Saltillo United Nations Simulation

Peacebuilding:

Integrating natural resource management and environmental governance within peacebuilding plans and strategies, including emergency employment opportunities.

 

Peacekeeping:

Promoting the use of the best technologies for energy, water and waste in peacekeeping operations; providing technical assistance to monitor illegal resource exploitation and trade; and identifying opportunities for the re-integration of ex-combatants from natural resources.

 

Environmental Diplomacy:

Using shared natural resources or common environmental threats as a platform for dialogue, confidence-building and cooperation between divided communities or countries.

 

Legal Protection:

Improving the protection of natural resources and the environment during armed conflicts through international legal instruments.

 

Countries involved:

• Sierra Leone:

Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war led to a complete collapse of environmental management in the country, according to Oli Brown, an environmental affairs officer with the UN Environment Programme. Speaking at the Wilson Center last month, Brown highlighted the country’s current environmental conditions and how they have evolved since the war ended in 2002, while also outlining UNEP’s support for rebuilding the country’s natural resource governance.Despite its wealth of natural resources, Sierra Leone is plagued by high unemployment, a massive gap between the poor and wealthy, and extreme poverty, 70% of the population lives on $1.00 a day. The country is still “very fragile,” said Brown; the poor distribution of resources is partly responsible for the current problems facing the country.

• Democratic Republic of Congo:

In 2008, at the request of the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established a Country Programme and a project office in the capital, Kinshasa. The aim of the programme is to work with other members of the UN family to assist the government of DR Congo in its post-conflict recovery and sustainable development.UNEP’s programme is set in the context of DR Congo’s recovery from conflict in the 1990s and ongoing instability in the east of the country, which have brought widespread insecurity, displacement, poverty and environmental devastation. Notwithstanding these challenges, DR Congo is full of opportunities. It is also witness to highly commendable and in some cases truly heroic efforts by national and international organizations – those aiming to help the population and conserve the natural heritage of the country.

• Côte d’ Ivoire:

Côte d’Ivoire, once a beacon of economic prosperity and political stability, has been wracked by conflict and volatility in recent years following a 2002 civil war and a 2010 post-election crisis when the incumbent president refused to accept defeat, leading to months of violence and unrest.Today this West African nation – with the highest level of biodiversity in the region, vast mineral deposits and significant revenue from cocoa exports - is seeking to establish a roadmap for peacebuilding and economic recovery. Within this framework it aims to address environmental and natural resource governance on a national scale and as a precondition for sustainable development and conflict prevention.

• Haiti:

Following a direct request from the Government of Haiti (GoH) UNEP set up a country programme in 2008 to address the environmental degradation, extreme poverty and disaster vulnerability of the country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. UNEP developed a five-year plan, based on the GoH’s priorities, and set up a project office in Port-au-Prince with a core team of international and local staff, all equipped to implement a portfolio of diverse and practical projects.The January 2010 earthquake, and the associated relief and recovery efforts of the UN, forced UNEP to radically change its plans. The organization implemented a range of short to medium term projects, mainly in energy, sanitation, resettlement planning and waste management in camps for Internally Displaced Persons. Simultaneously UNEP provided emergency-related technical assistance on a national scale. These projects were completed at the end of 2011.

• Nigeria:

At the request of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, UNEP is conducting an independent assessment of the environmental and public health impacts of oil contamination in Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, and options for remediation.UNEP’s decision to respond to this request recognizes the human and environmental tragedy associated with oil contamination in the Ogoni region – where oil exploration and production began in the 1950s.

• Afghanistan:

Since 2002, UNEP has taken an active role in laying the foundations for sustainable development in Afghanistan.Decades of conflict and violence, coupled with drought and earthquakes, have had devastating impacts not only the people of Afghanistan, but also on its natural environment, once pristine and rich in biological diversity.UNEP’s engagement began with a major post-conflict environmental assessment, conducted in conjunction with the Afghanistan Transitional Government and Afghan environmental experts. Published in 2003, the assessment highlighted serious and widespread land and resource degradation, including lowered water tables, desiccation of wetlands, widespread loss of vegetative cover, erosion and loss of wildlife populations.

• Sudan:

The Republic of the Sudan's diverse natural resources can help support economic growth and development and can also be valuable assets in helping to rebuild the Darfur region and other parts of the country that have suffered years of conflict.Since completing a major environmental assessment of Sudan in 2007, UNEP has established an active country presence and developed a Sudan Integrated Environment Programme.UNEP is working with Sudanese national, state and local leaders, civil society and the international community to encourage the sustainable development of the country’s natural resources – with the ultimate aim of assisting the people of Sudan to achieve peace, recovery and development on an environmentally sustainable basis.

• South Sudan:

UNEP has been active in South Sudan since 2009, engaged in creating and developing environmental awareness on a national scale to support the government and the people of South Sudan. UNEP has a well-established partnership with the Government of South Sudan, and works closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Cooperatives and Rural Development.In 2010, UNEP led the “Juba Clean and Green” campaign which made major headlines in South Sudan and helped to put environmental issues on the agenda of the government, the UN community and the citizens of Juba, the capital and the largest city in the country.

 

Questions to delegate:

1. What is the current situation in your country regarding this topic?

2. Is your country doing something to solve this problem?

3. Is other country supporting your country or vice versa?

4. Is your country economically stable to support other countries with this problem?

5. Is your country being affected by this? How?

6. How can countries and the UN improve this situation?

 

Bibliography:

www.unep.orghttp://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2011/08/environmental-cooperation-for-peacebuilding-in-sierra-leone/#.UnbmnPme2Srhttp://www.unep.org/disastersandconflicts/CountryOperations/southsudan/UNEPinSouthSudan/tabid/104182/Default.aspxhttp://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/promoting-environmental-cooperation-peace-building-tool-security-brief-and-webchathttp://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=1062http://mideastenvironment.apps01.yorku.ca/?page_id=158http://www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu/environment_Natural_Resources_Economy.phphttp://www.mei.edu/content/environmental-peacebuilding-eastern-mediterraneanhttp://www.unep.org/disastersandconflicts/CountryOperations/tabid/54123/Default.aspxhttp://www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org/publications/policy-briefs/brief-2/

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