Author: Arminas Baranauskas
PHOTO IS ILLUSTRATIVE One of UNDP Collaborations
On April 29th at 11AM the UN Development Program convened for their first session. Delegates of six UN countries participated in the work of the committee. The delegates of six countries are Chad, Cuba, Iran, Kuwait, Switzerland and Yemen. The delegates were filled with determination and courage, waiting to tackle worldwide problems.
The Committee worked in a cycle of moderated and unmoderated caucuses. The meeting was formal although the tension was rising between the delegates. It was time to start the meeting. The debates until the first break were the most energizing and appealing.
The Committee started with a discussion on food security and human rights. Various delegates were talking about helping poor countries and improving food systems which would improve food availability with less food waste. The delegate representing Chad focused especially on food security and modernization.
The next topic was providing help to less developed countries. The representative of Chad opened with talks about improving education. Kuwait added that developed countries should help developing countries in every way which Chad agreed to. Yemen mentioned their on-going civil war and requested humanitarian aid.
Kuwait agreed to help Yemen with humanitarian aid. Although it’s important to note that Yemen is outside of the UN and in the middle of a civil war. In other words, it would be extremely hard to deliver the much needed humanitarian aid.
The next theme was motioned by Chad and it was food insecurities. Cuba suggested a technology that would modernize food production and also said that in the face of war, a peaceful way to help is by funding the country's food production.
Chad talked about education and spreading awareness to throw away less food. Switzerland supported Chad in providing more information to native educators on what is the best food growing techniques. Yemen also agreed to the idea.
Chad then added that we need to help provide more food and water. Switzerland later pointed out that conflicts are inevitable but a healthy economy means happy people and happy people mean less conflicts.
Yemen disagreed, saying that we do not see conflict reasons and that economic development will not solve problems that initiate wars. Chad took the courage to talk about Yemen’s civil war and food insecurity. Yemen answered that in war, food nearly always goes towards the military. Switzerland was neutral about the fact. On the other hand Iran thought that the best idea was to crush the other warring side which would help the country to redevelop. Cuba stood up and disagreed with the idea and thought that it is best to negotiate for peace.
Delegate of Chad spearheaded another topic, this time concerning crops and water distillation plans. Chad started the discussion, remarking that technology can be useful in solving worldwide problems, for example, cleaning water.
Iran suggested that water distillation should also be modernized. Chad said that if it were to be modernized, there would still be no electricity to power it. Also it would likely be in places like Africa. So the only solution to the problem would be to build a nuclear power station.
After the debates, the chair of the committee further explained what is happening in the Yemen war and who is or might be supporting one of the two sides. Then the meeting was temporarily suspended due to lunchtime. After roughly an hour everyone came back to their previous seats and continued the meeting.
Then, the delegates debated on overnutrition and sustainable food systems and use of pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture. Of these two the use of pesticides and fertilizers was a more fruitful topic.
Chad started out by informing the committee that 1/3 of the world's fertilizer supply is produced by Russia. Yemen recommended that we should teach farmers how to use pesticides correctly. The delegate of Yemen also added that farmers rarely have tractors and harvesters which would make the harvesting process more efficient.
Overall, the moderated caucuses were all about 10 minutes long and 60 seconds for every delegate’s speech. The moderated caucuses were somewhat longer, but for the representatives that was not a sign of relief as they were writing their group resolution. The delegates were very quick and smart with their words.