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UN Women

Chair: Sophie Barrett

Vice-Chair: Sophia Syzmanski

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Table of Contents

3. Letter from Chair

5. Members of Committee

7. Committee Background

10. Topic A: Reproductive Rights

18. Topic B: Access to Education

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Dear Delegates,

Welcome to UN women at LYMUN VII! My name is Sophie Barret, I’m a Sophomore at

LTHS this year and can’t wait to be your chair for this committee. This is my second year of

high school MUN and fourth year of MUN overall. Last year I was lucky enough to co-chair

ECOFIN at LYMUN VI and can't wait to bring that knowledge to this conference. Outside of

MUN I love to play soccer, perform in musicals and plays and compete on speech team. I also

hope to pursue an interest in government and politics in my future career.

In this committee, we will discuss pressing issues to women globally including

reproductive rights and education. Due to the importance of these two topics, I expect all

participants to be fully researched and prepared to debate the issues. In committee, I’m looking

for a delegate that both speaks well and has excellent diplomatic skills in their blocks and papers.

I highly recommend reading over this background guide as long as doing your own research to

be fully informed when writing position papers and speaking in committee. All delegates are

expected to write a position paper prior to the conference and turn it in on the day of to be

eligible for awards. During committee, I will not only be looking for people who speak well and

write resolutions but those who work well with other delegates. Any person who wishes to speak

is highly encouraged as this conference is an opportunity to strengthen your skills in politics,

communication, and overall the expertise that encompasses MUN. My other goals for this

committee are to have every participant speak at least once and to pass some excellent resolution

papers.

I hope this conference is a positive experience for all participants whether they’re

learners or experienced delegates. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions

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prior to the conference you can reach me at bar510236@d204.lths.net. Good luck in your

research and preparation, and I’m looking forward to meeting all of you at the conference!

Sincerely,

Sophie Barrett

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Members in Committee: 1. USA

2. Denmark

3. Sweden

4. Canada

5. France

6. United Kingdom

7. Pakistan

8. El Salvador

9. Nicaragua

10. South Korea

11. Egypt

12. India

13. Thailand

14. Italy

15. Mexico

16. Morocco

17. China

18. Japan

19. Russia

20. Germany

21. Nigeria

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22. Brazil

23. Australia

24. Norway

25. Greece

26. Austria

27. Finland

28. Ireland

29. Iceland

30. Hungary

31. Sri Lanka

32. Slovenia

33. Peru

34. Colombia

35. Venezuela

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History of the Committee:

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, more

commonly known as UN Women, was founded in July of 2010 and started functioning in

January of 2011. The job of the body is to discuss and comprehend the challenges that women

face throughout the world while

maintaining the goal of holding the

UN accountable for commitments

to gender equality in all member

nations and increase progress

throughout the world. Although it

was established fairly late for a United Nations committee, it has made much progress and

improved the lives of many women which caused change for countries that had previously had

many stigmas against women. UN Women has encouraged many governments such as El

Salvador and Mexico to place laws to protect women from femicide (sex-based hate crimes),

assisted in limiting the customary violent actions towards women in places such as Pakistan, and

much more to limit gender-based discrimination across the world.

The UN Women headquarters resides in New York, however, the actions of the

committee reach across the globe. The current budget of UN Women is 384.3 million USD with

most of the budget coming from voluntary contributions. This minimal funding is a major step

for this committee since it struggled with funding and representation for many years before it

was fully developed. While their resources are limited, with devotion and creative ideas, the

rights of women can be secured throughout the world.

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This committee also works to help other intergovernmental bodies such as the

Commission on the Status of Women which is a part of ECOSOC in their own missions to

advance global protections for women. Along with working with bodies such as CSW, UN

women has always built off of previously created UN bodies such as Division for the

Advancement of Women and UNIFEM to continue and advance their work.

Overall UN Women works to advocate for the rights of women everywhere. They hope

to quickly advance equality in all aspects of people’s lives. Whether it be safety, education or

healthcare this organization works to help women in every way possible.

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Topic A: Reproductive Rights

History of the Topic:

Reproductive rights cover a wide range of healthcare rights for individuals including

abortion, birth control and contraceptives. The UN didn’t recognize these as human rights until the

year 1968, and even then they mainly focused on family planning with less emphasis on

reproductive health. Women’s reproductive health was brought to the attention of the UN until the

early 80’s in “the Decade of Women”, when women’s rights and issues were put in the spotlight.

In 1994 the Cairo Programme of Action was written, it was the first piece of international

policy defining Reproductive health. The document also gave countries the duty to provide

anything necessary for citizens to meet their reproductive health needs. 179 member states

attended the Cairo conference but lots of nations, especially Islamic and Latin American nations,

held many reservations on the topic.

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A year after the Cairo conference the 1995 World Conference on Women held in Beijing

elaborated on the work of the Cairo Programme. Their platform focused on making women’s

reproductive rights universal human rights and creating equality on the topic between men and

women. Many nations thought that the conference documents were too radical at the time and also

wanted to lessen the impact of the documents language.

Over time there were of course many instances of nations clearly ignoring this universal

right in their country. Most commonly this occurs when countries are attempting to control their

population sizes whether to grow or shrink them. One example of this occurred in Romania starting

in the 1960’s when their government wanted to greatly increase their population. Instead of

encouraging the growth with incentives for citizens overtime they chose to endanger their own

people by making abortions and contraceptives illegal and taxing the childless.

Generally, reproductive rights are legal freedoms

relating to reproductive health, but this varies greatly across

different countries. The World Health Organization defines

reproductive rights as, “the recognition of the basic right of all

couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the

number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the

information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and

reproductive health”. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction

free of discrimination, coercion and violence.”

Current situation regarding abortion:

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Throughout the world they are only 60 countries that currently allow women to have safe

access the abortions. The vast majority of these countries are all in the developed world because

very few developing nations give women access to abortions. Of the 60 countries that allow

abortions many of them have stricter terms as to when these abortions are legal. Many countries

laws state that women can only get an abortion if they are in physical danger or if they are clearly

unable to care for their child if it were born.

The abortion laws are even stricter in some countries

like El Salvador which is a greatly religious nation.

Their country has entirely banned abortion no matter

what and the penalty’s for seeking one out or even for

having a miscarriage, can end women up behind bars.

Similar laws are also in place in countries such as

Nicaragua and Malta. The procedure is almost

entirely banned in the Vatican city due to the religious

beliefs of it’s small population of residents.

Recently there was a large legal battle for and against

abortion in Ireland which is a highly religous country

where seventy-eight percent of the population is Catholic. Before this battle for the right to abortion

the country had some of the strictest abortion laws of any developed country. The Eight

Amendment to their constitution allowed for women to be able to get an abortion if they were in

danger because of their pregancy in any way. This small change was a huge win for pro-choice

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supporters in Ireland, because their society which is greatly based off the Catholic church had for

years worked strongly against abortion and many other

reproductive rights for women.

Currently the USA allows abortion in all states

except rescritions in each one vary vastly. In the last few

years multiple states states have tried to pass strict laws

and restrictions on abortion without success. The most

recent was a ban in Louisiana stating that before doctors can perform an abortion they must recieve

admitting priveleges from a nearby hospital. This specific law was ruled unconstitutional by the

courts by a very small margin showing how conflicted the nation is when it comes to this topic.

Twenty six other countries world wide have also entirely outlawed abortion, many of which

are situated in South America or Africa. Nations such as Angola, Egypt and Haiti have prohibited

the procedure entirely within their nation. While this makes safe abotrions illegal research has

often shown that the overall number of abortions stay the same. These abortions are often unsafe

and done by non professionals, further endangering the womans life.

Reproductive Rights and Religion:

In a large majority of the events where women are denied their reproductive rights religion

is often involved. Throughout the world and especially in Christianity people believe that abortion

is a sin because every living thing is apart of God’s creation from the point of conception. While

there is disagreement about at what point a fetus becomes “alive” many believe that life does begin

at fertilization. These religious beliefs have stopped women from getting safe and legal abortions

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in many countries and even in the Vatican city in Rome where the pope resides. Furthermore,

many Catholics only believe in natural birth control which further limits the options for women.

While other religions do have beliefs on religion none seem to be as strong as the view of

the Catholic church. Islam has one of the firmer stances stating that after 120 days of pregnency

the fetus is alive and therefore should

not be killed, unless the mother is in

severe danger. On the other side of the

spectrum newer branches of Judaism

advocate for safe abortions for all

women, and even Orthodox Jewish

people believe that abortion is okay if it

saves a mother’s life.

Education on the topic:

One of the greatest barriers to women everywhere when it comes to their reproductive

rights is education. In many developing countries women do not get access to the education they

need because of the stigma around the topic in their nation. In Islamic states, they refuse to teach

about menstruation as the topic is considered embarrassing so a topic as extreme as sex is

essentially forbidden. In these places where the education is limited many young women believe

myths they’ve heard without knowing the real facts about contraceptives or their reproductive

rights. Oftentimes, the belief systems that circulate around contraceptives and other means of

reproduction preventatives or their general fairness revolves around religion. Certain religions

such as catholicism, protestantism, and areas where islamic culture and regulations are more

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profound, the use of contraceptives and other means of birth control are prohibited, as stated

earlier. This mistreament towards womens knowledge about this topic can subject them toward

extreme poverty later in life if the possibility of rape or general unsafe sex occurs and they are

unable to provide for the child.

As mentioned earlier, the status of women's poverty can prove to be supreme if the

misinformation about this topic continues. However there is a solution directed towards this. If

more valuable and wealthy nations can supply struggling states with funds to immediately

implement towards education on sex, there will be a lowerage in birth and an increase to their

economy. When women don’t have an obligation towards a child day and night, they are more

likely to have higher overall opulence, in turn, increasing the nation's overall GDP.

Family Planning

Along with the possibility of certain religions and

nations forbidding abortion, there are other options if the

mother doesn’t feel entirely comfortable to raise a child.

These options are mainly narrowed down to matters that

circulate adoption. Many family planning agencies can

assist mothers in need and do the best they can to provide

for them so their child can live a life that won’t undergo a

direction of poverty. These agencies will also direct you towards medical care and ensure the best

scenario for the child. These organizations have proved in the past to be highly successful and help

thousands of women each year come out of child more stable than if they chose to perform

pregnancy alone. One downside of this however is that many of these organizations are very

religious and will tell an expecting mother that her only option is to have the baby and to move on

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from there. Furthermore, they will often refuse pregnancy tests if the woman says that she will

have an abortion over keeping the baby.

Birth control access

Birth Control has always been a major topic of debate for religious

and non religious reasons. There are extreme ends to both arguments but,

there is a clear

and large discrepancy between the birth

control availability in first world

countries and developing countries. For

example, Africa currently has about 33%

birth control availability while North

America has about 70% availability. The

ability to gain birth control has always

been an ever changing situation but in

recent years, there has been a huge increase in birth control availability. This is a huge step for the

better, yet the number of people who have access to birth control is still very low.

Birth control can be quite an expensive item to procure and in some cases, it is easier for a

woman to take the risk of having unprotected sex than for them to gain reliable access to the pill.

There are many forms of contraception such as, the pill, sterilization, condoms, IUD, or natural

family planning, however, the most effective methods are the ones that require purchasing and

money. For a woman in a religious area, buying items such as condoms is frowned upon and can

result in extreme embarrassment for the woman and for her family name. In non religious areas

where obtaining birth control isn’t frowned upon, with the average price of quality condoms

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ranging from $2-6 people barely able to pay rent will struggle to afford basic contraceptives. In

areas where birth control is administered for little to no charge, the lines are extremely long and

those who rely on free birth control often work several part time jobs to get by.

Questions to consider:

● How will the religious

people in your country feel

about reproductive rights?

● At what trimester will

abortions be outlawed?

● Is it ok to allow penalties

for miscarriages and how

can this be prevented?

● How available will birth

control be made in your

country?

● Will birth control be a part

of your country's healthcare plan?

● Will religion prohibit progressive action on the topic in your country?

● Is family planning the correct path for women in your nation?

Additional Resources:

https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-international-

family-planning-reproductive-health-efforts/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/05/24/the-many-many-countries-

where-abortion-is-basically-banned/

https://beta.reproductiverights.org/

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https://www.aclu.org/issues/reproductive-freedom/religion-and-reproductive-rights

https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/birth-control-around-the-world/

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Topic B: Access to Education

History of the Topic:

Traditionally, the role of women has been that of housekeeper and therefore women were

given little to no formal education. Instead of attending school or learning a trade, young girls were

taught etiquette and chores. Up until the and including the early 1900’s, the idea of a woman having

a job or education was looked at disdainfully. If a married woman did have a job, the family would

be seen as extremely desperate. If someone was destined to take care of the house or the children,

there was no need for them to have education. Those who were given formal education came from

rich families and were only given education up until they were ready for marriage. This entire form

of gender inequality continued until 1873, when Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon founded

Girton College in Cambridge, England which was an all-female college. This opened the doors to

many new opportunities for women that they had never gotten to pursue before.

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Although it is not often seen by those in first world countries, gender inequality in

education is a problem that plagues many countries to this day. Many nations where religion strives

their government, women aren’t placed into education systems. They are instead expected to be

the caretakers of their husbands and children while the husband made the profits that urged the

families financials. The projection of the women's lives in society slowly increased as the years

progressed however. They were seen less as objects and more as efficient manners that contribute

to a working community.

Current Issue:

The issue of inadequate education of women does not seem pressing to countries such as

America or France but to third world and poverty ridden countries, the unequal education of

women is a pressing matter. With ⅔ of the worldwide illiterate population being women, the ever

expanding gap in education inequality is extremely problematic. Education isn’t just a thing that

will help people further themselves in life, better educated women are healthier, have higher

incomes, and are more likely to have successful children. Furthermore, children who are born to

mothers that complete their secondary education are twice as likely to live past the age of five.

Offering education to women doesn’t only help the women, it helps their offspring in their future

breaking the cycle of poverty. If the children of the mother who they derive from successfully

accomplish a form of an education, at the very least, the mothers will be able to pass the

information from their schooling onto their own children as a form of passing on knowledge. By

relaying valuable information about searching for employment or basic forms of education, the

child will be enabled towards a much more prominent future in society than ones who aren’t

subjected towards this treatment. However, this is the bare minimum. Every child across the globe

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should be suitable for a proper education, as we will be able to produce more intelligent and well-

rounded figure-heads in our communities. The repercussions that can be driven from improper

schooling in young children can be

immense. Without the ability to form one's

own opinion due to limited knowledge on

subject matter can lead towards citizens who

are unable to function in a working

environment. There are a few ways we can

allow young children the access towards

education however.

Basic Education

In first world societies, women attending school is a necessary step and is often required

until a certain age. For example, people are not allowed to drop out of school in the United States

until the age of 16. However, this is not the case in third-world and developing countries. The

expectation is that a woman’s place is in the house serving her

husband. The oppression of women is furthered by the fact that

they receive little to no formal education in third world

countries. If women were able to get an education, they would

be suited for jobs that would both better the standing of women

in the world and help the economies of the countries that are

oppressing them. Although it may be an exchange, the exchange will allow for women to gradually

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be seen as equals in these regions. No matter what job they have, women in developing countries

will always be viewed as inferior and will be held up to a higher standard but through offering the

necessary qualifications for these jobs, women may be able to get a better standing in the world.

Possible Solutions

The current issue that comes from unequal access to education is both due to conservative

viewpoints and lack of proper resources for countries

themselves. As countries enter the stages necessary to

becoming a developed country, women entering the

workforce is a huge step. The unequal access to

education causes many countries to be stunted when it

comes to economic growth. There are several ways to

address the problems at hand however, the most

simple way to look at it is through short term and long

term solutions.

Short Term:

Short term solutions are effective ways to limit the issues for a short period of time

however, they are generally costly and ineffective in the long run. One method of securing short

term education for women are programs such as UNICEF’s school in a box program which

provides learning supplies to students who would otherwise not have access to proper education.

Although this would only allow girls to learn in a nontraditional environment, it still offers

effective measures for securing some form of education for girls. Other solutions could include

donating used school supplies and workbooks to areas that are largely affected by unequal access

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to education. This would allow for girls to begin teaching themselves however, once again this

puts girls in an untraditional learning environment where they would have to teach themselves the

majority of what they learn.

Bringing awareness to

the issue is also a valid method

of making change. Through

implementing social media the

unequal access to education

could be highlighted. People

from first world countries are prone to donate to causes that they feel could affect them so by

portraying this issue as a major concern for all countries, a large number of donations and support

may come rolling in. On top of this, volunteers are likely to support something that they feel

strongly about so by advertising volunteer opportunities to high school and college students, a

large number of people taking a gap year from either college or work may consider volunteering

for an education program.

Long Term:

Long term solutions often fall short due to lack of funding and therefore should have a

specific outline for how they will be funded along with a vague plan for when each step will be

implemented. Finding methods of implementing long term solutions without impeding on national

sovereignty is a difficult task that requires countries to work together to find solutions. Options for

long term solutions could include online learning programs, girls only schools, or mandatory

attendance for all students regardless of gender up to the age of 13 or 14. The primary issue with

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these solutions is that they require a large amount of funding or government support. In order to

combat that, countries may be incentivized through reductions of tariffs or infrastructure donations

to begin repealing legislation or cultural blockers of girls learning. All in all it is essential that

countries -whether first or third world- work together to create a comprehensive solution that

adequately addresses the issue at hand.

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Questions to consider

● How will funding for education be acquired?

● Will it be safe for women in your country to go to school?

● Who will do housework in families without children at home?

● Will schools be integrated male and female if the boys start ahead?

● What opportunities does education allow young girls?

● Will your country also open higher education such as colleges to women?

● Will your country also open this education system to older women?

● Who will help children with homework if their parents are not educated?

Additional Resources:

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https://www.unicef.org/education/girls-education

https://malala.org/girls-education

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/girlseducation

http://www.ungei.org/

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-

days/international-womens-day-2014/women-ed-facts-and-figure/

https://www.right-to-education.org/girlswomen