General Assembly (GA)

The United Nations General Assembly had a productive second day of debate on Agenda Topic Two: Terrorism, as they took three Resolutions into the voting block, and ended up passing two. Resolution 1, Support to Victims of Terrorism and Accountability for Terrorist Acts, drafted by the “Western European and Others” group was the first resolution to pass. It was presented to the committee by Canada and received strong support, garnering 25 sponsors. This resolution focused on supporting the victims of terrorism and provided some examples for solutions to find the root cause of terrorism.

The next resolution the committee looked at was Resolution 3, Stopping the Supply Side of Terrorism which was proposed by the “African” group. This resolution focused on stopping the supply of goods to terrorist organizations and did not pass. Resolution 2, Sustaining Human Rights Through Counter-Terrorism Measures, drafted by the “Latin American and Caribbean Islands” group and “Asian” group was the second and final resolution to pass. This resolution focused on the importance of maintaining the sovereignty of nations when discussing terrorism, and the multidimensionality of terrorism. 

The World Health Organization (WHO)

During day two of the World Health Organization, the committee ended up passing four resolutions on various topics such as maternal healthcare, access to drinking water and sanitation, as well as food security. The World Health Organization spent a good ten hours, in total, in an unmoderated caucus, debating the pros and cons to potential strategies to aid the WHO in achieving certain SDGs and MDGs. There were some divisive issues that came up in the discussion of these resolutions, but they were able to pass all four of the resolutions that were created almost unanimously.

Second Committee

On the second day, the Second Committee passed two resolutions. There were some differing views in the regional blocks for the first resolution that was passed, but the Second Committee was all able to come to agreements through consensus. For the last agenda item, they decided to form a large group between the European block and the Latin America block to form a resolution that had similar interests for all. There were some members amongst the group who had differing views on a small topic, but were able to lobby the goals for their respective countries and work to an agreement. All resolutions were passed throughout the day. There were few disagreements amongst the delegates, and if there were any, they easily got resolved.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

During the second day in the ECOSOC committee, they worked on the second agenda item throughout the first time block. The different voting blocs ended up combining their thoughts into one resolution which passed. In the second time block, the delegates worked on the last agenda item and ended up making two different resolutions. Both resolutions passed with a few votes in favor, no votes against, and a few abstentions, so they were ultimately able to complete all agenda items. 

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

CSW passed three separate resolutions for Topic Two. For Topic Two, there was a resolution from the Western bloc countries, African block counties, and Latin American bloc countries. 

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA)

The UNEA passed all four amendments resolutions and one of them was a friendly amendment on a resolution with nineteen sponsors. Both resolutions passed. They reordered the agendas so that they could start speaking on Issue Three after finishing Issue One. 

Three amendments were presented: one on federal government allocation, one on removing language recognizing the sovereignty of member states to dictate their own fishing quotas, and a third amendment on limiting the destruction of marine vegetation. Amendment on the one on removing language recognizing the sovereignty of member states to dictate their own fishing quotas failed. Amendment on federal government allocation was passed as friendly. Amendment on the destruction of marine vegetation failed. There was an amendment added to create the monitoring body for the recycling of plastic waste, the amendment was added as a friendly. Canada was also voted as the Rapporteur for the closing session.

Security Council (SC)

The debate between Syria and Turkey: Syria wants to govern and deal with their own country, as they have always engaged with the political process. Syria also wants the UN out of their business, so they are pushing for their own sovereignty. Syria condemns the western-states, particularly the U.S., and Turkey for attempting to infringe on their sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia and China are on Syria’s side, as Russia comes to Syria’s side multiple times. The United States and other countries argue that Syria is spouting misinformation, with the United States firmly asking Syria “have you no shame?” The United States further claims that Syria is using chemical weapons and has failed their country as they have starved their own people. The United States believes that Syria isn’t doing its job, so it causes western states and the UN to hold Syria accountable and help Syrians affected by this neglect. France agrees with the United States, reminding Syria “We have to be there because you couldn’t be there for your own country, you failed. That’s the position of many countries here.” 

Turkey thanks to the Security Council for addressing this subject. Turkey does not wish to open up the border crossings because it will be dangerous for its people. They also believe that Syria can not make its own decisions as they have not taken responsibility for their actions. Turkey wants stability which would be threatened by opening border crossings. Turkey needs a Turkish military present as it keeps not only the safe, but Syria’s people safe so it won’t cause war. This will help maintain peace. 

Turkey is working with the UN to have aid for border crossings but would be contingent on military presence. China believes that all formal troops need to leave Syria because it has to be a Syrian-led peace process and does not understand how the Turkish military is helping Syria. 

In the end, Turkey called for NATO allies to come to their defense. China then rose under motion SC27 for an unmoderated caucus for fifteen minutes.