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General Assembly 2Chairs: Joanne Gotanco and Arjun Mishra
Dear Delegates,
Hello and welcome to General Assembly 2 at PrepMUNC XIII! We are very excited to be chairing the
committee and we can’t wait to meet you all. This committee will be chaired by alumnus Joanne Gotanco
and freshman Arjun Mishra.
Hey everyone! My name is Joanne Gotanco and I will be serving as head chair for GA2 this year. Last
year, I was Secretary-General of PrepMUN, and it is such an honor and blessing to be back. Currently I
am a freshman Medical Humanities major on the Pre-Med track with a minor in Public Health at Baylor
University in Waco, Texas. To keep myself busy down south, I am frequently seen at football games,
drinking coffee at Magnolia Press (Chip & Joanna Gaines’ latest venture!), volunteer to teach children in
impoverished communities on the weekends for the American Medical Women’s Association and am a
proud translator, mentor, and dance troupe member for Baylor’s Filipino Student Association. I cannot
wait to be back in New York and meet all of you! SIC ‘EM BEARS!
Hello! My name is Arjun Mishra, and I am a freshman here at Saint Francis Prep. This is my first time
chairing a committee and I’m very excited to be involved with this committee! I started MUN back in
September and so far, it's been pretty fun! Other than MUN, I’m part of the Seraph Newspaper and
Percussion Ensemble here at Prep. I also hope to make the tennis team in the Spring when the season
starts. I’m very excited to meet everyone and best of luck!
Sincerely,
Joanne Gotanco and Arjun Mishra
Topic A: The Illicit Trade of FirearmsStatement of the Problem
The illicit trade of firearms has been an issue that many governing bodies have had to
deal with. It occurs when firearms are initially manufactured in a legal manner, yet they enter the
black market and are traded, becoming illegal.
History of the Problem
Illicit arms trade and frankly, illicit trade, has always been and may always be among the
global community. Illegal arms trade has been around since the use of firearms in global
conflicts, and it still is prevalent today. Global arms trafficking, although rare, is costly to the
lives of many, and is responsible for many armed conflicts. Civil wars like the current Syrian
Civil War and Yemeni Civil War have been fueled by illegal firearms.1 In these areas of conflict,
buying illicit weapons is habitual,
and can be done anonymously with
no questions asked. Due to this
commonplace, armed conflicts and
violent altercations have sprouted up
and have been detrimental to society
in those areas.
Additionally, many of these
firearms are traded illicitly through
the online black market.2 Many of
these dealings are dangerous, and it
is possible to get hands on an illegal
weapon anonymously. These illicit
transactions fuel drug cartels in Mexico, exacerbates the Syrian Civil War, and puts many others
at risk. The United States has few regulations on the selling of firearms, especially automatic
1 Small Arms Survey, Illicit Trafficking http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/weapons-and-markets/transfers/illicit-trafficking.html2 Forbes, Where Guns are Sold Through the Darknet https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/03/22/where-guns-are-sold-through-the-darknet-infographic/#aae0116647ae
rifles. It is quite facile to acquire military grade automatic weapons in the US. This allows for
straw purchasers to send these weapons to drug cartels and human trafficking networks. In some
states, one only needs a valid United States form of identification to purchase weapons of that
nature. Cartels bribe these people and get their weapons without anyone noticing.
Moreover on assault rifles, the AK-47 is the choice of many organized criminals, gangs,
rebels, cartels, etc. The accessibility of this weapon and others of its nature has been increased
drastically. Due to the internet, AK-47s and other assault rifles are readily available to buyers.
Although they can be expensive when compared to other illicit means of obtention, they are easy
to find and get,
empowering criminals and
arms traffickers.3 However,
these other forms of
obtention are also available
to those in conflict zones.
Active war zones have a
large supply of assault
rifles, and they sell cheaper
compared to a rifle on the
internet.3 This is due to a
variety of reasons, one of
which being the leaving of these weapons behind. The United States sent weapons like the AK-
47 to the Lebanese army. After a battle with the rebels, the Lebanese were forced to retreat, with
their barracks filled with US equipment. This equipment was sold on the black market, hence the
reason for arms trafficking of these weapons to other neighboring areas like Syria.
Past UN Action
The United Nations has taken action when dealing with the illicit arms trade. The Arms
Trade Treaty set forth by the UN details many of the regulations surrounding arms trafficking,
and many General Assembly members have joined the treaty. Additionally, programs like the
3 Forbes, The Cost of an AK-47 on the Black Markethttps://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/03/30/the-cost-of-an-ak-47-on-the-black-market-across-the-world-infographic/#77e7dd1c7442
Programme of Action on Small Arms and its International Tracing Instrument and other
committees of its nature have been used by the UN for combating arms trafficking. The
UNODC’s Firearms Protocol also outlines measures which regulate the flow of licit arms trade
and the prevention of illicit arms trade.
The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is an international treaty set forth by the UN Office for
Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).4 It promotes the regulation of the global arms trade, but it has
no regulations on implementation, due to national sovereignty. Thus, countries who sign the
treaty are responsible for implementing disarmament and cracking down on illicit arms trade in
their respective country.
The Programme of Action on Small Arms (PoA) and its International Tracing Instrument
(ITI) is a UN program that has given measures on the global trade of small arms. Unlike the
ATT, the ITI requires countries who have agreed to partake in the program to properly mark
weapons and track the weapons.5 This requirement has helped in finding the source of many
weapons, but it has been obviated by filing off the identification numbers.
The Firearms Protocol by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is similar to the
ATT. It gives guidelines on the prevention of illicit trade of firearms and on the destruction of
such firearms.6 It also promotes the regulation of licit firearms, and how to make sure these legal
weapons do not fall into the black market. Countries support each other in making sure the
necessary requirements are met, such as a country providing training to the forces of another
country.
International Opinion
Nations condemn the illicit trade of firearms because of its disruptive and treacherous
nature. Illegal firearms have been the root of many armed conflicts, and nations do not want
these firearms in their borders. For instance, some Latin American insurgency groups will use
trafficked weapons in anti-government stunts. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, an
4 UNODA, Arms Trade Treaty Module 1https://unoda-web.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-08-21-Toolkit-Module-1.pdf5 UNODA, The Programme of Action of Small Arms and its International Tracing Instrumenthttps://www.un.org/disarmament/convarms/salw/programme-of-action/6 UNODC, The Firearms Protocolhttps://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/firearms-protocol/the-firearms-protocol.html
insurgency group, earned half a billion dollars from drug operations, which mainly spent on
illegal firearms.7 Another example of the repercussions of arms trafficking can be shown in how
traffickers acquired 5,000 AK-47 assault rifles from Yugoslavia and moved them from Serbia to
Liberia under the pretense of a Nigerian business transaction.7 These weapons were then used for
the Liberian Civil War. In both these instances, the Colombian and Liberian governments were
put at risk. They both condemned what happened, and these examples are the quintessence of the
dangers of arms trafficking.
Despite the hardships that these governments face, some nations have taken measures to
fight arms trafficking. For instance, Mexico has centers of firearm destruction, where illicit
firearms are destroyed with a saw, putting the weapon out of service.8 This obviates the
weapon’s reentrance into the market. Mexico has traced many of the weapons held by cartels to
be of American origin. It cracked down on arms smuggling, although it still struggles. The
European Union funded Conflict Armed Research (CAR), who developed a database of all the
findings of arms trafficking globally.
Many of the countries which do not produce weapons at the scale of those who produce
weapons massively are proponents of measures limiting the amount weapons countries can
manufacture. This has caused contention in UN meetings, as
the P5 are the top weapon exporters. These nations which
produce little to no firearms have asked the P5 and other
nations with large arms exports to limit their production.9
Topic Objective
The objective of the committee is to resolve the
flaws with the current system and bring new ideas to the
table. The committee should also debate over the need for a
cap on the amount of weapons manufactured globally.
Delegates should attempt to achieve to limit the amount of
arms trafficking worldwide.
7 Stohl, The Tangled Web of Illicit Arms Traffickinghttps://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/kf/TerrorinShadows-Stohl.pdf8 Journeyman Pictures, How Mexican Cartels Exploit American Gun Lawshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRqUiM4Fw1c9 UN GA, GA/DIS/3601 Meeting Coveragehttps://www.un.org/press/en/2018/gadis3601.doc.htm
Questions to Consider
1. What is the rate of weapon production in your nation?
2. How many arms are illicitly traded to, from or through your nation?
3. What is the scale of the arms trafficking issue in your nation?
Helpful Videos & Articles
Journeyman Pictures. How Mexican Cartels Exploit American Gun Laws. YouTube, Al
Jazeera, 28 Sept. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRqUiM4Fw1c.
Aysha, Rami. Lebanon's Illegal Arms Dealers. Performance by Aris Roussinos, YouTube,
Vice News, 24 Feb. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxumsOQMxLE.
UNODC. “Country Fact Sheets.” UNODC, United Nations, 2015,
www.unodc.org/documents/firearms-protocol/Country_Factsheet_WEB.pdf.
Topic B: Education InequalityStatement of the Problem
Gaining an education is considered a human right, and receiving an education has a major
impact on social and economic development. There are many countries in the world, however,
where education is not accessible due to gender inequality.
History of Problem
Gender inequality has been an issue plaguing the world since society began developing.
Throughout history there has been a recurring ideology that men are the ones to make the
greatest impact on society. Due to this way of life, women’s education wasn’t made an issue
until the 19th century. Since then, great strides have been made, and in most countries women
are given the opportunity to attend
school. In today’s world there are
over 265 million children who are
unable to attend school, and about
22% are supposed to be in primary
school.10 In many countries, gender
inequality is still a very prevalent
issue, and this can be a huge barrier
for girls wanting to attend school.
Also in developing countries
schools either don’t exist or are
scarce.
10 https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/
Every year more and more girls are being enrolled in primary educational institutions, but
there are still many countries where girls are not allowed to receive an education. In some
regions up to 48.1% of girls are not enrolled in any level of education, and a large percentage of
girls who are in primary school will drop out before secondary school to help out at home.
Attending school lowers the risk of girls getting trafficked or having early pregnancies.11 Some
areas where this is a big issue is the Arab States, sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia.
In South and West Asia 80% of the
girls are out of school, and over 9.5
million girls are out of school in
sub-Saharan Africa.
In many third world countries
and countries that are in the midst
of war the issue is accessing the
schools themselves. In poor
countries there is not a lot of
funding to build up schools or offer
transportation, so the one school
available might be an hours walk
from the child's house. The few
existing schools might not even
have basic necessities like running
water or adequate teachers. When girls living in poverty are not given the opportunity to get an
education the cycle of poverty repeats itself.12
Past UN Action
In the July of 2010 the United Nations General Assembly created U.N. Women to help with
the empowerment of women and to help achieve equality. Since its formation U.N Women has
aided in gaining women’s rights and maintaining gender equality.13 U.N. Women has a target to
11http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/twice_as_many_girls_as_boys_will_never_start_school_says_une/12 https://worlded.org/WEIInternet/international/expertise/display.cfm?tid=1004&id=75613 https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-4-quality-education
increase the number of global scholarships available to developing countries for higher education
by the year 2020. U.N. Women has also set many goals to complete by the year 2030. They
hope by 2030 to ensure all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood education to
prepare them for secondary education. Another goal is to have complete free, equitable and
quality primary and secondary education, and equal access to affordable vocational and tertiary
education, including university. Another goal is to increase the number of men and women
globally who achieve literacy and numeracy.
International Opinion
The majority of the global community agrees that education is a basic necessity and every
child, including young women, should be given the opportunity to receive a quality education.
There are still countries though where women are denied basic rights, and believe women should
not be allowed to receive an education.
Topic Objective
The objective of this committee is to find a way to have all women be able to access
education even those living in poor countries. A solution must be found to not only allow women
the right to receive an education, but to also guarantee the goals set by UN women for the year
2030.
Questions to consider
1. What is your country doing to resolve the issue of education inequality?
2. What are the standards of education in your country?
3. What has your country done to try and reach the goals set by U.N. Women?
Helpful links
- http://www.ungei.org
- https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-and-gender-equality
- https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/goal-of-the-month-february-2019-quality-
education/
Citations
(n.d.). Retrieved December 23, 2019, from
https://worlded.org/WEIInternet/international/expertise/display.cfm?tid=1004&id=756.
UN Women. (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality education. Retrieved December
20, 2019, from https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-4-
quality-education.
UNESCO. (n.d.). Twice as many girls as boys will never start school says UNESCO eAtlas
launched in advance of International Women's Day: United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved December 21, 2019, from
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/twice_as_many_girls_as
_boys_will_never_start_school_says_une/.
United Nations. (n.d.). Education - United Nations Sustainable Development. Retrieved
December 21, 2019, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/.