As with the example of
France, a country without oil and without much coal, nuclear power plants
have managed to produce 78% of the country’s energy needs.
Nuclear power seems relatively cleaner, a lot more efficient and easier nevertheless there is one major drawback. Nuclear power is risky business. The
residue left from the reaction, uranium waste, emits radiation and should be
stored. So far, a proper way of disposing nuclear waste has not been found
therefore uranium wastes are stored underground. In the unlikely event that
nuclear waste makes contact with soil or water, many sicknesses such as
cancer can occur. Nuclear waste must be stored in steel containers and be
placed underground. Another frightening scenario is the case of nuclear accidents. Major catastrophes may occur such as Fukushima Daicii accident and
the Chernobyl accident. The Chernobyl accident occurred because the nuclear plant lacked an adequate containment structure, resulting in the release
of uranium waste into the atmosphere. The accident hundreds of thousands of
citizens and it was reported that 4.827 children, living near the power plant
was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
Some scientists suggest different ways of generating nuclear energy such as
nuclear fusion rather than nuclear fission however many countries are frightened by the risk of an accident. The question of whether there should be a
shift to nuclear energy still remains unanswered and delegates of KMUN 2015
should reflect on their countries perceptions.
Renewable Energy Sources:
Solar Power:
Solar power converts the energy received from the sun into electricity. Solar
energy systems are completely sustainable and do not emit carbon dioxide.
Close to all environmentalists support the proliferation of solar energy systems considering their benefits. At the moment Germany is the world leader in
solar power usage generating close to half of global solar energy. Spain, Ja-
8
pan and the United States are other countries producing important amounts of
solar energy.
Wind Energy:
Wind turbines are tools capable of
capturing wind’s energy and converting it to mechanical energy. This process is similar to the functioning of
windmills and generates clean, sustainable energy. Today, man y private
sector entrepreneurs as well as countries have started to build wind turbines in order to produce vast amounts of
electricity. Similar to solar energy, Germany is the world leader for wind energy productions, followed by US, Spain and India. A significant issue with wind
power is the fact that there might not be adequate wind during certain times of
the season. This problem makes it vital to build wind turbines in appropriate
windy areas.
Hydropower:
Hydropower is defined as the power obtained from the force of water flow.
The movement of water is converted to electricity by dams. Hydroelectric
power plants are composed of these dams, turbines and generators. The
gush of water is used to generate clean and renewable energy however as
with most energy sources there are setbacks, mainly being in relation to agriculture. Water scarcity is followed by agricultural problems ultimately leading
to struggle for food. It is known that due to this problem many communities
have relocated and left their homelands. In addition to water scarcity, Hydroelectric Power Plants also require special care in order to work for long periods
of time. Lastly, hydroelectric plants do also affect aquatic biodiversity negatively. This wide range of positive and negative outcomes has led to controversy regarding the establishment of Hydroelectric Power Plants in rural areas.
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Presently, hydropower constitutes for 89% of all electricity produced by renewable energy sources. China is the leading country in hydropower and is
followed by Brazil and Canada. Countries with rivers and waterfalls are reasonably more suitable for Hydroelectric Power Plants.
Energy Policies for the Future
According to many economists and environmentalists, there are many ways of
combatting this issue. One very effective measure is the increased usage of
carbon capture and storage systems. Carbon capture and storage systems
(CCS) can capture 90 percent of all carbon gas emissions thus contributing to a
cleaner environment. Another very important strategy is increased emphasis
on renewable energy sources. It is certainly obligatory for countries to subsidize
renewable energy sources such as wing
and solar energy. As of now, renewable
energy systems are unfortunately more expensive than fossil fuels however
the prices of renewable energy systems are drastically decreasing. Several
regulations in regards to low-carbon emission technologies, and granting subsidies to companies that are eco-friendly might prove very useful in terms of
environmental sustainability. OECD asserts that governments should invest 2
to 5 times more on research concerning new environmental technologies.
These possible solutions combined with an effort of lessening fossil fuel usage and condemning companies refraining from taking appropriate measures
would definitely have beneficial consequences.
Food and Agriculture
Green Growth aims to utilize natural resources while preserving them in the
long-run. In order for the current population of the world, to preserve nutrition
resources for the sake of future generations, it is essential to stress more on
10
green growth. The challenge to provide food to everyone is an extremely difficult one, considering poverty. In addition to this grave matter, the world must
come up with sustainable methods of producing food. Optimal usage of resources, avoiding waste should be stressed yet again if we are to leave a safe
world for generations to come. During an Agricultural Ministers meeting at
OECD in 2010, a communique was written on the topic of green growth. In it,
ministers from around the globe have acknowledged the need for agricultural
sustainability and have promised to cooperate in any way they can. Agricultural Green Growth strategy is based on a couple of key objectives. These objectives are the conservation of biodiversity, the correct management of
scarce resources, reducing carbon intensity and avoiding negative impacts on
the food chain.
Major Organizations Involved
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
OECD’s main goal is to foster economic cooperation and enhance the
social status of people as well as
countries all over the world. OECD
has published invaluable reports and
papers on Green Growth and has made this objective among their top priorities. OECD currently has 34 member states and looks for further membership.
World Bank
World Bank is an organization aiming to eradicate poverty and promote global prosperity. In order to achieve
its aim, World Bank supports development hence,
Green Growth. Considering that the World Bank constantly gives loans for development goals, its funds would be a valuable asset
to any possible solution proposition.
11
Relevant Documents, Treaties and UN Resolutions
OECD Declaration on Green Growth
OECD Declaration on Green Growth has 42 signatory states as of now. The
document provides the basic principles and the basic framework needed for
global Green Growth. The document is a highly validated piece and serves as
a paradigm for future policies. Numerous analyses, surveys and observations
are also included in the document
Global Green Growth Institute in the United Nations
Global Green Growth Institute has been granted an observer status in the
General Assembly Legal Committee on November 2013. This status gives the
institute the right to speak in the General Assembly as well as to participate in
lobbying and in caucuses. They have published several relevant documents
on topics stemming from Green Growth such as the “Green Agricultural Policies and Poverty Reduction” and “Country Selection Project: A methodology
to identify countries’ green growth potential” reports.
UN Resolutions
A/RES/67/215 on the promotion of new and renewable sources of energy
A/RES/65/151 declaring 2012 the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Points to Consider while Preparing a Resolution
Green Growth is a major issue consisting of many different aspects. One sincere advice would be to focus on solving one aspect of the issue at a time in
order to come up with more effective and knowledgeable solutions. As explained in the report, there are many lacking measures in regards to energy
management. Resolutions aiming to regulate the usage of fossil fuels or to
monitor nuclear power plants might prove useful if supported with substantial
12
amount of information. As the president chair I would strongly suggest you to
read more on the topic and develop comprehensive and feasible clauses for
your resolution.
Always bear in mind that despite all possible connotations, the shift to green
economies is often very difficult and more importantly very costly. Seek the
help of IMF and the World Bank while proposing widespread changes or regulations.
One last point to consider would be your countries stance on the issue. If you
are a member state making profit out of fossil fuels, it wouldn’t be the best decision to cut oil production at once considering your loss of revenue. Try to
reach a consensus without neglecting your countries views.
Bibliography
"What Is CCS?" The Carbon Capture & Storage Association. CCSA, n.d.
Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
Heinrichs, Ann. Sustaining Earth's energy resources. New York: Marshall
Cavendish Benchmark, 2011. Print.
Miller, Debra A. Oil. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. Print.
OECD (2011), Energy, OECD Green Growth Studies, OECD Publishing.
OECD (2012), Food and Agriculture, OECD Green Growth Studies, OECD
Publishing.
13
Topic B: Assessing The Sahel Nutrition Crisis in terms of developing strategies to overcome financial problems in the
food-insecure areas
Introduction to the topic
Sahel is an area between the northern Sahara Desert and the southern Sudanian Savanna. It includes parts of the southern Algeria, Burkina Faso,
Cameroon, central Chad, Eritrea, Gambia, central Mali, southern Mauritania,
Niger, northern Nigeria, Senegal and parts of Sudan and South Sudan. Moreover, the specific region is among the poorest and one of the most vulnerable
regions of the world throughout the years. Political agitation, severe climatic
conditions and fragile economies have colluded to rent this region into a near
catastrophic state. It
is simultaneously facing the challenges of
chronic extreme poverty,
and
frequent
food
nutrition
crises
and the consequences of rapid climate
change. Also, the Sahelian countries are
characterized
expeditious
tion
growth,
with
populafragile
governance, economic fraud crimes and unresolved internal tensions. The woman’s rights are violated on a daily basis and year after year, more and more children die due to
high levels of malnutrition and malaria. Therefore, urgent and efficient reformations need to be taken to improve the condition in the region. The situation
is up to your hands delegates and you are the ones that could change it!
14
History of the problem
All countries of the Sahel region have experienced consecutive food and nutrition crises, droughts and floods throughout the years. The foremost reason for
these crises is that the Sahel area is characterized by strong climatic variations and irregular levels of annual rainfall due to its special geographic location. Therefore, climate variability poses one of the biggest obstacles to the
achievement of food security and poverty reduction in the region.
The vicious cycle of droughts and floods in the Sahel region started around
1640, according to reports of European travelers. Several wet decades followed by droughts were repeated also during the 18th century and killed hundreds of thousands of people. During the 1740s and 1750s the "Great Famine" hit the area of
today’s
Northern
Nigeria, Niger and
Mali causing massive dislocation of
the Sahelian countries and disrupted
the trade routes to
North
Africa
and
Europe. In the 19th
century the situation worsened as
very dry conditions
caused the first large scale emigration in the Sahel region. This phenomenon
led to a variety of fatal diseases and land degradation and desertification in
localized areas of the Sahel. During the late 20th century, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, central Chad, Niger and northern Nigeria faced extremely low levels of
rainfall, ending up with harsh droughts and the first very severe food crisis.
The daily life of millions of people changed completely and the agriculture
sector was neglected for a short period. The degraded health system crashed
completely and the number of diseases increased rapidly across the Sahel
region and caused thousands deaths of children.
15
By the new millennium, the countries of the Sahel region entered into a series
of food and nutrition crises once again. The first one appeared in the Niger at
2005 and it was caused by insect’s damages to pasturelands, high food prices, and timeless poverty. In total, 800,000 people faced extreme food insecurity and 2.4 million considered being highly vulnerable to food insecurity.
Some years later, in particular during 2010 and 2012, the specific region
faced
the
worst
droughts in the history. This resulted
into extreme starvation, failed crops,
rapid
increase
in
food prices and internal conflicts. Totally,
18
million
people were affected by the food and
nutrition crisis and
the really high temperatures caused a variety of diseases, which unfortunately
resulted in many deaths of vulnerable groups, and localized environmental
degradation. Right after these catastrophic phenomena, the international
community responded immediately by sending humanitarian and financial aid
to these countries.
Current Situation
Although the continuous efforts made by United Nations bodies, governments
and numerous NGOs to fight the food and nutrition crisis at the region of the
Sahel, the situation still remains of a great concern. Today, the number of
people that are affected by the food insecurity has climbed to nearly 20 million; it is expected that this number will increase massively in 2015. According
to very recent reports of international organizations, 2.6 million people already
require urgent food assistance and 1 million children face extreme risk of se-
16
vere acute malnutrition. These are the results of the chronic food insecurity,
poor harvests and pasture deficits in 2014 in specific localized areas. However, the situation is starting to be worrying as most of the vulnerable families
turn to survival strategies such as contracting debts, reducing the number of
daily meals and selling productive assets, and thus depleting their scarce resources. The deep meaning of these acts is that the following months are crucial.
The countries of the Sahel didn’t face only food crises, droughts and floods,
but
also
internal
conflicts, mostly in
Mali
and
Nigeria,
which have recently
caused
population
displacements and
economic instability
in the region. The
refugees live under
terrible
conditions
and their food reserves are so limited, that they rely on the resources of their host communities. Furthermore,
the unusual movements of herders and agro-pastoralists heated the competition over natural resources and cultivated areas, increasing the risk of confrontation between local communities.
Response of the international communities
The response of the international communities towards helping the Sahelian
countries in need was as useful as the United Nations’ response, which is further analyzed below. The organization that had a primary role for the financial
aid towards the countries of the Sahel area was the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and in particular the Development Assistance Committee. Next figure shows the overall financial aid towards the
17
countries of the Sahel
by the Member-States
of the Official Development Assistance, a
term created by the
Development
Assis-
tance Committee. Furthermore, the International Fund for Agricultural Development worked to improve the situation in the region by establishing the Sahelian Areas Development Fund Programme in 1999. This programme provided financial support
measures to the countries of the region to expand services and production,
but also to enhance marketing and social infrastructure development. Noticeably also, in the mid-1980s the UK government had created the association
“SOS Sahel International UK”, as a response to the droughts and famine
across the Sahel countries. It started with projects in Sudan, Mali and Ethiopia
and later on it expanded to Niger and Kenya.
The second period of the catastrophic droughts, floods and famine in the Sahel area was in the mid-2000s and it was more devastating than the previous
one. In that way, the response of the international community had to be bigger
and more efficient, and indeed it was. The US government provided the affected countries with more than $120 million for programmes related to food
insecurity and soil and water conservation. Furthermore, the European Commission instantly gathered €15 million for humanitarian aid operations to assist vulnerable people directly affected by the food crisis in Niger. Top priority
of these operations was to recuperate; in other words, to relief the severely
and moderately malnourished people with nutritional activities, and to reinforce the production capacities of the agricultural families. Finally, many governments and private individuals offered additional financial aid to the affected
area. Thus, the financial aid offered by non UN bodies had reached 47% of
the total one.
18
Measures taken by United Nations
From the early beginning of these consecutive crises that broke up in the region of the Sahel, the United Nations were really active in the matter. That
was shown by the quick establishment of the United Nations Sahelian Office,
right after the first droughts and famine that hit the Sahel area in late 1970s, in
order to address the problems in the region. Furthermore, the United Nations
General Assembly in its 28th session passed two significant resolutions regarding the issue in question. The first one aimed towards taking appropriate
measures to overcome the droughts and famine that stroke in the region of
the Sahel (A/RES/3054), whereas the second one was to provide aid to the
Sudano-Sahelian populations threatened with famine (A/RES/3153). Another
main body of the United Nations, in particular the Economic and Social Council, passed crucial resolutions regarding the matter. All of them aimed to provide large value of financial and technical assistance to the Sudano-Sahelian
region. Last but not least, the Food and Agriculture Organization proved to be
a key player, as it organized and supervised emergency relief operations in
the affected countries. Finally, in February and March of 1974, the SecretaryGeneral, Kurt Waldheim, visited a number of countries in the SudanoSahelian area where the United Nations had undertaken major relief operations to assist the victims of a prolonged drought.
By the new millennium, the region of the Sahel entered into a new series of
food and nutrition crises, droughts and floods; however, this time they were
more catastrophic for the area. Thus, the response of the United Nations had
to be urgent and very quick. The start was given by the World Food Programme of the United Nations, which immediately sent humanitarian aid to
Niger and Mali in 2005, in order to start emergency operations for 400,000
people in the region. Moreover, the United Nations Children’s Fund took some
very efficient measures to treat children with severe and acute malnutrition
and to reduce the effects of household food insecurity. Additionally, the same
year, the United Nations implemented the Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification,
Particularly in Africa in order to improve the situation.
19
Some years later, during 2010 and 2012, all countries of the region faced the
worst food insecurity period. As the consequences were disastrous for the
people in the Sahel, the financial and humanitarian aid had to be enormous
and well organized. Once again, the key player of the international community
was the Food and Agriculture Organization, a body organization of the United
Nations. This organization, only in 2012, helped more than 6 million people
regarding food and crop production, soil and water conservation and rehabilitation projects. Furthermore, the Food and Agriculture Organization published
a report, the “Strategic Response Framework to the Food and Nutrition Crisis
in the Sahel”, which
mainly targets to
support the vulnerable
communities
through enhancing
better
agricultural
production.
The
United Nations Education
and
Science
Cultural
Or-
ganization provided
lifesaving treatment
to
more
than
850,000 children in
2011, which was characterized as the largest humanitarian effort of its kind
ever in the Sahel region. Another United Nations’ response towards the Sahel
was through the World Food Programme. Totally, it provided food to more
than 6 million people each month, so as to overcome the nutrition and food
insecurity. Finally, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and
its partners also mobilized resources and assisted communities in need. In
late February, the United Nations announced $2 billion financial package towards the Sahelian countries, where erratic weather and escalating violence
have worsened widespread of hunger and malnutrition.
20
Points to include in a satisfactory resolution/Main points of conflict
A satisfactory resolution to overcome the financial problems in the foodinsecure regions of the Sahel that struggle with food and nutrition crisis should
include the following points:
Suggest governments to take appropriate short-term measures to keep
the food prices steady.
Find ways to increase the medical treatment for the high vulnerability
communities, especially for the young children and improve the health
system.
Governments of the Sahel region should introduce appropriate regulations to enhance food security stocks.
Establish investment projects to boost the neglected agriculture sector;
improve agricultural technologies and develop small scale irrigation
schemes.
Set up projects aimed to overcome soil erosion and to enhance soil
and water conservation.
Improve information delivery and links to local, national and regional
markets.
Create working groups of governmental experts to fight against corruption and economic fraud crimes.
Bibliography
History of the problem
1) http://www.simonbatterbury.net/pubs/geogmag.html
2) http://www.unep.org/Themes/Freshwater/Documents/pdf/ClimateChange
SahelCombine.pdf
3) http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16967-africa-trapped-inmegadrought-cycle.html#.VRCHUfmsUwB
21
Current situation
1) http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/oct/22/populationgrowth-outpaces-food-sahel-study
Measures taken by United Nations
1) http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/3054(XXVI
II)&Lang=E&Area=RESOLUTION
2) http://www.unicef.org/media/media_27620.html
Response of the international communities
1) http://www.ifad.org/pub/enviorn/EnvironENG.pdf
2) http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2005/08/20050810170610
ihecuor0.3518183.html#axzz3Um3jqzuS
3) http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2013/sahel-oneregion-many-crises
4) http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/12/us-sahel-appeal-unidUSKBN0LG2I420150212
5) http://www.sahel.org.uk/history.html
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