Committee: SOCHUM
Topic: Exploring Potential Humanitarian Uses for Genetically Modified Crops
Country: Lebanon
GMOs were created in the 1990s to reduce undernourishment worldwide, but they have grown into a controversial issue because many are concerned with the long-term effects of GM crops. Lebanon has been relatively neutral about genetically modified crops but plans to use them to decrease the undernourishment rate of the country.
Hunger and undernourishment are seemingly everlasting battles that many individuals are trying to conquer. For instance, as of 2016, 815 million people were undernourished, and that number is steadily increasing. With the world in dire need of human ingenuity and intervention, scientists created GMCs in the 1990s to withstand diseases or environmental factors previously killing off the harvests. Additionally, some seeds were genetically modified to include herbicides, which cause the product to be less toxic, while more effective and economical. This can be extremely beneficial considering world-wide pesticide expenses exceeded nearly $50 billion from 2008 to 2012, which could be money used to increase food production rather than ward of insects. Nutritional enhancement is another benefit of these crops. The Golden Rice Project was created in 1999 to take advantage of GMCs potential to prevent Vitamin A deficiency. On the contrary, many states are fearful of the potentially harmful effects that the GMCs may cause such as tumors, obesity, and even cancer. In response to the controversy surrounding GMOs, the UN ratified the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, allowing states to ban imports of GMOs if they feel the product is not safe. In fact, according to Sustainable Pulse, thirty-eight nations have banned or partially banned the production of GMCs as of 2015.
Due to the concern of the long-term health effects of genetically modified crops, Lebanon plans to work with neighboring countries and NGOs to conduct studies to prove the safety of these crops. Once the results from the studies are received and evaluated, commercials and public service announcements can be broadcasted in between television shows and on radio stations. Ads will also be created and placed in varying magazines and newspapers. This can help to reassure the citizens, eliminate their concerns, and rid them of the fear they previously had. Consequently, the public will be more willing to consume the harvests, which can allow the individuals to have a more nutritious diet that meets recommended caloric intake values. Lebanon also plans to lower tariffs on imported seeds to encourage farmers to purchase the GM seeds. To further elaborate, Lebanon plans to collaborate with NGOs to provide infrastructure for GMO studies such as glasshouses and other equipment. To supply more people to conduct the studies, programs will be set in place in schools to encourage the study of science, especially in subjects such as genetic engineering, to increase the skilled pool of people. This will assist in the research and development sector of GMOs, which will help increase the breeds of plants specialized to meet the needs of the specific conditions in Lebanon and will stimulate the wide use of these crops throughout the state. As a short term action, Lebanon plans to work with countries creating the GM seeds and reduce or eliminate import and export tariffs to stimulate their distribution and to incentivize farmers to purchase them. Additionally, with the removal of GMO labels, citizens are more likely to purchase a product containing GM crops because they will not have a fear against consuming them. Loans can also be made available for farmers wanting to purchase machinery to begin GM crop planting. With these plans implemented, the UN will be one step closer in meeting one of their Millennium Development Goals, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.
Works Cited
Phillips, Theresa. “Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Transgenic Crops and
Recombinant DNA Technology.” Scitable, edited by Bob Moss, Natural Education, 2008, https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetically-modified-organisms-gmos-transgenic-crops-and-732.
Saliba, Issam. “Restrictions on Genetically Modified Organisms: Lebanon.” Library of
Congress, March 2014, https://www.loc.gov/law/help/restrictions-on-gmos/lebanon.php.
“The Millennium Development Goals.” United Nations Foundation, United Nations Foundation,
2013, http://www.unfoundation.org/what-we-do/issues/mdgs.html.
“The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017” Food and Agricultural
Organization of the United Nations, FAO, 2017, http://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition/en/.
Wang, Wendan. “International Regulations on Genetically Modified Organisms: U.S., Europe,
China and Japan.” Food Safety Magazine, Food Safety Magazine, 2018,
https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazine-archive1/junejuly2016/international-regulations-on-genetically-modified-organisms-us-europe-china-and-japan/.
Zaluckyj, Amanda. “How GMO Crops Help Farmers and the Environment,” The Food Dialoges,
U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, Inc., 19 May 2017, http://www.fooddialogues.com/terms-of-use/.
Committee: SOCHUM
Topic: Improving and Ensuring Healthcare for Refugees in Temporary Settlements
Country: Lebanon
The current issue at hand is improving and ensuring healthcare for refugees in temporary settlements. Lebanon believes that the refugees entering the country have a right to an should be provided with adequate healthcare.
The current number of refugees is a substantial figure of 25.4 million, with 86% of them being hosted by developing countries, issues arise due to the masses of people placing an even further strain on the already limited resources in these states. Improving and ensuring healthcare for all these individuals is essential in order to prevent curable illnesses only affecting few people versus plaguing unmanageable populations. In an effort to ensure healthcare for refugees, 156 countries ratified the “International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights” in 1966 which stated that those countries must “refrain from denying or limiting equal access for all persons” to preventive, curative, and calmative health services. Furthermore, one of the major organizations assisting refugees in receiving healthcare worldwide is the UN High Commissioners for Refugees. They have taken action by paying 75-90% of hospital fees contingent on the expense of the admission and the socio-economic vulnerability of the distinct refugee. Even with this assistance, issues still manage to develop such as refugees being unable to pay their minimal portion of the cost, and hospitals contracted with the UNHCR are undergoing challenges in finding financial assistance for non-covered medical treatment. Moreover, in an initial attempt to mitigate the refugee healthcare crisis, a study was conducted in a Malawian camp in 1998, where soap was distributed along with an education about the vitality of using soap for personal hygiene. Although many programs and ideas as the one aforementioned can be created, the issue always comes down to the funding and execution. With reliance of NGOs to solve the issue of the refugee health crisis always an option, another alternate path would be to improve and increase the effectiveness of government programs already set in place.
To increase the number of primary health cares providing their services for refugees, Lebanon plans to give hospitals and healthcare services tax breaks as an incentive to lowering the cost for refugees. This will allow the providers to make healthcare more feasible. Doing this at the primary healthcare level will prevent minor illnesses from escalating and affecting many in the congested temporary settlements. Additionally, education is a crucial component to ensure healthcare; therefore, pamphlets will be distributed throughout the temporary settlements in the language of the residing refugees. Some of the information within the pamphlets will include symptoms associated with and preventative measures that can be taken to avoid illnesses like HIV/AIDS, alcoholism, and marital abuse. Furthermore, to improve overall healthcare services, Lebanon plans to transition from a fragmented health system to a structured, pluralistic health system. In doing so, instead of the health system being outlined by the population groups rather by the health system functions such as stewardship, financing, and delivery. In doing this, the State would have a lead role in stewardship and would set policies and quality standards; therefore, ensuring fairness and transparency.
Works Cited
“Access to Healthcare for Syrian Refugees.” Lebanon Support, November 2016,
https://civilsociety-centre.org/sites/default/files/resources/accesshealthcaresyrianrefugees-ls2016.pdf.
Blanchet, Karl. “Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: the Search for Universal Health Coverage.”
Conflict and Health, Blanchet et al. Open Access, 01 June 2016,
https://conflictandhealth.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s13031-016-0079-4.
“Figures at a Glance.” UNHCR The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, 2018,
http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html.
“Health access and utilization survey among Syrian refugees in Lebanon – November 2017.”
Reliefweb, 30 November 2017, https://reliefweb.int/report/lebanon/health-access-and-utilization-survey-among-syrian-refugees-lebanon-november-2017.
“Module 1: Healthcare in Refugee Camps and Settlements.” Unite for Sight, Unite for Sight,
Inc., 2000, http://www.uniteforsight.org/refugee-health/module1.