IndoMUN 2023

Topic

Gentrification and the Gap in Urban Development

About the committee

[Offline, Single Delegate] Established in 1966, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was founded to assist countries in their development by eradicating poverty, building strong and just institutions within governments, preventing and mitigating both man-made and natural disasters and crises, and effectively using natural resources in sustainable ways. The program, governed by an executive board with 36 member states of developed and developing countries, has expanded its operations in 170 countries globally. It focuses on capacity building within countries, so that they may be self-sufficient and prosperous in the long run. Governments have the main agenda of developing their territory equally to achieve welfare for the collective. However, some resort to gentrification. Wealthier people are moved into less affluent and developed neighborhoods to increase the area's economic value by attracting new businesses and investors. Then, the area's social demographics will shift, average income will increase, and, collectively, the site will be less prone to poverty. On the other side, this may adversely lead to the displacement of people because the newly-gentrified areas will become unaffordable for their original inhabitants with lower incomes. Thus, gentrification can promote unaffordable housing and harm small businesses. Furthermore, it can make long-time residents feel alienated in their homes, an unquantifiable result that cannot be ignored. As the UNDP, the delegates are expected to navigate the ever-contentious field of urban planning, while focusing on joint development without systematically perpetuating social and economic inequality.

Countries

Topic

Ensuring Women Representation and Access in the Administration of Justice

About the committee

[Offline, Single Delegate] Within the UN system, The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) is mandated to lead, promote and coordinate efforts to advance the full realization of women’s rights and opportunities. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and work with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programs, and services; advocate for greater resources, and implement joint development programs. UN Women also strengthens UN action on the global, regional, and national levels. They also support measures upholding accountability for commitments to women and have a key role in increasing knowledge about women’s status in the United Nations. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Diego García-Sayán examines the current status of women’s representation in judicial systems, identifying the barriers hindering their adequate access to, and promotion and retention in, the judiciary and prosecution services. International and regional standards on judges and prosecutors do not include specific principles guaranteeing gender equality within the judiciary. Therefore, the essence of the challenge lies in unequal and limited implementation to ensure women's access to justice. In the conference in May, delegates will not only be challenged to solve the issue of women's profession in the judiciary, but also overall women's access to the judicial system itself.

Countries

Topic

Strengthening the Resilience of Developing Countries Against Tropical Disease

About the committee

[Online, Single Delegate] As its name implies, the World Health Organisation is a UN agency that focuses on issues pertaining to health. Being one the leading bodies in the global health scheme, WHO aims to create a world where health is accessible to every layer of society. WHO does so by assisting in efforts to elevate health conditions, standardizing practices and norms, assisting in health policymaking, and providing various support in all nations. WHO also directs and coordinates authorities within the United Nations system on international health. It deals with various issues regarding health systems, non-communicable diseases, and health accessibility promotion, especially for vulnerable people. NTDs consist of diverse group of 20 conditions that are mainly prevalent in tropical areas, such as dengue and chikungunya, rabies, and scabies. NTDs are a complex case that is usually linked to impoverished communities in developing countries. Not only do NTDs affect the poorest and marginalized groups such as women and children, but the illness also lower productivity, causing a socio-economic recession that contributes to the disparity among nations. However, NTDs become “neglected” and are almost absent from the global health agenda. Therefore, the coverage of NTDs is not maximized due to the limited resources and lack of attention by multinational funding agencies or developed countries. As one of the most pressing health issues that are often faced by developing communities yet often overshadowed, how can delegates create solutions that can enhance health conditions in a practical but sustainable manner?

Countries

Topic

Digital Products, Services and Currencies: Achieving the ASEAN Vision Towards Digital Economy Inclusivity

About the committee

[Offline, Single Delegate] The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional community that aims to promote political, economic, and cultural growth and solidarity with its eleven members. To fulfill this objective, ASEAN follows the fundamental principle of mutual respect for independence and sovereignty. According to ASEAN Declaration, one of the purposes of this council is to accelerate the economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region. As one of the world's most powerful region, ASEAN’s collective gross domestic product represents the fifth-largest economy in the world with 662 million of the total population. Hence, ASEAN also expanded its influence by establishing friendly cooperations with other countries, namely the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and India, which may increase the commercial potential to keep ASEAN competitive in the global economy. The ASEAN Vision towards digital economy integration is one of ASEAN’s most crucial strategies to foster competitiveness and prosperity for its members. The ASEAN Digital Master Plan 2025 is a notion that serves as the blueprint to prepare ASEAN to become a leading digital community and economic bloc that is powered by secure and transformative digital services, technologies, and ecosystems. ASEAN nations will aim to create and expand their national digital capacity and harmonize with each other. However, problems emerge as the Member States struggle to cooperate due to the various developmental stages and capabilities among them, leading to differences in national and regional focus. Therefore, delegates are invited to discuss and find a solution to how ASEAN can ensure inclusive digitalization and economic growth.

Countries

Topic

Facing Loss and Damage: Reawakening the Purpose of Climate Finance in Reaching Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs)

About the committee

[Offline, Single Delegate] The Conference of the Parties (COP) is a global climate summit that acts as the supreme decision-making body in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In COP, governments from around the world will meet annually to review the implementation of the legal instruments adopted by the COP. Since its first meeting in 1995, the COP presidency shifted among Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central, Eastern, and Western Europe, and others. With the Egypt Presidency, COP28 aims to construct concrete measures with an inclusive, transparent, and collective approach to address the emerging climate crisis. In The 2018 Katowice Climate Package and 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact, governments have committed to addressing the disparity between developed and developing countries in handling matters regarding the effect of climate change. However, these agreements fall short of climate action. Meanwhile, further measures as the appropriate response to tackling loss and harm from climate change that originated from human activity are urgently needed. Therefore, climate finance is crucial for the actualization of the current and forthcoming state's adaptation to face a climate crisis. The current climate finance provision efficiency is still a massive debate to bridge the disparity between eveloped and developing countries. Therefore, solutions are needed to fill the gap in climate finance implementation, including its inefficiency in funding state adaptation to climate change.

Countries

Topic

The Role of Trade in Approaching the Economic Recession of 2023

About the committee

[Online, Single Delegate] World Trade Organization serves as an international organization that aims to regulate and facilitate international trade. Founded in 1995 following the Marrakesh Agreement, WTO stands as the biggest economic international organization with over 160 members. WTO has been leading in governing international trade by establishing and enforcing open trade rules for its members. The main aim of WTO is to lift barriers in international trade, mainly in tariffs, quotas, and other forms of restrictions. By doing so, producers and consumers all over the world will be able to enjoy trade flows that are smooth, predictable, and free. Global trade rules from WTO help to ensure every state has the same possibility of trading with one another and assurance from trade risks. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought massive change to human life. In the beginning, almost every part of human activity around the world halted for good, economic activity being no exception. Supply and demand slowed down as people had to stay at home and rely on the local market. Even then, the local market still needs to supply itself as the border closes. Over the course of two years and so on, restrictions and barriers in international trade became even more prominent. As time progresses and the pandemic slowly subdues, humanity begins to catch up with the losses. But then an imminent consequence of the pandemic still prevails in the future: the recession of 2023. Many measures need to be taken immediately to heal the pandemic’s economic scars. Mitigating the risks and losses of recession should be done by re-strengthening international trade. Thus, we encourage delegates in WTO not only to develop improved post-pandemic international free trade regulations but also to navigate a way to prevent a similar threat in the future.

Countries

Topic

The Awakening of Indonesian Youth 1997-98

About the committee

[Offline, Single Delegate] The Crisis Committee is a council that is different from the conventional MUN councils. Rather than representing a country, delegates take on the role of a character that can range from a political leader to a fictional character. Each delegate aims to assert their character’s viewpoint and end the conference having amassed the most social, political, or economic power. Presenting a dynamic in which delegates can interact, respond and make action in real-time, the crisis council brings in a new taste of thrill. In this council, delegates are pushed to be able to quickly analyze and adapt to various issues that unfold during the council. During the event of May, the delegates are encouraged to think outside of the box in order to reach a conclusion or even a solution to the crisis. The decades-long reign of Suharto faced problems and instability in the 1997 Asian financial crisis. During this period, the world watches as the authoritarian regime falls into desperate times. The students have been communicating their wishes amongst each other, foreseeing a possibility for a reformation. Meanwhile, in the parliament, political parties worried about the eventual succession of Suharto and sought to look for a successor from the Golkar Party. Could Indonesia maintain stability in these uncertain times? Will the new generation of reformists seek to democratize? Or will the reformation be corrupted by military figures, religious fundamentalists, and corrupt politicians wishing to gain more power in the government?

Countries

Topic

UNSC Role in Addressing Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa

About the committee

[Offline, Double Delegate] The United Nations Security Council is established as one of the UN's main organs. The UNSC Serves as one of the most crucial bodies for maintaining world peace and security. Unlike other councils, the UNSC has the power to produce binding resolutions and all Member States are obligated to comply with the Council decisions, such as sending missions and envoys, undertaking investigations, and inciting mediation. When an issue escalates, UNSC has the mandate to issue a ceasefire, sever diplomatic relations, resort to imposing sanctions or even authorizing the use of force. It is also important to mention that UNSC’s permanent members have the right to veto any decisions inside the council. There has been a string of military takeovers in Africa in the last two years. Since August 2020, power has changed hands unconstitutionally six times in five countries: Burkina Faso (January 2022), Guinea (September 2021), Sudan (October 2021), Chad (April 2021), and Mali (August 2020 and May 2021). Regional bodies gives fast response to the issue, one of which results in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) deploying a force to Guinea-Bissau. On the contrary, UNSC has no general practice discernable in the type of outcome the Council adopts following coups d’état. Products have ranged from press statements, a relatively weak instrument in the Council’s toolkit, to stronger outcomes such as presidential statements and, in one case, a resolution imposing sanctions. Realizing this, the presidency of the month of May is planning to hold talks to further strengthen security and cooperation to maintain good neighborliness, stability, and development in West and Central Africa.

Countries

Topic

Undertaking the Issue of Disparity Between Nations in Seabed Mining

About the committee

[Online, Single Delegate] As an implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”), the International Seabed Authority (“ISA”) organizes activities related to mineral resources in the seabed area in accordance with the principle of the common heritage of mankind. ISA has the mandate to ensure the protection of marine environments from deep-seabed activities. In addition, UNCLOS assigns ISA to decide on the equitable sharing of economic benefits from seabed activities. ISA consists of several organs, which include the ISA Council that specifies provisions under UNCLOS and the general policies set by the ISA Assembly. Hence, the ISA Council controls activities in the area and issues orders to prevent the environmental threat from seabed activities The Common Heritage of Mankind (CHM) concept was universally agreed upon in the Declaration of Principles Governing the Seabed and the Ocean Floor. The realization of the CHM has brought the discussion of seabed mining, particularly in considering how economic motives potentially damage marine habitats. The CHM concept in practicing seabed mining brought contrary perspectives due to the difference in the seabed resource exploration regulation, the concern of environmental impacts, and the gap of scientific knowledge in putting seabed mining into practice. Economically advanced countries argue that the CHM concept does not unilaterally hinder the ability to explore seabed resources. However, emerging countries that may not have the technology to enact this exploration may be more dismissive. Hence, delegates are expected to discuss possible alternative methods to manage mineral reserves and resources to close this gap of disparity.

Countries

About the committee

[Hybrid, Single Delegate] Founded in 1948 The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) is a professional organization consisting of over 200 correspondents and producers from countries all around the world. Since an agreement in 1955, the UNCA has been representing the U.N. press corps and the Secretary-General championing free speech and transparency. UNCA represents the journalists typically present at the United Nations and other important bodies. In the session of May, the journalists are encouraged to cover the developments of both offline and online conferences. The journalists are expected to showcase their critical thinking and analytical skills in the form of news articles and critical questions during press conferences.

Countries