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Content:
> The Rights and Responsibilities of Multinational Companies in a Globalized World
> Empowering the Poor through Micro-financing
> Integrating Asylum Seekers into Civil Society
> ECOSOC Member Countries for 2006
Contact: ecosoc@bermun.de
Dear Delegates of the ECOSOC 2006,
Here is a short introduction to the three topics we will discuss in our Council at the BERMUN Conference 2006. This should give you a general impression of our topics and therefore help you with starting your research. We ask you to research all three topics and write at least one fully developed resolution on one topic and prepare operative clauses on the other topics to share during lobbying or the debates. Of course, it always helps to start lobbying ahead of time, so please remember to sign-up in the BERMUN Forum in order to exchange ideas with your fellow delegates. We really advise you to follow these guidelines, because the better you are prepared, the more fun and more effective our debates will be. Good luck with your research and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send an email to ecosoc@bermun.de!
See you in November,
Antonia Rofagha & Salih Kecoglu
The Rights and Responsibilities of Multinational Companies in a Globalized World
Multinational companies are the biggest players in economy today, replacing the role states used to play in the past. Through globalization, the multinational companies become increasingly important in our world economy. Nowadays, more than half of the top economies in the world are led by multinational private companies and the international investment comes increasingly from private sources.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and globalization is very important for the development of developing nations, as multinational companies have the necessary capital and technological know-how to develop industrial, financial and service sectors that promote development of whole economies. Furthermore, these investments provide employment, which increases the income per capital. In the 90s, the developing economies (such as South East Asia), which were integrated into the global economy, developed twice as much as the developed economies did. Those that weren’t integrated, though, lagged behind and thus, differences in living standards in developing nations were the result. During the 90s in East Asia, the number of people living in extreme poverty was nearly halved, while in Sub-Saharan Africa the number increased approximately by half. This proved that multinational corporations and the FDI can have a positive impact on the elimination of extreme poverty in developing regions.
However, there are still some problems in regards to the FDI and multinational companies. The raise in economies of South Asian nations does not match to their development in the UN Human Development Index (HDI). The reports of UN agencies repeatedly report bad working conditions in this region. Thus, UN agencies try to improve the bad working environments caused by the multinational companies in regard to human rights. Doing that, they do not try to discourage business investments in developing nations, but they work towards creating norms applicable to both human rights and the needs of the multinational companies. This eventually led to the development of the “Global Compact”.
The “Global Impact” asks the rights of multinational companies to be respected, while at the same time trying to improve the working environment. Although all actions should protect the profitability of companies at some degree, so that they continue to invest in developing nations, these actions should also improve the working norms in regards to human rights.
Thus, dear delegates, when researching this topic, you should think about addressing the responsibilities of multinational companies and how to enforce regulations and limits upon multinational companies without discouraging them to invest in developing nations. You should also keep in mind the legal (such as minimum wage law, environmental laws etc.) and economic measures (such as tax-cuts for funding of social programs in developing nations) which should be taken in order to encourage them to accept these regulations. However, while taking the steps that need to be taken into account, do not forget the fact that, in 2005, it was the first time that the developed (G7) economies were less than half of the world economy since the 1820s. This development is due to the investment of multinational companies in developing nations, which shows the importance of multinational companies once more.
Helpful Research Links:
http://www.unglobalcompact.org/
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/globalization/business/index.htm
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/globalization/documents.htm
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/fairglobalization/index.htm
http://www1.worldbank.org/economicpolicy/globalization/
Empowering the Poor through Micro-financing
Between 1981 and 2001, the rate of extreme poverty dropped from 40% to 21% and the rate of moderate poverty dropped from 67% to 51% worldwide, which was to a far extent due to the economic developments in Pacific, Eastern and Southern Asia. However, despite those increasingly positive numbers, more than 1 billion people live in extreme and more than 2 billion people live in moderate poverty today. As it is seen in South-Eastern Asia and the Pacific regions, it is clear that the foreign direct investment helps in the struggle against poverty. However for rural areas and for the regions which are not suitable for investment (like Africa due to lack of infrastructure, security etc.), micro-financing is the most useful method.
Micro-crediting and micro-financing are similar in some ways but also very different regarding others. They are similar as they both provide financial services to people who are rejected by normal providers of financial services, such as banks. However, they are different in their method. Micro-crediting is about providing funds to the poor without profit. Thus, the system is not sustainable, because the institutions do not profit, they cannot cover their costs, and the repayment rate is not promising. Micro-finance, however, is sustainable as it is proven by the fact that some micro-finance institutions show good annual reports. Those institutions try to get interests and ensure paybacks through the usage of “joint liability”. This means that they assign creditors (usually women) to the groups they lend their money to and if one member of the group is unable to repay the loan, all lenders must cover the deficit because otherwise the group is not eligible for the services anymore. Micro-financing also differs from micro-crediting as it offers different financial services, including, for example, savings and insurances.
Micro-financing shows good effects in many areas. For example, one positive effect is that clients of micro-finance see a raise in their income, and women’s influence grows among clients as they are the controllers of loans. Furthermore, the percentage of educated women in areas where micro-financing is provided increases in comparison to areas, where the inhabitants do not use micro-financing. Thus, the funds provided by micro-finance also help for the social and humanitarian development among clients.
Helpful Research Links:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/poverty/poverty.htm
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/poverty/PovertyForum/
http://www.microfinancegateway.com/
http://www.brac.net
Integrating Asylum Seekers into Civil Society
The integration of asylum seekers into civil society is a lengthy process that begins from the time of the arrival and ends when a refugee becomes a full member of society from legal, social, economic, educational, and cultural aspects. It is a dynamic two-way process, placing demands on those newly arrived to adapt to new communities and on the receiving countries to be tolerant and welcoming.
In order to make a society more open-minded, authorities need to increase public awareness on the issue of asylum seekers and thus, improve the way information is shared with local people about the asylum issue. Through this, prejudice might be decreased or even eliminated. Another basic principle of the integration process is employment or other occupation within the framework of community projects or voluntary work while their cases are being heard. This might give them a chance to participate in the democratic process and interact with various citizens, which is also vital to the process of integration. Also, basic knowledge of the host society’s language and history are important, which can be attained for example through provided language lessons. Furthermore, there are various human rights abuses that asylum seekers and refugees regularly face, often times because governments do not recognize that they must be guaranteeing the rights under international human rights laws, as well as the 1951 Refugee Convention. Asylum seekers are often given inadequate access to legal representation and information pertaining to refugee determination processes. Thus, it is crucial that they are guaranteed access to relevant institutions.
However, the integration process needs to be adapted to and should depend on the respective traditions and legislation of the host countries. So delegates, please consider the legal & cultural situation in your represented country, when trying to find a solution to the issue of integrating asylum seekers into civil society.
ECOSOC Member Countries for 2006:
The Economic and Social Council has 54 members, all of whom are elected by the General Assembly for a three-year term.
Members of the Economic and Social Council for 2006:
| Albania | | 2007 |
| Angola | | 2008 |
| Armenia | | 2006 |
| Austria | | 2008 |
| Australia | | 2007 |
| Bangladesh | | 2006 |
| Belgium | | 2006 |
| Belize | | 2006 |
| Benin | | 2008 |
| Brazil | | 2007 |
| Canada | | 2006 |
| Chad | | 2007 |
| China | | 2007 |
| Colombia | | 2006 |
| Costa Rica | | 2007 |
| Cuba | | 2008 |
| Czech Republic | | 2008 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | | 2007 |
| Denmark | | 2007 |
| France | | 2008 |
| Germany | | 2008 |
| Guinea | | 2007 |
| Guinea-Bissau | | 2008 |
| Guyana | | 2008 |
| Haiti | | 2008 |
| Iceland | | 2007 |
| India | | 2007 |
| Indonesia | | 2006 |
| Italy | | 2006 |
| Japan | | 2008 |
| Lithuania | | 2007 |
| Madagasca | | 2008 |
| Mauritania | | 2008 |
| Mauritius | | 2006 |
| Mexico | | 2007 |
| Namibia | | 2006 |
| Nigeria | | 2006 |
| Pakistan | | 2007 |
| Panama | | 2006 |
| Paraguay | | 2008 |
| Poland | | 2006 |
| Republic of Korea | | 2006 |
| Russian Federation | | 2007 |
| Saudi Arabia | | 2008 |
| South Africa | | 2007 |
| Spain | | 2008 |
| Sri Lanka | | 2008 |
| Thailand | | 2007 |
| Tunisia | | 2006 |
| Turkey | | 2008 |
| United Arab Emirates | | 2006 |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | | 2007 |
| United Republic of Tanzania | | 2006 |
| United States of America | | 2006 |
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