Head Chair: Carine Wherritt Vice Chair: Ryan Hassas Moderator: Alexa Richter Position papers will be due on February 5th, 2021. The position paper format, and all other important conference documents, can be found on our conference website, http://lhhsconference.weebly.com/. Email all position papers to our committee email: [email protected].Feel free to contact us via email if you have any questions or concerns!
Hello delegates! My name is Carine Wherritt and I will be your head chair. I am a junior at Laguna Hills High School and have been involved in the MUN program since middle school! While I love MUN, I also participate in other school activities such as tennis, a club called Think Pink, which is a breast cancer awareness club, CSF, and more. While online school has been tough, I can genuinely say I thoroughly enjoy being at home and the occasional (maybe not so occasional) facetime calls with friends and family. When I’m not doing homework or watching my new favorite show, you can catch me at one of my friends' houses or at the nearest thrift store! I look forward to seeing you all on our zoom conference!
Welcome delegates! My name is Ryan Hassas and I will be your vice chair. I am a junior at Laguna Hills High School and have been serving as a member of the MUN program for three years now. Alongside MUN, I love out of school hobbies such as playing Basketball and video games with my friends. While playing video games is a major part of my day when I do not have homework, another thing I love to do is watching Netflix. All in all, Model United Nations has taught me a valuable lesson in leadership and communication skills vital to our futures. I enjoy my experience in MUN and hope you will too at our conference. I look forward to seeing everyone at our virtual conference!
Hi delegates! My name is Alexa Richter and I will be your moderator. I am a sophomore at Laguna Hills High School and this is my second year doing MUN. In addition to participating in MUN, I also participate in other school activities such as volleyball, Kindness Club, The Red Cross Club, photography, and CSF. Outside of school I love hanging out with my friends, going to the beach, or having movie marathons. Although online school takes up a lot of my time, I always make time for my favorite show, Grey’s Anatomy. I’m looking forward to seeing you all at the LHHS conference!
Topic A: Peacebuilding in South Sudan - The increase of domestic violence during the pandemic
Background: South Sudan, one of the world's newest countries, has faced many issues since its establishment. Some of which include war, civil unrest, and opposition groups' involvement. One of the most influential matters, however, is domestic violence and abuse. This is in part because of the acceptance of domestic violence from the inhabitants of South Sudan. During the former president Omar Al Bashir's thirty-year rule, domestic violence was not considered a crime and persecutors were left unpunished. Although that has changed, the people are still left vulnerable by the culture it left behind. Roughly 65% of women and girls have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes in South Sudan. Although domestic violence has always been prevalent, in recent times, the pandemic has caused these numbers to reach intransigent numbers. Many families have relied on POC shelters for food and shelter for years. However, considering the danger of living in close proximity shelters, many have moved to other areas. Even though it is much safer from the pandemic, domestic violence has become a new danger, and partners have become vulnerable.
Additionally, the closure of schools has caused many children to spend all their time at home. Thus, it is more common than ever to see children being subjected to sexual and physical violence in their own homes. Many of these children have no outlet to report these incidents to since they do not regularly see trusted adults or classmates at school. Therefore, they have also become more vulnerable. This vulnerability has been taken advantage of by perpetrators, and the commonality of domestic violence in South Sudan has reached astonishing levels. Therefore, it is crucial the United Nations takes immediate action in protecting vulnerable South Sudanese.
UN Involvement: The United Nations has conducted several actions on the topic of peacebuilding in South Sudan. For one, the development of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was developed in order to ensure stability in the region. The United Nations have acknowledged that as of November 18th, 2020, in the last 6 months, there have been over 1000 people killed and 400 abducted. Despite domestic violence ramping up during the pandemic, the United Nations is committed in its efforts to combat this. Recently, a redesignation had been passed in order to move more individuals away from all over the country. As a result, UNMISS has the ability to gradually redeploy troops to conflict hotspots, to ensure the safety of citizens. The United Nations mission in South Sudan is also focused on improving the roads and means of transportation for South Sudanese citizens. As a result of the negative impacts of domestic violence in the region, the UN feels compelled to help reconstruct and rebuild these areas. The UN mission is committed towards building an approximately 3,200 kilometers of roads across the country of South Sudan. By doing this, their goal is to ensure safe transportation from one part of the country to another, and improving trade and creating jobs. In addition, people can feel more safe and this will directly help improve markets and services. As of recently, the peacekeeping efforts in South Sudan have been focused on the protections of civilians. One example of this can be seen with civilian staff and troops working together in order to promote a great experience in local communities in the region. These efforts help in order to ensure and establish proper rebuilding of lives in South Sudan. Furthermore, intercommunal violence has been recognized by the United Nations prior to the Coronavirus pandemic as well. These violent actions have been noticed as a recurring pattern and need to be dealt with by the Southern Sudanese government investigating the deaths of many individuals. Years of setbacks as a result of food insecurity and flooding in the region has not helped many people either. Furthermore, the United Nations has pledged immense efforts particularly in domestic violence towards conducting investigations of violence done. By having the knowledge, they believe that they can be able to make appropriate decisions in order to provide assistance. All in all, a combination of an unfortunate past and poor conditions has led to civil unrest and violence in the region. The United Nations has backed the region of South Sudan and pledged heavy support to combat this, especially in the times of COVID-19.
Bloc Positions: African Group: Domestic violence against women is a very prevalent issue in Africa, as well as other regions of the world. Many fight and protest against this issue while continuously representing these issues through the media. Many women are being violently abused by their partners each year, and the numbers are ever increasing. The WHO found that 50% of women in Tanzania and 71% of women in Ethiopia’s rural areas have reported being physically abused by their significant other or intimate partners. It is seen that domestic abuse is rooted within culture and can be seen as a right to men given by the law. With this being said, national sovereignty prevents these cultural properties from being redacted. As the issue remains a major concern, laws have slowly been implemented into African nations as well as enforcement, such as police forces. These police forces have been implemented into areas to create a more secure environment that offers security.
Asian Group: Countries of the Asian Bloc have expressed minimal interest in South Sudan. Nations within Asia have a cultural dynamic that directly affects women and girls, perpetuating the acts of domestic violence against this gender. With the cultural beliefs being men and boys are more respected, female lives are being viewed as less and cause other serious issues including female infanticide, killing all babies who are girls. The Asian bloc has not been involved with the South Sudanese crisis and addresses domestic abuse as a concern, but shows no effort being made to reduce this problem.
European Group (EU): Nations in the European Union similarly face domestic issues beyond the pandemic’s stay-at-home orders, and the effects are particularly felt amongst women. More than 50% see this issue as fairly common with many issues of concern. Studies have shown that many view drugs and alcohol, economic and social issues, and more factors protrude to the arising issue of domestic abuse against women and see it imperative to combat this issue with different policies and legislation. Different attacks many European nations see important to take place to combat this issue is to focus on different laws that apply to prevention, aid for victims, as well as the perpetrators. Specifically, those from the European Union tend to have opinions that show a greater support for laws and programs dedicated to the rehabilitation of perpetrators. In order to take action, the EU has called on Member States to “make domestic violence against women, including rape within marriage and sexual mutilation, a criminal offence and to set up services to help women who are victims of this kind of violence.” Overall, awareness of domestic violence has grown and tolerance has lessened.
Latin America and Caribbean Group: Although there are many laws in place combating domestic abuse against women within Latin America, many are continuing to be failed by the government. Domestic abuse is beginning to be recognized as a public health concern and human rights issue, as victims are shown to have more surgeries, physician and pharmacy visits, hospital stays, and mental health consultations than other people. By law, domestic abuse victims in Latin America and the Caribbean go under medical examination before reporting cases of domestic violence. Enforcement of legislation remains a huge concern; Brazil was one of the first countries to implement a special police unit that only consisted of women, with more countries following afterwards.
Questions to Consider:
Does your country have different laws that address domestic abuse victims, perpetrators, and the prevention of abuse?
How has your country addressed the impact of the pandemic on civilians and domestic abuse rates?
How can conditions in areas where aid cannot be delivered be made safer fordomestic abuse survivors?
How does the closure of schools and the loss of jobs due to the pandemic affect domestic violence rates?
How can previous solutions to domestic violence be altered to compensate for the impact of the pandemic?
What alterations to lockdown rules need to be made to ensure victims are still able to go to safe homes or report the abuse?
What impact has the succession of South Sudan had on the civilian population as tensions begin to escalate violently?
Sources:
Domestic Violence against Women . Sept. 2010, ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/archives/ebs/ebs_344_en.pdf.
“Domestic Violence: An Ongoing Threat to Women in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Population Reference Bureau, www.prb.org/domesticviolenceanongoingthreattowomeninlatinamericaandthecaribbean/.
Mednick, Sam. “COVID-19 Abuse Fears for Women in South Sudan.” The New Humanitarian, 8 July 2020, www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2020/05/06/coronavirus-south-sudan-women-abuse-gender-violence.
“Reports of Gender-Based Violence Increase in Sudan During COVID Lockdown.” Voice of America, www.voanews.com/africa/south-sudan-focus/reports-gender-based-violence-increase-sudan-during-covid-lockdown.
SVAW - Domestic Violence: Law and Policy, hrlibrary.umn.edu/svaw/domestic/laws/regional.htm.
“Taking on Violence against Women in Africa | Africa Renewal.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2007/taking-violence-against-women-africa.
“Violence, Insecurity Continues to Plague South Sudan Communities | | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, news.un.org/en/story/2020/11/10779
Victims of Intercommunal Violence in South Sudan Deserve 'Justice, Truth and Reparations': Bachelet | | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/10647