Committee: World Health Organization Topic B: Achieving social development and health improvements through planned parenthood Dear delegates, It is an honor and pleasure to welcome each one of you to CIDEBMUN 2017. Our committee, the World Health Organization, has prepared with big effort and enthusiasm for you to learn and enjoy this CIDEBMUN experience. As you may know, CIDEBMUN 2017 is based on international and current issues that have had an enormous impact on our world. At CIDEBMUN 2017, we expect from each one of you to develop skills such as research, public speaking, and critical thinking. This simulation aims to broaden your perspectives in order for you to adapt to a political environment. In this CIDEBMUN edition, delegates from the World Health Organization will be discussing 2 very influential topics: Public Health Financing and Achieving Social Development and Health Improvements through planned parenthood. According to the United Nations, Public Health Financing is a current international challenge due to the great amount of people who need medical treatment and are unable to afford it. On the other side, achieving social development and health improvements through planned parenthood has had a positive impact on the international community since research shows that planned parenthood health centers are better able to deliver high-quality, opportune contraceptive care to more women, men, and youth. Nonetheless planned parenthood is still a controversial solution in many countries to achieve social development. Throughout this 2 days, you will be able of doing research, public speaking, thinking critically, negotiating, and expanding your knowledge about worldwide problems. The WHO Chair looks forward to a participative debate. As Robin Williams said, "No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world. Director: Natalia Tellez Salinas Moderator: Kylie Joselyne Tobías García
Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of the main directing health authorities of the United Nations. This organization was established on April 7th, 1948 by the UN. When the United Nations was founded after World War II, health was one of the main concerns within humanity. As a result, WHO was created as an organization with the major goal of providing the highest possible level of health among all people. Therefore, the committee is responsible for promoting healthy choices, supporting the fight against pandemic and epidemic diseases, providing medical treatment, and proposing solutions towards achieving proper health worldwide. The current head of WHO is the Director- General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom who started his five-year term on 1 July 2017. WHO s main headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. WHO works alongside the UN to help its member states by providing aid that will help them achieve their national health priorities and better sanitary conditions for their habitants. The solutions proposed by the WHO must address and tackle, in the most efficient way, any of the presented health problems in the World Health Assembly. Therefore, it must be flexible enough to respond to a changing environment. As most of the UN organs, the WHO has no constitutional power over the sovereignty of any country. Therefore, it cannot change any member state s laws or act against them. The solutions proposed must be a result of negotiation between all countries in the committee.
Quorum 1. Austria 2. Brazil 3. Canada 4. China 5. Côte d' Ivore 6. Cuba 7. Denmark 8. Finland 9. France 10. Germany 11. Jordan 12. Mexico 13. Myanmar 14. Netherlands 15. New Zealand 16. Norway 17. Peru 18. Philippines 19. Russia 20. Sierra Leone 21. Sweden 22. Tunisia 23. United Arab Emirates 24. United Kingdom 25. United States
Topic Introduction Topic B: Achieving social development and health improvements through planned parenthood Planned parenthood refers to the group of practices oriented towards birth control used by a couple of potential progenitors. Most of these practices involve the usage of anticonceptive methods by potential progenitors when performing sexual intercourse. However, for many people around the International Community, there only exists a limited access to vital reproductive and sexual healthcare information. This is commonly caused by poverty, lack of basic services, politics, or armed conflicts. In 2015, around 15 million girls in the world, aged 15-19, gave birth. Adolescent pregnancies are more likely to take place on developing countries. Furthermore, some female adolescents do not know how to prevent pregnancy since there is a lack of sex education in many countries. Additionally, childbirth may lead to health effects such as, pregnancy and childbirth complications, and economic and social consequences, including dropping out from school and financial struggles. As a necessity, we may recall that sex education is an essential key to prevent adolescent pregnancy, and furthermore, achieve social development and health improvements through planned parenthood.
Topic History Teenage pregnancy emerged during the 1950s and early 1960s, when the rates of childbearing among teens reached historical peeks. Back then, illegal abortions were not uncommon. However, among white women, adoption was the most popular alternative for those who were unable to perform abortions. The creation of adolescent childbearing as a public problem had overwhelming political and social consequences. During the last quarter of the 20th century, sexual activity among teens was developing faster than were family planning services. Consequently, this created an even greater risk of adolescent females becoming pregnant. In addition, the first contraceptive methods among teens, such as oral contraceptives and the diaphragm, were often accompanied by irritating side effects. Nevertheless, the increase of abortion encouraged adolescents to have sex without worrying about the future consequences. By the beginning of 1970s, school sex education was starting to emerge and change significantly as a response to the social changes from the 1970s. Biology textbooks started to provide the students fuller topics about the human reproductive systems, while methods of contraception began to be taught more widely. In 1995, President Bill Clinton categorized childbearing as our most serious social problem. As a result, programs initiated as a response to this issue. These programs largely focused on providing preventive services to young mothers and their children. However, these programs were rapidly abandoned as a response of criticism from the political environment. Currently, delegations such as United States, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Senegal, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya, have been reinforcing relationships with campaigns and organizations to prevent adolescent pregnancy. The goal of Achieving Social Development and Health Improvements through planned parenthood has perdured since the 1910s. Furthermore, adolescent pregnancy remains as one of the most influential social issue youth and future generations will contemplate. Countries such as China and Mexico have launched and established laws and campaigns to control their birth rates and promote social development amongst families. Some of these solutions succeeded at their goal. Yet many others caused international controversy.
UN Action The United Nations has considered several programs and solutions to contribute to the Achievement of Social Development and Health Improvements. The United Nations Foundation s Universal Access Project, in partnership with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Sierra Club, announced the first-ever Why We Care Youth contest, which serves as a platform for young people living in the U.S. to share what access to reproductive health and contraception has personally meant to them. WHO published guidelines in 2011 with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) on preventing early pregnancies and reducing poor reproductive outcomes. These made recommendations for action that countries would take, with 6 main objectives: reducing marriage before the age of 18; creating understanding and support to reduce pregnancy before the age of 20; increasing the use of contraception by adolescents at risk of unintended pregnancy; reducing coerced sex among adolescents; reducing unsafe abortion among adolescents; increasing use of skilled antenatal, childbirth and postnatal care among adolescents. UNFPA works with partners, including governments, civil society and youth-led organizations, to extend access to sexual and reproductive health information, counselling and services, including contraception, to all young people. UNFPA also advocates the integration of comprehensive sexuality education into school curricula, and supports programmes promoting gender equality. Additionally, UNFPA works within communities to end child marriage and empower girls, measures that reduce adolescent pregnancies. The Action for Adolescent Girls programme, for example, is reaching thousands of girls and community members in Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zambia with information about human rights, sexual and reproductive health, and the consequences of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy The United Nations Population Fund endeavors to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, and every young person s potential is fulfilled.
Questions What roles does your delegations play on both topics? Which solutions has your delegation previously proposed? What do you think WHO can do to contribute to Public Health Financing and to the Achievement of Social Development and Health Improvements through planned parenthood? What are the limitations of your country to these topics? What are the limitations of your committee to these topics? Which type of impact(s) (social, international, economic) has your delegation previously made? Is your delegation joined or in agreement with any Treaties related to the topics? What has your country done to prevent adolescent pregnancy?
Bibliography Adolescent pregnancy. (2014, September). Retrieved August 26, 2017, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs364/en/ Child marriage. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2017, from http://www.unfpa.org/child-marriage Clington, W. J. (1995, January 24). Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=51634 Furstenberg, Frank. The History of Teenage Childbearing as a Social Problem. Destinies of the Disadvantaged: The Politics of Teen Childbearing, Russell Sage Foundation, 2010, pp. 1 23, www.russellsage.org/publications/destiniesdisadvantaged-0. Who we are, what we do. About WHO, World Health Organization, www.who.int/. 2017.