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 TarbutMUN 2014
UNICEF
United Nations Children’s Fund
Topic A
How to raise a prodigy
Topic B
Child Marriage
Dear delegates:
It is our distinct honour to welcome you to the 3rd session of Tarbut Model United
Nations, and our great pleasure in introducing ourselves as your chair for the
United Nations Children’s fund Committee.
You will have the opportunity to discuss about the child marriage and also debate
about how to raise a prodigy.
We are absolutely delighted to be your chair this year, and so excited to help
create a wonderful, engaging, and insightful Model United Nations experience.
Sincerely.
Salomon Nakash
---President of the
committee
Jennifer Silberstein
EliasHale
-----
-----
Vice-president of the
committee
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Secretary of the
committee
UNICEF
UNICEF, acronym of United Nations Children’s Fund, formerly (1946–53) United
Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund,
special program of the United Nations (UN), devoted to aiding national efforts to
improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.
After World War II, European children face famine and disease. UNICEF is created
in December 1946 by the United Nations to provide food, clothing and health care
to them.
In 1953 Unicef becomes permanent part of the UN. The UN General Assembly
extends UNICEF’s mandate indefinitely. UNICEF begins a successful global
campaign against yaws, a disfiguring disease affecting millions of children, and one
that can be cured with penicillin.
Unicef is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child
are realized. Unicef has the global authority to influence decision-makers, and the
variety of partners at grassroots level to turn the most innovative ideas into reality.
Topic A: How to raise a prodigy
Definition
The prodigy has been known for millennia, known but hardly understood. In fact,
part of the early meaning of the word prodigy was intended to capture the
mysteriousness of a wide variety of events and processes. In its earliest use,
prodigy referred to any event that seemed to be "out of the usual course of nature"
or "inexplicable" or "monstrous". It did not refer necessarily even to human
behaviour and was not originally associated with exceptional mental ability. Over
the centuries, there has been a narrowing and focusing of the notion of the prodigy;
a recent definition all but lost the distinctiveness of the word by defining a prodigy
as a "highly gifted or academically talented child".
Background
Prodigiousness manifests most often in athletics, mathematics, chess and music. A
child may have a brain that processes chess moves or mathematical equations like
some dream computer, which is its own mystery, but how can the mature
emotional insight that is necessary to musicianship emerge from someone who is
immature?
Prodigies have always been regarded with awe because they disobey the usual
rules of childhood development. A study of their lives shows that various factors
are involved in the determination of their extraordinary achievements. High ability
may be linked to creativity but what is most easily measured is performance.
Examples of prodigies
Music is the most common manifestation of prodigiousness, followed by chess,
mathematics and, to a much less extent, visual art. Music has provided many
prodigies in addition to Mozart. Mendelssohn first appeared in concert at the age of
nine and published his first piano quartet at thirteen. Chopin published two
polonaises by the age of seven, and Liszt was already an accomplished concert
pianist by the age of twelve. In modern times Yehudi Menuhin is a well known
example. In chess, great players are usually recognized early in life as being
exceptional. Bobby Fischer, US champion at fifteen years old, was competing with
grand masters at the age of six, and in 2002 Sergei Karajakin from the Ukraine
was confirmed as being the youngest ever grand master at the age of twelve. The
most remarkable mathematics prodigy of the present day is Ruth Lawrence who in
1985 entered Oxford University at the age of eleven, accompanied by her father
who had tutored her, and graduated with a first class degree two years later. Of the
few prodigies in visual art Pablo Picasso is the most notable.
Important to consider
Precocious talent in a restricted field such as music, chess or mathematics
appears to be partly genetically determined. Environmental conditions, usually
provided by the family, which ensure long intensive practice for many hours of the
day, are especially necessary and these are accompanied by unusual dedication to
the pursuit of achievement in one so young. Occasionally the family pressures are
intense and lead to difficulty in making normal childhood relationships or to
abandonment of the pursuit.
The plasticity of the brain of a child, which allows functional reorganization to occur
is associated with structural alterations after long-term musical practice. Many
prodigies, but not all, achieve high status in their professions in adult life.
Important sources.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1142238/#!po=5.00000
http://www.sciencechannel.com/life-earth-science/10-child-prodigies.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/child-prodigy/
http://brainconnection.positscience.com/child-prodigies/
Topic B: Child Marriage
Definition
Child marriage is defined as a formal marriage or informal union between an
individual before reaching the age of 18. While child marriage is practiced for both
boys and girls, the overwhelming majority of those affected by the practice are
girls, most of whom are in poor socioeconomic situations.
In many cases, only one marriage-partner is a child, usually the female, due to
importance placed upon female virginity. Child marriages are also practiced
because:
o low economic situations
o Bride price
o Dowry
o Cultural traditions
o Laws that allow child marriages
o Religious and social pressures
o Regional customs
o Fear of remaining unmarried
o Illiteracy
o Inability of women to work for money.
Actual situation:
Today, child marriages are still fairly widespread in some developing areas of the
world, such as parts of Africa, South Asia, Southeast and East Asia, West Asia,
Latin America, and Oceania. The incidence rates of child marriage have been
falling in most parts of the world. The five nations with the highest observed rates
of child marriages in the world, below the age of 18, are Niger, Chad, Mali,
Bangladesh and Guinea. The top three nations with greater than 20% rates of child
marriages below the age of 15 are Niger, Bangladesh and Guinea
As many as 1 in 3 girls in developing areas of the world are married before
reaching the age of 18, and an estimated 1 in 9 girls in developing countries are
married by age 15. One of the most commons causes of death for girls aged 15 to
19 in developing countries was associated pregnancy and child birth. To protect
vulnerable children from exploitation, various age of consent and marriageable age
laws have been made.
Historical background:
Child marriage was a common practice found everywhere in the world. In 20th
century, the practice began to be questioned, discouraged by a majority but not all
governments, and child marriage practice has been declining across the world.
In ancient societies, girls would be betrothed at or before puberty. In Greece, early
wedding and early motherhood for girls was encouraged. Even boys were
expected to marry before they reached the age of 18. With an average life
expectancy between 40 to 45 years, early marriages and teenage motherhood
around the world was typical. In Ancient Rome, girls married above the age of 12
and boys above 14. In the Middle Ages, under English civil laws that were derived
from Roman laws, marriages before the age of 16 were common. In Imperial
China, child marriage was a rule.
Most girls were married before the age of 15, often at the start of their puberty.
Most religions, over history, influenced the marriageable age. For example,
Christian ecclesiastical law forbade marriage of a girl before the age of puberty.
Hindu Vedic scriptures mandated the age of a girl's marriage to be adulthood which
they defined as three years after the onset of puberty. Jewish scholars and rabbis
strongly discouraged marriages before the onset of puberty. In contrast, some
Islamic marriage practices have permitted marriage of girls below the age of 10,
because Sharia law is based in part on the life and practices of Muhammad.
Some Islamic scholars have suggested that it is not the chronological age that
matters; marriageable age under religious laws of Islam is the age when the
guardians of the girl feel she has reached sexual maturity. Such determination of
sexual maturity is a matter of subjective judgment, and there is a strong belief
among most Muslims and scholars, based on Sharia, that marrying a girl less than
13 years old is an acceptable practice for Muslims.
Links:
http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/about-child-marriage/
http://www.plan-uk.org/early-and-forced-marriage/
http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/key-issues/child-marriage
http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58008.html
http://www.planusa.org/becauseiamagirl/