Warwick Model United Nations
UNICEF-WARMUN Joint Conference
Background Guide
Contents
1. An Introduction to SOCHUM ............................................................ 3 2. Topic A: Ending Child Marriage ....................................................... 5
2.1. Background .............................................................................. 5
2.2. The Current Situation ............................................................... 7
2.3. Bloc Positions ........................................................................... 9
2.4. Focus Questions ....................................................................... 9
3. Further Research and References .................................................... 10
2 An Introduction to SOCHUM
The Social, Humanitarian and Cultural committee (SOCHUM) is the
Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly.
SOCHUM is allocated agenda items relating to a range of social,
humanitarian affairs and human rights issues that affect people all
over the world.
SOCHUM has, over the years, discussed questions from the
protection of children to the treatment of refugees to the right to selfdetermination, topics that even now stand as some of the most
pressing issues to be resolved in the United Nations General
Assembly. The Committee also addresses important social
development questions such as issues related to youth, family,
ageing, persons with disabilities, crime prevention, criminal justice,
and international drug control.
The Committee works closely with other UN and non-UN bodies,
governmental or non-governmental, on various agenda items, and
will hear and interact with over 50 special rapporteurs, independent
experts, and chairs of working groups as mandated by the Human
Rights Council.
In line with General Assembly resolution 66/246, the formal
meetings of the Third Committee are webcast live. At the seventieth
session of the General Assembly, SOCUM considered over 65 draft
resolutions, more than half of which was submitted under the human
rights agenda item alone. A similar number is expected in upcoming
sessions. At the end of each session, the Committee reports to the
plenary bodies of the GA on topic-specific items.
Role as a Delegate
Your role as a delegate is to reach an actionable and agreeable
solution to the topic at hand through diplomatic talks and formal
debate with other delegates. Delegates are expected to follow official
United Nations Rules of Procedure and adhere to the powers
conferred to SOCHUM. Delegates will not only be judged upon the
quality of debate and resolution(s) proposed and/or passed, but also
the adhesion to each delegates’ respective country’s foreign policy.
It is highly recommended that each delegate read the following
3 pages in this study guide before conducting further research upon the
topic.
It is also recommended that every delegate be reasonably wellversed in the aforementioned Rules of Procedure before the start of
the Conference.
4 Topic A: Ending Child Marriage
Background Child marriage is defined by the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) as "a formal marriage or informal union before age 18",
inclusive of both males and females. This problem affects around 14
million children every year, and numbers have not decreased
significantly during the past decade. Children around the world are
be married to adults many years older than them, by either coercion
or outright force. These children will more often than not lose their
access to any formal education and/or opportunities in life, and be
subject to an increased risk of abusive and sexual violence.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) sets out the
human rights of children: the right to survive; the right to develop to
their fullest; the right to protection from harmful practices, abuse
and exploitation, and the right to participate fully in family, cultural
and social life. In signing the Convention, governments also
committed to take “all effective and appropriate measures with a
view to abolish traditional practices prejudicial to the health of the
children,” which includes, among other practices, child marriage.
Once married, girls in particular are likely powerless to refuse
unprotected sex, making the girls especially vulnerable to HIV and
other sexually transmitted infections. At its worst, child marriage
5 can be tantamount to bonded labour or enslavement, and can lead to
a loss of basic human rights. Girls become pregnant immediately or
soon after marriage, and can be a major health risk to both mother
and baby. Among the disabilities associated with early childbirth is
obstetric fistula, an injury that leaves girls in constant pain,
vulnerable to infection. Such risks are often overlooked.
The are multiple cultural and social factors in play, as in many cases,
these marriages are not seen as an act of abuse by the communities
in question; rather, they are regarded as a means of protecting the
virtue of young children and securing their social statuses in the
future.
Economic factors are also prevalent, especially in impoverished
nations. With little food and means of income, poor families are
often forced to marry off their daughters at an early age to reduce
their economic burden while obtaining a new source of income.
Hence, child marriage is seen as a “way out” for many families.
In 2012, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated
that 37,000 girls married each day. By 2013 that number had risen to
39,000. There has been a steady increase since then. 6 The Current Situation
With over 700 million women worldwide married before the age of
18, this is a pressing matter. As of yet, there has not been an
initiative successful in drastically reducing the number of child
marriages. In fact, the problem threatens to increase with the
expanding youth population in the developing world, further
inflating already frightening numbers such as an approximate 75%
child marriage rate in Niger.
Despite recent disapproval
of child marriages in the
nations of India and
Yemen, the old practice
can still be seen
throughout the entire
international community.
African nations alone
boast statistics such as
“42% of girls married
before the age of 18”,
whereas the regions of
Latin America come together to claim “29% of girls are married”
before hitting the age of eighteen.
Recent UNFPA reports suggest that there is a correlation between
living conditions and child marriage. Girls living in rural areas of the
developing world tend to marry or enter into union at twice the rate
of their urban counterparts (44% and 22%, respectively). A
correspondence can also be found between the prevalence of child
marriage in rural areas generally and the values observed among
remote rural regions of a country
While the issue of child marriage may primarily emerge in media
under the headlines of "child brides", the issue is not exclusive to
one gender. Girls are disproportionately affected but estimates from
UNICEF suggest that about 18 per cent of child marriages include
underage male partners. It is vital to include this demographic in any
and all proposed solutions.
7 The practice also
poses a threat
involving the rapid
increase in global
population. Left
unchecked, it is
estimated that there
will be even further
pressure on natural
resources. An
example would be the
UN estimating that
the population in SubSaharan Africa quadrupling by 2100, posing yet another challenge
for developing countries in achieving sustainable development.
In March 2016, the United Nations announced a new initiative to
advance efforts to end child marriage by 2030 and protect the rights
of millions of the most vulnerable girls around the world. The
initiative by the UNICEF and UNFPA is part of a global effort and
targets governments of countries with a high prevalence of child
marriage, with the hope of upholding the rights of adolescent girls
while aiding countries in attaining their social and economic
development goals.
The initiative focuses on proven strategies, including increasing
girls’ access to education and health care services, educating parents
and communities on the dangers of child marriage, increasing
economic support to families, and strengthening and enforcing laws
that establish 18 as the minimum age of marriage.
There has been no visible improvement in terms of the number and
frequency of child marriages as of yet.
8 Bloc Positions
In both proportions and numbers, most child marriages take place in
rural sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It is therefore crucial for
member states belonging to such regions to actively participate in
debate and come to a solution in this conference. Member states will
have to balance the retention of traditional culture and social
practices with the threat child marriages pose to the children in their
societies.
Developed countries will be looking to establish and/or further any
support regarding this issue and will look to convince delegates from
the aforementioned regions to reduce child marriage as much as
possible.
Focus Questions
What are realistic goals this committee can set in regards to reducing
and/or eradicating child marriage?
Are there economic alternatives for impoverished families that
engage in setting up child marriages?
What aid can developed nations send to member states with high
child marriage rates, and would the aid potentially result in a
reasonable decrease in such rates?
What are the initiatives already in place and are they sufficient in
tackling the issue?
9 Further Research:
https://www.cia.gov/
http://www.reproductiverights.org/feature/un-takes-major-action-to-endchild-marriage
http://www.icrw.org/publications/how-end-child-marriage
http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58008.html
http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2013/09/child-marriages-39000-ev eryday-more-than-140-million-girls-will-marry-between-2011-and-2020/
References:
Alabama MUN. (2014). SOCHUM Background Guide. Retrieved 7 Feb
2017 from:
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KeyId=D82AF9201CD68847CEFF&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
Deutsche Welle. (2013). Population growth challenges poor nations.
Retrieved 7 Feb 2017 from: http://www.dw.com/en/population-growthchallenges-poor-nations/a-17010329
General Assembly of the United Nations. (2017). Third Committee.
Retrieved 7 Feb 2017 from: http://www.un.org/en/ga/third/
Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth. (2016). New UN
initiative aims to protect millions of girls from child marriage. Retrieved
7 Feb 2017 from: http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2016/03/new-uninitiative-aims-to-protect-millions-of-girls-from-child-marriage/
Our World in Data. (2017). World Population Growth. Retrieved 7 Feb
2017 from: https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth/
SCVMUN. (2016). SOCHUM. Retrieved 7 Feb 2017 from:
http://scvmun.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/SOCHUM.pdf
United Nations Population Fund. (2012). Marrying too Young. Retrieved
7 Feb 2017 from: http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pubpdf/MarryingTooYoung.pdf
10 World Health Organization. (2014). Global Health Observatory Data
Repository. Retrieved 7 Feb 2017 from:
http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.121
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