Committee: UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

Country: Romania
Delegate: Feleo, Reign Guinevere D.
Topic: Combatting Child Marriage
In Romania, child marriage is prohibited by the law yet is still committed usually
as an act of desperation, and in some areas a heavily-guarded tradition. However,
recent government movements targeted towards minimizing cases of child brides such
as efforts to increase job opportunities and health care for women created growing
positive feedback. Child marriages are considered to be in violation of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights since it vehemently advocates for the free and full
consent to marriage from both parties. The argument is that such consent cannot be
attained if one of the parties involved is not mature enough to make such a decision.
Although, the issue of child marriages is acknowledged by definition to affect both
boys and girls, the latter is usually the main object of concern. Girls, rather than boys,
are in the spotlight when it comes to this issue because of the more severe long term
ramifications child marriages have on young female children. The young girls are at
greater risk for death or injury due to early sexual activity and childbirth. In addition, they
frequently do not have the requisite maturity level to carry the burdens of child bearing
and child rearing that they are required to perform.
UNICEF data sets have indicated that Africa has the highest occurrences rate of
child marriages. African countries have adopted marriage legislation that adopts the
minimum age for marriage to be 16 to 18. However, in countries such as Ethiopia, Chad
and Niger, marriage is legal at the age of 15. On top of that, certain customs and
religious authorities can allow marriages below the age of 12. In addition to such laws,
poverty and conflict makes the rate of child marriages in sub-Saharan African countries
very high. In Ethiopia, Chad, Mali and Nigeria a substantial amount of girls are married
before turning 15 years old and some are married off as young as the age of seven.
Though the legal age for marriage in Romania is 15, the country generally tolerated the
tradition of arranged child weddings among Roma as the traditions of Romani gypsies
are acknowledged. Previously, young women are starting to rebel against the custom.
Official figures say more than 550,000 Roma live in Romania, but the real number is
believed to be more than 1 million. The country's total population is 22 million. Dorin
Cioaba, the self-proclaimed King of the Gypsies in Romania, says he is ready to take on
the controversial tradition of marriages of minors. As of the 26th of March 2014, Cioaba
says he and clan elders have agreed that the tradition of Roma marrying under the age
of 16 must go - and those defying the ruling will face exclusion.

Romania strongly backs the efforts in empowering the United Nations to develop
a comprehensive campaign to educate the world with respect to the damage caused by
forced early marriage and of the obligation of member states to protect the rights of
children and girls and prevent harmful practices against young women.

Name: Feleo, Reign Guinevere D.

Delegation of: Romania
Topic: Human Trafficking
Trafficking of human beings is one of the fastest -growing type of organized
criminal activity. European Union citizens from Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary are the
most common victims of human trafficking in Europe. Many of them are women who are
sexually exploited. Throughout the years, human trafficking became more lucrative and
more multifaceted. Due its growing complexity, it is a difficult activity to handle on a
higher degree. There is an urgent need for development of effective international law
and protocols to eradicate this crime. The Government of Romania does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so in the form of reorganizing its lead anti-trafficking
agency and due to this the government identified significantly fewer victims compared
with the previous reporting period.
Although more than half of the victims identified in 2009 were victims of forced
labor, the government was again unable to report significant efforts to address labor
trafficking; specifically, the government did not disaggregate labor trafficking law
enforcement statistics from sex trafficking statistics and thus was unable to report the
number of labor trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions, or the number
of labor victims assisted by the government during the reporting period. In March 2009,
the government reorganized its lead anti-trafficking agency the National Agency
Against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP). It was changed from an independent, national
agency with the authority to administer federal funding for anti-trafficking initiatives, to a
subordinate agency of the National Police under the Ministry of Interior. Romania has
created dedicated police units to combat trafficking across the country, allowing the
country to achieve a high number of prosecutions and convictions, and setting a
benchmark for other countries in the region. In 2012, 667 people were prosecuted for
trafficking offenses, resulting in 427 convictions. The report, which is based on the
findings of an official Country Visit to Romania from 9-12 September 2013, also praises
the country for its well-developed international law enforcement co-operation, which has
helped it to steadily increase the number of convictions since 2009.
To bolster the fight against human trafficking, Romania believes that states need
to focus more on working with other regional stakeholders in the form of sharing best
practices, effective social and economic development programs and improved border
management. At an international level, it is very hard to get all countries on the same
status and this lack of uniformity has greatly hindered the fight against trafficking.
Regionally, countries that are socially and culturally similar can come up with their own,
tailor made policies to counter trafficking in the region as a whole.

2 Minute Time to Shine

On Combatting Child Marriage:
In Romania, child marriage is prohibited by the law yet is still committed usually
as an act of desperation, and in some areas a heavily-guarded tradition. However,
recent government movements targeted towards minimizing cases of child brides such
as efforts to increase job opportunities and health care for women created growing
positive feedback. Child marriages are considered to be in violation of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights since it vehemently advocates for the free and full
consent to marriage from both parties. The argument is that such consent cannot be
attained if one of the parties involved is not mature enough to make such a decision.
Although, the issue of child marriages is acknowledged by definition to affect both
boys and girls, the latter is usually the main object of concern. Girls, rather than boys,
are in the spotlight when it comes to this issue because of the more severe long term
ramifications child marriages have on young female children. The young girls are at
greater risk for death or injury due to early sexual activity and childbirth. In addition, they
frequently do not have the requisite maturity level to carry the burdens of child bearing
and child rearing that they are required to perform.
On Human Trafficking:
Trafficking of human beings is one of the fastest -growing type of organized
criminal activity. European Union citizens from Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary are the
most common victims of human trafficking in Europe. Many of them are women who are
sexually exploited. Throughout the years, human trafficking became more lucrative and
more multifaceted. Due its growing complexity, it is a difficult activity to handle on a
higher degree. There is an urgent need for development of effective international law
and protocols to eradicate this crime. The Government of Romania does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so in the form of reorganizing its lead anti-trafficking
agency and due to this the government identified significantly fewer victims compared
with the previous reporting period.

Committee: UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

Country: Romania
Delegate: Feleo, Reign Guinevere D.
Topic: Combatting Child Marriage
In Romania, child marriage is prohibited by the law yet is still committed as an act
of desperation and in some areas a heavily-guarded tradition. However, recent
government movements targeted towards minimizing cases child brides such as efforts
to increase job opportunities and health care for women created growing positive
feedback. Child marriages are considered to be in violation of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights since it vehemently advocates for the free and full consent to
marriage from both parties. The argument is that such consent cannot be attained if one
of the parties involved is not mature enough to make such a decision. Although, the
issue of child marriages is acknowledged by definition to affect both boys and girls,
the latter is usually the main object of concern. Girls, rather than boys, are in the
spotlight when it comes to this issue because of the more severe long term ramifications
child marriages have on young female children. The young girls are at greater risk for
death or injury due to early sexual activity and childbirth. In addition, they frequently do
not have the requisite maturity level to carry the burdens of child bearing and child
rearing that they are required to perform.
UNICEF data sets have indicated that Africa has the highest occurrences rate of
child marriages. African countries have adopted marriage legislation that adopts the
minimum age for marriage to be 16 to 18. However, in countries such as Ethiopia, Chad
and Niger, marriage is legal at the age of 15. On top of that, certain customs and
religious authorities can allow marriages below the age of 12. In addition to such laws,
poverty and conflict makes the rate of child marriages in sub-Saharan African countries
very high. In
Romania strongly backs the efforts in empowering the United Nations to develop
a comprehensive campaign to educate the world with respect to the damage caused by
forced early marriage and of the obligation of member states to protect the rights of
children and girls and prevent harmful practices against young women.