Hofstra University Model United Nations Conference 2018

Third Committee: Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee

Alexa Osner

Chair

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Dear Delegates,

My name is Alexa Osner and I would like to welcome you all to the Hofstra University Model United Nations Conference! I will be your chair this year for the Third Committee of the General Assembly, the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM)!

I am a first-year student here at Hofstra and I am majoring in Public Policy and Public Service. This will also be my first year participating in Model UN, so I am excited to get started! I am very passionate about social and humanitarian issues, and I am very happy to be chairing SOCHUM this year. I have also been recently elected as a senator for Student Government and I cannot wait to start making a difference on campus! With these opportunities, I hope to grow and learn more about international politics to help me in my future career path.

For the 2018 Model United Nations Conference, SOCHUM will be focusing on the prevention of human trafficking and women’s rights in the Middle East. I feel that both issues are on the international agenda and have become the focus of importance for many countries. Just recently, the King of Saudi Arabia announced that women will be allowed to drive legally in the country. Human trafficking has become a major problem, made worse by the migrant crisis in Europe. Both of these topics are of major significance for the international community and need to be addressed.

I hope you are as excited as I am to start researching these topics! Sincerely, Alexa Osner

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Introduction to the Committee

The Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee (SOCHUM) is the third committee of

the General Assembly and is currently chaired by H.E. Mr. Einar Gunnarsson (Iceland). The

committee is meeting in its 72nd session and focuses on humanitarian and social issues globally. 1

SOCHUM undertakes the issues that pertain to the rights of women, children, refugees,

and indigenous peoples, and, aims to guarantee an individual’s right to not be subjected to

racism, sexism, and discrimination of any kind. More than half of the committee’s draft

resolutions are for human rights issues which encompass women's rights, human trafficking,

racial inequality, and the rights of children and migrants. 2

Introduction to the topic

At the 2018 Hofstra University Model United Nations Conference, delegates to

SOCHUM will debate the topics of women's rights in the Middle East and human trafficking.

Women in Middle Eastern countries experience inequalities in their most basic forms, such as

not having access to education or not being able to attain financial independence. The negative

effects of the lack of rights for women are something that SOCHUM, in particular, will

convene to help solve. The second issue that will be debated is human trafficking. There are an

estimated 20.9 million victims of human trafficking including forced migrant workers, women,

and children.3 SOCHUM will discuss solutions to decrease the growth of victims and develop

solutions to shut down this industry that “[the] ILO estimates … generates $150.2 billion in

illegal profits each year.”4

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The first topic that SOCHUM will address is human trafficking. This topic affects nearly

every country in the world and has become one of the fastest growing criminal acts worldwide.

Human trafficking can be defined as

the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.5

Human trafficking is not to be confused with smuggling, which is the

act of transporting a willing participant over borders in order to help them escape the conditions

of their own countries. Smuggling can turn into human trafficking when the smuggler drops off

the people they are smuggling with a human trafficker, but the two are not synonymous.

Furthermore, smuggling is characterized as a crime against the state; those who are smuggled are

not considered victims because they are viewed as voluntarily travelling with smugglers to get to

their destination in another country.6

The most common victims of human trafficking are women and children, and the most

common purpose of their abductions is sexual exploitation. In various countries in the Middle

East, children have the highest rate of abductions compared to adults even though they only

make up twenty percent of the total population of victims.7 Females have the highest overall rate

of abduction at fifty-five percent globally.8

Another aspect of human trafficking is forced labor, which makes up sixty-eight percent

of reports on human trafficking.9 Human trafficking victims may be taken abroad, but they may

also be transported locally. The fact that this crime reaches so many regions and yet also has a

significant local dimension is why SOCHUM finds it important to discuss these issues at this

year's MUN conference.

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The second topic that SOCHUM will address will be on women's rights in the Middle

East. This topic encompasses a variety of concerns, including women’s access to education,

healthcare, participation in government and financial independence. There are many

discriminatory perceptions against females stated in the domestic laws of Middle Eastern

countries and their leaders, such as Saudi Arabia’s King, defend them as part of the culture and

traditions of the country.10 For example, young girls are married off to older men and are not

perceived of as valuable just because they are female.11 This is because such traditional views of

women are the mainstream in people’s minds.12 Young women are seen as “pure” and are

deemed more valuable compared to a women who has more years to her. Child marriages leave

young girls vulnerable to mistreatment by older husbands, and have actually increased in recent

years.13 One of SOCHUM’s mandates is to address women’s rights, and these have relevance to

both individual women and the Middle East region as a whole.

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Topic 1: Women's Rights in the Middle East

Women's rights are an important issue that affects females universally. The fact is that

there are still young girls around the world that do not have access to education, including thirty-

one million primary school-aged girls and thirty-four million adolescent girls, according to

UNESCO.14 In Iran, while sixty percent of women attend university, they are restricted on the

content they can study.15 Countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia have political leaders who create

laws to exclude women in their countries, and restrict their ability to attain political

power. However, according to the United Nations organization UN Women, empowering and

giving women the ability to participate in the economy and attain education significantly benefits

nations.16

The UN created Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 and the fifth goal calls

for "[providing] women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and

representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable

economies and benefit societies and humanity at large."17 In order help UN members realize the

goals of the SDGs for women and girls, UN Women

stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting.18

UN Women also works closely with governments, civil society institutions, and other

organizations “…to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the

standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide.”19

UN Women has organized four conferences inviting participants from around the world to

discuss these inequalities, in Mexico City (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985) and

Beijing (1995). 20The Beijing conference was particularly notable because of then-First Lady

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Hillary Clinton’s speech on behalf of the United States, in which she declared, “Human rights

are women’s rights … and women’s rights are human rights.”21 During this conference, the

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted, including 12 important objectives:

Women and poverty, Education and training of women, Women and health, Violence against women, Women and armed conflict, Women and the economy, Women in power and decision-making, Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, Human rights of women, Women and the media, Women and the environment, The girl child.22

Case Study One:

The Islamic Republic of Iran is the second largest country in the Middle East and the

eighteenth most populous in the world.23 It is located between Iraq and Turkey to the west and

Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to the east.24 Nearly half of that population is female,

reflecting the current make-up of the global population.25 However, only eighteen percent of

Iran’s female population is in the work force and a

small percentage has access to higher education.26

There have been small positive strides in

enhancing the status of women, but overall, women

are denied many of their human rights due to Shari’a

Law (Islamic Law). As an example, before the 1979 revolution, women wore veils as a symbol

to protest Western culture and to proclaim their faith. However, after the fall of the Shah’s

government, this modest wear became mandated through a permanent law.27 Women could no

longer make the decision to wear a veil and it lost its political message, instead being used to

reinforce traditional values. Before 2005, these laws had loosened, allowing for women to be

more socially and civically engaged. However, after the election of President Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad in 2005, the crackdown on women’s rights increased significantly.28 More

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restrictions on women’s dress and on their economic activity, as well as their access to education

and political office occurred.

Under Shari’a Law, Iran is able to subtly restrict women’s human rights through careful

wording of Iranian law. For example, one law states, “All citizens of the nation, whether men or

women, are equally protected by the law. They also enjoy human, political, economic, and

cultural rights according to Islamic standards.”29 Through this strategic wording, Iran is able to

use the discriminatory values towards women and keep them oppressed because of the stating of,

“…according to Islamic standard”. That way, they are able to follow Shari’a law as opposed to

state law. In one controversial example, women are not allowed to attend sporting events because

of a ban on women in stadiums, excluding them from a significant social aspect of everyday

life.30

There are distinct differences, however, between the two most prominent sects of Islam,

Sunni and Shiite. The Prophet Mohammad’s daughter, Fatima, is the representation of women

that the Shiite community looks to. “This is an important contribution to the role of women in the

collective memory and in Shiite tradition. In certain Shiite traditions, she is represented as the

one who transmits the prophet’s enlightenment and soul to the prophet’s children and the

Imams.”31 However, even though Shiite Islam is the dominant interpretation of Islam practiced

in Iran, political changes and an emergence of traditional ideology have been prominent in

shaping the rights and experiences of women.

Through an initiative called, “Delivering as One”, UN Women has been able to increase

the number of countries and organizations that focus on “…gender inequality and the

empowerment of women and girls” into their development work.32 Delivering as One’s

programming includes bringing awareness to nations of the negative consequences of not

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moving towards a more equal society. The initiative emphasizes the sectors that will suffer the

most if gender equality is ignored. The Islamic Republic of Iran specifically has gone through

workshops and educational programming in order to streamline a path towards gender equality

from 2012-2016.33

Guiding Questions for Delegates:

1) Do countries with reportedly more rights for women have an obligation to

guarantee that right for women everywhere?

2) How does the UN reach out to countries who do not participate in programs like

“Delivering as One”?

Case Study Two:

Saudi Arabia is currently ruled by King Salman, successor to King Abdullah. The

country has a majority Sunni Muslim population and there is minority Shiite population face

discrimination as Sunni Islam rules the country.34 Saudi Arabia has also been tied to the

beginnings of extreme terrorist activity including Al Qaeda, and ISIS has recruited

more than 2,500 fighters from Saudi Arabia.35 The government itself, however, has taken a

"zero-tolerance" position on terrorism and has closely worked with the United States on a

counterterrorism stance.36 Like the fight against terrorism, Saudi Arabia has tried to work with

Western powers to improve some of the conditions for women. The progress has been slow

moving, though.

Not unlike Iran, women in Saudi Arabia are not permitted equal rights and face violence

at home. Women in both countries face issues of male guardianship, which force them to be

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dependent on their husbands to go out into the world. There is even a law in Saudi Arabia that

“women are required to have a male guardian’s permission to file a criminal complaint”.37 This

allows domestic violence to persist in the home because the government has made it impossible

to allow women to file charges safely. Male guardianship has other meaningful ramifications for

the independence of women: they must have a male family member with them in order for

them to get a passport, travel, or get approval for a divorce.

Economically, the country created a 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. It states

that, “The government’s ‘Vision 2030’ economic reform plan included goals to increase the

participation of women in Saudi Arabia’s workforce from 22% to 30% and ‘invest’ in their

productive capabilities so as ‘to strengthen their future and contribute to the development of our

society and economy’.”38

The country has made minor improvements in allowing women access to

higher education and work yet has not legally made an effort to implement the 2030 Sustainable

Development Agenda. In 2013, King Abdullah allowed 30 women to serve on the Shura council,

which advises the king, but cannot pass or enforce laws in the country.39 In 2015, women were

able to vote and run for seats in municipal elections.40 These actions allowed for women to play a

much larger role in politics, and hopefully will allow them to have a say in the very laws that

prevent women from being seen as equals.

Saudi Arabia was added to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in April of

2017, and was met with much disparagement by countries on the commission.41 However, Saudi

Arabia has recognized the importance of women in its pursuit of economic, social

and structural development. Therefore, their presence on the commission could mean even more

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improvements for Saudi women, and possibly result in for Saudi women having a platform to

speak upon.

Guiding Questions for the Delegates:

1) How should the UN respond to states that do not comply with the 2030 Sustainable

Development Agenda?

2) Should the Commission on the Status of Women include countries with a history of

violations against women’s rights?

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Topic Two: Human Trafficking

While human trafficking falls under the category of organized international crime, much

of it may actually take place within the borders of a country. While human trafficking may take

different forms, a modern-day form of human trafficking is conducted through the exploitation of

migrants, most often resulting in the migrant being coerced into forced labor. Due to the large

number of displaced people from 2015 and onward, those exploiting migrants have been able to

feed off of the current, ongoing migrant and refugee crisis.

The United Nations and the European Union have jointly created a program, the Global

Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants

(GLO.ACT), in order to combat the trafficking of persons. Their six-step plan includes the

cooperation between regions in order to recognize human trafficking, policy development to

discourage the act, and ways to support adult and child victims42. The idea is to educate nations

and their citizens in order to make people more aware of the signs of human trafficking, thus,

decreasing the number of persons susceptible to it.

Case Study:

The Russian Federation has approximately 11 million migrants in the country since

2015.43 The demographic of these migrants are consistent with the nations that border Russia; in

particular, China, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine are most commonly cited.44

The reason for high levels of exploitation in Russia are due to the relaxed human

trafficking and migrant laws in the country, inconsistency and corruption of government

officials, and the overwhelming presence of an underground market. This combination of factors

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creates an environment that allows migrants to be taken advantage of and exploited for their

labor.

Central Asian migrants are a group that is especially targeted—Uzbekistan, Tajikistan

and Kazakhstan to name a few—are a group of people that are particularly targeted by native

Russians. Inherent xenophobia and Russian ultra-nationalist sentiment has increased in recent

years, leaving these people extremely vulnerable and targeted.45

The Russian Federation has taken steps to bring about change to the treatment of

migrants, including signing on to the Palermo Protocol. Adopted in 1998, the Palermo Protocol

recognizes that “…there is no universal instrument that addresses all aspects of trafficking in

persons, [and signatories are concerned] that, in the absence of such an instrument, persons who

are vulnerable to trafficking will not be sufficiently protected”.46 There was a need for a broad

set of expectations and laws to allow for a clearer regulation of human trafficking. The Palermo

Protocol further states that

This Protocol shall apply, except as otherwise stated herein, to the prevention, investigation and prosecution of the offences established in accordance with article 5 of this Protocol, where those offences are transnational in nature and involve an organized criminal group, as well as to the protection of victims of such offences.47 By signing this protocol, Russia acknowledged the issues surrounding human trafficking

and has agreed to United Nations-negotiated guidelines to combat it. However, the loopholes and

gaps within it make it easily exploited. The protocol lacks the fine tuning and concise language

to fully encompass all aspects of human trafficking violations. Along with that, the draft covers

the bare-minimum of required human trafficking laws. So, the law is not as strong or effective as

it needs to be in high trafficking areas.

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Guiding Questions for the Delegates:

1) Should the UN intervene and force Russia to comply with the strict regulations to combat

human trafficking?

2) Is education alone the right response to Russia’s lack of effort in ending human

trafficking? How else can the UN enforce their regulations?

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1United Nations General Assembly Third Committee- Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural SOCHUM). https://www.un.org/en/ga/third/ 2 United Nations GA Third Committee- SOCHUM http://www.un.org/en/ga/third/ 3 Polaris-Human Trafficking Hotline, “The Victims” https://humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking/human-trafficking/victims 4 University of Denver- Human Trafficking Center, “What is Human Trafficking?”. http://humantraffickingcenter.org/problem/ 5 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “What is Human Trafficking”. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html 6 Department of Justice and Equality, Blue Blindfold, “Is Smuggling the same as Human Trafficking?”. http://www.blueblindfold.gov.ie/website/bbf/bbfweb.nsf/page/humantrafficking-traffickingsmuggling-en 7United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “UNODC Report on Human Trafficking Exposes Modern form of Slavery”. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/global-report-on-trafficking-in-persons.html 8 Polaris Project, “Human Trafficking: The Facts”. 2016. https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/facts 9 Polaris Project, “Human Trafficking: The Facts”. 2016. https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/facts 10 Mayer, E. Ann. Cultural Survival, “Law and Women in the Middle East”. 1984. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/law-and-women-middle-east 11 Mayer, E. Ann. Cultural Survival, “Law and Women in the Middle East”. 1984. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/law-and-women-middle-east 12 Pew Research Center: Religion and Public Life, “Chapter 4: Women in Society”. 2013. http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-women-in-society/#sharia-and-womens-rights

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13 Girls Not Brides, Why is Child Marriage a form of Violence against Women and Girls?”.2017. https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/why-is-child-marriage-a-form-of-violence-against-women-and-girls/ 14 UNESCO https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/gem-report/files/girls-factsheet-en.pdf 15Kishi, Katayoun. The United States Institute of Peace, “Iran vs Saudi Arabia: Women and Minorities”. 2016. http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2016/jan/04/iran-v-saudi-arabia-women-minorities 16 United Nations Women, “Facts and Figures: Economic Empowerment”. http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures 17 United Nations Women, “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/post-2015; http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/ 18United Nations Women, “About UN Women”. http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women 19 United Nations Women, “About UN Women”. http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women 20 United Nations Women, “World Conferences on Women”. http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/intergovernmental-support/world-conferences-on-women 21 United Nations Women, Fourth World Conference: Remarks by Hillary Rodham Clinton. http://www.un.org/esa/gopher-data/conf/fwcw/conf/gov/950905175653.txt 22 United Nations Women, Fourth World Conference: Beijing http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/pdf/BDPfA%20E.pdf 23 Worldometers, “Iran Population”. http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/iran-population/ 24 Lonely Planet (map), “Map of Iran”. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/middle-east/iran/ 25 Central Intelligence Agency, “The World Fact Book: Iran”. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html 26 World Bank, “Labor Force, Female” https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS. 27 Wilson Center https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ValentineMoghadamFinal.pdf

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28 “Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance” https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.hofstra.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzMzNjk5Ml9fQU41?sid=8c5e2913-b67b-427a-bd28-b8dca2e6d8b8@sessionmgr101&vid=0&format=EB&rid=12

29 “Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance” https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.hofstra.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzMzNjk5Ml9fQU41?sid=8c5e2913-b67b-427a-bd28-b8dca2e6d8b8@sessionmgr101&vid=0&format=EB&rid=12

30 Braunschweiger, Amy. Human Rights Watch, “Banned from Stadium for Being a Woman in Iran”. 2016. https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/06/30/banned-stadiums-being-woman-iran 31 Ansari, F. Hassan. Institute for Advanced Study, “The Shiite Interpretation of the Status of Women”. 2016. https://www.ias.edu/ideas/2016/ansari-shiite-women 32 United Nations Women, “Delivering as One for Women”. 2011. http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2011/11/delivering-as-one-for-women 33United Nations Women Watch, “Iran: The Answer of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Questionnaire to Governments on Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcome of the Twenty-Third Special Session of the General Assembly (2000),” http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/Review/responses/IRAN-English.pdf 34 BBC News “Sunni and Shia in the Middle East”, Dec. 19, 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25434060 35 Bremmer, Ian. Time “Top 5 Countries where ISIS gets it’s Foreign Recruits” 2017. http://time.com/4739488/isis-iraq-syria-tunisia-saudi-arabia-russia/ 36 US Department of State, “Chapter 2. Country Reports: Middle East and North Africa Overview”. 2015. https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015/257517.htm 37Kishi, Katayoun. United States Institute of Peace, “Iran v Saudi Arabia: Women and Minorities”. 2016. http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2016/jan/04/iran-v-saudi-arabia-women-minorities 38 United Nations “Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld Amnesty, “Saudi Arabia 2016/2017”. https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/saudi-arabia/report-saudi-arabia/ 39 BBC News “Saudi Arabia’s King Appoints Women to Shura Council”. 2013. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-20986428

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40 BBC News “Saudi Arabia’s King Appoints Women to Shura Council”.2013. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-20986428 41 Coogle, Adam. Human Rights Watch, “How was Saudi Arabia Voted onto a UN Women’s Panel?” https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/28/how-was-saudi-arabia-voted-un-womens-panel 42 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Glo.ACT: Project Objectives”. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act/index.html 43 Human Trafficking Center, “Central Asian Migrant Workers and Forced Labor in Russian Federation” http://humantraffickingcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Central-Asian-Migrant-Workers-and-Forced-Labor-in-the-Russian-Federation.pdf 44The Telegraph, “The World’s Longest and Weirdest Borders”. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/lists/the-countries-with-the-most-borders/ 45 Yale Global, “Russian Demographics: The Perfect Storm”. https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/russian-demographics-perfect-storm 46 United Nations Office of the High Commissioner, “ Protocol to prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime”. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingInPersons.aspx 47 United Nations Human Rights: Office of the High Commissioner, ““Protocol to prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime”. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingInPersons.aspx