CVHS Conference 2017: UNICEF Topic Synopses Hello everyone! My name is Tahlia Vayser and I will be your head chair for UNICEF at the 2017 CVHS MUN conference. I am currently a sophomore, and this will be my second year in the program. Between MUN and studying, I am the Business Manager for my school s newspaper, and I preside over TeamNEGU (a chapter of the Jessie Rees Foundation, a local nonprofit). Besides humble-bragging in excerpts about my brief time in highschool, you can find me cracking incredibly lame jokes and listening to a carefully-curated Spotify playlist of 110 hours. I am incredibly honored to be your head chair for this committee, and I cannot wait to see how you tackle these issues on December 9th! Topic 1: HIV/Aids in Children I. Background: Over six decades after the first appearance of HIV/Aids, the global community still struggles to eradicate it permanently. Its origins in the Democratic Republic of Congo led to its grasp across the modern world. Though HIV/Aids strength has decreased dramatically with the arrival of new technologies and medicines, a child between the ages of 15 and 19 are diagnosed every two minutes; two-thirds of those diagnosed are young girls, and the situation is dire. More than 240,000 children were newly infected in 2013. HIV/Aids remains prominent throughout the African continent and India, often due to a lack of education on the dangers of practicing safe sex, a shortage of medical attention, and religious practices. Coerced and non-consensual sex, as seen often in the cases of child marriage and other customs, have played a major role in spreading the disease. Condoms and STD-Testing in third-world countries are not always readily available, promoting the spread of HIV/Aids. Areas with limited resources are often not equipped to provide medical practitioners with adequate materials and sterilization of needles, a common method of spreading HIV/Aids. The disease itself is often not fatal, but rather, the weakened immune systems in areas where contamination and illness is already frequent leads to a heightened mortality rate. Even with infections in developed countries falling, much of the global community still battles HIV/Aids impact. II. UN Involvement: The UN has worked tirelessly to establish programs to eradicate HIV/Aids. Among their many steps toward their goal are the initiatives to protect the health of HIV infected pregnant and breastfeeding women, provide antiretroviral therapy to children, focus on treatment and prevention during adolescence, and ensure social and child protection by supporting and caring for children through the first two decades of life. The creation and operation of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aids, or UNAIDS, since 1996 has been a trailblazer for eradicating the disease. The UN works in collaboration with the IPAA combatting HIV/Aids in Africa, UN
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). III. Possible Solutions: There is no known cure for HIV/Aids. However, various treatments have been adopted that have made significant progress in diminishing the mortality rate and difficulties associated with the disease. The use of antiretroviral regimens (ARV s) have proven effective in combatting the disease s progress, as well as secondary infections and complications that often prove to be the most dangerous aspect of HIV/Aids. Various drugs exist to treat the disease, but often come with side effects that could be detrimental. Currently, aid provided by allied countries are the greatest threat to HIV/Aids on a global scale, as research for new treatments, implementation of current medications, and proper sex education all contribute to the fight. One factor of UNAIDS initiative is Getting to Zero, which aims to end new cases of HIV and fatalities due to HIV. Programs and organizations that mirror these efforts further optimize the eradication of HIV/Aids on the global scale. IV. Questions to Consider: 1) How does HIV/Aids impact your country, especially your children? 2) How does your country contribute to the fight against HIV/Aids? What has it provided, and what can it improve upon? 3) How has the situation of HIV/Aids developed, changed, or progressed in your country? 4) What treatments/procedures/programs/etc. have been effective in your country s fight against HIV/Aids? 5) What economic, social, political, environmental etc. factors contribute to the standings of HIV/Aids in your country? V. Works Cited: "AIDS-Free Generation." UNICEF USA. N.p., n.d. Web. "HIV/AIDS." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 06 Sept. 2017. Web. "The HIV/AIDS Epidemic Is Still Alive and Well." Impact. N.p., n.d. Web. "Special Session Fact Sheets: The United Nations at Work: The Fight against AIDS." United Nations. United Nations, n.d. Web.
Topic 2: Child Trafficking I. Background: Unfortunately the issue of human trafficking has existed nearly as long as the history of human beings. The United Nations defines child trafficking as a crime involving the movement of children for the purpose of their exploitation. This profiteering typically involves the use of violence and abuse against children. In 2013 the estimated number of children being trafficked around the world was 5.5 million and children were estimated to make up 25% of forced laborers by the International Labour Organization. Some of the work these children are forced to do includes - but is not limited to - prostitution, pornography, migrant farming, working in sweatshops, and working in the armed services. Slavery is the most well known iteration of human trafficking and was legal in the UK and the US until the early 1800 s. This form of human trafficking usually focused on strong men who could perform manual labor. However, during World War I the trafficking of women and children became more widespread because these people were forced to do more sexual acts and factory work instead of manual labor. The countries in the League of Nations all signed the International Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Women and Children. This dealt primarily with sexual-based trafficking and, although ratified by 46 countries, the convention did not particularly advance the protection of women and children from trafficking. It has proven difficult to truly reduce child trafficking, primarily in less developed nations and in South and East Asia. II. UN Involvement: Following World War II, the United Nations developed the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others in 1949 in the wake of the dissolution of the League of Nations. This Convention detailed trafficking as white slavery however it could happen to women or children. These general terms allowed it to be applied to a number of different acts including trafficking that does not pass international borders as well as forced prostitution. Although it was not ratified by 33 of the signatories, this allowed for the international communities to view human trafficking as a more serious issue that needs to be stopped similarly to the slave trade in the 17th century. In the present day, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) addresses the issue of human trafficking as a whole while the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) focuses on child trafficking. III. Possible Solutions: At the root cause of much of child trafficking one can usually find poverty. Parents who are too poor to afford food for themselves, let alone their children, may relinquish their child to a trafficking ring in exchange for some money. Tied extremely close to poverty is violence: the violence of the community, police brutality, gang activity and more all contribute to the existence and rise of child trafficking worldwide. Since poverty correlates with the prevalence of
trafficking, one must address the issue of poverty which is so widespread and convoluted. An issue that goes hand in hand with poverty is lack of education. In areas with a lack of education - especially for women - poverty and violence have shown to be higher. Therefore to look at producing a solution to child trafficking one must first address the issues of education, violence, and poverty. IV. Questions to Consider: 1. How does child trafficking affect your country? 2. What is your country s policy toward child trafficking? 3. What type of child trafficking is most prevalent in your country? 4. How do gangs and other criminal organizations influence trafficking worldwide and in your country? Works Cited: Note on the definition of 'child trafficking'. UNICEF, United Nations, www.unicef.org/southafrica/saf_pressrelease_notetrafficking.pdf. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017. Child trafficking. UNICEF, UNICEF, 22 Mar. 2011, www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58005.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. OHCHR Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons, UNHRC, 25 July 1951, www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/trafficinpersons.aspx. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017. Foley, Erin. Trafficking Children Part II: Solutions. Children in Families, Children in Families, 16 May 2016,
www.childreninfamilies.org/problems-solutions-child-trafficking-part-ii/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.