Esteemed delegates,

It is my honor to welcome you to the Economic and Social Council at the 14th annual KnightMUN, hosted by the United Nations Association at UCF! My name is Mariah Coughlin and I will be your director for the duration of the conference. Currently, I am a senior at the University of Central Florida studying Mathematics and Economics. I have been involved in Model United Nations for 6 years now and this is my seventh time directing a committee.  My academic and MUN focus over the years has gravitated towards more technical subjects and committees like the G20, IAEA, and, of course, ECOSOC.

It is also my honor to welcome you to this year’s KnightMUN. My name is Jose Ortiz and I will be the assistant director for the entirety of the conference. I am a junior at UCF as well as a Political Science major, with a focus on law, both domestic and international. I also have a minor in nonprofit management. My history with Model United Nations stretches only a year back; however, in that year, I have been on staff for the 13th annual KnightMUN and attended the London International Model United Nations conference.

The items on our agenda are designed to give committee members a chance to delve into international topics that they may not have considered at length, and have not been widely covered by mainstream news media. I encourage creativity in your working papers and position papers, and I will ultimately be deciding committee awards based upon the originality and quality of the ideas you bring to committee as well as how you interact with the other delegates.

The topics under consideration for ECOSOC are:I. Alleviating Energy PovertyII. The Fourth Domain of Gender Equality: Decision-Making and Power

I am very passionate about each topic, as I hope you will be. The topics are interdependent, and each is considered to be a driving factor of poverty. This paper is meant to be a starting point for your research. I encourage you all to study the topics well as they will be prominent issues in the international community for some time to come, as the UN moves to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

I’m looking forward to meeting you all! And if you have any questions or simply want to discuss ideas with me beforehand, please feel free to contact me at coughlinmariah@gmail.com.

Mariah CoughlinDirector, Economic and Social Council, KnightMUN XIV

Committee Background

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the six major organs of the United Nations (UN) established by the UN Charter in 1946. The Council is the principal body for policy recommendations and dialogue on economic, social, and environmental issues, in addition to coordinating and implementing already agreed-upon international developmental goals. 1 

ECOSOC engages a wide variety of policymakers, academics, foundations, and over 4,000 registered non-governmental organizations in order to facilitate a productive dialogue on sustainable development. The work of the Council is guided by an issue-based approach with an annual theme for each programmatic cycle, ensuring a sustained and focused discussion among stakeholders.

The 2015 sessions will be “Managing the transitions from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): What will it take?”2

A Quick Introduction to Sustainability

Most textbooks (or Wikipedia articles, let’s be honest) will tell you that sustainability is a way of living that will meet human needs without compromising the possibilities for development in the future. Sustainable development, then, is a balancing act between global and local influences to provide basic resources to households in a non-invasive manner. But is sustainability defined as the preservation and incremental enhancement of the quality of human life too narrow a definition? Should we only conserve what we believe is valuable to our immediate comfort, or even generational comfort?

This kind of thinking, I believe, was the main problem in trying to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). What we must do is adopt a more enriched perspective of sustainability, something that Amartya Sen discusses in An Idea of Justice. Sen argues that we can move beyond definitions revolving around needs-fulfillment, into sustaining and extending human freedoms. “Expansion of freedom is viewed, in this approach, both as the primary end and as the principal means of development. Development consists of the removal of various types of un-freedoms that leave people with little choice and little opportunity of exercising their reasoned agency”.3 Whereas the language of the United Nations and other international bodies has always been that of “mitigating” and “adapting” to poverty, this new definition of sustainable development leads us away from seeing people as powerless. We can now see people in poverty as possessing free will, and the project of development as building institutions that provide liberating resources to rural and impoverished communities.

1 Charter of the United Nations, Chapter X, Article 62, Section 1: Functions and Powers of the Economic and Social Council2 United Nations Economic and Social Council. (2014). United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/press/en//2014/ecosoc6647.doc.htm3 Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. New York Times.

Topic I: Alleviating Energy Poverty

Introduction

Energy dominates the core of the 21st century’s foremost issues, including poverty, inequality, climate change, food security, health, and education. As of 2015, nearly 2 billion people outright lack electricity, and a further 3 billion rely on dirty fuels (firewood and dung) for cooking and heating. It is an issue that has persisted for the last 50 years, and our attention to finding solutions has been severely lacking. In fact, the International Energy Agency predicts that the same level of access will continue through the next 20-30 years.4

Energy poverty is the lack of access to reliable and safe energy sources for basic needs, such as lighting, heating, cooking, earning wages, and using information and communication technologies (ICTs). This lack of access can refer to rural areas in developing countries that have no existing grid to pull energy from, or it can refer to those who are unable to afford energy where it already exists. Therefore, this issue of unavailability falls into two domains: that of rural development, and that of increasing energy costs worldwide.

As a stand-alone issue, energy poverty was not included in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), yet the United Nations has called for universal energy access by 2030. A robust energy plan is needed for any development agenda, and its absence in the MDGs is frankly astonishing. Lack of energy access is a leading contributor to disease epidemics, poverty, unemployment, social discontent, political unrest, and overall instability – it’s an issue that is present on a global scale, not only to least developed countries.

Without strong commitment from industrialized and non-industrialized Member States alike, this goal—universal access by 2030—is highly unlikely to be met. The issues surrounding energy poverty are complex, and there exists no single solution. The goal of this session of ECOSOC, then, should not be to find a comprehensive universal plan, but to tackle unique social, economic, and political developmental issues with specificity.

Life without electricity is dangerous and difficult

Consider the plight of the billions living without electricity. They are up before the sun rises, collecting firewood and fetching water, sometimes walking miles to the nearest well. They inhale noxious fumes as breakfast is cooked over an open flame, and the children, if they are fortunate enough to be in school, are sent off to an unlit classroom. They return in the evening to study by the light of kerosene-burning lamps. Earning a living is difficult, too. Everything becomes extremely laborious. Without electricity, there

4 Bazilian, M. D. (2015). Power to the Poor: Provide Energy to Fight Poverty. Foreign Affairs.

are no sewing machines, no rice mills, nor lights to keep stores open past dusk. Such a lack of power also keeps other opportunities for employment away5, thus continuing the cycle of poverty.

Women are particularly vulnerable in households without electricity. They do most of the domestic work – often putting themselves at risk for rape when collecting water and fuel – and suffer disproportionately from lung and heart disease caused by the inhalation of biomass fuels. Women also struggle with maternal health and face the possibility of dying during childbirth in clinics that lack refrigeration for vaccines, lighting for delivery, air conditioning, and modern medical equipment.  

So what is there to be done? Is it feasible to attempt universal electrification? Is it wise, environmentally speaking? Can we manage the costs?

The first obstacle to solving any issue is to make it visible. The UN and other development agencies have often operated under the motto of “what gets measured gets managed.” Not every issue is quantifiable, however, nor are the quantities expressed always accurate.

Energy as a Statistical Battle

Energy-poor households have long been neglected in energy planning discussions and development literature. International energy agendas have most often been centered on ‘crises’ such as surging demand for petroleum, supply shocks from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and high-risk nuclear reactor deals. The victims of these exclusive talks are the “bottom billion” economies of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.6 A recent study by D’Agostino and Sovacool on the content published by top-tier energy journals indicates that just 3 percent of authors came from least developed countries and 8 percent of all articles published were even remotely dealing with energy poverty and the energy—development nexus.7

Measuring the size and scope of the energy-poor population and the costs of achieving universal energy access has been a long-standing goal of the International Energy Agency (IEA), but it has always been a backburner project that gets pushed to the side anytime a ‘real’ crisis emerges. Current IEA data indicates that 13 countries account for a majority of the energy-poor population: Bangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam.8 Most of the IEA statistics are driven by independent country

5 Companies looking to invest in developing countries are more drawn to areas where they can use electricity for manufacturing purposes.6 Bazilian, M. D. (2015). Power to the Poor: Provide Energy to Fight Poverty. Foreign Affairs.

7 Sovacool, B. (2014). Defining, Measuring, and Tackling Energy Poverty. Energy Poverty: Global Challenges anf Local Solutions . (B. S. Antoine Halff, Ed.) Oxford University Press.

8 Nussbaumer, P., Bazilian, M., Modi, V., & Yumkella, K. (2011). Measuring Energy Poverty: Focusing on What Matters. Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative.

input, and therefore remain pretty vague as politicking, corrupt or incompetent institutions, and lack of access to poor communities contribute to ill-defined statistical evaluations and methodologies.

One misconception in current statistical estimates is that energy access programs already in place are actively helping the extremely poor, when in fact they are decidedly not. The poorest often fall through the cracks. They are a population that is too economically distant and costly for most energy services investors to pay attention to, even amongst the most inclusive international programs. Instead, investments begin and end in urban and peri-urban upper and middle class households. This lack of attention may be due to the fact that energy services are considered a higher-level goal of poverty eradication, seen as essential only after households can meet more basic needs and a certain income criteria, and are thus able to purchase electricity from the grid. Additionally, most investment banks like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank only loan to projects where they are assured future revenues (positive cost-benefit ratios). Providing electric services to remote and unstable regions—in other words, where it is needed most—is seen as an extremely risky endeavor. In fact, the most recent projections by the IEA predict that many of the world’s most impoverished people are not likely to reach the UN Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) goal “anytime soon.”9 And even if it were possible to reach these people as a part of SE4ALL, of the $1 trillion cost to meet the goal, just 3% of needed investment has been committed.10

In order to ensure equality in development and inclusive energy access, there needs to be improved statistical evaluations and metrics for evaluating energy needs, as well as specific programming to reach the extremely poor, who are not considered by commercial energy providers or large-scale energy projects that demand high benefit-to-cost ratios from the start.

Technologies for Eradicating Energy Poverty

Conventional grids v. Micro-grids v. Off-grid

Conventional grid electrification is what we receive here in the United States. Conventional grids are large and can span entire nations, even across international borders, and are typically defined as covering more than 50 square kilometers. With thousands to millions served by this kind of grid, the investment required totals in the billions, and is primarily controlled by the national government (centralized). Examples of such projects include the North China grid, Electricité de France grid, and the American post-New Deal grid.

Micro-grids tend to lend themselves best to decentralized investments on a community-by-community basis. Spanning 1 to 49 km, mini and micro-grids are small- to medium-scale projects that only require millions of dollars to hundreds of thousands. These decentralized systems are most useful in remote or rural environments where large grids would be too costly to access. We will discuss specific systems for decentralized power later on, but among all other energy provisions, micro-grids are expected to play the most 9 International Energy Agency (2014). World Energy Outlook.10 Ibid.

instrumental role in providing energy access for all, accounting for around 56% of all energy expansion.11

Off-grid or isolated units are implemented at the household level, and only require thousands of dollars (still extremely expensive on a per capita basis), and include solar home systems, cook-stoves, and residential wind turbines, among other smaller technological improvements. Though these off-grid solutions are undoubtedly the cheapest option, they are the least favored by the energy poor. They are not usually government subsidized, so they tend to be utilized by middle- and higher-income rural homes, and their value makes them targets for theft and sabotage. Some villagers have described the rate of theft for solar home systems to be akin to the frequency of car theft in richer countries.12 Additionally, these smaller systems usually only provide enough energy for lighting, not for more intensive uses like heating or cooking.

Improved Cookstoves (ICS)

Households in the lowest quintile of world income levels tend to use traditional three-stone fires for cooking and heating, using firewood, waste, and dung as fuel. Such a method of cooking creates a high volume of smoke, but generates heat with incredibly low efficiency. The smoke made by these fires contributes to household air pollution (HAP), or daily exposure to toxic smoke, one of the developing world’s most common killers. Acrid smoke penetrates deep into the lungs leading to acute health effects including

serious damage to lung tissues, causing pneumonia, lung cancer, and other pulmonary diseases. Smoke inhalation may also lead to heart disease, and unhealthy pregnancies, leading to the birth of underweight babies. Women and children are the most common victims of these diseases, as they are the ones bent over the hearth for hours every day.13

These cookstoves can be made less dangerous even with the simplest of improvements, like adding a chimney or insulation around the stove. The World Health Organization (WHO) stipulates that an “improved” stove is one that requires less than 4 hours per week per household to collect fuel for, and has a conversion rate of above 25% efficiency (World Health Organization, 2006). Newer technologies like thermoelectric generators (TEG), which take heat from the stoves to generate small amount of electricity to run a fan, drastically cutting down on fumes inhaled by its users, have become more cost-competitive in the last decade. Other emerging technologies like micro-gasifiers, which sit under a cooking pot, burn bio-fuels with almost no smoke production.

11 Sovacool, B. (2014). Defining, Measuring, and Tackling Energy Poverty. Energy Poverty: Global Challenges anf Local Solutions . (B. S. Antoine Halff, Ed.) Oxford University Press.12 Ibid.13 Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. (n.d.). Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Health Impacts. Retrieved from Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves: http://cleancookstoves.org/impact-areas/health/

These ICS are extremely helpful for immediate relief, but do little for households in the long run. They may fall apart or need repairs that households cannot afford, and they cannot accommodate all the cooking needs of a family, so traditional fuels are still used on a daily basis.

Micro-hydro Dams

Dissimilar to their larger counterpart, micro-hydro dams do not require large reservoirs of water, nor do they require intensive training and education for their continued operation14. Micro-hydro power is generated on a small-scale basis by harnessing the energy of flowing water from natural intake, including river streams, waterfalls, and basins with circulating groundwater. Compared to other emerging technologies for power generation, micro-hydro holds a unique set of advantages in that it is easy to operate and is cleaner, safer, and cheaper than any fossil fuel based alternative. The kind of power generated provides more than electricity, supporting more intensive activities like milling, carpentry, and pump irrigation.

Such units can create energy in remote places where biogas cannot be utilized (higher altitude regions where distillation isn’t efficient) and in frequently overcast regions where solar energy is not ideal. The multi-functionality of the system also makes communities vulnerable, however, as they may come to depend on its maintenance. They can also cause disputes over water rights when used on a larger scale, and can harm fisheries if used incorrectly.15

Energy Poverty Involves More than Heat and Light

The UNDP explicitly defines energy poverty as the “inability to cook with modern cooking fuels and the lack of a bare minimum of electric lighting for other household and productive activities at sunset” (UNDP). This definition misses at least two instrumental aspects of energy services: mechanical or productive energy, and mobility.16

Mechanical energy and power enables activities such as small-scale manufacturing, resource extraction, irrigating crops, and pumping and transporting water. Women (primarily) will spend upwards of 650 hours per year – totaling to about one month – collecting and pumping water. Providing mechanical energy to these households, even in the form of a simple water pump, will not only drastically cut down the amount of physical labor women have to do, but will also open up more productive hours of the day, aiding development and gender equality. As Liz Bates in Expanding Energy Access in Developing Countries: The Role of Mechanical Power states:

14 If you would like to read further (and I strongly encourage you to do so) on the disadvantages and systemic inequalities of power distributions of larger dams, please look over this enlightening article on the Great Inga Dam in South Africa and the DRC by the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/sep/19/south-africa-drc-grand-inga-dam

15 Sovacool, B. (2014). Defining, Measuring, and Tackling Energy Poverty. Energy Poverty: Global Challenges anf Local Solutions . (B. S. Antoine Halff, Ed.) Oxford University Press.16 Ibid.

“Experiences show that mechanical power helps alleviate drudgery, increase work rate and substantially reduce the level of human strength needed to achieve an outcome, thus increasing efficiency and output productivity, producing a wider range of improved products, and saving time and production costs…In this regard, financing mechanical power is often one of the most cost effective ways to support poor people.”

Another key aspect notably missing from the international agenda regarding the energy poor is mobility. Most college students do not have cars, let alone the billions of impoverished people in Africa and South Asia. Have you tried taking the bus in Florida? It is far from ideal, but it is at least available to us. What would you do if you didn’t have access to either of these resources? Would you still go to school even though you had to walk ten miles? Would you go to the doctor as often? This is a defining characteristic of poverty: a lack of access. International investors can build as many hospitals and computer centers as they want, but if it’s too expensive to even get there, the whole project could be useless, thus stifling the attainment of better living standards.

Financing Energy

There are many, many options for financing the expansion of energy, but what I want to stress here is the importance of diversifying investment. Past development projects have led to the conclusion that technology is really a small portion of what’s needed to expand access; business models and risk management are huge factors, along with understanding what the issue is in the first place. The eight approaches presented below are the most widespread models in place.17

17 I hope that you all will consider developing and experimenting with your own original investment plans.

Many approaches to financing will use a hybrid approach, wisely using multiple sources listed above. One danger inherent in financing is the classic “don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” but I would add another: “don’t let them fall into the wrong basket.” Many large corporations see the UN’s SE4ALL initiative as a huge opportunity to cash in.

One such example would be the initiative by Peabody to rebrand coal as a poverty cure. In May 2015, Peabody launched an ad for rural electrification in China, with an emotive testimony from a young woman who was lifted out of poverty due to their gracious intervention. No doubt, these initiatives provide some relief, but the ad was an advertising move to promote coal as the best option for development in low-income countries. The Guardian described the event as an “attempt to change the conversation away from climate change” from a company that has openly rejected mainstream climate science, and has a “hardline opposition to domestic regulations and international agreements that

would put limits on carbon pollution”.18 As large fossil fuel companies are threatened by fossil fuel divestment pushes, they will become emboldened to label themselves as advocates for the poor, when, in reality, companies like Peabody have no record of supporting impoverished populations.

Below are the IEA’s reported figures on the contributions of fossil fuels v. renewable energy sources for SE4ALL.

Energy Expansion and the Environment

To be very brief, achieving universal electrification will not drastically effect the environment, so long as the goal is achieved in the right manner. Meeting the 2030 goal will only increase electricity generation by 2.5 percent, fossil fuel demand by less than one percent, and carbon emissions by 0.6 percent.19 Such low figures are indicative of the large contribution renewable energy sources are expected to contribute to the SE4ALL goal, and to the low level of energy consumption lower income households consume when given modern energy access.20

Anticipating Climate Change

While studies show universal electrification will not drastically upset the environment, there is still cause to discuss the changing role of climate change and sustainable 18 Goldenburg, S. (2015, May 15). The truth behind Peabody's campaign to rebrand coal as a poverty cure. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/19/the-truth-behind-peabodys-campaign-to-rebrand-coal-as-a-poverty-cure

19 Bazilian, M. D. (2015). Power to the Poor: Provide Energy to Fight Poverty. Foreign Affairs.

20 Sovacool, B. (2014). Defining, Measuring, and Tackling Energy Poverty. Energy Poverty: Global Challenges anf Local Solutions . (B. S. Antoine Halff, Ed.) Oxford University Press.

development in energy discussions. How can there be energy development in the face of accelerating climate change? We all share a common, yet differentiated responsibility for climate change, but where should that line be drawn in terms of energy development? Differentiated responsibility usually refers to differences between countries (i.e., China contributes much more pollution to the atmosphere than New Zealand, therefore China bears more responsibility to curb emissions), but this can also refer to differences between social classes.

This might mean adopting patterns of development that emphasize mass transit over single automobile centered infrastructures, or supporting micro-hydro projects over large dams that contribute to desertification. Another way of thinking about energy development might be in reference to the so called eco-modernists, who argue for intensive forms of resource extraction and development that leave the natural world in tack.  Eco-modernists advocate urbanization, viewing cities as forms of human communities, in which energy production and distribution can achieve climate-saving economies of scale. 

Tradeoffs between climate mitigation and poverty alleviation in developing countries are, suggest the eco-modernists, always going to settled in terms of poverty alleviation. So, to cite the language of the Brundtland Report (Our Common Future, 1987), which popularized the idea of sustainable development, there is no sustainability without development and no development without sustainability. Advocates of sustainable development should not try to hamstring the discussion of energy poverty; they must recognize that building political support for their agendas requires them to address the development needs of the bottom billion. Conclusion and Advice for Delegates

Stay well away from policies that advocate the mass diffusion of certain technologies and delivery systems, as specific cultural institutions and environmental factors contribute heavily to the success of implementing new energy access and improvements. These “one-size-fits-all” solutions run the risk of depoliticizing the issue, ignoring underlying injustices that allow for persistent inequalities in the delivery of services. Additionally, approaches that overemphasize the quantitative aspect of universal energy access are not ideal. Programs should extend beyond technological creation and diffusion, encompassing other aspects of stability and sustainability like environmental sustainability, local job creation, and energy affordability. This is an extremely human problem whose solution should revolve around creating fuller and freer lives for the vast number of deprived people in the world.

I understand that this is an extremely broad topic, so what I would suggest to all delegates is to choose a focus: something that specifically applies to your country. Think about your cultural institutions, and how they could improve or facilitate energy development in a unique way. If you have a developed country, think about how your country expanded energy access in the first place, and evaluate how likely (or wise) it would be for another country to follow in your footsteps. If you have chosen an NGO, first of all, that’s awesome, and second, use your influence! NGOs are extremely important in

ECOSOC21. Don’t limit yourself, but think about this issue in terms of your specific mission statement. How can energy development help reach this goal?

Topic II: The Fourth Domain for Gender Equality: Decision-making and Power

I’ll do my best to cover what you should know, but it would be impossible to have a comprehensive review of all the literature involved. What I would generally like to impress upon you all, though, is that getting women into seats of power, or more generally, enabling and empowering women to make their own choices about how they live their lives, is a project that deserves and demands attention.

Introduction

If you were asked to make a map of the world that detailed the female to male ratio of people born in different regions, would you not logically suppose that the ratio everywhere was one to one, with a few exceptions? In Europe and the United States where women and men experience a rough equality, the ratio of women to men is about 1.05, but in areas where women are treated as inferior (Asia and Africa, for the most part) the ratio is 0.94.22 This may not seem like a very large discrepancy, but it accounts for almost 100 million “missing women”. These figures tell “a terrible story of inequality and neglect leading to the excess mortality of women.”23 Broken down, the number of women that go “missing” every year from infanticide, sex-selective abortions, malnutrition, trafficking, and a myriad of other terrible forms of discrimination, is about 6 million. In numbers alone, this structural disappearance of women, or “gendercide”, in the last 10 years totals to more deaths and disappearances than all of the genocides of the 20 th

century.24

As terrible as this excess mortality is, it doesn’t begin to capture the experience of being a woman in an environment that treats them as inherently unequal. Even before birth, girls experience life differently from boys in the same household; where their brothers are extremely valued and provided for, girls often receive less education, fail to have careers, and fail to take on the political responsibility that men do within the same socio-economic strata. In the labor market, women are less likely to work, earn less for the same job, and are more prone to fall below the poverty line even if they are working. In the legal arena, many countries still prohibit women from owning or inheriting land, owning a business, or even traveling without a husband or father’s consent.25 Additionally, even though micro-creditors and financers have been promoting women as

21 Please, think about being an NGO. I would love to have about half and half participation from countries and NGOs.22 Sen, A. (1990). More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing. Retrieved from New York Review of Books: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1990/dec/20/more-than-100-million-women-are-missing/

23 Ibid.24 Kristof, N., & WuDunn, S. (2010), page 30. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Vintage Books.

small business owners in developing areas of the world, medium-to-large scale national and regional banks almost exclusively serve and lend to men.

New molds and methods of discrimination emerge on a consistent basis and many groups of women suffer compounding forms of discrimination based on ethnicity, marital status, religion, and disability, among other factors. In order for the betterment of the lives of women, there needs to be universal recognition of the intrinsic value of the lives of women in society. And from there, programs to ensure their representation in decision-making from the household level to the national and international arena.

Women in the Public Sphere

In order for women to gain power and decision-making capabilities, they must overcome customs and hierarchies that prevent public participation in policy-making. Women must become involved at all levels of the public arena as political leaders, judges, police officers, academics, senior managers, negotiators, and decision-makers at home. There have been several United Nations goals set for women’s rights, but they have, for the most part, seen little and less success. These initiatives include the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)26; the 1990 ECOSOC resolution E/RES/1990/15 that recommended a target of 30% of women in leadership positions by 1995, and a further target of 50% by 200027; the 2000 UN Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security that highlighted the essential role of women in decision-making positions in regard to conflict resolution and prevention28; and the 2011 General Assembly resolution 66/130 on women and political participation which recognized that women’s public participation was intrinsically linked to the overall health of an economy29.

Between 1995 and 2014 the percentage of women in parliament (world average for both houses combined) went from 11.3% to 21.8%, well below the 30% goal intended for 2000. Also between 1995 and 2014, female heads of state went from 3 to 9 (out of 152) and the female heads of government went from 7 to 15 (out of 193). The only two countries that have 50% or higher women in public office are Rwanda with 63% (the only country in the world with a female majority) and Andorra, with 50% of its parliament comprised of women30.

25 Duflo, E. (2012). Women Empowerment and Economic Development. Journal of Economic Literature . (Kristof & WuDunn, 2010)

26 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw.htm27 http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/docs/2009/resolution%202009-15.pdf28 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/wps/29 http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=%20A/RES/66/130

30 United Nations. (2015). The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Turns 20. Retrieved from http://az804972.vo.msecnd.net/~/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/

Why has it taken over 20 years to get to the halfway point of a benchmark intended as a halfway point itself? What further can there be done to help women succeed in the public arena, both in developing and developed countries?

Obstacles to Progress

Progress in the arena of decision-making and power is threatened by intersecting crises, like the like the global financial crisis and recession, which tend to have more of an effect on women due to existing structural inequalities, like the gender gap in labor, lack of equal access to liberating resources, and gendered societal expectations. These injustices leave women in weaker positions globally, leaving them vulnerable to economic shocks and unfolding conflicts. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action identified four domains for gender equality: the “capability domain, notably girls’ and women’s education, training and health; access to resources, notably to assets, including land and finance; and employment; and the security domain: protection from violence of all sorts (political, criminal and domestic)”; and lastly, decision-making and power.31 And while some progress has been noted, women on the whole have not become prominent political players, in large part due to the fact that they are underutilized as economic movers. The disuse and misuse of women as a resource for a healthier and freer economy is a disservice to women, and a disservice to the national economy in question. The empowerment of women spurs new development locally and nationally through the education of children, creation of new businesses, and overall growth.

At the turn of the 21st century, nearly 95 percent of all countries had given women the right to vote and the right to run for election; however, there are still some countries prohibiting this basic involvement. A continued environment of sex-discrimination and bias, along with harassment and violence directed towards women in political institutions, is a huge obstacle to women’s political participation in developed and developing countries. Increasing the participation rate of women in decision-making will require comprehensive reform. National and international institutions need to adopt special measures (similar to affirmative action in the United States) to achieve gender balanced legislative, executive, and judicial bodies in addition to capacity building and training initiatives supporting women’s political engagement.

The Empowerment – Development Nexus

As stated above, economic improvement is one of the largest incentives for promoting equality, but is it enough of a reason to solve the problem? The two are intrinsically linked, but which causes the other?

Esther Duflo, a prominent economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in her paper Women Empowerment and Economic Development, says that the empowerment of women and economic development have a bidirectional relationship: where it has been

31 United Nations Economic and Social Council. (2014). United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/press/en//2014/ecosoc6647.doc.htm

shown that by providing women with access to developmental resources – components of these resources include avenues for political participation, post-primary education, healthcare, and career opportunities – will generally strengthen economic growth.32 Development alone can also cause great shifts in women’s empowerment, too, as gains in GDP means gains in GDP per capita, and overall household incomes, freeing up money for liberating resources. The Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Amartya Sen is another proponent of the linkages between empowerment and development. Sen argues that just as empowerment can bring about incredible economic and human development, the oppression and continued discrimination of women can hinder development.33 It should also be noted, however, that empowerment is a goal worth attaining on its own, regardless of the economic benefits, and if discrimination in politics and in private are to come to an end, there needs to be continued impactful policy-making on the commitment to equality for the exact purpose of equality.

Case Study – China

In recent years, China has become a model for gender equality in developing nations. Having transformed from a patriarchal society that actively repressed women to a country that is working to emancipate them, China has created new pathways for political action in developing Asia for the empowerment of women. Other countries like Rwanda, Botswana, Tunisia, and Morocco have also seen rapid progress in this area; the key factor among all is a strong political will toward changing the status quo.

At the turn of the 20th century, China was one of the worst countries in the world to be born a girl. From birth, you were subject to infanticide, foot binding, and later concubinage or forced marriage. Sometimes girls weren’t even given names, or they’d be referred to as Zhaodi, literally translating to “bring a younger brother.”34 Young girls weren’t educated unless born to wealthy families and many ended up trafficked and sold into slavery or indentured servitude. So what changed?

The 1949 Communist Revolution in China, both a tragic and significant point in Chinese history, brought about emancipation for women. After taking power, Mao brought women into government positions and the general workforce, abolishing child marriage, prostitution, and concubinage.35 Of course, Chinese women still face many challenges, especially with the advent of the one-child policy and sex-selective abortions, but China is still one of the most successful case studies for gender equality. Men in China typically help in domestic affairs far more than the American equivalent; women have generous maternity benefits at work, and often dominate household decision-making. China is an

32 Duflo, E. (2012). Women Empowerment and Economic Development. Journal of Economic Literature . (Kristof & WuDunn, 2010)33 Ibid.34 Kristof, N., & WuDunn, S. (2010), page 207. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Vintage Books.35 Ibid.

important model for such change because its emancipation of women was what enabled its’ economic takeoff.36

Sweatshops in China and South Asia are particularly helpful to women. Yes, women in sweatshops are grossly underpaid and face harassment and dangerous working conditions, but the overall effect of opening manufacturing facilities is tantamount. First of all, women prefer factory work compared to agricultural work. Agricultural work is physically demanding and men are preferred, giving women lower wages in return for harder work. Factories, on the other hand, actually prefer female workers and pay them more, thus raising the number of opportunities for work and the actual status of women in the workforce. So the aim of the international community should not be to shut down these opportunities, but to invest in safer practices within manufacturing plants37.

Women as Agents of Change – Rwanda

Women have taken on an extremely active role in post-conflict governance in Rwanda following the devastating genocide of over 800,000 people in 1994. In the aftermath of the genocide, nearly 70% of the Rwandan population was female; therefore, putting women in public roles was vital to the survival of the Rwandan government. The push for more women involvement was also due to the fact that women held less responsibility for the brutality of the conflict (with only 2.3 percent of those jailed for the killings female). They were seen as less savage, and less inclined to corruption38.

“You shut that population [women] out of economic activity at your own peril,” says Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and with the Rwandan constitution expanded to put a floor of 30% female involvement in parliament, he has certainly assured women have become an active part of policy-making. In fact, Rwanda is now the first country to have a female majority in parliament (68 percent, compared to the United States 17 percent in Congress)39.

As a result of this change in women’s roles, Rwanda is actively shaping policy to empower women and promote equal, inclusive government programming. They are also one of the fastest growing economies in Africa with over 8 percent growth in GDP every

36 Kristof, N., & WuDunn, S. (2010), page 211. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Vintage Books.37 Cynthia Enloe, Bases, Bananas and Beaches: Making Feminist Sense of International Relations, University of California Press, 1989

38 Kristof, N., & WuDunn, S. (2010), page 211. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Vintage Books.

39 United Nations. (2015). The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Turns 20. Retrieved from

year for the past four years.40 Rwanda has also cut down on pollution, curbed population growth, and driven down HIV infection rates.41

Conclusion and Advice for Delegates

The act of being denied access to opportunities is an act of limiting freedom, and in fact, an act of limiting identity and personal development. In much of the world, women and girls suffer routine violence and disparity in opportunity, an injustice that is only now being recognized as one of this century’s most critical human rights issues. Largely ignored for much of human history, women are leaders and agents of change, and their participation in the public sphere is vital to the continuation of democratic governance.

Delegates should consider measures including implementing minimum wage, maternity leave and benefits (perhaps even paternal leave), subsidized early childhood education and care services, in addition to expanded credit and lending services to self-employed women. Changes in existing legal frameworks can also help to both vindicate the rights women and spur development. This can happen through constitutional amendments, or more generally through new macroeconomic policies that make gender equality an explicit concern. You may also consider how to restructure already agreed-upon goals by the United Nations in order to accelerate progress toward defined benchmarks.

40 Kulish, N. (2014). Rwanda Reaches for New Economic Model. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/world/africa/rwanda-reaches-for-new-economic-model.html

41 Ibid.