Head Chair: Sophia Lyman Vice Chair: Ben Wirth Moderator: Stirling Armstrong Position papers will be due on February 5, 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! I am your head chair, Sophia Lyman, and this is my sixth year of being in MUN. MUN has encouraged me to take an interest in global activities and consider career paths linked to international relations. Here at Laguna Hills, I am also the president of CSF, captain of the girl’s Varsity Tennis team, and an IB diploma candidate. I look forward to seeing everyone at our conference!
Hey delegates, my name is Benjamin Wirth, but I usually just go by Ben. I have been a part of LHHS MUN for about a year and a half and it has assisted me in my public speaking abilities and has also increased my global awareness. I'm also an IB diploma candidate, and look forward to working with you delegates.
Hello delegates, my name is Stirling Armstrong and I’ll be your moderator. I’ve been with MUN since 8th grade and it’s been a big part of how I’ve really grown to be able to feel more comfortable public speaking and being able to really understand and embody my position on a topic. At Laguna I’m also in choir and work with the drama department. I look forward to seeing you all soon!
Topic: Women’s Access to Healthcare in Areas of War
Background Women’s access to healthcare is a constant struggle in both the developed and the developing world. While women’s access to healthcare by itself is a challenging topic, what is really being addressed is women’s access to healthcare in areas of war, where the struggle increases by tenfold. When war is a factor in access to healthcare, the priority for the belligerents’ health assets are focused on soldiers and citizens who are injured due to the war, and overall, women usually are not the citizens participating in combat, so they are the main civilian group that is ignored. Historically women in areas of war have had less access to healthcare necessities such as birth control, birth assisting medicine, and other reproductive-related services. War causes women to have less access to birth medicine, increasing both the birth mortality rate and the infant mortality rate. As proof of this, according to a study done on child mortality rate in areas of armed conflict, “A child born within 50 km of an armed conflict had a risk of dying before reaching age 1 year of 5.2 per 1000 births higher than being born in the same region during periods without conflict” (Wagner, “The Lancet”). Access to healthcare for women has a large effect on the birth mortality rate because there is less access to the resources necessary for a safe birth.
UN Involvement Women's access to healthcare in areas of war has been a prominent and recurring problem in several states. With this, the U.N. has written statements recognizing that women can even be considered more at risk in several areas with violence, thus being a reason for concern in states that are struggling. The U.N. Security Council and the CEDAW Committee both addressed this in 2013. With the U.N. Security Council calling upon members of states that had any sort of violence involving women where their safety was at risk, have all sexual and reproductive health care options available to all women involved, including victims of assault and rape. This council also allows this to build upon the already in place Resolution 2106 which aims at ensuring that anyone who experiences any sort of violence in states be able to receive comprehensive care without discrimination, which allowed for more progress with gender equality in healthcare. Along with having the CEDAW, (Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women) that was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly, issue several guidelines including those about reproductive health services and availability to contraceptives and safe abortion that would be required of countries experiencing violence. The U.N. found that in pressuring guidelines and imposing what should be done, many countries began to comply.
Bloc Positions Western Bloc: Currently, the Western bloc is not involved in many wars, so women’s access to healthcare is entirely dependent on their country’s laws and policies in place. The country with the best healthcare for women is Sweden, which has the lowest maternal mortality rate and highest breast cancer screening rates. Many western nations help women in areas of war by fundraising and sending medical equipment, such as the United States.
Latin Bloc: Some nations in Latin America, specifically Venezuela, are encouraging women to have many children. For this reason, they are not giving women access to reproductive health care. Besides this, many Latin countries are considered undeveloped, so the infrastructure for hospitals and medical buildings is poor. The Latin bloc does not do much to promote women’s access to health care in areas of war since they have limited resources themselves and cannot spare any equipment to other nations.
African Bloc: There is a lot of conflict in the African continent, so women’s access to healthcare is heavily affected by this. Many women are affected by AIDS and do not have access to reproductive health care. This causes a high infant and maternal mortality rate, which affects over 50% of the continent. Many government officials within the bloc have not done anything to give women better access to healthcare.
Asian Bloc: Women in the Asian bloc are not heavily affected by war, although, many women suffer from breast and cervical cancer and do not have access to the proper tools and equipment. The Asian bloc is not known for helping women in areas of war and improving their access to healthcare.
Middle Eastern Bloc: Currently, many nations within the middle east are being torn apart by war and many women are not receiving the necessary health care. Many countries are either overwhelmed by war victims and cannot use equipment to treat women or refuse to help women in the first place. Either way, many women are not receiving the necessary treatment and are in dire need of increased access to healthcare.
Questions to Consider:
How limited is women’s access to healthcare in your country? Does it differ from regions of war?
What measures/initiatives has your country taken to provide more healthcare to women in areas of war?
What are some causes of women’s limited access to healthcare? I.e. political, economic, cultural, social, etc.
To what extent is your country willing to increase women’s access to healthcare in areas of war without infringing on social and cultural traditions?
What are some solutions to increasing women’s access to healthcare in your country?
Sources:
“Report of the Commission on Womens Health in the African Region.” World Health Organization, 2017, www.afro.who.int/sites/default/files/2017-06/report-of-the-commission-on-womens-health-in-the-african-region---full-who_acreport-comp%20%281%29.pdf.
“WHAT WE DO.” Asian Women for Health, www.asianwomenforhealth.org/what-we-do.html.
“Armed Conflict and Child Mortality in Africa: a Geospatial Analysis.” The Lancet, www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31437-5/fulltext.
“United Nations: Women Living in War-Torn Countries Need Comprehensive Reproductive Health Services.” Center for Reproductive Rights, 2013, www.reproductiverights.org/press-room/united-nations-women-living-in-war-torn-countries-need-comprehensive-reproductive-health-.