The Third Committee of the General Assemblies, the Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee plays an important role in addressing a wide range of social and humanitarian affairs. Aside from dealing with the advancement of women, the protection of children, and the access to free speech, SOCHUM also warrants the promotion of fundamental freedoms through the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and the promotion of the right to self-determination.
Attacking the topic of the persecution of linguistic minorities, the delegates of SOCHUM discuss various ways the committee can end the discrimination of minority language speakers. The delegate of Switzerland states that “preservation will lead an end to persecution.” South Africa also takes the chance to explain its own situation. The delegate recognizes that many minority language groups were discriminated against by the majority language group of Afrikaans. This lead to many outbreaks of discontentment, including riots. However, through governmental recognition of each minority group as well as decreased tolerance of such discrimination, South Africa now enjoys a much more peaceful relationship between each of its language groups. The delegate of South Africa ends her speech by urging all other delegates to follow suit. At this point, an NGO makes an appearance, and is given the chance to introduce themselves. The international Commission for Jurists is an NGO dedicated to ensuring respect for international human rights standards through the law. The ICJ will be accompanying SOCHUM throughout the rest of the morning, taking part in both the debate, as well as writing articles updating the progress of the committee. As the second hour of the committee sessions ends, the committee begins a ten-minute unmoderated caucus. While some delegates take this as a chance for a water break or a quick trip to the washroom, most delegates have joined one of the two major blocs present in the committee room. Both groups are well into debate on their resolution papers, and contain passionate delegates who want their voices heard. Though many opinions are present in the committee room, there is no doubt that the Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee will reach a favourable conclusion by the end of today. The delegates of ASEAN are well in their way in discussing the niceties of resolutions regarding their topic: the Drug Crisis in Asia. Delegates have begun to discuss the consequences of drug trafficking, namely the balance between crime and punishment. Based on what standard should each country punish each criminal? What kind of crime should each punishment be used for? These questions float around the committee, with each delegate adamant on his or her own opinions.
The delegate of the Philippines makes it clear that the Philippines support the idea of the death penalty. He quotes Rodrigo Duterte, a famous lawyer and politician in the Philippines: ““Hitler massacred three million Jews ... there’s three million drug addicts [in the Philippines]. I’d be happy to slaughter them all.” Brunei agrees, and also adds that differences should be made cear between drug users and drug traffickers. Punishments should be distinguished between users and traffickers, and Brunei suggest that perhaps drug users should be exempt from capital punishment, as well as perhaps drug traffickers that exchange drugs on their own property should be met with greater consequences However, Singapore brings another point of view to the table: rehabilitation programs. “Imagine a student, a boy, who has been bullied at school, or perhaps have problems at home. As a result, this student turns to drugs for one second. Would we imprison this boy? That is why we need to focus on rehabilitation programs in addition to figuring out capital punishments,” says the delegate of Singapore. Indonesia expresses its drug situation at home. The laws of Indonesia has harsh definitions of drugs, both the classifications as well as the amount of drugs, and outlines clearly how each situation should be addressed. She urges all delegates to follow in Indonesia’s footsteps, and come up with their own set of rules to follow in the case of drug trafficking and usage. TASS Russia News Agency provides the latest scoops on CAHSMUN 2018. This time, it is no different.
The Commonwealth of Nations presents a very different scene to CAHSMUN 2018. Not only does its form of debate greatly differ from all other committees, with its triple-delegation, the topics discussed are also bizarre, to say the least. Only one hour into the first committee session, the Commonwealth of Nations have begun to discuss the apex of American culture: the pizza. In response to the controversial topic of pineapple pizza, Nambia’s head of government expressed his personal opinion that “pineapple is a fruit, and therefore does not belong on pizza.” Hearing this, the president of Uganda passionately and forcefully retorted with “TOMATO IS A FRUIT, SON.” This launched a round of heated debate over the well-loved supplement, the tomato. The delegates ask themselves: is the tomato truly a fruit, or just a colourful vegetable? Riding the flow of discussion, the delegates of Commonwealth could not resist debating over the pizza as well. Most importantly, the delegates could not seemingly come to an agreement on whether or not the pineapple deserves a place on the true American delicacy, pizza. The world leaders of the Commonwealth were quick to express their opinions on this popularly debated topic, resulting in a fast-paced and heated debate that will undoubtedly be remembered by all those present. In the heat of the moment, even a staff member joined the discussion. In an impassioned speech, he states: “If we were to ban pineapples on pizza, what next? Will we start banning cheese? What about tomatoes? Do we want to just ban everything on pizza?” He concludes with praise for the pineapple saying that “the pineapple is what gives more variety to the toppings that are allowed on a pizza.” Although the committee was unable to reach unanimous resolution, the many thought provoking points mentioned will likely be recalled in future debates. At the end of the day, Commonwealth may not be what it seems to be. The Committee on the Rights of the Child is facing a difficult challenge: finding a balance between effective mental health programs for children and finance. Though many larger, first-world delegations are pushing for long-term programs, these can often be much more expensive and costly. Many developing nations though want to alleviate and aid children with mental illnesses, do not have the monetary funds or economical might to implement any effective or long-lasting solutions.
Some countries suggest the idea of foreign aid. However, the delegate of Pakistan warns that though foreign aid can provide economic relief at the onslaught aiding children with mental health, it often leaves the aid-receiving country financially devastated. The delegate of Ethiopia agrees, saying that the money from “richer countries might go towards corruption instead of good.” A middle-ground that is being discussed concerns that of decreasing the stigma around mental health. This way, the problem can be tackled at its root, and those with mental illnesses will be more willing to seek help for their issues. Ethiopia suggests a bilateral system, where students of developed nations can go to developed nations to educate the general populations on mental health. The delegate of Syria urges all other countries to try to come up with a resolution for countries like Syria, that are currently involved in warfare. “Most delegates are focused on finding solutions for children suffering from post-war trauma, but please do not forget that there are still some countries currently going through the trauma,” she states. The delegate of Canada, following Syria, also has a message for all delegates. She urges that all developed nations should put in more effort in helping out the countries that are recovering from the trauma of warfare. Though only the first committee session, the delegate of Brazil announces in his speech that he and some other delegates already have a cluster of ideas, and urge all delegates to pass notes and contribute their ideas towards their ideas. The Committee on the Rights of the Child is clearly moving forward at a speedy pace, and TASS Russia News Agency is excited to see what even more committee sessions will bring. On Friday, April 6th, 2018, the delegates of OAS gather at the Sheraton Wall Center in Downtown Vancouver to enjoy a weekend of heated debate. Though the first committee has only just begun, the committee has already entered heated debate on the topic at hand, the migrant crisis and political turmoil in Venezuela.
The delegates have begun to discuss the general issue of refugees. Honduras points out that while Venezuela indeed does have a migrant crisis, refugees are also a cause for problems in many other countries. The delegate of Venezuela points out, “the refugees will not stop coming, so we must do something about them now.” Trinidad and Tobago agrees with Honduras and Venezuela that the committee should address the issue of refugees on a global scale, but stresses that focus should be put on finding short-term, rather than long term goals. The delegate states, “it can be costly for a country, like Venezuela, to implement a large-scale and long-term program.” Venezuela agrees, and suggests first implementing programs that will improve accessibility, and prioritize women, children, and those with disabilities. The delegate of Chile makes it clear that their nation welcomes all refugees. The delegate realizes that some countries may not be politically or economically capable of taking in refugees, but still urges all other delegates to assist the countries that are willing to take in refugees through promotion or monetary assistance. She also questions, “is Venezuela itself even accepting aid?” The delegate of Chile asks for Venezuela to provide some feedback as well as give some confirmation to the current of debate. The topic takes a turn, as the moderated caucus comes to an end, and the delegates now discuss the importance of immediate action. “Organization is important, but the most important is that the basic needs of refugees are attended to,” points out Panama. This idea is backed up by the delegate of USA, who bluntly states that the committee should “do something about the people dying on the streets of Columbia and Brazil instead of planning for the future.” TASS Russia News Agency is eager to see more on the progression of debate in OAS over the next few days of CAHSMUN 2018. |
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