NOTTINGHAM INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE 2011

STUDY GUIDE
Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee (SOCHUM)
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Contents: Committee Personnel & Contact Committee Description Agenda 1: The empowerment of women and children through education 02 03 04

and the need to enlighten such group as to their universal rights.

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Committee Contacts Committee Presidents: Head Chair: Assistant Chairs: Contact Address: Ella Cyprus Subha Bhatacharya Laura Avram and Danielle Rahal [email protected]

Committee Description The Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee addresses the people focussed issues that grip the world today. Humanitarian issues have recently become a dominant theme of international politics and regulation, as demonstrated by the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the UN Millennium Development Goals and the Responsibility to Protect Policy in the wake of terrorism. Intertwined with the humanitarian cause is the effort to improve the standard of health across the world. Health is regarded as key socio-economic driver of development which is why healthcare is used as a poverty-reduction strategy in low life-expectancy areas. In Africa, life expectancy is 55 years old (2005-2010), compared to 80 in the UK1. Due to cultural differences across the world, there has also been a more intensified focus on womens humanitarian issues surrounding their rights and freedoms. Tradition and religion play a large role in this taboo which adds to the topics controversy. The unprecedented attention to humanitarian causes has stemmed from a variety of sources. Several human rights abuses during the 20th century and two World Wars left the world horrified and it was unanimously agreed that such events must be prevented from occurring again. The eventual abolition of slavery added value of life to citizens in many countries and standards of living began to be acknowledged and legally defended. This concept was followed up with the protection of children with the Convention on the Rights of a Child 1989 which aims to defend all infants from fear, hunger and want. The evolution of rights has been a long and difficult process which arguably needs reviewing and redefining, now that circumstances have changed for so many. The topic of human rights is contentious due to the condition that it must be acceptable to the world as a whole and encompass all the variations of culture and religion without offending or disagreeing with any. Traditional rituals that are the norm in one country can be seen as a serious human rights violation in another. This creates ambiguity and inconsistency in the international arena which can cause confusion and animosity between states and cultures which could end up causing disharmony as opposed to the harmony the UN were trying to create in the first place. The UN therefore strived to establish what constituted human rights in the UNDHR, which included: Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. Article 25.(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of

http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3A68

unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control Article 26 (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.2 The aim of this committee is to attempt to reach a compact between the participating countries that will promote the awareness of rights and prioritise the education and welfare of the unfortunate and oppressed in society. This will be in the pursuit of global prosperity and wellbeing, as both are inextricably linked.

AGENDA 1
The empowerment of women and children through education and the need to enlighten such group as to their universal rights.

Introduction Education is of particular significance for women and children because of the historical tradition of men being the bread winner. Women and children have therefore been incapacitated to learn because of household duties and an almost second-class citizen position in social hierarchies across the world, and the importance of children as the generation to follow on from the reigning generation, has largely been ignored. However, the value of education has recently been recognised in the 20 th and 21st century as a means of opening up opportunities and possibilities to equalising the imbalance between genders and ages and improving development for future generations. Education is now acknowledged as not only a right, but also a tool which can be used to tackle poverty, health care, life expectancy and birth control, to improve the quality of life for a population3.

Background (Historical Context and Recent Developments) Womens Emancipation: The struggle for women and children to gain the rights to education and protection has been long and difficult. The womens fight for recognition began as early as 1848, and continues today. The abolition of the slave trade in 1807 cleared the way for the womens movement to pick up pace. Indeed, womens rights campaigners at the time supported the abolition of slavery and even adjusted the slogans to apply them to their own cause. Well known abolitionists such as Mary Birkett and other middle-class white women carried out boycotts on slave-grown produce which is a method of lobbying later used for their own cause. In 1848, the first womens convention was held in New York which set out the main grievances of the womens rights movement4.

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http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ http://www.unfpa.org/public/icpd/MDGs 4 http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html

In Britain, women demonstrated their worth after dropping their campaign for the greater good of Britain during the Second World War and took up the mens jobs while they were away fighting. This act was invaluable in proving womens ability and efficiency in the same jobs as men. The rest of Europe followed in Britains footsteps since governments could no longer defend the effective slavery of women whilst official slavery had been abolished. In the Middle East, it has been a different story entirely. With women gaining the vote only since the opening of the 21st century in a few countries, many of these countries lack basic protection and rights for women (in varying degrees of severity) due to the undemocratic and oppressive styles of government which oppress women through laws (Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani stoning case 2006-2011). Childrens Rights: It is now universally recognised that youngsters and infants are nearly fully dependent on their parents and carers to provide for them and protect them from harm. However, sometimes the childrens protectors need external help in achieving this as some factors are beyond their control, such as war and natural disasters. In the aftermath of World War Two where many childrens lives were ones of deprivation, neglect and loneliness, the United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund was established to help children regain their childhood and help to protect their basic rights in 1946. In 1959, UNICEF adopted the Declaration on the Rights of the Child as a way to unify global progress on the promotion of childrens rights. By 1965, education in Africa was using 43% of UNICEFs resources, and further progress was achieved for the education of children through the increase of national capacities in education, working with UNESCO to set up education programmes in third world countries. The Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC) is the most widely and rapidly ratified treaty in history and was the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights (civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights)5. In the knowledge that 200,000 child slaves are sold in Africa every year and that only 57% of African children are enrolled in primary education, and one in three of those does not complete school, World leaders agreed in 1989 that children needed a special blueprint of human rights to adults6. By 1989, 193 state parties agreed on the same rights, for every person under the age of 18, to survive, grow, participate and fulfil their potential.

Key Issues Top Three Issue Areas: 1. Poverty is the principle hurdle for many of Africas social and economic problems. Governments and NGOs across the world are aiming to tackle poverty first in order for the country to develop economically, but also socially- ensuring childrens rights are protected and women are empowered and celebrated.

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http://www.unicef.org/crc/index_30177.html BBC 5 October, 2001 & Anti-Slavery Society and Africa 2015

2. Wellbeing constitutes the foundations of human and childrens rights, and the freedom from hunger and want. It is therefore important that healthcare, in the form of vaccinations and sanitation, is provided and education in disease prevention, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases is readily available. 3. The Government plays a central role in tackling womens and childrens rights and education. It is important that aid is allowed to reach areas most in need and that the government prioritises these issues. The government must recognise the value of NGOs and charities to their country in the fight against these pressing issues. Relevant Information: Recent developments include the UN Millennium Development Goals setting out to end poverty by 2015: a) Goal 2: Universal Education Goal 3: Gender Equality Goal 4: Child Health Goal 6: Combat HIV/ AIDS b) UNFPA has been instrumental in pushing for universal education. At the MDG Review Summit a poll agreed to contribute $40 billion to the education of women and girls, stating that Women and girls are the answer to development challenges7 c) At the Cairo Conference 1994 (ICPD) where a Plan of Action (POA) was endorsed by 179 countries. The key points to draw from the POA include: MDG 3: o Women's empowerment is an engine of development. Equal political, economic, social and cultural rights can help unleash the productivity of women o Women's ability to decide freely the number and timing of children is key to their empowerment and expanded opportunities for work, education and social participation o Girls' secondary education provides high payoffs for poverty reduction, gender equality, labour force participation and reproductive health, including HIV prevention and women's and children's health and education status overall MDG 6: o Harmful traditional practices, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting may leave girls more vulnerable to HIV. Also, genderbased violence increases women's risk of acquiring HIV o Preventing infection means enabling people to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases through access to reproductive health information, education and services and the development of life skills 8

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www.unfpa.org http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

d) General Assembly accepted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1979, which is a legally binding document (aka the Womens Convention) e) Bejing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted at the 1994 Fourth World Conference for Women9.

State Positions Europe It is widely regarded that the higher the percentage of women who have parliamentary representation, the stronger their decision-making roles. It is important that women are seen to have an equal say in what happens in government- and Europe are leading the way with seven European states achieving the 1995 goal of having 30% female parliamentary representation. Britain has a mere 17.5% and France, 11.8%. Wealth does not result in equality or democracy. The US prides itself on freedom and democracy; however, this does not explain why it did not ratify the Convention on the rights of a child in 1990, along with Somalia. Childrens education is freely offered and attainable in Europe and in Britain, girls are in the slight majority in higher education and often outperform boys in primary education. Some countries have national health systems which ensure the overall health of Europes countries. Middle East Neither the Gulf States, the United Arab Emirates nor Kuwait give women the vote. Indeed Iran and Saudi Arabia are attempting to join the UNs super-agency for women which has caused outrage due to their human rights track record. In these countries, women are not allowed to drive, make significant decisions without male authorisation and are discriminated by the laws. Islam is often associated with the suppression of women although the Quran states that women and men are equal but that men are also maintainers of women (4:34) and women have been encouraged by Islam and hadiths by Mohammad to gain an education. Africa 13 Sub-Saharan states had higher female parliamentary representation than the U.S or Japan, even though it is one of the poorest areas on Earth. This busts the myth that the richer the country, the better place it is for women or democracy. In Africa, the causal link of education and development has been recognised but lacks implementation. In third world countries, the process of educating and protecting women encounters hurdles such as funding, corruption and challenging environmental conditions and geographical locations that make them susceptible to drought or flooding. However, the education effort in Africa is intense and purposeful although not as ambitious as the wealthier countries in the world. Children are targeted for mass immunisations and check-ups by international charities to improve health standards. Following the HIV/AIDS pandemic at the end of the 20 th century, medical attention has been intensely focussed here.
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http://www.globalissues.org/article/166/womens-rights

Asia The strong culture that defines Asia has led to women being less successful than what they could be. Although barbaric traditions such as Chinese foot binding and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) are largely unpractised today, the sentiments surrounding the traditions remain to suppress women. Issues such as prostitution, trafficking, and dowry honour killings are the centre of concern for womens rights groups. Unfortunately, children are the victims of poverty in places such as Nepal and Burma. Children often skip education in order to work to gain money for their struggling families and take up child labour or become child soldiers.

AGENDA 2
Silence, AIDS and sexual culture in Africa

INTRODUCTION More than 7,400 people are infected with HIV and 5,500 die from AIDS related illlnesses every single day. Of the estimated 33.4 million people living with HIV in 2008, two-thirds were in sub-saharan Africa.10 Whilst the global response to AIDS and HIV has been significant with access to HIV treatment in low and middle income countries increasing ten-fold over a span of just five years, there is still much room for improvement. In sub-saharan Africa women still remain the most vulnerable sector of society to these diseases with 57% of all adults infected being women and with HIV still remaining the principal cause of death amongst women of a reproductive age worldwide. The Millenium Development Goals signed by all 193 members of the United Nations made in 2000 to be achieved by 2015 made an attempt in part to deal with the issues regarding the spread of HIV and AIDS across the world (Goal 6). Attempts were also made to deal with issues regarding gender inequality (Goal 3). There is still however a scarcity of initiatives which concentrate on the relationship between gender inequality, sexual violence and the spread of HIV and AIDS rather than looking at each matter in isolation as has largely been the case until recent years.

10 http://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/mdgoverview.html

The failure of governments to have an open discourse on sexual culture, sexual violence and HIV and AIDS was first most prominently vocalised in 2000 at the international AIDS conference which was poignantly named Break the Silence. The conference made an attempt to discuss openly the inextricable link between sexual violence, sexual culture and the spread of HIV and AIDS for the first time.

BACKGROUND Over the past 10 years Africa's leaders have spent much time committing their governments as well as the African union to promoting the right to health in an aim to adress the difficulties facing the continent concerning HIV/AIDS, violence and disease. Both international and continental legal protocols and declarations have been made but there still remains much to be done to fully solve the state of emergency which has fallen upon the continent. One of the most significant of these initiative was the annual international AIDS conference in 2000 named breaking the silence in an aim to open discourse about many of the still untalked about root causes of HIV and AIDS. Statements by prominent figures such as Dr Gro Harlem then Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) that "Violence against women is an important contributor to HIVs spread," and progress will not be achieved "against HIV until women gain control of their sexuality" has encouraged issues regarding sexuality and sexual culture to come to the forefront of the debate and to be dealt with for the first time. The Millenium Development Goals of 2000 is another recent development in the fight against AIDS and HIV which has had some success in terms of the fight against HIV and AIDS. The number of new HIV infections fell steadily from a peak of 3.5 million in 1996 to 2.7 million in 2008. Deaths from AIDSrelated illnesses also dropped from 2.2 million in 2004 to two million in 2008.11 The adoption of the Continental Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy Framework by53 African Health Ministers in October 2005 was a landmark moment in the struggle to improve the lives and health of women and girls in Africa. 3 Governments deciding to ensure among other things; 100% access to sexual and reproductive health services including antenatal care. The African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa otherwise known as the Maputo Protocol is perhaps the most prominent development which has been made. Its provisions in particular Articles 4 and 16 state that womens sexual and reproductive health
11 http://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/mdgoverview.html

is to be both respected and promoted and that women have the right to control their fertility. The Protocol also calls for the authorisation of medical abortions in cases of sexual assault/rape, incest or unsafe pregnancies. On HIV and AIDS, the Protocol enforces the right to self-protection and to be informed of ones health status and that of ones partner. It also provides for health services to cope with the effects of HIV and AIDS. Despite such initiatives it is evident that urgent and innovative action needs to be taken in terms of the approach used to address the problems regarding Sexual Health and AIDS by namely identifying its undoubted links with the current culture regarding sexual health and gender-based violence. The primary source of transmittion of HIV and AIDS in Africa is through sexual relations. Many of these sexual relations are unfortunately experienced through unequal, forced or coerced sex with inherent sexual and human rights abuses. The rape of young girls, trafficking of women and girls for sex slavery, child marriages, female genital mutilation (FGM) with the underlying assumption that women do not deserve or should not enjoy sex, wife inheritance and other forms of sexual based violence like mass rape of women and girls in conflict, and violence within stable relationships to coerce sex are just a few examples of the atrocities committed against women in Africa. Within all these is the inherent assumption and view of women as being subservient to men especially in sexual terms. They have little or no control of when they have sex if they are married which means they have no control of avoiding contracting HIV if they come to realise that their partner is infected. Indeed many can expect a beating if they even suggest the use of a condom either for religious reasons or because it is viewed as a sign of mistrust. In fact the use of a condom during marriage is virtually unheard of. This coupled with the acceptance and legality of Polygamy in many states in Africa as well as the unfortunate prominent existence of sexual violence against women has ensured that the spread of HIV and AIDS has remained strong. At the same time women who are infected will fear violence and shame if they admit having contracted the disease and so keep quiet about it. Such silence not only affects the spread of the disease in terms of it spreading to their respective partners but also to their children whom they will have to breastfeed and whom they could prevent from contracting the disease by receiving drug therapy whilst pregnant. These factors together with a cultural reluctance to speak about sexuality continues to halt the movement not only to address sexual health and rights, but more importantly, HIV & AIDS which continues to take its toll on the continent.

KEY ISSUES While there has been some change in attitudes to gender stereotypes, work in these countries shows that power structures still give men, governments, the church and doctors discretion over womens bodies where sexual health issues are concerned. Without a shift in power women will never have the voice or control of their bodies, their sexuality and their health and will continue to have their rights trampled on.

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The Maputo Protocol has been ratified and signed by all required 15 members of the African Union and the heads of states of 46 out of 53 countries of the African union signed and deposited the protocol.12 As of July 2010 28 of those countries ratified and deposited the protocol. In terms of the number of countries who have ratified the Maputo Protocol one may infer that successful progress has been made, it still remains that until national laws enshrining articles 5 and 14 of the protocol are enacted and implemented there will be little hope of eradicating violence against women and ensuring equality for women. This is especially the case when regarding some of the negative reaction which the protocol has incurred amongst the various religious communities within the continent. Indeed there has been a considerable backlash amongst the respective Catholic , Christian and Muslim communities about certain aspects of the protocol concerning namely issues regarding contraception and abortion. Pope Benedict has described the Protocol as "an attempt to trivialize abortion surreptitiously". Similar opposition has been made by respected religious leaders in the christian and muslim communities as well. It is vital that the government works together with such religious leaders to educate people on the practical significance of the implementation of the protocol. Until then it is difficult to envisage the protocol becoming a success when it so sternly opposed by religious figures who hold a great bearing and influence on many peoples lives in many areas. Even where legislation exists to protect women it is too frequently the case that they are trapped by the communities which they live in in terms of the cultural norms which they have to live by. In a society where women are regarded as inferior and subservient to men it is difficult to imagine that women would have any power to negotiate who they can have sex with or when they can have sex. Education is another key point which needs to be addressed. The need to be educated about the use of contraception and its benefits is imperative. There are proven links between the number of years a girl spends in primary education and its positive correlation with her chances of avoiding HIV. However it still remains that on average girls in Africa spend only three years in school. In addition to this only one third of young men and a fifth of young women in developing countries know basic facts about the virus.

12 http://www.africasexuality.org/download/resources/Maputo%20Plan%20of%20Action%202007%20Final.pdf

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At the third session of the African union conference of ministers of health in 2007 it was agreed that a more vast programme for women's health needed to be institutionalised.13 One of the most important factors which arose was the right of women to manage their own health and health seeking behaviour should advocated. It was decided that improvements in the field of sexual health needed to be builded upon an education programme on gender and sexuality with youth and women friendly services.

STATE POSITIONS AFRICA Sub-Saharan Africa Almost all the nations in Subsaharan Africa have both signed and ratified the Maputo Protocol. That is not to say that the protocol has not been met with harsh resistance in certain areas. In countries such as Kenya, Sudan and Cameroon ratification only came after numerous campaigns. Indeed religious leaders in both the Catholic and Muslim communities presented a particular problem for countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania as well as Nigeria. The government of Niger voted against signing the protocol by a majority of 41 to 32 in 2006. Article 14 of the protocol has been an issue of much contention as it asserts the right to aborton in cases of sexual assault and rape. Abortion is in fact only legal in very few countries in Africa such as South Africa. North-Africa There has been much opposition to the protocol in North Africa. Tunisia and Egypt have both refused to sign and ratify the agreement and there is still vast room for improvement in both these states. Although HIV is not as prevalant as in sub-saharan Africa there are still many concerning issues regarding womens rights, sexual violence against women and the spread of HIV and AIDS. In Tunisia Islam is the state religion and the country's constitution requires that all policies or legislation enacted be in line with the state religion. However Tunisia is regarded as being relatively advanced in other aspects concerning women's rights and sexual health One particular problem is the poor level of sex education in most countries of the region, and low knowledge and understanding of reproductive health and STDs. In Egypt, for

13 http://www.africasexuality.org/download/resources/africahealthstrategy.pdf

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example, a national survey of 16-19 year-olds showed that 25 per cent of boys and more than 30 per cent of girls had no knowledge about HIV and AIDS. MIDDLE EAST There is still a major problem regarding silence around the topic of sexual culture, sexual violence and HIV in many countries in the middle east. The topic is viewed as being culturally taboo and is virtually untalked of. Women as in many regions in Africa are regarded as being subservient to men. Sex before marriage is prohibited in many of the largely muslim countries in the middle east. The use of contraception and abortion is prohibited in such countries where islam is the state religion. Dr Suman Menta the UN aids associate director made very negative predictions about the spread of HIV in the middleeast, arguing that the taboo and shame associated with the disease would mean that virtually no one who contracted the illness would come forward. Despite this many nations in the middle-east including Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Iran, Iraq and Oman ratified the UN convention on rights of the child with no reservations on articles 34 and 35 which cover the right to not be exploited for sexual purposes. Having said that law enforcement for any of such adopted measures is not strong and legal assistance is not readily available to the vulnerable.

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Bibliography
Agenda 1 http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3A68 http://www.unfpa.org/public/icpd/MDGs http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html http://www.unicef.org/crc/index_30177.html BBC 5 October, 2001 & Anti-Slavery Society and Africa 2015 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ http://www.globalissues.org/article/166/womens-rights www.unfpa.org

Agenda 2 http://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/mdgoverview.html http://www.africasexuality.org/download/features/houghton.pdf http://www.africasexuality.org/download/resources/Maputo%20Plan%20of%20Action%20 2007%20Final.pdf http://www.africasexuality.org/download/resources/africahealthstrategy.pdf

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