MUN Working Paper(1)

Committee: The United Nations Security Council

Topic: Effects of COVID-19 on Global Peace and Security

Sponsors: Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, People’s Republic of China, South Korea, Mongolia, Serbia

Signatories: Tunisia, United States of America, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain

 

The Security Council,

Recalling its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace

and security,

Recalling the sovereign right and the primary responsibility of the country concerned to determine the national approach towards containing the virus,

Expressing grave concern about the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world, especially in countries ravaged by armed conflicts, or in post-conflict situations, or affected by humanitarian crises,

Recognizing the need for greater national, regional and international cooperation, with the UN playing a key coordinating role, and that health care efforts could only take place under the premise of global peace and security,

Emphasizing that conflict and violence are the single biggest impediments to development and to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals,

Recognizing that the peacebuilding and development gains made by countries in transition and post-conflict countries could be reversed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak,

Recognizing that conditions of violence and instability in conflict situations can exacerbate the pandemic, and that inversely the pandemic can exacerbate the adverse humanitarian impact of conflict situations,

Fully aware that lockdowns and social distancing are difficult to implement, and is nearly impossible for people whose subsistence relies on daily laboring

Having considered the direct and indirect social and economic cost of social distancing measures, which may exceed even the very worst-case scenario of unmitigated spread from a health perspective

Noting that state actors have taken concerning steps that undermine human rights and threaten democratic institutions, using COVID-19 responses as a pretext

Emphasizing that information relevant to the health response is just as important as the technical aspect of the health response, and that if not brought under control, rumors, conspiracies, and misinformation on social media risk fueling fear and violence

Recognizing that digitalization, while a hugely positive force in societies, can allow malicious actors to use the pandemic as a tool to polarize and increase distrust in societies

Seeking full attention from all countries on cyber terrorism and the implications it has on international peace and security

Noting with concern that terrorist organizations are taking advantage of the prolonged state of chaos induced by the COVID-19 pandemic

Commending the continued contribution and commitment of national and international health and humanitarian relief personnel to respond urgently to the COVID-19 pandemic,

Acknowledging the role that youth are playing in COVID-19 response efforts,

Deeply concerned by the disproportionate negative impact of the pandemic on women and girls, children, refugees, internally displaced persons, older persons and persons with disabilities, and that the negative consequences of the pandemic and the responses to it threaten to deepen inequalities by hitting hardest those groups and people that are already marginalized within their societies

Deeply concerned by the number of displaced persons due to ongoing conflicts and other crises that have not gone away in the wake of the public health pandemic

Emphasizing the need to provide humanitarian, medical and economic aid to least developed countries

Keeping in mind that vaccines can be quickly politicized, unequally distributed, corruptly administered and subject to extensive misinformation,

 

1. Calls for the implementation of an adequate and sustainable response to the pandemic, in ways that include but are not limited to:
   1. Scaling up the collective ability to monitor and program for transformative resilience;
   2. Finding ways of better enabling the agency of individuals and communities to lead transformative approaches;
   3. Giving a renewed focus on local leadership, with due respect to the sovereignty of individual countries;

 

1. Draws attention to the ‘infodemic’ that is rendering more difficult the effort to tackle the pandemic, and calls upon countries to counter its effect using methods that include but are not limited to:
   1. Identifying figures in every community in whom citizens trust and engaging them to be willing and able to support publicly the science and facts is a crucial contribution;
   2. Securing the support of youth influencers on social media is another vehicle for translating technical detail and messages into language that can change behavior positively;
   3. Banning websites and social media accounts that spread exaggerated data or misinformation with the intention of causing or further aggravating civilian unrest and panic;

 

1. Suggests tighter border control against illegal immigration and to increase the frequency of border patrol, as the spread of COVID-19 in one part of the world can quickly resonate in other communities, regions, and countries, in ways that include but are not limited to
   1. Implementation of facial recognition and surveillance systems;
   2. Tracking of personnel;
   3. Color-coding regions according to the severity of the pandemic;

 

1. Encourages countries where the pandemic is under control to reopen borders to trade, so as to stimulate economic activity;

 

1. Deplores the actions of terrorist and extremist groups, and calls upon all Member States to enhance coordination of efforts at all levels in order to strengthen a global response to terrorism and organized crime, whether domestic or transnational, which constitute a serious challenge and a threat to international security, in ways that include but are not limited to:
   1. Forming international criminal data bases to track and arrest terrorist;
   2. Limiting the impact of terrorist and extremist groups on social media by methods that include but are not limited to:
      1. Establishing regulations that prohibit content promoting extremist or terrorist values and ideology;
      2. Taking down videos and posts that encourage extremist or terrorist ways of thinking;
      3. Suspending or deleting internet accounts that promote extremist or terrorist content;

 

1. Calls upon countries to provide humanitarian aid to the 79.5 million forcibly displaced persons in dire need, whose conditions have worsened due to difficulties posed by the pandemic, in ways that include but are not limited to:
   1. Calling for an immediate ceasefire of hostilities in situations to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance and materials;
   2. Providing access to water, food, shelter, and other necessary resources;

 

1. Calls upon countries to provide humanitarian aid for least developed countries in ways that include but are not limited to:
   1. Sending medical personnel and supplies;
   2. Building an emergency global supply chain system with the help of  UN’s VOID-19 Supply Chain Task Force;

 

1. Reminds all countries that the development, production and distribution of a workable vaccine can only be achieved with international cooperation, and calls upon countries to integrate conflict sensitivity into an epidemic response to prevent undermining the effectiveness of a technical health intervention and increasing violence, in ways that include but are not limited to:
   1. Contextualizing other existential risks that have not gone away in the wake of the pandemic, including but limited to local conflicts and natural disasters;
   2. Cooperating to produce a single, internationally approved vaccine that can then be mass produced, to prevent further conflict on this issue, and to ensure the timely and sufficient distribution of vaccines in both developed and developing countries alike

 

1. Requests international interventions to put trust, peace and conflict dynamics at the forefront of their efforts, so as to prevent further exacerbating the grievances and inequities that threaten to trigger wider social discord and conflict;

 

1. Decides to remain seized of the matter