Social, Cultural, and

YMUN TAIPEI 2014Yale Model United Nations

Humanitarian Affairs (SOCHUM)

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Dear delegates,Welcome to the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Third Committee of the Inaugural Session of the General As-sembly at Yale Model United Nations Taipei.

My name is Dennis Wang and I am a rising senior at Yale University. Although I was born in Montreal, Canada, my family is from Shanghai, China, and I currently live in Fairfax, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. As a stu-dent at Yale, I am taking advantage of every opportunity to travel and see new places, and I am excited to say that this will be my first time in Taipei.

I am double majoring in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, and Global Affairs, a combination that makes sense given the two topics’ overlap in global health. I am also a student in the five-year Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health (BS-MPH) program at the Yale School of Public Health, studying the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases.

Model United Nations is perhaps my single largest extracurricular activity, having participated in more than 25 con-ferences in my last 8 years as a Model UN delegate and conference organizer. I am currently serving as the Secre-tary-General of the Yale Model United China Conference taking place in Shanghai in May 2014.

This year, I am directing SOCHUM. Whether you love international development or have never thought develop-ment is particularly relevant to you, I trust that we can all learn a lot about how aging and development assistance fit into the broader development agenda through this year’s simulation.

I am proud to have worked with the YMUN Taipei team this past year to bring this conference to life, and am look-ing forward to this being a wonderful last conference experience for me, and for you! For those of you who are new, I look forward to sharing the wonder of discovery made possible by Model UN with you, and for those of you who are returning, I hope I will live up to every expectation that you rightfully have that this will be the most incredible experience, and one that will stick with you far beyond the three days of the conference.

I am excited to be in Taipei for the first session of YMUN Taipei, but I am most looking forward to meeting each of you, sharing what I know about development and international relations, and learning from you in the process, but enough about me. I am here to serve you. Please email me if you have any questions before the conference (about the conference, the committee, the topics, or anything else!), or if you would like to introduce yourself. Oth-erwise, see you in committee!

Best,

Dennis Wangdennis.wang@yale.edu

YMUN TAIPEI 2014Yale Model United Nations

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

History of the Commitee

Topic A —Aging Populations

Topic B—Prevention of Misappropriation of Humanitarian Aid

Suggestions for Further Research

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History of the Committee

The Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian committee (SO-CHUM) was established in 1948 to promote compliance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is one of the six subcommittees in the General Assembly, the main policymaking organ of the UN, and is generally re-ferred to as the Third Committee. SOCHUM addresses a wide range of social, humanitarian, and human rights issues, especially assisting disempowered groups and promoting social development. Because the scope of its activities is so broad, SOCHUM works closely with many other committees, such as the United Nations De-velopment Program (UNDP), United Nations Educa-tional, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Office for the High C1ommissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR), and many others. SOCHUM meets annually to create, discuss, and vote on draft proposals, the latest being the 68th session in 2013.

Topic A

Aging Populations: Topic History

Demographic changes, in which the composition of the population changes to contain more of one age group than another, are fairly common occurrences. Typically, they happen gradually over time, as has been the case with the fairly steady growth of the global population. In some cases, large events such as natural disasters, wars, or famines may cause these changes to happen more rapidly than they would under other circumstanc-es. For example, in the United States, following World War II came a “Baby Boom,” in which many young men who had served as soldiers in the war returned home to start families and had children at a rate unprecedented in American history to that point.1 This, combined with the loss of life in the older generation during the war, caused a dramatic shift in population demographics, the effects of which are still being seen in the United States today. The baby boom that followed World War II was not unique to the United States; Asia, especially Japan, experienced a similar phenomenon. In the 1950s, the Asian population had a fertility rate of 5.8 children per woman and a life expectancy of 43 years, each above the global average, which kept the population growing at a fairly steady rate. Since then, however, fertility rates in most countries have fallen drastically, while life expec-tancy has risen.

Theories of demographic transition generally predict these trends to occur in a fairly uniform way across populations. Most countries progress from Stage I of demographic transition, in which birth and death rates are very high, resulting in a slow population growth, to Stage II, when death rates decline while birth rates remain high, leading to more rapid population growth. In Stage III, birth rates begin to decline, and population growth slows once again. Near the end of Stage III, fertility rate falls to replacement levels, meaning that the amount of births occurring is equal to the number of deaths within the population. Most populations that proceed into Stage IV are characterized by population stability; however, some proceed into population decline.

The international community began to realize the status of the world’s changing population demographics and to consider its significance in the late 1970s. In 1978, the UN General Assembly decided to call for a World As-sembly on Aging in 1982.2 At the completion of the As-sembly, held from July 26-August 6 in Vienna, Austria, a resolution had been drafted containing 62 recommen-dations for action addressing research, data collection and analysis, training and education, and sectoral areas including health and nutrition, protection of elderly con-sumers, housing and environment, family, social welfare, income security and employment, and education.3

While the plan produced by the World Assembly on Aging was an important step toward solving the issues created by an aging population, the following years revealed that more work was necessary to improve the application of recommended measures. Enacting the re-forms suggested in the Vienna Plan was largely uneven, especially in developing countries with limited resources and high poverty rates. Reasons given for failure in im-plementation included lack of capacity in skills, human resources, and organizational and institutional capacity. It was also found that many countries failed to give the

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proper political priority to aging issues necessary to im-plement the policies and programs adopted.4

At the time of the First World Assembly on Aging, it was apparent that aging populations created a problem for developed countries; the issue seemed in the far distant future for developing nations. However, as years passed following the passage of the Vienna Plan, the presence of aging populations became more apparent in developing countries, and at a speed even greater than that in developed countries. New approaches to development policy and economic and social conditions favorable to policy change necessitated a new approach to the issue of aging populations.5 In response, a Second World Assembly on Aging was held in Madrid, Spain April 8-12, 2002 and produced the Political Declaration and Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA), which it recommended be adopted by the General Assembly. The Political Declaration acknowl-edged the state of rising life expectancy around the world as a major achievement of humanity, but as one with the potential for drastic consequences, especially in developing countries, where the older population was expected to quadruple within the next fifty years. Central themes of the International Plan of Action on Ageing include the following: empowering the elderly to fully participate in society, ensuring elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against older persons, providing opportunities for development and well-be-ing for the aging population, maintaining commitment to gender equality among the elderly, recognizing the importance of families for social development, provid-ing adequate health care, utilizing scientific research to develop necessary technologies to deal with the unique needs of the elderly, and acknowledging the need to ad-dress the unique situations of older persons in different countries and social contexts.6

The Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing primarily adopted a “mainstreaming” policy, attempting to ensure that older persons are “mainstreamed” into overall policies enacted, rather than being treated as a separate group requiring remedial care. As officially defined by the United Nations, mainstreaming is, “the process of assessing the implications for (older persons) of any planned action, including legislation, policies, or pro-grammes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making older persons’ concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all polit-ical, economic and societal spheres…”7 With the main-

streaming policy, MIPAA attempted to ensure that re-sources were optimized by integrating aging into existing activities, thus solving the issue of inadequate resources that hindered the Vienna Plan’s implementation. It was also an effort to recognize the fact that older persons have different issues and needs from younger people that must be addressed in order to ensure policies’ suc-cess.8 The principles established by MIPAA serve as the foundation for the majority of today’s worldwide poli-cies addressing the issue of aging population.

Current Situation: Aging Population

SOCHUM considers aging populations to be a vital area of work involving all nations. As of now, 64% of the world’s ageing population lives in developing countries. In developed countries, the older population will be double the children’s population by 2050. Most countries’ health systems today cannot meet the needs of older persons, and rural-to-urban migration and changing family structures results in a lack of tradition-al means of support. During the 68th session last year, SOCHUM followed up the Second World Assembly on Ageing. The resolution strives for the social inclusion of older persons and addressing their specific needs.

Vietnam’s “golden population structure,” with more people working than people dependent

The issue of aging populations has a number of conse-quences, all which must be addressed in order to ensure the security and well being of the world’s aging popu-lation as well as its young. Ensuring that older persons have fair representations and equal opportunities in the labor force is essential to maintaining economic stabil-ity in the coming years. Additionally, the issue of aging

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population manifests itself differently among different groups, especially among women, and their unique needs must be addressed. Finally, conditions in rural areas create unique needs for older persons that must be ad-dressed separately from those in urban centers.

Work and the Aging Labor Force

Fluctuations in labor markets, including unemploy-ment and underemployment, often prevent able-bodied individuals from having access to the jobs they need and desire. This can especially be a problem among older persons, as they are frequently “phased out” in favor of a younger workforce, thus depriving the older persons the opportunity to pursue income-generating work and depriving society of their many energies and skills. In countries with economies in transition, most persons who are now old and work are engaged in the informal economy, therefore depriving them of benefits of adequate working conditions and social protection guaranteed in the formal sector economy. Additionally, in these countries fewer persons are entering the labor market due to the decrease in birth rate, a trend that is also frequently accompanied by age discrimination. This combination of trends results in labor shortages, which hinders economic growth in the long term.9

This issue is currently weighing heavily on policymak-ers’ minds in Japan. Japan’s population is projected to become the world’s oldest by 2025, and its population is anticipated to continue to decline in the years to come. From 2000 to 2040, the population is expected to de-cline by almost 14 percent, from 126.9 million to 109.3 million. During this same time period, the prime work-ing age population will decline by over 29 percent while the older population will rise by almost 65 percent. This increasing imbalance in age composition of the pop-ulation creates serious concerns for Japan’s long-term economic prospects. It is anticipated that people will retire later and later in life, which will require them to fund more of their own pensions in light of the decline in prime-age workers. In order to retain older workers in productive employment, they must be retrained to keep up with changing technologies, which may serve as an apparent impediment to employing older workers. In or-der to maintain its workforce, Japan must see a dramatic increase in its fertility rate, consider the prospect of training its older population in new technologies in the workplace, or begin to accept more foreign immigration to bolster the labor force.10

South Korea faces a similar situation to Japan; though it has one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, its rapidly aging population puts its continued economic growth at risk. According to the country’s Statistical Office, the number of people aged 65 and older has surpassed 6 million for the first time, comprising 11.7 percent of the population. The ratio of senior citizens to working age people, currently 1 to 6, is projected to shift to 1 to 1.5 by 2050. Korea’s fertility rate is currently among the lowest in the world at 1.24 and is projected to have the second oldest population by 2050, after Japan. As this demographic shift continues, experts worry that South Korea will see a dramatic slowdown in the growth of its labor force and, thus, in the development of its economy. Others argue that the current conditions are merely a transitional period, which will ultimately result in a significant accumulation of net financial wealth. The working age population will continue expanding, while low fertility rates lower child dependency, and before old age dependency increases. These conditions are highly favorable for savings, which has resulted in Korea’s cur-rent account surplus. However, this “sweet spot” is only projected to last until 2016, after which the country will have to deal with the consequences of its aging society. Old-age dependency rates will begin to rise sharply and significantly after this point, and if significant prepa-rations are not made the result could be a weakened economy. Current tactics to help stave off these negative consequences are finding opportunities for women and the elderly to remain active in the labor market for as long as possible.11

Even China, considered by many to be the recent global economic powerhouse, faces the risk of losing its status as manufacturing hub of the world as its population ages. In China’s case, the issue is exacerbated by its strict

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one-child policy of the 1970s, which could lead to a significant shortfall in labor by 2050. Beginning in 2015, China’s workforce is anticipated to see a contraction. Even now, the number of new entrants to the workforce is falling and will further decline by 30 percent from 2010 to 2020. By 2050, over one quarter of the popu-lation will be above the age of 65. From 1990 to 2010, China’s working age population grew from 66 percent of the total population to more than 72 percent; by 2050, this number is expected to decline to 61 percent of the total population. The cheap and young labor force that gave China its current economic prowess is evaporating, and rather than trying to maintain its aging labor force as long as possible, it seems that it is still turning to its younger demographic and is even seeking to fill their labor shortfall with foreign workers in loca-tions like Thailand, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.12

Aging Population in Marginalized Groups

An aging population has unique implications for par-ticular groups of older persons. For example, women constitute the majority of the older population and an even greater majority of those 80 years and older. Many older women live alone, after the death of a spouse, and tend to be more vulnerable to poverty and social iso-lation. Older women face greater risks of physical and psychological abuse resulting from discriminatory norms and practices.13 As detailed in the section concerning gender inequality, it can be difficult even for young women in the working age population to achieve equal participation in the labor force. When compounded with old age, it can be even more difficult for women to enter the work force and to receive equal treatment as their male counterparts.

Changes in traditional family structure, brought about by changes in age demographics as well as shifts in the na-ture of labor markets, have a significant impact on older women. In most traditional Asian societies, the elderly live in multigenerational households and rely on their household children and other family members for care. However, in countries where fertility rates have been low for years, the elderly have few adult children who can provide support. Many of these children have moved away from family homes, and as marriage rates drop and women enter the workforce in increasing numbers, few-er middle-aged women have time to take care of aging family members. In South Korea, the proportion of el-derly women living with their children declined from 78 percent in 1984 to 47 percent in 1994, even as the per-

centage of older persons in the population increased. In some countries, older women are be less likely to work than older men, putting them in an especially vulnerable economic position This is not always a voluntary choice not to work; China, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka impose a lower retirement age for women than men, de-spite the fact that women typically live longer than men and may have to spend many years in old age without employment or a family to provide financial support.14

Recommendations have been made to raise these man-datory retirement ages or to eliminate them entirely. Other options considered have been to increase flexible and part-time employment, which could be especially helpful in augmenting the number of women in the workforce. Offering occupational retraining programs and general educational upgrading options could also allow older men and women to adopt new occupations and to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change in the workplace. However, improving flexibil-ity in the labor market also creates a danger that older workers may experience reduced responsibilities or wag-es for reasons not connected to their capability; to pre-vent this, governments must set up effective monitoring systems to prevent age discrimination in the workplace.15

Aging Populations in Rural Areas

Especially in developing countries, rural elderly popula-tions are increasing significantly. The greatest differences between proportions of populations 60 years of age and over in urban and rural sectors can be found in Japan and South Korea. In South Korea, almost one in five of the rural population is classified as elderly, in compari-son with only one in every 14 in the urban population. Given that fertility rates are generally higher in rural than in urban sectors, one would assume rural populations to have a higher concentration of youth; however, urban centers are drawing young workers with the promise of employment and improved standard of living.16

With this migration of the young comes a lack of traditional family support for the elderly in rural areas, leaving them without means of support and, at times, without adequate financial resources. Older women in rural areas are especially vulnerable economically, espe-cially in cases where their role is limited to non-remuner-ated work for family upkeep, which leaves them depen-dent upon others for support and survival. It can be problematic to account for the entire older population in rural areas, as they can be difficult to count in a cen-

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sus. Thus, this creates a lag between resources allotted for policies and resources necessary to reach the entire population in need. Additionally, older persons in rural areas face marginalization that they may not otherwise face in urban districts, due to the lack of supporting infrastructure of a traditional family unit. Marginaliza-tion may be alleviated through the development of rural and community support mechanisms, especially focusing support on older persons in rural areas without kin. By strengthening these support mechanisms, older persons may be able to more fully integrate into their commu-nities and to find the support they may lack from their nuclear families.17

Yet another problematic facing older persons living in rural areas is a lack of healthcare resources. As individ-uals age, their health care needs grow more expensive; this is especially true as the average life expectancy con-tinues to rise and people seek to maintain active lifestyles well into their upper years. Many rural areas lack the necessary medications, facilities, and trained healthcare professionals needed to support the swelling popula-tion of elderly. It can be difficult to incentivize young, newly trained medical professionals to leave successful urban centers for poorer regions; however, if this is not achieved it is unlikely that older persons will be able to receive the healthcare provisions they require. It is also important to ensure that traditional medicine is includ-ed in primary health-care programs where it would be appropriate and beneficial; in some cases, older persons may be more willing to turn to health-care facilities if they include more traditional methods.18

The MIPAA recommended actions to provide for those in rural areas, including the promotion of equal and affordable access to essential medications; the education and empowerment of older persons in the effective use and selection of health and rehabilitation services; the use of new technologies such as telemedicine and distance learning to reduce logistical limitations in access to healthcare; and the implementation of inter-national obligations to ensure access of older persons to primary health care without discrimination based on age.19 However, these actions have yet to be completely implemented, and each of SOCHUM’s members must consider how they can be incorporated into their own governments’ policies to best address their own rural populations.

Questions to Consider

1. What are the most pressing issues to be ad-dressed when facing aging populations? How should governments decide which issues to prioritize, in order to best deal with the needs of their own populations?

2. How can the different needs among urban and rural populations best be addressed? What are the needs unique to each demographic?

3. How does the situation of aging populations affect women directly? What are ways that these issues can be addressed?

4. To what degree should policymakers attempt to incorporate traditional forms of medicine with newer and more innovative methods? What are the benefits of combining the two methods?

5. Is there any way to incentivize the return of young urban professionals to rural areas where their services may be most needed? If not, is there any way to more effectively balance the age demographic of populations in rural areas?

Topic B: Prevention of Misappropriation of Humanitarian Aid

History

The concept of providing humanitarian aid for those in need arose in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Many organizations have since been established with the specific purpose of providing monetary aid for those in need. With an increase in the amount of aid money, cas-es arose in which the money intended to help those in need were used for other inappropriate reasons. Wheth-er it be corruption or a lack of an organized structure that results in the inefficient spending allocation of money, it is crucial to implement policies to ensure that aid is being received by people who need it the most for things such as disaster relief, reconstruction, and human rights. Several historical cases of misappropriation of humanitarian aid demonstrate that further action to pre-vent these types of mistakes from happening is needed.

One such case was during the Bosnian War when the Bosnian Serbs, according to a former UN Commander, intentionally and systematically blocked aid to innocent civilians. Although the civilians were suffering from star-vation and a lack of basic supplies, the Bosnian Serbs

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used the blocking of this aid to “pressure the Bosnian government to sign up to peace on their terms.” In this way, the Bosnian Serbs caused unnecessary suffering of innocent civilians as aid oftentimes did not reach the areas that needed aid the most. Due to external ob-stacles, the aid was blocked from recipients, which the aid providers did not consider when planning to give assistance.2

In another case of misappropriation, during the 2005 Sri Lanka Tsunami there was an unprecedented amount of support for the funding of aid of those affected by the disaster. At the time, it had been the largest global humanitarian effort, but it was plagued with corruption and the lack of proper administration from the govern-ment and funding organizations. There was also a severe lack of personnel required to efficiently carry out the humanitarian efforts. For example, a secretary in Galle, W Weerakoon, said that “there are only six or seven officers trying to run help for 125,00 people in my dis-trict.” With this type of inefficiency and lack of people required to administer the aid, it is hard, if not impossi-ble, for people to start rebuilding their lives efficiently in emergency situations such as this one.

There were also some people who speculated that aid money was being diverted from the aid to corrupt government officials. Two officials were suspended during the Sri Lanka Tsunami situation due to alleged charges that they were misusing the aid money. In the wake of all of the chaos caused by the tsunami in Sri Lanka, there was truly a lack of an organized structure needed to efficiently allocate and administer the aid. It is an unfortunate reality that people would divert the aid funds for their own personal use, but this is a reality that must be taken into account when implementing aid in countries in need. Measures to prevent this type of misappropriation are needed requirements to ensure that donors are not deterred from continuing to give aid and to ensure that people who need the aid are actually receiving it.

A report in 2010 suggested that more than £300 million British pounds in aid were diverted from the humanitar-ian efforts for the 2005 Pakistan earthquake by Presi-dent Asif Zardari. In the aftermath of the destructive

2 Cutts, Mark “The humanitarian operation in Bosnia, 1992-95:dilemmas of negotiating humanitari-an access” New Issues in Refugee Research, UNHCR Working paper no. 8. http://www.unhcr.org/3ae6a0c58.pdf

earthquake in 2005, Pakistan received a total of around £3.5 billion in aid from international fundraising efforts and donations. That aid was intended to help rebuild the infrastructure that was almost completely destroyed in the Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan, but £300 million were diverted from those ef-forts by the president of Pakistan and allegedly misused by him.

When such corruption occurs, those who donate mon-ey to such efforts face a difficult decision in deciding how to act, given the ways in which the aid is misused. Choosing whether to continue donating becomes a question of if those efforts are futile. In certain disaster situations, relief aid is so necessary that any impedi-ments to the collection and administering of the aid could largely impact the recovery process.

At the time of the disaster, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake was deemed the world’s worst humanitarian disaster according to the United Nations, causing 1600 deaths and causing 14 million to lose their homes due to the earthquake itself and the flooding that came after the earthquake. Changes need to be made to ensure that in the process of administering and providing aid to disaster-stricken areas, relief aid is used appropriately and reaches people who actually need the aid. During the process of administering aid, questions about who should receive the aid should have been made clear to ensure that the aid was being used appropriately and efficiently.

Efforts have been made in the past to ensure that aid is being used in the right ways, and the National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB) has played a significant role in helping to prevent misappropriation. The NAB has worked in the past to identify cases in which corruption was preventing aid from being administered to areas in need, and one notable example is its work during the Pakistan earthquake. By running extensive investiga-tions into the NGOs involved with the disaster relief in Pakistan and working to ensure the transparency of the issue, the NAB succeeded in identifying the NGOs related to the corruption during the aftermath of the Pakistan earthquake. Although the NAB decided not to release the names of those NGOs involved with the corruption, it did help to identify the problems of the situation and ensure that corruption was being eradicat-ed from the disaster relief program. 3

3 “Alleged misappropriation of US aid: NAB not to divulge names of NGOs involved.” Tribune. http://tribune.com.pk/sto-ry/84768/alleged-misappropriation-of-us-aid-nab-not-to-divulge-

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One of the key aspects regarding the misappropriation of aid is governance of these systems that adminis-ter aid to the needy. With proper governance and the rule of law, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that reconstruction efforts can direct the funding to where it is intended to go. For this case, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was speaking in regards to the Philippines relief effort in 2013, but this thinking can be applied to future disaster relief efforts to ensure that governance and the promotion of the rule of law can bring about good results. In connection with the past, the two primary reasons for such corruption and misappropriation of aid has been poor governance and the lack of a system in which those who violate the rules and divert the aid receive punishment for their actions. 4

These oftentimes shameful past events shed light onto the issues that plague the process of administering disas-ter relief funds. Corrupt government officials use money in inappropriate ways, there is a lack of proper structure in administering the aid, and there is no proper method for punishing those who have diverted funds for inap-propriate use. This is still an issue that causes problems in the process of administering disaster relief funds and an issue that requires much more consideration for future disaster relief efforts.

Current situation

Dire situations continue to arise in which the inter-national community provides humanitarian aid. The problem of misappropriation persists as seen in recent examples, and in cases where humanitarian aid is given now or in the future, sufficient efforts must be made to ensure that aid effectively reaches intended recipients. Misappropriation has been seen on both the providing and receiving ends, preventing aid from being used for its original purpose.

Recently, significant amounts of aid to Uganda from multiple international donors have been misused. In October 2012, over 11 million euros in aid from Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark were transferred to un-authorized accounts of Ugandan Prime Minister Anama Mbabazi. This led to a scandal in which Uganda was prompted to return aid money. 5 Over half of Uganda’s names-of-ngos-involved/ (accessed December 20, 2013).

4 “UN Chief Ban Calls for Good Governance in Using Yolanda Aid.” GMA News Online. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/340942/news/nation/un-chief-ban-calls-for-good-governance-in-using-yolanda-aid (accessed December 20, 2013).

5 “Refund of Irish Aid funds misappropriated in Uganda.” Irish Aid. http://www.irishaid.gov.ie/news-publications/news/

budget is funded by foreign aid. In “one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the world” as described by former UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Uganda continues to distribute its aid across the country particularly inequitably, with large contrasts split accord-ing to ethnic and regional differences. Civil war between the government and Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has lasted over 20 years and over two million people have been displaced and forced to live in horrible conditions. The majority of the aid provided to the country is di-verted from those displaced and in need in the north to the wealthier south. Uganda continues to be one of the most corrupt countries, leading to large amounts of mis-appropriation that call for caution on the part of donor organizations and countries. 6

In recent years, Afghanistan has been a target of large amounts of foreign monetary aid from western coun-tries, but much of the aid has been misused, ineffective, or stolen on both the Afghan and donor ends. Oversight of aid provision has been extremely poor. According to an Oxfam report, over half of Australia’s aid to Afghan-istan between 2007 and 2009 was misused by the Aus-tralian Defense Force, which does not have to evaluate the effectiveness of its assistance programs. 7 Addition-ally, USAID has continued to inject funds into helping Afghanistan with development even though its current operation has been deemed ineffective and wasteful without proper oversight, according to the U.S. chief au-ditor of financial assistance to Afghanistan.The U.S. has spent approximately $100 billion on rebuilding Afghan-istan with little concrete progress. The USAID funding has gone towards an ineffective healthcare system with poor budgeting and high risks for corruption and steal-ing.8 Much of it has also gone towards a youth training program that the U.S. inspector found “little evidence that the project has made progress” towards its goals. 9 Aid to Afghanistan has been marked by waste and inef-newsarchive/2013/january/refund-irish-aid-funds-misappropriat-ed-in-uganda/ (accessed December 20, 2013).

6 Leonard, Lindsey . “MISAPPROPRIATION OF AID: WHY IS AID NOT REACHING THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE IN NORTHERN UGANDA?.” Journal of Political Inquiry 2 (2009). http://jpi-nyu.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/JPI-2-Leonard.pdf (accessed December 30, 2013).

7 “Military gains from foreign aid.” The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/national/military-gains-from-foreign-aid-20110210-1aoli.html (accessed December 20, 2013).

8 “U.S. agency rejects internal warnings about potential waste in Afghanistan aid program.” Center for Public Integrity. http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/09/06/13336/us-agen-cy-rejects-internal-warnings-about-potential-waste-afghani-stan-aid-program (accessed December 20, 2013).

9 Brinkley, Joel. “Money Pit: The Monstrous Failure of US Aid to Afghanistan.” World Affairs Journal. http://www.worldaf-fairsjournal.org/article/money-pit-monstrous-failure-us-aid-af-ghanistan (accessed January 2, 2014).

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fectiveness. These examples underscore the importance of having robust monitoring and ample infrastructure in providing aid.

In another case of misappropriation, aid to Syria has been blocked by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the ongoing Syrian Civil War, preventing humanitari-an assistance from reaching Syrian civilians facing dire conditions. With hundreds of thousands of Syrians trapped in the midst of war, many facing mass starva-tion and killings, aid has been diverted without much international attention or intervention. In this case, aid money is being wasted to cause more harm than benefit for civilians in need. Moving forward, providers of hu-manitarian aid must take into consideration a reality of corruption and wrongdoing in considering civilian aid.10

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in one of the most severe natural weather disasters in history, devastating the country and spurring large scale world-wide aid. Recovery is expected to be long term, and it will be important for the Philippines and donors around the world to prevent misuse of aid funds. It has been difficult to get aid to areas in the most need. Already, there is already concern that aid to the Philippines is becoming a political issue with regards to power play among Asian rivalries, particularly with China over ten-sions on Chinese claims to South China Sea territories. 11

These are a few examples in which large amounts of aid money intended for humanitarian assistance for natural disasters, human rights atrocities, health or other critical circumstances have been diverted or misused in the face of corruption and insufficient oversight. In creating pol-icies for humanitarian aid, such external circumstances must be taken into consideration in order to ensure that aid reaches those in need as directly as possible.

Country Positions

i. United States of America

The United States of America is one of the largest donors to international disaster relief efforts. For example, it has provided over $100 billion on Afghanistan’s development, but little

10 Lynch, Colum. “Why has the U.N. Given Assad a Free Pass on Mass Murder.” Foreign Policy. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/11/17/why_has_the_un_given_assad_a_free_pass_on_mass_murder_syria#sthash.ViYR9pb7.dpbs (accessed December 20, 2013).

11 Jacobs, Andrew . “Asia Rivalries Play Role in Aid to the Philippines.” New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/world/asia/asia-rivalries-play-role-in-aid-to-the-philippines.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hp (accessed Decem-ber 30, 2013).

progress has occurred. There are reports that such donations often get in the wrong hands which ends in the aid not benefiting the citizens of the countries, and such mistakes are actions to be learned from. Most recently, the United States provided much aid to the Philippines in an effort to relieve the victims of the Haiyan Ty-phoon, but in an embarrassing scandal, much of the aid provided was misappropriated and used for the wrong purposes. In a scandal involving food flown in from the United States aircraft carrier George Washington, there were reports about the Philippines that food aid from Britain was being taken and sold for profit by corrupt government officials. According to reports, food aid was even being taken to affluent regions of Manila, completely away from the regions struck by the terrible typhoon.12 In these ways, unknowingly to the donors, aid from large donor countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States has been largely misused.

ii. Sweden

Sweden has experience with donating money that was misappropriated. In an effort to help Uganda in its development, Sweden and three other countries provided a total of 11 million Euros in aid to Uganda, but that money was transferred to an unauthorized account. It turned out that the money was being used for corrupt purposes and Uganda was forced to return that money in a shameful scandal involv-ing Uganda’s leaders. Sweden can provide some insight into how donor countries can prevent such mistakes and corruption.

iii. Uganda

With one of the highest corruption rates in the world, Uganda’s citizens are suffering un-der the weight of its corrupt leaders. The violent civil war between the LRA and the government has caused much corruption and conflict, and this has resulted in the neglect of its citizens. This corruption has led to an unequal distri-bution of aid in Uganda and in many cases aid does not even go to the people. Uganda is in a position where it must advise other nations to

12 “Philippines aid scandal: Food flown in from Britain ends up in shops hundreds of miles from typhoon.” Associated Newspapers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2519974/Philippines-aid-scandal-Food-flown-Britain-ends-shops-hundreds-miles-typhoon.html (accessed 1/22/14).

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not make the same mistakes it did in the past.

iv. Philippines

In the Philippines, corruption remains a problem especially in the wake of the scandals involving relief money being spent for purposes other than relieving the victims of Typhoon Hai-yan. According to the Transparency Internation-al’s corruption perceptions index, the Philippines ranked number 105 out of 176 countries for its lack of transparency. The Philippines must ac-knowledge its mistakes and provide the basis for what other developing nations must do in order to prevent such corruption and misappropriation of aid.

Questions to Consider

1. What types of policies can prevent countries or individuals from misappropriating aid, on both the giving and receiving ends?

2. If in areas of dire need, money is likely to be misappropriated, what types of solutions can best ensure that donor organizations/countries can still help those in need?

3. What punishment is appropriate after the fact of misappropriation? How does this depend on the situation or whether or not aid is misappropriated by a donating or receiving country?

4. What considerations must be made in determin-ing what entity receives aid money (governments, local NGOs, INGOs, etc) so as to prevent misappropriation and allow for effective aid?

5. What types of aid are most effective in differ-ent types of situations so as to prevent misuse (disaster relief, aiding marginalized populations, health related aid, etc.)?

Role of the Committee

The Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee lets member nations to work together and create solutions on how to more effectively implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. SOCHUM strives to sup-port member nations in their efforts to shape a world in which all social groups have access to the human rights that they deserve. Being part of the General Assembly, it includes the largest range of perspectives possible and can address all levels of socioeconomic development. Is-

sues that it focused on in the last session include: wom-en’s rights, indigenous rights, protecting children, aiding refugees, combating discrimination, crime prevention, and reports from the Human Rights Council. Although its resolutions are not binding and it cannot employ sanctions or the use of force, SOCHUM helps generate solutions to problems people face all over the world, ultimately making it very important for the international community.

Structure of the Committee

Before the start of the conference, every delegate will be required to write a one-page position paper for each topic. These position papers will be eligible for awards. Each position paper should be split roughly into three paragraphs:

1. What is the problem? This should be in the delegate’s own words summarizing the topic

2. How does the problem affect the delegate’s country?

3. How does the delegate’s country think the problem should be solved on a global level?

The committee structure will be as follows: the first session will begin with opening speeches from each country. Then there will be unmoderated caucus on the first topic, where delegates will participate in lobbying and begin forming into groups in considering drafting clauses or resolutions. Following unmoderated caucus will be moderated debate around draft clauses/resolu-tions. Ultimately, delegates will vote on resolutions. Both topics will be addressed with this procedure. Delegates can review more information on the committee struc-ture on the YMUN Taiwan website.

Suggestions for Further Research

Aging Populations:

Report of the Second World Assembly on Ageing. New York: United Nations, 8-12 April 2002. http://c-fam.org/docLib/20080625_Madrid_Ageing_Conference.pdf.

The Framework for Monitoring, Review and Appraisal of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. UNESCAP: 29 July 2006. http://www.unescap.org/sdd/issues/ageing/The-framework-for-monitoring-re-view-and-appraisal-of-the-MIPAA.pdf.

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Prevention of Misappropriation of Humanitarian Aid:

United Nations Capital Development Fund: http://www.uncdf.org/

United Nations Humanitarian Affairs: http://www.un.org/en/humanitarian/

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Af-fairs: http://www.unocha.org/

UN Human Development Reports: http://hdr.undp.org/en/

The World Bank: http://www.worldbank.org/

The International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm

Endnotes

1 http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/baby-boom.

2 http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/36/a36r030.htm.

3 http://www.un.org/en/development/devagenda/age-ing.shtml.

4 https://www.un.org/ageing/documents/building_natl_capacity/guiding.pdf.

5 Ibid.

6 http://www.un.org/en/development/devagenda/age-ing.shtml.

7 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/ECOSOCAC1997.2.PDF.

8 https://www.un.org/ageing/documents/building_natl_capacity/guiding.pdf.

9 http://c-fam.org/docLib/20080625_Madrid_Age-ing_Conference.pdf.

10 http://economics.sbs.ohio-state.edu/Nori/docs/Pa-per_Japanese%20Labor%20Market.pdf.

11 http://www.cnbc.com/id/101150318.

12 http://www.cnbc.com/id/49498720.

13 http://www.unescap.org/sdd/.

14 http://sites.asiasociety.org/asia21summit/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Asias-Aging-Popula-tion-East-West-Center1.pdf.

15 Ibid.

16 Skeldon, Ronald, “Ageing of Rural Populations in South-East and East Asia, Part 1,” SD Dimen-sions, April 1999, http://www.fao.org/sd/wpdirect/wpan0028.htm.

17 http://c-fam.org/docLib/20080625_Madrid_Age-ing_Conference.pdf.

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

Position Papers are due by May 19th for feedback and by the first committee session to

qualify for awards. Please submit your position papers to your chair via email.

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