Dear Delegates, It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2014 Montessori Model United Nations Conference.

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1 Dear Delegates, It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2014 Montessori Model United Nations Conference. The following pages intend to guide you in the research of the topics that will be debated at MMUN 2014 in committee sessions. Please note this guide only provides the basis for your investigation. It is your responsibility to find as much information necessary on the topics and how they relate to the country you represent. Such information should help you write your Position Paper, where you need to cite the references in the text and finally list all references in the Modern Language Association (MLA} format. The more information and understanding you acquire on the two topics, the more you will be able to influence the Resolution writing process through debates [formal and informal caucuses], and the MMUN experience as a whole. Please feel free to contact us if and when you face challenges in your research or formatting your Position Papers. We encourage you to learn all you can about your topics first and then study your country with regard to the two selected topics. Please remember that both committee members need to be well versed and ready to debate both topics. Enjoy researching and writing your Position Papers. We look forward to seeing you at the Conference! MMUN Secretariat Team info@montessori-mun.org

2 Disarmament and International Security First Committee The First Committee deals with disarmament, global challenges and threats to peace that affect the international community and seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime. It considers all disarmament and international security matters within the scope of the Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any other organ of the United Nations; the general principles of cooperation in the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments; promotion of cooperative arrangements and measures aimed at strengthening stability through lower levels of armaments. The Committee works in close cooperation with the United Nations Disarmament Commission and the Genevabased Conference on Disarmament. It is the only Main Committee of the General Assembly entitled to verbatim records coverage. Source:

3 Disaster Prevention Topic Background Disasters, emergencies, and catastrophes can be either natural or man-made and could occur anytime. Disaster is a broad term used to describe a variety of situations such as flood, hurricane, earthquake, fire and more, each nation must work on a more individual level to comply with the needs of their nation based on their geographic placement. If a nation does not take the time to organize a clear plan, the entire country could easily wind up in a very dangerous situation jeopardizing every part of society as well as every nation surrounding it or associating with it. There are four areas of disaster relief: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Mitigation efforts are attempts to prevent natural or man-made hazards from developing into disasters or to reduce the effects of disasters. This phase focuses on long-term measures for reducing or eliminating risk. The implementation of mitigation strategies is a part of the recovery process if applied after a disaster occurs. Mitigation measures can be structural or non-structural. Mitigation includes providing regulations regarding evacuation, regulations (such as mandatory evacuations), and communication of risks to the public. Preparedness is how the government can change behavior to limit the impact of disaster events on people. Preparedness is a continuous cycle of planning, training, equipping, monitoring, evaluating and improving activities to ensure effective coordination and the enhancement of capabilities of organizations to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of natural and man-made disasters. Common preparedness measures include communication plans, training of emergency response teams and volunteers, stockpiling of food and disaster supplies, warning systems, emergency shelters, and evacuation plans. Response is the phase that includes mobilization of the required emergency services and the first responders to the disaster area. This could be firefighters, police, and ambulance crews. Special search and rescue teams or military units may support them. Rapid response teams are crucial because injuries and hazardous conditions usually cause the vast majority of disaster victims to die within 72 hours of the disaster impact. Disaster response also includes humanitarian relief organizations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent as well as UN organizations. These humanitarian relief organizations may coordinate access to food, water, and shelter after a disaster. International organizations may also coordinate supplies and transportation vehicles from other countries as well as donation of supplies or funds from other countries and private individuals. Finally, the aim of the recovery phase is to restore the affected area to its previous state. Recovery efforts are primarily concerned with actions that involve rebuilding destroyed property, and the repair of other essential infrastructure. Efforts should be made to "build back better," aiming to reduce the pre-disaster risks inherent in the community and infrastructure. An important aspect of effective recovery efforts is taking advantage of a window of opportunity for the implementation of mitigation measures that might otherwise be unpopular because citizens of the affected area are more likely to accept more mitigation changes when a recent disaster is in fresh memory.

4 Some major disasters in the past few years include the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the earthquake in China, the earthquake in Haiti, the earthquake and tsunami in Southeast Asia, and hurricane Katrina in the United States. Countries need to be ready to respond to them and disaster relief is usually the first action taken. Past International Action Within the United Nations system responsibility for emergency response rests with the Resident Coordinator within the affected country. However, in practice international response will be coordinated, if requested by the affected country s government, by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), by deploying a UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team. The United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team was formed in 1993 to work as an immediate response organization to react in urgent situations. The UNDAC works with great speed and organization and has been implemented in approximately 100 different countries when circumstances call for it. 3 Earthquakes surrounding areas such as Chile and Haiti and floods in Asia and Europe are just two examples of experiences that resulted in our world's total count of disaster-displaced peoples to 42 million. 1 Though organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) work to protect the rights of refugees and hopefully relocate them to safer homes, refugees generally create controversy between host nations in the following months after a disaster. This has created much conflict in the UN during deliberation over treaties and resolutions that have inhibited strong decisions from being made concerning refugees and displaced peoples. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent have also played pivotal roles in responding to disasters. They are oftentimes one of the first groups in the front lines to assess, coordinate, and respond to an emergency caused by a disaster. Since 1980, the World Bank has approved more than 500 operations related to disaster management, amounting to more than US$40 billion. These include post-disaster reconstruction projects, as well as projects with components aimed at preventing and mitigating disaster impacts, in countries such as Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Haiti, India, Mexico, Turkey and Vietnam among others. Common areas of focus for prevention and mitigation projects include forest fire prevention measures, such as early warning measures and education campaigns to discourage farmers from slash and burn agriculture that ignites forest fires; early-warning systems for hurricanes; flood prevention mechanisms, ranging from shore protection and terracing in rural areas to adaptation of production; and earthquake-prone construction. In 2006, the World Bank established the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery as a longer-term partnership with aid donors to reduce disaster losses. Possible Solutions

5 Studying past environmental disasters can assist nations in their pursuit for the safest method of handling traumas by understanding what worked positively and what worsened the issues. Geographic location will also play a large role in this issue since it determines the type of disaster that could potentially occur and alters the methods in which safety can be reached. Solutions should focus on how to develop the best ways to counter natural and man-made disasters in the four areas of disaster relief: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. International and regional coordination efforts, as well as partnerships with NGOs and donors, is also important in solving this issue. It is absolutely necessary for the international community to maintain patience and unification when dealing with disaster. Without this, disaster can quickly turn to tragedy. Further Research Questions to consider: What is your nation's past history with natural disaster and how were they handled? What geographic area is your nation located, and do neighboring countries suffer from similar situations? How does your nation feel about serving as a host nation for refugees and what is the reasoning behind its feelings? Resources: UNDAC: United Nations humanitarian and disaster relief: United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction: i i 1 Bruce, Craig. "Quotes About Disasters." Bella Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Aug < 2 "Natural Disaster Refugees More than Doubled to 42 Million." Msnbc.com. Msnbc Digital Network, 06 June Web. 19 Aug < 3 "UNDAC." OCHA. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Aug <