STUDY GUIDE
ECONOMIC
AND SOCIAL
COUNCIL
(ECOSOC)
Introduction
The Economic and Social Council is the primary body
that addresses the economic, social, humanitarian
and cultural work of the United Nations system. It
helps countries work together to solve problems
related to things like money, society, and the
environment. ECOSOC talks about policies and plans
to reach goals for making the world better, like
helping everyone have equal opportunities and
protecting the planet.
MUN Procedure
Each committee is led by a Chairperson and Director
who facilitates the discussion for the committee.The
committee votes on which of the assigned topics to
discuss first. After the topic is selected, the committee
is ready to begin debate on the selected topic.
There are three debate formats. The default debate
format is called the Speakers List. This where
delegates take turns making speeches in front of the
room by the order that they are listed on the Speakers
List as selected by the Chair. Speeches are typically
around 1 minute or 1 minute and 30 seconds
After a certain number of speeches, the delegates may
vote to change up the debate format to either Moderated
Caucus or Unmoderated Caucus. Moderated Caucus is
when the committee decides to focus on a sub-issue
and get a back-and-forth debate going. Delegates will
raise their placards to be called on to speak, and the
Chairperson will call on speakers one-by-one until the
Moderated Caucus time has expired.
Unmoderated Caucus is when delegates are free to get
up out of their seats and roam around the room to work
with other countries with similar policies. The first one or
two unmoderated caucuses will be spent finding allies,
but afterward most of the unmoderated caucuses are
spent writing draft resolutions with your caucus bloc
(your group of allies).
Committee will switch between Speakers List,
Moderated Caucus, and Unmoderated Caucus until
draft resolutions are complete, merged, and ready to be
presented.
Resolutions will be presented either as they are ready or
all at once near the end of the conference (sometimes
this is called Formal Caucus). Some conferences allow
a question-and-answer period after the presentations,
and some conferences will also allow time to make
mergers or amendments to the resolution.
Finally, all the countries in the committee will vote on
whether or not they want a resolution to be passed.
Afterward, committee will repeat the same process
again for the second topic, or if you do not have a
second topic then you are done!
Position Paper
Your Position paper gives you a chance to organize your
thoughts and is the most important part of your
conference prep experience.
The Position paper is an essay that covers the committee
topic from your delegations perspective. You should
discuss how the topic is relevant to your delegation, how
past actions have affected you, and how you want to deal
with the problem.
In general, you want to include
1. State Position
2. State Role
3. Past Actions
4. Solutions
Terminologies
Motion: a specific action made by delegates to direct
debate in a certain direction.
Yield: This is when a speaker decides to give up the
remaining time in his or her speech.
1) Yield to the Chair
2) Yield to another delegate
3) Yield to questions
Point of Inquiry: Used when a delegate has a question
about something that is not clearly understood in
committee.
Point of Personal Privilege: Used when a delegate
experiences personal discomfort that hinders their ability
to participate in committee.
Draft Resolution: A document written in resolution
format, approved by the chairs, and introduced to
committee but not yet voted upon is called a draft
resolution. Once a draft resolution is passed by a
committee, then it becomes a Resolution.
Sponsors: Sponsors of a resolution are those countries
that have been the principal authors of the document and
agree with its substance
Topic:
Dealing with the social and economical
consequences of the Israeli and Palestinian
conflict
Introduction To The Topic
In the 7th of October a war broke out between Israel and
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, which has ruled
the Gaza Strip since 2007. Hamas fighters fired rockets
into Israel and stormed southern Israeli cities and towns
across the border of the Gaza strip, killing and injuring
hundreds of soldiers and civilians and taking dozens of
hostages. The next day the Israeli Defense Minister
ordered the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to conduct a
"complete siege" of Gaza, after the official declaration of
war against Hamas by the Israeli cabinet.
Since then, over 28.000 Palestinians in Gaza have been
killed. Israeli forces have launched a ground operation.
Along with cutting off the majority of water and electricity,
Israel has also banned importing food and medicine,
while it has permitted the passage of several dozen relief
trucks via Egypt's Rafah border.
Historical Background
The history of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict traces back
to the late 19th century when Zionists sought to establish
a homeland for the Jewish people in Ottoman-controlled
Palestine.The Balfour Declaration of 1917, issued by the
British government, endorsed the idea of a Jewish
homeland in Palestine, which led to an influx of Jewish
immigrants to the region. Following World War II and the
Holocaust, international pressure mounted for the
establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, leading to
the creation of Israel in 1948.
The establishment of Israel, and the war that followed and
preceded it, led to the displacement of hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians who became refugees,
sparking a decades-long conflict between Israel and the
Palestinian people. The Palestinians seek to establish
their own independent state in at least one part of historic
Palestine. Israeli defense of its own borders, control over
the West Bank, the Egyptian-Israeli blockade of the Gaza
Strip, and Palestinian internal politics currently make the
Palestinians' goal out of reach.
US House has also passed $14.5bn military aid package
for Israel.
Yemen’s Involvement
In response to the war in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis
started firing drones and missiles towards Israel. Most
have been intercepted.
On 19 November, the Houthis hijacked a commercial
ship in the Red Sea and have since attacked more than
two dozen others with drones, missiles and speed boats.
The Houthis say they are targeting ships which are
Israeli-owned, flagged or operated, or which are heading
to Israeli ports. However, many of the vessels which
have been attacked have no connection with Israel.
Also among those attacked wasa British-linked tanker,
which the Houthis said was in response to "American-
British aggression".
US-led naval forces have thwarted many of the attacks.
Major shipping companies have stopped using the Red
Sea - through which almost 15% of global seaborne
trade usually passes - and are using a much longer route
around southern Africa instead.
The US and UK started carrying out air strikes on Houthi
targets in Yemen on 11 January. There have been
several more strikes since then.
President Joe Biden said they were in "direct response"
to the attacks on Red Sea ships, which "jeopardised
trade, and threatened freedom of navigation".
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the action was
"necessary and proportionate" to protect global shipping.
Who are Houthis
The Houthis are an armed political and religious group
which champions Yemen's Shia Muslim minority, the
Zaidis.
They declare themselves to be part of the Iranian-led
"axis of resistance" against Israel, the US and the wider
West - along with armed groups such as Hamas and
Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.
The Houthis control Sanaa and the north-west of
Yemen, including the Red Sea coastline.
Most of Yemen's population lives in these areas, and the
Houthis run a de facto government which collects taxes
and prints money.
The internationally-recognised government of Yemen is
based in the southern port of Aden.
More Links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=iRYZjOuUnlU&t=546s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=iRYZjOuUnlU&t=546s
https://www.thebigredgroup.com/b
eginners-guide-rules-of-
procedure-you-must-remember-
for-your-first-model-united-
nations-conference/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/20
23/11/27/palestine-and-israel-brief-
history-maps-and-charts
