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ISRMUN 2016 “Embracing our diversity is the first step to unity.” ! ! THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S EMERGENCY FUND ! ISRMUN 2016 “Embracing our diversity is the first step to unity.” ! ! Committee: The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Topic B: Eradicating Child Labor in Sweatshops Written by: Alejandro Lizárraga Vizcarra and Eugenia Valdez Nuño I. Committee Background The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established on December 11, 1946, after World War II and has been operating ever since. Its current headquarters are located in New York City, within the official United Nations building. This fund supports children’s rights for their protection and well-being. Initially, the main objective of UNICEF was to provide humanitarian aid such as food or health care to the youngest of the world. However, this service soon evolved and became a full-fledged United Nations committee in 1953. Currently, UNICEF contributes to the elimination of discrimination and poverty within minors. In addition to that, it also provides education, healthcare, and worldwide sanitation. Six of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are directed to children. All of this was put into action by Herbert Hoover, a former United States president, and Maurice Pate, a businessman and humanitarian. They were the founders of this organization in 1946. Even though UNICEF has accomplished many of its objectives to aid the youth of the world, there are still many issues that need to be addressed such as the global provision of education and medical aid in conflict zones. ! ISRMUN 2016 “Embracing our diversity is the first step to unity.” ! ! II. Topic information A) History of Topic According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a “sweatshop” is “a small factory where workers are paid very little and work many hours in very bad conditions.” This problem is affecting thousands of people, especially children whose families struggle to obtain money to live above the internationally recognized poverty in line. Some of the worst sweatshops are located in Ecuador. This started in 1531 when the Spanish conquered Latin America, making the native population, especially children and women, work in unacceptable conditions to produce the goods they wanted. Nowadays, they are paid with a minimum wage of and are exploited to their maximum capacity. The sweatshops were later transferred to Great Britain and were kept a secret. In 1889, the “Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Sweating System”, exposed the conditions and money that the people were paid in the sweatshops. Immigrants from England made sweatshops common along the east coast of the United States. Once sweatshops became more popular on the East coast, sweatshops became a common way to gain money. Though it was not ethical, many people did not care since the income for the company was massive. Low-income people were easy to attract to work in sweatshops and did not mind the working conditions. ! ISRMUN 2016 “Embracing our diversity is the first step to unity.” ! ! Sweatshop workers are being affected because of the poor conditions that they work in. This is made worse by the continuous nonstop work with only a few minute breaks to eat and no health insurance. Sweatshops are affecting not only the workers, but the country that they are located in. The sweatshops, are shutting down due to competition with other companies and the workers are being fired, leaving them with no job, affecting the overall economy of the country. However, if the rights of the workers are being protected, it benefits everyone. Many sweatshops affect families since it is common for people to die in sweatshops due to the unacceptable working conditions. Industries affect children around the world in a significant way and have caused many issues regarding children’s rights. Many sweatshops are in violation of the law, more specifically, laws that protect the rights of children. One of the most devastating things about sweatshops is the child labor that violates and exploits children. Sometimes the sweatshops keep the money given as minimum wage or even less, affecting the children’s families economically. The most common child labor job in sweatshops is agriculture, which exploits around 98 million children. One of the most common places to find agricultural child labor is Asia. For example slavery in sweatshops in rural parts of China is common, with more than 150 million people enslaved. ! ISRMUN 2016 “Embracing our diversity is the first step to unity.” ! ! B) Current Issues Afghanistan: In this county, sweatshop workers are mostly children. UNICEF estimated that 30% of the children who are working are from 5 -14 years old. Many of the children who work in sweatshops do so to help their family and are exposed to toxic chemicals, pests and machines that operate in unknown ways for young children. This is something that has to be dealt with because the children are not able to go to school to get an education, instead, they are working in poor conditions earning a minimum wage. Syria: Syrian adults and children refugees are being exploited in Turkey in order for them to work in poor conditions and earn a low amount of money. Some of the most popular European brands have their sweatshops in Syria and that is where some of the Syrian refugees work. Other European countries may have been involved in this situation according to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (B&HRRC). Many of the textiles used to make the clothing may contain toxic materials, since they have not been checked properly. In turn, this causes many of the young workers to become ill. ! ISRMUN 2016 “Embracing our diversity is the first step to unity.” ! ! Ukraine: Ukrainian people, mostly women and children, are enlisted for real and official work in South Africa, but most of the times they somehow end up in prostitution, domestic servitude, or forced labor. Many of these jobs and poor conditions are because sweatshops in South Africa exploit children and women severely, therefore leaving no other option but to work in the underground economy. This have been severely affecting Ukraine’s economy since their workers end up moving to South Africa and helping its economy instead of their own country’s. Kenya: In this county, there are low amounts of sweatshops but the working conditions are just as bad as a sweatshop. Branice Musavi, a previous sweatshop worker, says that the conditions in the sweatshop where she worked were very inhumane. This included sexual harassment, being forced to work overtime and for a wage that was too little to live. "Now factories are shutting down because brands are moving their business to cut costs," Musavi said to an audience at the Michigan Union. Sudan: Sudanese people are not as affected by sweatshops as other nations since they currently are at war and therefore are too busy to be working because they are fighting instead. Furthermore this is the reason why many Sudanese people have fled and escaped the country. Sudanese in need of money have been enslaved to work in sweatshops in other nations to earn even the minimum wage. ! ISRMUN 2016 “Embracing our diversity is the first step to unity.” ! ! The problem in Sudan is not due to its working areas, but due to the large amount of citizens fleeing the nation and being enslaved in sweatshops in other countries, such as Turkey. Indonesia: In the capital of Indonesia, a study found that 72% of the people are paid below the minimum wage. Also, that most, if not all workers, worked more than 12-14 hours each day. A current Indonesian law states that if illness, religious holidays or pregnancy happens, the worker is able to get “free” days. However, many labor shops disregard this law and workers are still forced to work regardless of their health situation. Nike is one of the major companies that uses sweatshops in Indonesia to create its products. While the implementation of this brand helps the Indonesian economy, its citizens and children are damaged and mistreated. Thailand: The problems in Thailand are because of the sweatshops that are in the country and how they exploit people from other countries. Thailand has various sweatshops and almost none involving Thai, but Myanmar workers. Though many things have been done to stop this major problem, it still needs to be eradicated. Most sweatshops workers are in poor economic conditions and most females are sold and exploited sexually. ! ISRMUN 2016 “Embracing our diversity is the first step to unity.” ! ! Cambodia: In this county, the sweatshop conditions are criminally abusive. An example can be drawn by mentioning the large amount of clothes made in Cambodia that are exported to western nations, such as the United States. A documentary called “Sweatshop” was filmed in Cambodia and it relied on Fashion Bloggers learning about how high-end clothes are made inside sweatshops. The documentary heavily impacted the subjects and one of the bloggers stated: “We are rich because it costs us 10 euros (about $11) to buy a T-shirt [at] H&M. But somebody else has to starve for you to be able to buy it.” The documentary is not far from the truth, women in Cambodian sweatshops will sew in abusive conditions for as little as 50 Cambodian riels cents an hour. In addition to this, a report made by Human Rights Watch regarding a sweatshop in Cambodia "estimated that 20 of the 60 workers were children." C) UN Action The United Nations has been taking many actions to stop and eradicate child labor in sweatshops all over the world. For example, during the 2006 World Day Against Child Labour, the United Nations persuaded manufactures to agree to ban any children from making hand-stitched footballs, since football sweatshops are commonly involved in child slavery.