Dear Delegates of the Human Rights Committee,

We warmly welcome all of you to the 2009 Balmun conference. While the conference is approaching rather soon, we suggest you dive into preparations as soon as possible. To help you in your research, we have prepared this research guide. It should introduce you to the committee topic and outline its key aspects. In no way should this guide replace your own research! Use it rather to back up already existing knowledge and as a basis for your personal preparations.

This year, the Human Rights Committee will focus on “Establishing human rights by means of poverty reduction and sustainable development in the fields of health, food and water”. While at first it may seem as if this topic has already been discussed lengthily within the United Nations (UN)throughout the past few years, it remains to be a prevailing issue to the international community. The Millennium Development Goals (MDG), adapted by the UN in 2000, aim to “free men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty.” While progress has been made in almost all target areas, greater effort is needed to fully meet all eight MGDs by 2015.

As Sha Zukang, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, once highlighted, "The poor are not only those with the lowest incomes but also those who are the most deprived of health, education and other aspects of human well-being ". While many inhabitants of LEDCs are faced with great financial difficulties, their daily struggle for survival is foremost marked by inadequate living conditions resulting from ill health and the lack of food and water. Thus, many of these deficiencies are linked closely together, and only when combating all of them with equal efforts can the global situation be ameliorated.  

An essential step in reducing poverty and stabilizing living conditions, especially for people living in Lesser Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs), is to ensure basic health care for every human individual. If all members of a country’s population have equal access to medical treatment and facilities, overall living conditions can greatly improve. This could lower the number of deaths occurring from diseases and infections that could easily be prevented and/or cured if proper medication or contact to qualified medical personnel can be obtained. Specific concern should be issued towards diseases such as diarhea, the flu or measles. Diseases such as these could easily be treated and cured, yet they cause high numbers of deaths in regions where adequate health care is not easily accessible.

However, not only the unavailability of medical assistance and facilities is responsible for the rising number of transmitted diseases and infections. Lack of awareness and knowledge among a population regarding dangerous viral diseases, pandemics or even 'simple' maladies can have a devastating influence on the overall health care situation in and status of a nation. In many member states, religious or traditional practices furthermore disable an effective protection against or cure of dangerous sicknesses or infections such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, Ebola or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). A collective effort is necessary to improve the availability and quality of health care, on behalf of governments but also within the private sector.

Directly in line with establishing global health care is the need to eradicate hunger and ensure an adequate global freshwater supply. According to recent estimates, around 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to a reliable supply of water. Thus, it is virtually impossible for these people to lead a healthy lifestyle. However, water scarcity does not only affect the medical sector. Nearly all facets of life depend on an adequate freshwater supply. Inhabitants of rural areas frequently lose entire harvests due to drought. The global industry uses up immense amounts of water daily, polluting it and thus causing only greater harm to the environment. Without an equilibrium between MEDCs and LEDCs regarding water usage and the prevention of regional water shortages, the eradication of poverty and its effects seems unlikely.

hrc(at)balmun.de

• www.undp.org/poverty/
• www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
• www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm
• www.gdrc.org/icm/iym2005/un-note.html
• www.undp.org/governance/docs/HRPN_(poverty)En.pdf