Model United Nations
Coming into the tenth grade I had no clue what M.U.N. was. When the project was introduced I was assigned to be the delegate of Iraq. In this project we had to study background information about our country and research how it was affected by the topic that we would debate in a matter of weeks. Being assigned the country was helpful because in a recent project I was introduced with a little information about it. We had also previously discussed the refugee crisis which was the topic of our debates which was helpful to know.
Position Paper
Country: Iraq
Committee: WHO 1
Delegate: Allie Flores
Topic: Mental health and nutrition
Opening Statement:
Although many refugees are able to adapt to their new living conditions, many suffer psychological distress because of their exposure to trauma and facing so many hardships due to being a refugee. 40% of a group of screened refugees said they had experienced eight or more traumatic events according to a dutch clinic which conducted research on the psychological effects that come with being a refugee. Signs of forced isolation are known to be very traumatic and cause psychological problems such as PTSD and major depression disorder. Forced isolation can be anything from separation from family to imprisonment. Refugees came from a variety of different levels of income and are now forced to live in tents and mobile homes packed with people. These living conditions could be difficult to adjust to and become very uncomfortable due to the lack of resources available. Refugees face starvation and malnutrition and if left untreated their illnesses could become deadly.
National Actions:
1.5 million iraqi refugees were displaced internally into neighboring countries. According to the medical association half of the doctors left the country of Iraq and has brought an increase in health issues. Refugee camps are overcrowded and unsafe in iraq. “The health system in Syria has collapsed, and the war has left a section of the population with no access to healthcare. For the past two years, because of the conflict, children have not received their routine vaccinations” says Stéphane Reynier a volunteer at the Domiz refugee camp. Overcrowding the camp often leads to the spread of communicable diseases. Some camps are even dangerous like the one in Ankawa, Erbil specifically, located inside of a half constructed building and is prone to flooding. The iraqi camps need to continue to be improved because they continue growing in numbers and having more people in these camps won't make it easier to fix and the problem needs to be helped to right away.
International Actions:
Many countries have been working hard to supply iraq with more military aid. Australia is contributing eight F-1 fighter jets plus special forces to advise Iraqi troops. Italy has given $2.5 million worth of weapons and fuel. France did an airstrike on September 19th on ISIS near Mosul. All these countries were able to contribute greatly to the military actions but not many are contributing to help countries support refugees. This issue must be dealt with right away because the issue can only get worse from here. We also we must consider that global citizens are still in danger even though they are in refugee camps. Some countries have already started to contribute on this important matter. Turkey has opened its borders and has set up several camps. They are also working with NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) to assist these people with screening of vulnerabilities, social counseling, and psychological and social assistance. Lebanon also has camps for displaced people and it’s very important for these people to get supplies especially during the winter season. Three Syrians were found dead in the south region of Lebanon alone after harsh climate hit. The United States has been the largest contributor to the Syrian humanitarian response and we need more countries to support.
Resolutions:
The UN has been a great benefactor to the cause. Iraq needs more help to get through the crisis. We need to start creating a plan on what to do for when the next winter comes and find a more effective way of getting resources from place to place. A helpful solution would be to have more countries open their borders. Not just any country but those who would benefit from the crisis economically, and have all the countries that can’t do so, donate supplies to the cause of the crisis. They can either donate food or medical aid to help keep the spread of diseases contained.
Work cited
Bolton, Elisa. "PTSD: National Center for PTSD." PTSD in Refugees -. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2016.
Dubourg, Stanislas. "Visiting The Refugee Camps in Iraq." L'arche International. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2016.
UN. "About Us." About Us. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2016.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Turkey." UNHCR News. UNHCR, 2015. Web. 02 May 2016.
Welsh, Teresa. "The Challenge of the Syrian Refugee Response." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 02 May 2016.
In order to prepare for the conference I had to do six pages of research. I had to do additional research for anything that I wanted to include in my position paper. I had to write a position paper from the perspective of Iraq on the issue. The position paper was written by me to help me gain a better understanding of what Iraq's stance was. I was able to create potential resolutions to the issue that were unique and created by me.
The conference was a two day event. On the first day we discussed mental health of refugees and how we can improve these standards in refugee camps. Our goal was to come up with resolutions to help with the issue. Once these resolutions were created we discussed them with the UN and agreed weather or not it should be passed or put into action. The second day we discussed the nutrition and sanitation of camps and also presented our stances and worked together to resolve the issue.
Faces of south county
The purpose of this project was for high school students to research a community, find a big need, and do what we could to help them with that need. We were not given any kind of background on what the project was going to look like, just that we were given the liberty to do anything we felt could be beneficial to the community. In order to find the community's biggest need we had to go into our assigned community and find out for ourselves what we could improve or enhance. This required us to conduct interviews with civilians, business owners, and city officials to offer our support in any area that was needed.
A very big need that we saw in the community was the need for healthier food options and promotions for businesses that did offer better food options. We talked to the owners of the local farmers market and were given permission to set up a booth that would inform the public about tips on living a healthier lifestyle. We offered scavenger hunt games that people could play at the market that would help them learn more about the benefits of the food that was offered.