United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Topic Update!
Download the topic update (pdf)
UNICEF
Joshua Goldman
UNICEF@bruinmun.org
Dear Delegates,
I am honored to welcome you all to BruinMUN 2011 and the greatest committee, UNICEF. My name is Joshua Goldman and I am a pre-law History major at UCLA. This is my sixth year of Model UN, I sing Gospel music, and I have a medieval focus in my major. If you were wondering, yes, these topics were even relevant back then.
I hope to make this committee interesting, informative, but more importantly different than other UNICEF committees. I want to bring a new level of detail and realism to these topics that may prove challenging to solve. These issues have been consistently considered two of the most pressing concerns in UNICEF.
This organization deals with children, who are often overlooked and underestimated. Both of these topics are very real in the lives of children today around the world. Child Mortality has dramatically decreased due to efforts taken by UNICEF and WHO, but it is still prominent today. Similarly, Children in Armed Conflict may be often debated but it is a major problem. This topic relates to the issue of child soldiers, but also the less debated problem of displaced children. These important issues need to be addressed and resolved.
I am very excited to be your Chair and I look forward to having you all in my committee. Please contact me with questions that you might have. These topics might be hard to resolve, but I have faith that you will think of great things to discuss in committee. I am warning you now that my top priority as a Chair is to help you develop your speech and debate skills, which means come prepared to speak. I want participation from all of you, so even if you are intimidated by public speaking please ask me and I will try to pass on whatever wisdom I have accumulated in all of my years of Model UN. Be prepared, because we will have a wonderful blend of fun and productivity during this conference.
Sincerely,
Joshua Goldman
UNICEF, Chair
Topics
Download Topic Synopsis! (pdf) Updated June 21. Document is password protected.
Topic A: Child Mortality in Developing Countries
In the UN Millennium Development Goals, they list Child Mortality as a major concern that they hoped to reduce by 2015. This committee will discuss how much progress has been made and current major issues related to Child Mortality, like poverty conditions, child labor regulations, water purification, infantile diseases like Polio, etc. There are many directions in which the delegates will be able to explore, and Child Mortality is a very pressing topic in UNICEF.
Topic B: Children in Armed Conflict
This topic will focus on various problems associated with war that affect children. This ranges from child soldiers and dealing with war trauma to the displacement of children and refugees. Various conferences and resolutions have been passes on each of these subtopics.
Contact Your Chair: UNICEF@bruinmun.org