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Sankara Model United Nations 2013

Eighth session

August 9-11

Background Guide Economic & Social Council


w w w . s a n mu n .o r g

Letter from the EB


Welcome ladies and gentlemen tothe ECOSOC of SANMUN 2013. Three days of MUN is going to take you a long way, more than you would expect. But the real fun comes only from a council of well prepared delegates and this background guide is here for no mere formality. The chair hastried and incorporatedEverything a delegate will need to know and this documentwill be of definite help from each and every delegates point of view. The following are some of the things youll need to get the whole MUN experience: 1) Research and preparation: This part may seem a bit obvious to a few, but delegates who are not well versed with their countrys policies and events will fail to appreciate the idea of a MUN. ECOSOC is not a research based and one might not need to spend a considerable amount oftime researching butexcessive research is never wrong andwill only give you a upper hand during committee proceedings. The delegates are advised tobegin with ones own country first before looking into global problems involving others. 2) The need to speak: Before the day of the MUN, tell yourself that youre going to participate for a reason and you will do everything you can to contribute towards the positive progress of the committee. Active delegates are every chairs dream and such

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committees never fail to produce results. 3) Discipline: It goes without saying that we can get the most out of ourselves only by working in an orderly fashion. A democratic committee where all delegates work with respect and integrity is the perfect environment for a UN conference. 4) Resolutions: The committee is finally judged by the results it can deliver. Making good use of the unmoderated cacus,delegates are expected to come up with reasonable yet creative ideas to solve the problem. The chair requests all delegates to keep these points in mind. Also the chair would like to say that he encourages individual working methodologies as well and the Tips for research or what so ever given in the document are only meant to guide delegates. One may follow his or her approaches towards the agenda. In no way will this document provide you the research material itself. This document will only help you attain it and will act as a medium of communication between the chairs expectations and the delegates needs. And last,good luck.Try to enjoy the experience and remember that youre here for a reason,to make a difference. Vaibhav K.N. (Chair, EcoSoc) Rohan Sankhla (Guest Chair, EcoSoc) Vishnu Varma (Moderator, EcoSoc)

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ECOSOC
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It addresses economic, social, and cultural issues. The fundamental provisions concerning ECOSOC are found in the UN Charter; chapter IX (Articles 55-60) sets forth the goals and purposes of the UN in the sphere of international economic and social cooperation, while chapter X (Articles 61-72) outlines ECOSOCs composition, functions, powers, and working procedure. ECOSOC coordinates 14 UN specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions on international economic, social issues and related works. It also receives reports from 11 United Nations funds and programmes. The Council is also a venue for formulating policy recommendations to Member States as well as UN 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; encouraging universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. ECOSOC has the power to make or initiate

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studies and reports on above listed issues. The Council 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. To fulfill its mandates, the Council also consults with academics, business sector representatives and more than 3,200 registered non-governmental organisations.

Mandate
Principal organs are the main bodies of the UN, serving as the highest decision-making level in their branch. As with other principal organs of the UN, ECOSOCs mandate is based upon the UN Charter. The UN is charged by its Charter with promoting higher standards of living in economic and social fields; conditions of economic and social progress and development; international cultural and educational cooperation; and universal respect for rights and fundamental freedoms for all. Composition Initially, ECOSOC consisted of 18 Member States. This changed in 1965, when the GA decided to increase the amount of Member States to 27. Since 1971, ECOSOC has consisted of 54 members. These 54 members are elected by the General Assembly for

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overlapping three-year terms. There are fixed contingents with regard to geographical representation: fourteen seats are allocated to African States, eleven to Asian States, six to Eastern European States, ten to Latin American and Caribbean States, and thirteen to Western European and other States. The current president of ECOSOC is Milo Koterec. He was elected on 10 January 2012 and is the current and permanent representative of the Slovak Republic to the United Nations in New York.

Functions
According to the Charter, ECOSOC may make or initiate studies and reports with respect to international economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related matters and may make recommendations with respect to any matters to the General Assembly [GA], to the Members of the United Nations, and to specialized agencies concerned. This outlines and defines the main tasks and the array of topics on ECOSOCs agenda. Furthermore, the Charter outlines in subsequent Articles that ECOSOC may make recommendations concerning its topics, prepare draft conventions for submission to the GA, call international conferences on matters falling within its competence, and coordinate the work of the Specialized Agencies; this latter item serves as the main intersection between the UN and Specialized Agencies such as the International Labour Organization, the World Health

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Organization, the World Food Programme, and others. Moreover ECOSOC may furnish information to the Security Council and shall assist [it] upon request. These provisions illustrate that ECOSOC is a deliberative body and has a coordinating role within the UN. The committee in SANMUN will differ only on two grounds. First that not all countries in the real ECOSOC are included in the matrix. And second is that there will be no discussion based on annual periodic revenue meetings, which the UN does to get an idea of where the economy is at the present. To provide a better understanding, important articles of the UN charter that outline the ECOSOCs powers and functions are given below: Chapter X Article 62 The Economic and Social Council may make or initiate studies and reports with respect to international economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related matters and may make recommendations with respect to any such matters to the General Assembly to the Members of the United Nations, and to the specialized agencies concerned. It may make recommendations for the purpose of promoting respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.

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It may prepare draft conventions for submission to the General Assembly, with respect to matters falling within its competence. It may call, in accordance with the rules prescribed by the United Nations, international conferences on matters falling within its competence. Article 63

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The Economic and Social Council may enter into agreements with any of the agencies referred to in Article 57, defining the terms on which the agency concerned shall be brought into relationship with the United Nations. Such agreements shall be subject to approval by the General Assembly. It may co-ordinate the activities of the specialized agencies through consultation with and recommendations to such agencies and through recommendations to the General Assembly and to the Members of the United Nations. Article 64 The Economic and Social Council may take appropriate steps to obtain regular reports from the specialized agencies. It may make arrangements with the Members of the United Nations and with the specialized agencies to obtain reports on the steps taken to give effect

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to its own recommendations and to recommendations on matters falling within its competence made by the General Assembly. It may communicate its observations on these reports to the General Assembly. Article 65 The Economic and Social Council may furnish information to the Security Council and shall assist the Security Council upon its request. Article 66 The Economic and Social Council shall perform such functions as fall within its competence in connection with the carrying out of the recommendations of the General Assembly. It may, with the approval of the General Assembly, perform services at the request of Members of the United Nations and at the request of specialized agencies. It shall perform such other functions as are specified elsewhere in the present Charter or as may be assigned to it by the General Assembly. VOTING Article 67 Each member of the Economic and

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Social Council shall have one vote. Decisions of the Economic and Social Council shall be made by a majority of the members present and voting. For more information: http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/about/

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"To be idle and to be poor have always been reproaches, and therefore every man endeavors with his utmost care to hide his poverty from others, and his idleness from himself." - Johnson Samuel
Agenda Tackling worldwide unemployment and addressing its root causes
Unemploy m e nt r at e s a n d t h e l ev e l o f unemployment itself remain a useful measure of the health of a economy over time, as it has both social and economic implications. Rising unemployment results in loss of income for individuals, reduced collection of taxes for governments, and increased pressure on government spending on social benefits. Longterm unemployment also negatively affects social cohesion and hinders economic

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growth. The effects of high unemployment in one country can have a major impact on the economies of its trading partners as well, it leads to a decrease in demand for imports. Unemployment is the root of many problems varying from poverty to health insecurity. That is the very reason why the Executive Board chose this topic. As it covers a wide spectrum of issues and the problem has a universal existence.

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So, what is unemployment?


The definition of unemployment itself like the rest of Economics is subject to interpretation in various perspectives. What this means is defining unemployment is a very difficult tasks and is often debatable. For the benefit of our committee we will accept the following as the accepted definition: Unemployment is defined as follows in the Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment, adopted by the Thirteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians (Geneva, 1982): The "unemployed" comprise all persons above a specified age who during the reference period were: without work", i.e. were not in paid employment or self-employment;

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currently available for work", i.e. were available for paid employment or self-employment during the reference period; and "Seeking work", i.e. had taken specific steps in a specified reference period to seek paid employment or self-employment. The specific steps may include registration at a public or private employment exchange; application to employers; checking at worksites, farms, factory gates, market or other assembly places; placing or answering newspaper advertisements; seeking assistance of friends or relatives; looking for land, building, machinery or equipment to establish own enterprise; arranging for financial resources; applying for permits and licenses, etc. National definitions of unemployment may differ from the recommended international standard definition. The national definitions used vary from one country to another as regards inter alia age limits, reference periods, criteria for seeking work, treatment of persons temporarily laid off and of persons seeking work for the first time.

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Global labour markets are worsening again


In the fifth year after the outbreak of the global financial crisis, global growth has decelerated and unemployment has started to increase again, leaving an accumulated total of some 197

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million people without a job in 2012. Moreover, some 39 million people have dropped out of the labour market as job prospects proved unattainable, opening a 67 million global jobs gap since 2007. Despite a moderate pick-up in output growth expected for 201314, the unemployment rate is set to increase again and the number of unemployed worldwide is projected to rise by 5.1 million in 2013, to more than 202 million in 2013 and by another 3 million in 2014. A quarter of the increase of 4 million in global unemployment in 2012 has been in the advanced economies, while three quarters has been in other regions, with marked effects in East Asia, South Asia and SubSaharan Africa. Those regions that have managed to prevent a further increase in unemployment often have experienced a worsening in job quality, as vulnerable employment and the number of workers living below or very near the poverty line increased.

New recession conditions in Europe have been spilling over globally


Lower economic activity and job growth even in countries that had initially escaped the second wave of the crisis constitutes a spillover effect of the weak growth in advanced economies in 2012, in particular recession conditions in Europe. So far, the main transmission mechanism of global spillovers has been through international trade, but regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean have also suffered from increased volatility of

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international capital flows that have forced them to quickly adjust their macroeconomic policy in order to dampen the effects on exchange rates, thereby weakening their domestic economies. Growth decelerated by 1.4 percentage points in East Asia, largely due to a notable slowdown in China, where growth slowed to 7.8 per cent the slowest rate of growth since 1999. In South Asia, where growth in India slowed sharply to 4.9 per cent, the lowest rate of growth in the country in a decade, the regional GDP growth rate decelerated by 1.6 percentage points. The regions of Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East also saw a substantial deceleration.

The continuing nature of the crisis has worsened labour market mismatches, intensifying downside labour market risks
The length and depth of the labour market crisis is worsening labour market mismatch, contributing to extended spells of unemployment. As the crisis spreads through international trade, occupations concentrated in exporting industries are particularly vulnerable and in several countries their importance in total employment has declined by significant margins. New jobs that become available often require competences that the unemployed do not possess. Such skill and occupational mismatches will make the labour

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market react more slowly to any acceleration in activity over the medium run, unless supporting policies to re-skill and activate current jobseekers are enhanced.

Job creation rates are particularly low, as typically happens after a financial crisis
The origins of the crisis in the financial sector weigh on job creation. Following banking crises such as the current one, more jobs are destroyed and fewer jobs created as pre-crisis misallocation and over-investment require time to be corrected. In advanced economies job destruction rates have increased again after a short-lived respite in 2010, indicating that further job restructuring is likely before a stronger rebound can be expected in labour markets. Other regions are also still experiencing higher-than-average job destruction rates.

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Youth remain particularly affected by the crisis


Young people remain particularly stricken by the crisis. Currently, some 73.8 million young people are unemployed globally and the slowdown in economic activity is likely to push another half million into unemployment by 2014. The youth unemployment rate which had already increased to 12.6 per cent in 2012 is expected to increase to 12.9 per cent by 2017. The crisis

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has dramatically diminished the labour market prospects for young people, as many experience long-term unemployment right from the start of their labour market entry, a situation that was never observed during earlier cyclical downturns. Currently, some 35 per cent of all young unemployed have been out of a job for six months or longer in advanced economies, up from 28.5 per cent in 2007. As a consequence, an increasing number of young people have become discouraged and have left the labour market. Among European countries where this problem is particularly severe, some 12.7 per cent of all young people are currently neither employed nor in education or training, a rate that is almost two percentage points higher than prior to the crisis. Such long spells of unemployment and discouragement early on in a persons career also damage long-term prospects, as professional and social skills erode and valuable on-the-job experience is not built up.

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Data collection problems.


Also, unemployment is a problem where statistics can sometimes not tell you the truth.If someone retires, goes back to school or leaves the work force to take care of children or other family member, that is not unemployment. Also, if someone gives up looking for work, they are also not counted as unemployed by the Federal government. For

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this reason, some people say the government undercounts the real unemployment rate.

So, where do you fit in as delegates of SANMUN ECOSOC 2013?


You, as delegates of your respective countries have to come together and analyze the rootcauses, break them down and formulate solutions together to dampen the effects of unemployment and reduce it. Delegates are expected to look at this agenda on the international and domestic level. The delegates are also expected to know the various individuals problems their countries face and the necessity for it to be addressed in the resolution. We look forward to seeing you August, Happy researching!

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Contact Us
Vaibhav K.N. - Chair - +91-9884726478 Rohan Sankhla - Guest Chair - +91-8951110332 Vishnu Varma - Moderator - +91-9840941549

ecosoc@sanmun.org

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