Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Credentialing
Credentialing dates are Thursday, February 18th at Lincoln HS from 5:30-9:00 pm and Saturday, March 13th at Catlin Gabel from 8:30AM-1:00PM. It is really important that you can make one of these days. Put them on your calendar now!
Position Papers are due Wednesday, January 20th
If you have any questions about your position papers, you can email any of us:
Caley - caleygallison@gmail.com
Katie - katiegourley@gmail.com
Chloe - chloe_jones@comcast.net
If you haven't turned in your first paper yet, TURN IT IN!! Also, don't forget to pay your fees and turn in the permisison form.
Caley - caleygallison@gmail.com
Katie - katiegourley@gmail.com
Chloe - chloe_jones@comcast.net
If you haven't turned in your first paper yet, TURN IT IN!! Also, don't forget to pay your fees and turn in the permisison form.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
People on Committees 3 4 and 5 should read this!!!
it might be a good example in one of your position papers!
Position Paper example
Committee: Human Rights A
Topic: Rights of Women
Country: Russian Federation
Delegate: Chloe Jones
“Human Rights A” has the responsibility over the rights of women, children, human trafficking and access to information.
Throughout history women of all ages have been mistreated. They fall victim to discrimination and extreme violence. In 1979, the United Nations General Assembly passed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which defines the discrimination against women as any “distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex…on the basis of equality between men and women.” This Convention says that all states parties must condemn discrimination against women in all forms, and must work towards the equality of genders. March 8 is the celebrated International Women’s Day, and November 25 in the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In the US, a woman is raped every six minutes and a woman is battered every 15 seconds. In North Africa, 6,000 women are genitally mutilated each day. Violence against women is rooted in a global culture of discrimination which denies women equal rights with men.
Russia believes that it is crucial to monitor and protect key human rights, especially those of women. Although the Russian Federation has struggled with human rights, it works tirelessly to give all humans equal opportunity. The Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law states (under Article 29 [Expression]) that “everyone has the right to freedom of thought and speech.” Throughout the entirety of their constitution, Russia makes a point of using the word “everyone” instead of “all men.” The Russian Constitution also states that everyone is free to operate within the limits of the inalienable rights and freedom, and the state does not have the right to publish laws cancelling or belittling the rights and freedom of any person. Russia has also signed and ratified many international conventions, such as the “European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedom,” and the “European Convention on Prohibition of Tortures” and the “Reference Brutal and Humiliating Advantage and Punishments.”
The Russian Federation acknowledges that there are issues surrounding women’s rights within its borders but has worked towards promoting women and gender equality. During the Russian Revolution, the change in women’s status was one the most important social changes throughout the USSR. The Revolution opened new doors and gave women legal and political equality. In 1917, full women’s suffrage was written into the Russian Constitution.
In the 1995 “Russian Committee on the Rights of Women” conference women’s rights activists met to discuss what can be done to improve women’s rights in the country, including improving the number of women in the Russian legislature and the education of women.
Russia released a report called "Russia in 2015: Development Goals and Policy Priorities” which paved a road towards gender equality by the year 2015.
Russia welcomed the “UN Gender Theme Group” (TG) into the country. TG supports initiatives of the government and civil society aimed at improvement of the state of women and attainment of gender equality.
One large government supported program “Syostri” (Russian meaning “sister”) Sexual Assault Recovery Centre works towards eliminating violence against women in the Russian Federation. They have a national phone line for women in relationships with domestic violence to call for help to escape a harmful relationship.
Russian has worked towards gender equality in the work force, and has “equal pay for equal work” written into their constitution. In the Russian workforce, women make up about 50% of all employed persons. Women make up over 80% of two extremely important work fields: education and public health service fields. Pregnant women or women with small children (ages one to three) are strongly advised not to work at night, and all areas of work are required to give women a three year paid maternity leave to give them sufficient time to raise their child before returning to work.
Along with improving the work force, Russia legally permits abortions for women and has made contraceptives and birth control methods publically available. In the 90s, family planning programs caused the number of unsafe and unhealthy abortions to decline by 50%.
Women are also the most active participants in the voting electorate in Russia.
The Russian Federation believes that the UN should pass and enforce more resolutions for women. Russia would also like to support the UN in the advancement of women, and will do so by promoting women not only within its own borders but also outside of the country.
SOURCES
http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=765
"http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2533/russlegal.html" http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2533/russlegal.html
"http://www.omct.org/pdf/VAW/Publications/2003/Eng_2003_08_Russia.pdf" www.omct.org/pdf/VAW/Publications/2003/Eng_2003_08_Russia.pdf
"http://www.waytorussia.net/WhatIsRussia/Women/Facts.html" http://www.waytorussia.net/WhatIsRussia/Women/Facts.html
http://www.unrussia.ru/en/groups/gender.html
www.gorussia.org
"http://www.amnesty.org/russia/womens_day.html" http://www.amnesty.org/russia/womens_day.html
http://www.amnesty.org/russia/vaw.html
Position Paper example 2!
Delegate: Katie Gourley
Country: The Russian Federation
Committee: General Assembly B
Topic: Government and Controversy/Election Fraud
Focus Question: To what extent should be UN be involved with government changes in various countries? What action should be taken if a government is know to be corrupt?
The most general definition of the term corruption is the misuse of public powers for the purpose of gaining personal profit. Almost every country faces issues with corruption in their government , and it can be very hard to weed out corruption, for those with the most power are often those who are the most corrupt.
Somalia is one example of a country that faces extreme corruption. According to the Transparency International 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index, Somalia is ranked last out of the 180 countries evaluated with a CPI score of 1.0. Transparency International bases their rankings off the degree to which corruption is perceived among public officials and politicians. (transparency.org) "Countries torn apart by conflict pay a huge toll in their capacity to govern," the agency's international chairman Huguette Labelle said in a statement in 2007 (USA Today, Sept. 29, 2007). Ever since the country broke out in civil war in 1991, Somalia has had troubles maintaining a stable government, they had a brief and fragile parliamentary system in 2000 but it expired in 2003 and since 2004, Somalia has been under a UN- backed government that has continually failed to assert any control.
Myanmar is similarly ranked with a CPI score of 1.3. Many accuse Myanmar’s Military junta (which took control in 1988) of turning Myanmar into the corrupt nation it has become. One of the most recent examples of the junta’s corrupt actions came in May, 2008 when a Cyclone Nargis devastated the country, killing thousands and leaving even more without food or shelter. As aid workers from UN agencies such as the World Food Program attempted to help bring relief to the many in need, myriad problems stemming from the country’s corruption arose. The first problem the aid workers faced was the infrastructure of the country that was degraded even before Nargis hit, much of the region was almost impossible to get in to. The second issue aid workers faces was the reluctancy of the country’s secretive military leaders to allow outsiders into the country; Myanmar was closed to foreign journalists and many aid workers and boxes of relief supplies were kept from those in need. The UN had to do all but demand the country to open its doors to help.
There are many causes for corruption in governments. It is, again, very hard to put definite terms on the causes of corruption because of the secrecy most corrupt governments hold so highly in regard. As stated before, countries can often become more susceptible to corruption in times of conflict or extreme poverty. However, corruption is universal, and no matter the development status of a country, no matter its wealth or world standing, corruption is prevalent.
The United Nations has taken actions to help countries eliminate corruption at its roots. At the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the UN established that it is important to prosecute corruption after the fact, but that the most important thing in eliminating corruption is prevention in both the public and private sectors. The UN urges that preventative policies such as those that create anticorruption bodies, enhanced transparency and accountability in the financing of political campaigns and public finance policy, and systems that promote efficiency, transparency and recruitment based on merit. (undoc.org)
According to the Transparency International 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index, the three least corrupt governments are Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden (all with a CPI score of 9.3). According to the same index, Russia is ranked 147 with a CPI score of 2.1. Russia is the lowest ranking European country on the CPI list and over three-fourths of ordinary Russian citizens would describe the corruption level as “high” or “very high” (economist.com). Corruption in Russia has become so prevalent that it is considered a normal part of society. INDEM, which monitors and analyzes corruption reports that 80 percent or all Russian businesses pay bribes (the economist) Russia should aspire to be more like Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden in its anti-corruption efforts.
In November 2008, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that he would head an anti-corruption council to be set up within three months in Russia. There has been little to report on the actions of this council as of yet, as the council has not been fully established. At the time of his announcement Medvedev also stated that Russia needed a national plan to combat corruption including updated laws, measures to fight economic and social corruption, preventative measures, encouragement of anticorruption behavior in the country and education on the legal aspects of the issue (en.rian.ru).
The Council of Europe stated in a document entitled Criminal Law Convention on Corruption that they believed that an effective fight against corruption requires increased, rapid and well-functioning international cooperation in criminal matters and that they welcomed recent developments which further advance international understanding and cooperation in combating corruption, including actions of the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the Organization of American States, the OECD and the European Union (conventions.coe.int).
Russia has often had differing views with the UN on many topics, however the views of the current Russian administration and of the UN appear to correlate on the issue of corruption. The UN and specific countries should work together to design programs to effectively eliminate corruption.
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