KCLMUN - "Millenium Development Goals in countries emerging from conflict" (25/10/2011)

KCL Model United Nations
Society 2011/2012

UN Economics and Social Council:
"
Millennium Development Goals
in countries emerging from
conflict"

KCL Model United Nations Society 2011/2012

"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the
Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza”
1

Table of Contents
An introduction to the Committee ............................................................................ 2
Introduction to the topic......................................................................................... 4
Summary and areas a Resolution must address ........................................................... 10


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An introduction to the Committee
ECOSOC was established under the United Nations Charter as the principal
organ to coordinate economic, social, and related work of the 14 UN
specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional
commissions. The Council also receives reports from 11 UN funds and
programmes. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) serves as the
central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and
for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States and
the United Nations system. It is responsible for: promoting higher
standards of living, full employment, and economic and social progress;
identifying solutions to international economic, social and health
problems; facilitating international cultural and educational cooperation;
and encouraging universal respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms.

It has the power to make or initiate
studies and reports on these issues. It
also has the power to assist the
preparations and organization of major
international conferences in the
economic and social and related fields
and to facilitate a coordinated follow-up
to these conferences. With its broad
mandate the Council's purview extends to
over 70 per cent of the human and
financial resources of the entire UN
system.
The five policy areas in which ECOSOC has taken a lead role in the last
five years: first, during the 2010 High-level Segment, the Council
organized its second Development Cooperation Forum and focused its
fourth Annual Ministerial review (AMR) on the theme of Gender Equality
and Women’s Empowerment. The adoption of the Ministerial Declaration
coincided with the establishment of the new entity, United Nations
Women. ECOSOC President Hamidon Ali described the 2010 Substantive
Session as a "groundbreaking session". A key message emanating from the
High-level Segment is that gender equality and the empowerment of
women sit squarely at the heart of development and peace worldwide,
and that the international community must remain fully committed to
these efforts. Second, at the 2009 High-level Segment, the Council
adopted its Ministerial Declaration on the theme of the third Annual
Ministerial Review (AMR), "Implementing the internationally agreed goals
and commitments in regard to global public health". ECOSOC President
Sylvie Lucas said that the Ministerial Declaration contains concrete
measures to advance the realization of the global public health goals.
Third, during the 2008 High-level Segment, the Council organized its first
biennial Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) and second Annual


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Ministerial Review (AMR). The AMR focused on the theme, “Implementing
the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to
sustainable development”, which resulted in the adoption of a Ministerial
Declaration. The President of ECOSOC, Mr. Léo Mérorès, described the
2008 Substantive Session as "historic" as it implemented the new functions
of the Council in their entirety. Fourth, the 2007 High-level Segment
marked the first Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) and the launch of the
Development Cooperation Forum (DCF). During the Annual Ministerial
Review, the Council reviewed progress towards the implementation of
MDG1, including through the national voluntary presentations by six
developing countries, namely, Bangladesh, Barbados, Cambodia, Cape
Verde, Ethiopia and Ghana. With the adoption of the ECOSOC Ministerial
Declaration, the international community reaffirmed its commitment to
strive for the eradication of poverty and hunger by the agreed target date
of 2015. Fifth, the 2006 High-level Segment focused on the issues of full
and productive employment and decent work, and its impact on the
sustainable development. The ECOSOC Ministerial Declaration of 2006
identified a number of concrete steps for further implementation of the
2005 World Summit to make full and productive employment and decent
work a central objective of national and international policies.


4

Introduction to the topic
Countries that have experienced a violent conflict in the recent past are
among the most vulnerable countries and face bigger challenges in
meeting the targets than other developing countries. Of the 34 poor
countries farthest from reaching the Goals, 22 are in or emerging from a
conflict. Depending on the scale - from isolated violence to full-scale civil
war - the nature and root causes as well as the duration of the conflicts,
the concrete circumstances in the affected countries vary.

For many countries emerging from conflict,The Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) are often seen as a powerful tool for finding long-term and
sustainable way for promoting stability. They are the most obvious focal
point between economic and social affairs and peace-building, since the
advancement of economic growth and development and the promotion of
the MDGs — especially ensuring that the poorest segments of the
population share in the benefits of development, which is essential for
the sustainability of peace.
The Economic and Social Council has been addressing the impact of
conflict on development since the late 1990s. Its ad hoc advisory groups
have attempted to bring the special needs of specific countries emerging
from conflict to the attention of the international community. Two of the
countries previously on its agenda are now being considered by the
Peacebuilding Commission (PBC). Continuing with the efforts of 2009 to


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strengthen the informal interaction between the two intergovernmental
bodies, the President of ECOSOC and the Chair of the PBC have decided
to jointly chair a meeting of the two bodies on the MDGs in countries
emerging from conflict. On 19th of July 2010 a second joint meeting
between the ECOSOC and PBC took please, at that meeting were outlined
the main challenges that stand before the countries emerging from
Conflict, posing some of the biggest threats to attaining the MDGs, such
as: the critical level of justice, security, and respect for the rule of law;
degraded health and education systems and poor access to clean water;
forced migration; lack of job opportunities for young people and the
adequate response to internal and external risk factor. At that joint
meeting were also outlined the opportunities to strengthen the countries
emerging from conflict, for example investments aimed at strengthening
the conditions for peace and security; strengthening capacities to
prevent, monitor and mitigate conflict; promoting participatory decision-
making structures; investing in rebuilding administrative capacity of
Government institutions and so on. The outlined challenges and
opportunities raise three specific issues: first, how exactly to measure the
progress, what kind of benchmark should be set up; second, how to use
the MDG’s as a tool for creating trust towards local and national
governments and reinforce their commitment to peace process and third,
how they can serve as a platform for fostering national unity.


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Relevance of the problem and the discussion so far

The discussions on the correlation between the MDGs and peace-building
began officially at the World Summit that took place on 14th to 16th of
September 2005, in the same year was published a document that
identifies strategies for countries affected by conflict called “Investing in
Development” . After that the issue was discussed at two joint meetings
between ECOSOC and PBC in 2009 and 2010. The same topic found its
place in the Secretary-General’s 2010 report “Keeping the promise” and
for the last time it was discussed on the High Level Plenary Meeting on
the MDGs that took place in September 2010.

World Summit 2005
The main purpose for the 2005 World Summit was to review progress since
the Millennium Declaration, adopted by all Member States in 2000. The
Summit adopted an Outcome Document on 15th of September which the
general opinion identifies several positive aspects as well as some week
points.
Some of the positive aspects of the outcome include: On the human
rights front, there was agreement to create a Peace Building Commission,
and a Human Rights Council; Stopping genocide. Wording on this was
more concrete that other issue: nations agreed on a collective
responsibility to protect civilians facing genocide and similar atrocities.
Governments can no longer use sovereignty and non-intervention norms as
excuses to avoid having to act to protect civilians from mass killings.
Countries reiterated the need to achieve MDG, even though US initially
wanted to strike all mention of it. Education: supporting elimination of


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user fees for primary education Debt relief: acknowledges the G8
commitments (which were imperfect, though a starting point), and
acknowledges that others such as middle-income countries may also need
some sort of debt relief. HIV/AIDS: endorsed the G8 commitment to
universal access to HIV treatment by 2010. Tax evasion: more mention of
this problem Reiterated the need for member states to provide the UN
with adequate resources as needed (because the UN has a financial crisis
of its own whereby some states, the US in particular, has long withheld its
dues — and then blamed the UN for being ineffective!).
The problems or weaknesses include: generally the final document is
considered quite vague in many areas, and often simply reaffirming past
commitments, without adding anything new or substantial. The urgency
of reaching the Millennium Development Goals was lacking, it was felt by
many. That most of the world is behind on this right now was not really
stressed. Trade: risks remaining unequal. There was not much text and
what there were weak and favored rich countries, mostly. There was
mention of endorsing trade liberalization but nothing about eliminating
the harmful and hypocritical rich country subsidies, or giving more power
to smaller/poor countries to have more say in their destiny. Poor
countries are still subject to neoliberal economic policies prescribed and
pressured onto poorer countries by the richer countries and institutions
such as the IMF and World Bank. Nuclear non-proliferation and Nuclear
disarmament was not mentioned. “This is a real disgrace,” Kofi Annan
said (recently the US has indicated the desire to use nuclear weapons
more offensively than previously indicated, which is a reverse of the
direction the UN wants to go). Terrorism: did not get a definition of
terrorism, so while condemnation of it was strong by all, more specific
issues were not discussed. The International Criminal Court was not
mentioned either. Aid: not only was there little commitment to foreign
aid, but it was again tied to conditions often deemed as unfair.
The Outcome Document specifically highlights the need for continued,
coordinated and effective international support for achieving the
development goals in countries emerging from conflict, in order to
achieve sustainable peace.

ECOSOC-PBC joint meetings (2009-2010)
The joint meeting in 2010 was a continuation on the efforts made in 2009
to better coordinate the work of the two councils in order to attain the
MDGs in post-conflict countries.
The most important of this meeting was the recognition of the fact that
most of the countries that are lagging behind on reaching the MDGs are
the ones that are either submerged in conflict or are in post-conflict
situation. The three other important things that came out of this meeting
were: first, the understanding of the need for adequate way for
measuring the progress towards the MDGs. This need comes from the fact
that there are striking horizontal inequalities among regions that are
masked when the data is aggregated at the country level. Such


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inequalities risk sparking conflict when certain groups feel marginalized
or excluded. If the MDGs are monitored at the sub-national level,
however, governments would be able to target their limited resources
more effectively, directing them to the areas where they are most
needed. This type of sub-national monitoring is especially valuable in
countries emerging from conflict because it helps prioritize the use of
resources in an environment where everything appears important.
Moreover, in these contexts severe horizontal inequalities are not simply
a reflection of uneven progress towards the MDGs; they can trigger
renewed violence and even a relapse into conflict.

Second, the
understanding that the
MDGs can be used as a
tool for building trust in
local and national
government. This is
because the governments
in post-conflict societies
are often weak and
distrusted by the
population – particularly
in the early days after
conflict, before new
elections are held, when
the legitimacy of
transitional governments
may be questioned, but
through efforts to reach the MDGs for example, by providing or through
the delivery of education or health services governments can provide a
peace dividend that increases people’s confidence in, and commitment
to, the peace process. Third, the understanding that the MDGs can serve
as a framework for fostering national unity. This is because in fractured
and factionalized societies, a sense of common purpose is vital. Activities
designed to achieve widely shared progress towards the MDGs can
promote social cohesion. Involving communities in the design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of such activities can build
bridges between them.

High Level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs (2010)
On 20th to 22nd of September 2010 was held a High Level Plenary Meeting
on the MDGs as a follow-up to the ECOSOC-PBC joint meeting earlier the
same year. Its primary objective was to accelerate progress towards all
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, taking into account
the progress made towards the internationally agreed development goals
(A/RES/64/184). The summit is expected to undertake a comprehensive


9

review of successes, best practices and lessons learned obstacles and
gaps, challenges and opportunities, “leading to concrete strategies for
action”.1 The discussions, never the less, did not yield a comprehensive
strategy on how to aim and use the MDGs as a policy tool for building
trust in local and national government and a framework for fostering
national unity. The two things that came out of the Meeting were the
review of all that has been done until then on reaching the MDGs and the
recognition on the part of the Secretary-General that “countries in, or
emerging from, conflict are more likely to be poor and face greater
constraints, because basic infrastructure, institutions and adequate
human resources are often absent and lack of security hampers economic
development”

1
http://onevoicesouthasia.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/united-nations-high-level-plenary-meeting-on-the-millennium-development-goals-mdg-
summit-20-22-september-2010-new-york


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Summary and areas a Resolution must address
In the years that followed the adoption of the Millennium
Development Goals one correlation became more and more apparent
namely that economic and social development is a preset condition
for sustainable peace. The understanding that derived from that
correlation was that the MDGs can be used as a proactive policy set
for achieving that sustainable peace. This on its own raised three
issues that remain unaddressed until today: first, the need for a more
adequate system for measuring the progress towards the MDGs;
second, how to use the MDG’s as a tool for creating trust towards
local and national governments and reinforce their commitment to
peace process and third, how they can serve as a platform for
fostering national unity.

Areas a resolution must address
• How exactly to measure the progress, what kind of benchmarks
should be set up?
• How to use the MDG’s as a tool for creating trust towards local and
national governments and reinforce their commitment to peace
process?
• How can the MDGs serve as a platform for fostering national unity?

KCLMUN - "Millenium Development Goals in countries emerging from conflict" (25/10/2011)

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