CONNETMUNC 2020

UN HabitatChaired by Natalie Jo Pedersen, Oishi Dey, and Isabella Baaske

Infrastructure: Issues and Benefits

In many countries, infrastructure is a major issue, whether it be involving the accessibility of

education, medicine, or clean water. The Middle East, a place of warring states, poverty, and

unstable governments has many issues involving infrastructure. In many African countries,

infrastructure has been recently recognized by MDG (Millennium Development Goals) as an

important goal, to achieve a stable, wealthy government and country. Africa has had many

setbacks in the journey to a better system of irrigation and water pumps, accessible schools, and

educated, accessible doctors. In order to have infrastructure built in a country, the country needs

enough money to pay for it. Many developing countries do not have the funds nor the stability of

government to afford the building of infrastructure. Additionally, the lack of good transportation

and communicative resources also are main contributors of the lack of infrastructure in Africa as

well as the Middle East. The building of infrastructure in countries can result in beneficial

outcomes regarding the country’s government, economy, and citizens. Investing in infrastructure

can give a country a better economy in the long-run because it boosts the country’s worth to

foreign investors.

CONNETMUNC 2020

UN HabitatSpread of Education and the Building of SchoolsChaired by Natalie Jo Pedersen, Oishi Dey, and Isabella Baaske

One of the biggest contributors to worldly poverty is the lack of education. About 114

million people of the younger generations do not possess basic reading and writing skills, which

are a necessity to daily living in current times. Having an education can boost a person’s income

and give them a better life. The lack of education is disabling countries from growing and

gaining more power and money. Many countries around the world still do not have accessible

education to their citizens and many suffer from poverty, disease, and unhygienic ways of living.

In many countries, women do not have the oppurtunities that men have, especially in education.

Women’s literacy rates are the lowest, at 27.0% of the women population are literate, in regions

including sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Women’s lives are suffering because

they are not given the oppurtunities they need to succeed in life. Without literacy, women have

trouble finding jobs and respect, which prevents them from leading the lives they want to live.

Causes:

20% of children are

not in school worldwide

because of the limited

access to local schools, and

the lack of participation

from the communities,

teachers, and by local

governments. Additionally,

a lot of countries do not

have a big enough overall

budget to fund education

and to pay teachers, which

leads to unfinished educations for the youth of today and the future. In many countries, like in

Sub-Saharan Africa, literacy rates are as low as 50% in children and young adults, eventually

making poverty a very common epidemic in already poorer countries. In America, recent

research has found better education procedures provide people a better opportunity for bigger

incomes, while giving the country a more

structured social capital and more growth

in the economy over longer periods of

time. Most schools in developing countries

also do not have enough trained staff to

teach the children and help them learn. In

addition, education costs too much for

developing countries to fund, and

education is not well supported or

encouraged in developing countries.

Transportation is also a major contributor

to the struggle for people to reach

educational facilities. In sub-Saharan

Africa, public transportation systems are

too expensive for the people who live in

the areas, preventing them from getting education in rural areas. In the Middle East,

transportation systems are underdeveloped and don’t function reliably, causing people to be

unable to travel to educational buildings or facilities.

What has been done:

In the past 2 centuries the spread of education across the world has majorly improved.

Public resources have been financed on a larger scale.

Questions to Consider:

1.) How has your country tried to make education more accessible?

2.) Does your country have standards for education? If so, what are they?

3.) How much of your country is not educated?

4.) How many schools does your country have? Are the schools that your country has well-

run and well-managed?

5.) What is the literacy rate of your country?

CONNETMUNC 2020

UN HabitatThe Distribution of Medicine and the Building of HospitalsChaired by Natalie Jo Pedersen, Oishi Dey, and Isabella Baaske

Over half of the world has little to no access to health services. About 2.1 billion people

cannot get essential medicines that are a necessity to their health. This means people are

constantly suffering from diseases that are not treated with proper medical care. Diseases are

starting to make comebacks in many areas of Africa and the Middle East. Highly contagious,

deadly diseases (if not treated), are making comebacks and many people are in danger. People

can’t go to their doctor’s visits because they cannot afford paying for treatment, which is causing

people to not get the care that they need when they need it because of unaffordable payments,

scarce medical treatment centers, and not having the transportation systems or roads they need to

travel long distances over harsh geography. In Africa, people would have to cross the Sahara

Desert, mountains, or go through rainforests with little to no transportation services to get to a

place that offers healthcare. In the Middle East, many countries have difficult terrain that has to

be crossed in order to reach medical practices like bodies of water such as the Mediterranean Sea

and mountainous areas. Doctors in developing countries are not the best, in terms of education of

medical knowledge, there is a lack of resources to medicines and medical equipment that can

cure or help to diagnose people of disease and injury, and the doctors cannot access the people

any more easily than the people can access the doctors. In rural areas especially, many people

suffer in poverty, uninsured expenses, chronic illnesses,and the decreased--of the already low--

amount of doctors, medical staff and medical buildings.

Causes:

Health services have not been distributed across the world because many people don’t

have insurance to help cover the high costs of medical care which are not affordable to most

people worldwide. People

who can’t afford medical

bills, most likely cannot

afford cars in these rural

areas, of the Middle East and

Africa, to transport them over

harsh terrain to a proper

health facility. A lot of

countries don’t have the

infrastructure like hospitals

or doctor’s offices, if they even have doctors in their countries, to supply to its citizens who need

it.

What has been done:

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set universal health coverage as a possible

goal, which is attained when health services are given to people who need it, and people who are

protected by potential financial risk and debt. Technology has also made healthcare more

accessible to people in remote areas. It has improved communication between healthcare

workers and patients when there are barriers. In deep rural and poor areas, there have been new

innovations to bring medical care and health workers to people who can’t reach it by themselves

easily. These new innovations include the use of Camel Clinics, which are moving groups of

doctors, medical supplies, and health workers traveling on camels to people in poor and rural

areas. Also, the use of motorcycle ambulances allows health workers to navigate narrow roads

and passageways to reach sick or injured patients. Health E-Innovation has also been an easier

way for doctors to be and keep in contact with their patients, allowing them to text message

reminders for medication, tips for pre-natal and post-natal mothers, and advice on injuries or

symptoms.

Questions to Consider:

1.) How accessible are the medical service centers in your country? And how many medical

treatment centers are in your country?

2.) Is healthcare in your country affordable?

3.) What is the poverty rate of your country? Can most people afford health care costs?

4.) Does your country have harsh geography that makes it difficult to travel to a doctor?

5.) What kind of affordable transportation systems are open to the public in your country?

6.) What efforts has your country made to make health services more accessible and

affordable?

7.) Is medical care open to anyone who needs it?

CONNETMUNC 2020

UN HabitatThe Distribution of Water and the Building of RoadsChaired by Natalie Jo Pedersen, Oishi Dey, and Isabella Baaske

About 790 million people do not have access to a water supply. Around 2.1 billion people

do not have safe drinking water, or any water at all, that is readily available at home. Many

schools, medical centers, and homes lack soap and water to stay clean and maintain hygiene,

causing a lot of people, especially children to be put at risk of disease.

Causes:

Many rural communities in remote places do not possess basic infrastructure like roads or

wells to transport water in and they don’t have strong and stable management of their water

services. Poverty and disability in can prevent them from receiving water from services and

sources. Weather unpredictability like

drought and floods that can pollute clean

water is also a contributing factor to the lack

of clean water available. Population increase

in the Middle East, and Africa has also

created an even higher demand on water and

has put an even bigger strain on the scarce

supply of it. In Yemen, there is also high

demands for clean water because of their

escalated warfare. The warring has

contaminated the fresh ground water making

it unsafe for anyone to drink it. Many

countries also don’t have accessibility to

roads, not allowing citizens to sell goods,

transport, access markets with clean

drinking water and food and health services,

making countries suffer from poverty and

not letting people to reach essential

resources to daily living. In Africa, water is

scarce and when it is available, it’s dirty.

Water is one of the most frequent

transmitters of disease and bacteria in Africa

because it is rarely ever clean and usable for

drinking or sanitation. The lack of roads also prevent water to be an easily transportable good in

Africa because of its harsh terrain and climate. In the Middle East, such as Yemen, Jordan, Iraq,

Syria, and Iran, water is scarce due to the lack of clean water and accessibility. Also,

unpredictable weather and droughts make it even harder for people in these countries to have

access to water. In America, there are about 1.6 million people that do not have access to clean

water, plumbing facilities, or piped water at all. But there are many people living with clean

water every day in America because they have infrastructure for transportation like roads, water

systems and filters, and they have reliable transportation to reach clean water if it is not

accessible at home.

What has been done:

Since 2000, billions of people have gained more access to safe drinking water. Also, many

organizations help stop water pollution such as Oceana, World Wildlife Fund, Ocean Wise, and

ActionAid Bangladesh. Additionally, many laws have been passed to help reduce the water

usage around the world, such as not putting chemicals and harmful substances into the water

supply.

Questions to Consider:

1.) Does your country have clean, accessible water?

2.) Does your country have safe, strong roads that are accessible to the public?

3.) Does your country have any solutions to the water crisis?

4.) What efforts have been made to make water more accessible and sanitary in your

country?

Work Cited

1.) https://profuturo.education

2.) https://www.bmz.de

3.) https://www.theguardian.com

4.) https://worldpopulationreview.com

5.) https://www.statista.com

6.) https://www.international.com

7.) https://www.who.int.com

8.) https://www.worldatlas.com

9.) https://www.apps.who.int.com

10.) https://www.embibe.com

11.) https://www.healthypeople.gov

12.) https://www.Foodforthepoor.com

13.) https://www.hap.edu

14.) https://www.bustle.com

15.) https://www.cdc.gov>wash-statistics

16.) https://www.globalcitizen.com

17.) https://www.thewaterbrothers.com

18.) https://www.eshooltoday.com

19.) https://www.worldvision.org

20.) https://www.semanticscholar.com

21.) https://www.worldhighways.com

22.) https://www.USnews&worldreport.com

23.) https://www.thewaterdeliverycompany.co

Countries

1.) United States of America

2.) United Kingdom

3.) Cambodia

4.) Sudan

5.) Libya

6.) Niger

7.) Haiti

8.) Australia

9.) Jordan

10.) Liberia

11.) Mali

12.) Congo

13.) Somalia

14.) Italy

15.) Germany

16.) Ghana

17.) Mexico

18.) Pakistan

19.) Yemen

20.) Iran

21.) Finland

22.) Sweden

23.) Ethiopia

24.) Somalia

25.) Canada

26.) Switzerland

27.) Colombia

28.) Belgium

29.) Nepal

30.) Singapore