MEDIMUN XII Annual Session 2020
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MEDIMUN XII Annual Session 2020 RESEARCH REPORT – General Assembly 3 Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Mediterranean Model United Nations XII 2020 Contents Topic 1: The question of climate induced migration from the Sahel region……...3 Topic 2: The question of LGBTQ+ rights and military service…………………………8 Topic 3: The question of improving education for young people in sustainable development………………………………………………………………………………………14 Mediterranean Model United Nations XII 2020 Topic 1: The question of climate induced migration from the Sahel region. Introduction The EU is struggling to cope with the so- called “migration crisis” that has emerged over the past few years. Designing the right policies to address immigration requires a deep understanding of its root causes. Why do Africans decide to leave their home countries? While the dream of a better life in Europe is likely part of the explanation, one also needs to examine the prevailing living conditions in the large and heterogeneous sub-Saharan region. Definition of Key Terms 1. Climate Induced: There is no universally agreed definition of climate- induced human mobility, but broadly, it refers to movement of people driven by sudden or progressive changes in the weather or climate. This can include temporary and permanent, seasonal and singular, as well as voluntary and forced movement. 2. Migration: Movement of people to a new area or country in order to find work or better living conditions. 3. Sahel Region: The Sahel is the biogeographic zone of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south. Having a semi-arid climate, it stretches across the south-central latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. Research Report | Page 3 of 25 Mediterranean Model United Nations XII 2020 General Overview African regions are expected to be the most affected by impacts of climate change such as hotter and drier climates, oscillations in precipitation patterns, droughts and land degradation. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that up to 90 million ha of drylands in sub-Saharan Africa could experience drought. The Sahelian countries like Senegal and the Sudan could lose just over 50 % of their agricultural capacity and Mali 30-40 %. On the other hand, the Sahelian region and particularly West Africa has a long history of population movements and represents a multitude of migration patterns and trajectories. Mobility has been common in West Africa since pre- historic times and has included both cyclical migrations linked to agricultural production styles, as well as more permanent movements resulting from the search for economic opportunities and changes of the environment. People potentially at risk of being displaced because of desertification: 135 million Number of people who have fled because of floods, famine and environmental disasters: approximately 24 million (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): 2002) People at risk of sea-level-rise by 2050: 162 million People at risk of droughts and other climate change events by 2050: 50 million People estimated to become permanently displaced “climate refugees” by 2050: 150–200 millions Environmentally displaced people by 2010: 50 million (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2007) Mediterranean Model United Nations XII 2020 Refugees due to climate change by 2050: 250 million (Christian Aid 2007) People displaced by 2030: 78 million (Global Humanitarian Forum 2009) Major Parties Involved 1. Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN, 2015) 2. Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR) (UNISDR, 2015) 3. New Urban Agenda (UNHABITAT, 2016). 4. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – (UNFCCC) Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue 1. Climate-induced mobility is gaining some attention in international debates on migration and displacement. Understanding of the protection needs of those forced to move by intensive and extensive risk has increased over the last year, but this has not as yet led to policy change or legislative reform. 2. The research project “Migration, Climate and Environmental Changes in the Sahel” investigates the social-ecological conditions of population movements in Senegal and Mali, to contribute to a better understanding of the complex relationships between (climate-related) environmental changes and migration. 3. In 1990 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated “The gravest effects of climate change may be those on human migration as millions will be displaced” 4. Just over 20 years ago, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported that “as many as 50 million people could become environmental refugees” if the world did not act and support sustainable. 5. The outcome from the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), the New Urban Agenda, outlines a global strategy around urbanisation for the Research Report | Page 5 of 25 Mediterranean Model United Nations XII 2020 next two decades. It should be an important framework for addressing issues of climate induced migration. 6. The UN Global Commission on International Migration report, Migration in an interconnected world: new directions for action, notes that disasters and environmental degradation are drivers of migration. 7. A Global Migration Group (GMG) was set up in 2006 to bring together the heads of UN agencies to advance a coherent approach to migration, although the UNFCCC was not included, and climate change has not been discussed much to date. 8. Some UN agencies within the GMG are beginning to integrate work on climate-induced migration into their programmes. Possible Solutions 1. Collaboration with the government and NGOs (non-governmental organizations). 2. Introduction of schemes for the reduction of natural gas emission in the atmosphere to reduce climate change (i.e. rising of temperatures, change in rainfall patterns and sea levels) with annual reports and validated data. 3. Encourage the use of wind power as a renewable, clean energy resource, biofuels over fossil fuels and other environmentally friendly resources. Mediterranean Model United Nations XII 2020 4. Provide a stable environment with adequate living conditions in Sahel with suitable facilities and conditions regardless of the size of each family. 5. Raise awareness of the issue through social, environmental and scientific education with the help and support of eco-organizations, vocational education committees. 6. Increase awareness of human rights through social, personal and health education. Appendix/Appendices https://news.globallandscapesforum.org/viewpoint/can-we-address-climate- induced-migration/ https://us.boell.org/2019/05/31/correlation-between-climate-change-and- migration-margins-mainstream http://climatemigration.org.uk/moving-stories-the-sahel/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 299744375_Migration_in_the_West_African_Sahel_- _more_than_a_response_to_climate_change https://www.klimanavigator.eu/dossier/dossiers/057930/index.php?printview=1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4847105/ https://www.climatechangenews.com/2012/04/27/climate-change- desertification-and-migration-connecting-the-dots/ Sources https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/resource-documents/10996.pdf http://www.micle-project.net/uploads/media/micle-wp1-2012-en.pdf? fbclid=IwAR0-cHZGSShuVQFfZ4ZeiyswKL5-ap49MD3s- HueypNwJdxX6I0Tm4FxQNY https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378018301596? fbclid=IwAR1JUKFFhYDQavGXzyzjEVEEXbhAUAjCLppl1PtTOCmnGAEStsc3AtQ60 MA Research Report | Page 7 of 25 Mediterranean Model United Nations XII 2020 Topic 2: The question of LGBTQ+ rights and military service. Introduction: While the LGBT community has seen increased representation in the military in the past decade, strides are still being made to improve acceptance, integration and health for gay and transgender service members. Today, gay and transgender military service members enjoy far more rights than they did even five years ago—but the fight continues to increase visibility and acceptance for this group in the armed forces. Definition of Key Terms: 1. LGBTQ+: An initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights. 2. Lesbian/Gay/Queer: Homosexual, sexually attracted to people of one's own sex. 3. Bisexual: Sexually attracted not exclusively to people of one particular gender; attracted to both men and women. 4. Transgender: Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex. 5. Human Rights: Moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected as natural and legal rights in municipal and international law. 6. Abuse: Treat with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly. 7. Military: The armed forces of a country. Mediterranean Model United Nations XII 2020 8. Military Service: Time spent serving in the armed forces, especially as a compulsory period for young people in some countries. General Overview: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) personnel are able to serve in the armed forces of some countries around the world: the vast majority of industrialized, Western countries, in addition to Brazil, Chile, South Africa, Israel, and South Korea. The rights concerning intersex people are vaguer. This keeps pace with the latest global figures on acceptance