March 26, 2024 Resolutions - CIVITAS-STL

March 26, 2024 Resolutions

Here are the resolutions for the March 26, 2024 General Assembly session. The schools attending are Holman Middle, Pattonville Heights, and the St. Louis Homeschool Network. The General Assembly will be at the Creve Coeur Drury Inn from 9:00 am until 12:00 pm. We will be posting resolutions as we receive them. Some of these might be rough drafts and will have changes before the session. Click here to see country rosters and information about the other Middle School General Assemblies.

Status:Submitted by:Topic:
GA-01Sweden, Denmark
Holman Middle
Infrastructure in Honduras
GA-02Canada, Italy, Japan, Australia
St. Louis Homeschool Network
Child Labor in Niger
GA-03Fiji, Switzerland
Pattonville Heights
Crime Reduction in Venezuela
GA-04Luxembourg
Holman Middle
Clean Water in Guinea
GA-05Greece, Ireland, Lebanon, Mexico, Norway
St. Louis Homeschool Network
Animal Cruelty in Factory Farms and Feedlots
GA-06Germany, China
Pattonville Heights
Child Labor in China

Resolution GA-01 March 26

Re.:                             Infrastructure in Honduras
Submitted to:            General Assembly
Submitted by:            Sweden, Denmark
Date:                           March 26, 2023

Whereas Article 13 section 1 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.”, and

Whereas Article 13 section 2 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”, and

Whereas Article 25, section 1 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care, and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”, and

Stunned that the flood damage in Honduras in September alone has led to at least 16 deaths, primarily of people who were unable to travel to safety due to bridges being destroyed by those same floods, and

Appalled that 70% of Honduras’ infrastructure was destroyed in just one hurricane (that being Hurricane Mitch, in 1998), leaving many without bridges and roads, and

Horrified that said hurricane destroyed nearly every bridge in Honduras, excluding the Choluteca Bridge, leaving most rivers uncrossable for those trying to travel within the country,

Be It Hereby Resolved That The General Assembly:

  1. The UN will partner with CoST Honduras, an infrastructural group, supplying bridge-building resources and construction workers, to build 6 bridges throughout Honduras.
  2. We can cover minor costs such as travel, but are primarily going to rely on the UN’s funding help, as our project will cost us a total of ~$12,704,800. For this reason I request we raise our UN dues on the 10 richest nations by 0.8%.
  3.  We will know we are successful in this work when there is a 25% decrease in drowning-related deaths.
  4. It will take roughly 6 years to build all 6 bridges.
  5. We will also offer our assistance to our fellow members of CoST Honduras, and Honduras’ many allies and nations with the same problem. By this, we mean that we promise to lend a hand to El Salvador, Nicaragua, China and Taiwan, Czechia, and the United States.

Resolution GA-02 March 26

Re.:                             Child Labor in Niger                      
Submitted to:            General Assembly
Submitted by:            Canada, Italy, Japan, Australia
Date:                           March 26, 2023

Whereas Article 24 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.”, and

Whereas Article 25, section 1 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care, and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”, and

Whereas Article 25, section 2 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.”, and

Whereas Article 26, section 1 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”, and

Whereas Article 26, section 2 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United nations for the maintenance of peace.”, and

Whereas Article 26, section 3 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”, and

Whereas Niger is the sixth poorest country in the world, and

Whereas children in Niger are subjected to the worst forms of child labor, including hereditary slavery and mining, each sometimes as a result of human trafficking, and

Whereas only 58% of kids go to school now but it’s on the decline. (possibly bc of political violence), and

Whereas “children in Niger, especially boys and girls from the Arab, Djerma, Peulh, Tuareg, and Toubou ethnic minorities, continue to be exploited as slaves and endure slavery-like practices.”, and

Whereas “some children are born into slavery; others are born free but remain in a dependent status and are forced to work with their parents for their former masters in exchange for food, money, and lodging.”, and

Whereas “a particular form of slavery in Niger is the wahaya practice, in which men buy girls born into slavery, often between ages 9 and 14, as “fifth wives” who are forced to work long hours as cattle herders, agricultural workers, or domestic workers, and are often sexually exploited.”, and

Whereas “those involved in hereditary slavery, the children of wahaya wives are considered slaves, and are passed from one owner to another as gifts or as part of dowries.”, and

Whereas “children are forcibly recruited and used as child soldiers by non-state armed groups.”, and

Whereas “some Koranic teachers known as marabouts subject their students, boys known as talibés, to manual labor or forced begging rather than providing them with a religious education.”

Whereas “children in Niger participating in seasonal migration or migrant children from West Africa traveling to Algeria and Libya may also be subject to forced begging or commercial sexual exploitation.”, and

Whereas “Niger has a form of internal child trafficking called confiage, in which family members send their children to live with relatives or friends with promises of better educational or trade learning opportunities. However, some children are instead subjected to exploitation, including forced labor, sex trafficking, and domestic work.”, and

Whereas Niger’s literacy rate in adults is only 19%, and

Whereas 45.2% of children in Niger are doing child labor

Be It Hereby Resolved That The General Assembly:

Action Plan:

  1. The UN will create BENECL which will have the task of building more primary schools especially in rural areas including supplying construction vehicles and providing free school supplies and salaries for safety guards for all existing and new primary schools. BENECL will also train current and new primary school teachers; create community colleges; and offer free tuition options for college students.
  2. There are currently 3,175 primary schools and 11,545 primary teachers in Niger. UNICEF has trained 27% of those teachers and we’d like to train the remaining 73%; train and hire 50% more primary school teachers; bring in volunteer teachers from Volunteer World and France and those who can speak Hausa and Djerma to start teaching immediately; and increase teacher salaries from $31 to $100 annually.
  3. We will provide a free tuition option. If the student agrees to teach at an assigned school for 6 years then the price of their college tuition will be decreased by a certain percent depending on how many years they agree to teach at the assigned school. Also, students will be offered the chance to replace their volunteer education professors after they complete their masters or PhD degree and if they accept, can pursue it for free. This offer will be made after the students have completed their bachelors. If at any point in their schooling process, they decide they don’t want to take the offer, they will only have to pay for the rest of their schooling and another student will be given the same offer.
  1. Schools need more than just teachers. BENECL will also provide security guards at each school and materials for primary schools including textbooks, computers, internet, books, paper and pencils, desks and chairs, dry-erase boards, jump ropes, balls, etc.
  2. BENECL will also be building more 3-classroom schools especially in rural areas including providing the construction vehicles.

Funding:

  1. UNICEF will fund the training for the remaining primary school teachers and the additional 1,537 new teachers. France will fund the salary increases. Niger will provide housing for volunteer teachers in OC 2.
  2. We will ask volunteers around the world for the original professors for the degrees of engineering, medical education, and teaching for the free tuition in OC 3.
  3. Security guards will cost $91,740,000 and will be paid for by Canada.
    (There are currently 3,175 primary schools and we plan to add an additional 300 schools totaling 3,475 schools x 4 guards = 13,900 guards. The average salary for a safety guard is $6,600, so the total cost will be $91,740,000. )
  4. School supplies will cost $96,412,800.
    In 2018, the average cost for a backpack, school supplies not including textbooks, art supplies and gym clothes was $99 in Nigeria, a neighboring country. The price of school supplies has doubled in Niger since the coup because surrounding countries shut down their borders, stopped 70% of electricity from Nigeria, and donations (aid) stopped. We estimate that it costs $200 per student without textbooks each year and $300 per student with textbooks. Funding the existing 482,064 primary school students at $200 per student costs $96,412,800 and textbook makers will donate the textbooks.
  5. Building costs for the schools mentioned in OC5 will be about $66,000,000. (For building 300 schools we estimate about $15,000 to $22,000 per school)
  6. We will be asking the United States, Qatar, Luxembourg, Monaco, Ireland and Singapore to cover the remaining cost of $162,412,800.

Timeline & Evaluation:

  1. In the next 6 years, the remaining 73% of existing primary school teachers and the new 1,537 teachers will attend and graduate from teacher training schools. The teachers will be in school for 4 years and the other two years will be for setting up the program and bringing in the volunteer teachers. Salary increases will go to teachers after they are trained. Volunteer teachers are recruited immediately.
  2. During those 6 years, we will be building schools and handing out all the necessary school supplies. After the schools are built, within three years there should be a steady supply of teachers flowing out of the college and out to other parts of Niger. After eight years of being open, the college should have a new professor and the volunteer teachers will no longer be needed.
  3. Students will be tested in their primary languages in literacy and math and scores of 90% and higher means they have passed. Teachers will be tested at the end of teacher training and 2 years after being teachers. Scores of 95% and higher means they have passed.
  4. The UN will check in on the program at the 4 year mark and if after 10 years the literacy rate goes up, we will consider it a success!

Resources: (US Department of Labor information https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/niger)


Resolution GA-03 March 26

Re.:                             Crime Reduction in Venezuela
Submitted to:            General Assembly
Submitted by:            Fiji, Switzerland
Date:                           March 26, 2023

Whereas Article 3 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.”, and

Whereas Sustainable Development Goal #16 is Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, and

Deeply concerned that 106 people died every week in 2017 at the hands of police/military and estimated that at least one police officer dies every day, and

Observing that victims and victimizers are 12-29 years old recruited from vulnerable sections of population, and

Noting that Caracas is the most dangerous city in Latin America, and

Realizing that there is an economic crisis that started in 2014 so many people can’t pay for things so they steal what they need and most of the time end up in jail, and

Alarmed that over a million and ½ people migrated from Venezuela between 2004 and 2017,

Be It Hereby Resolved That The General Assembly:

  1. The United Nations will create a crime reduction organization called as follows, the Venezuelan Crime Prevention Team or VCPT. The organization will start in Caracas, Venezuela. We will hire 250 police officers to control, and reduce the crime in Caracas. We will give around 4 million families $50 worth of food every week, and construct a new police station for the new officers.
  2. The budget that we will need for this program will be around 82.5 million dollars.
    1. $50 a week worth of already bought food per family x 4,290,000 families= 68,640,000
    1. 250 police officers x pay 50,000 yearly per officer=$12.5 million
    1. Police station construction= 1 million
    1. Additional funds are for backup
  3. ¼ of total=$20,625,000 will be paid by donations and fundraisers the top 20 richest countries each will pay $3,093,750.
  4. Our organization will run for a year then after that we will decide whether or not to continue based on the results of the year. Our goal is to reduce crime in the city of Caracas by 30%. If we reach our goal we may possibly move to surrounding cities, and countries.

Resolution GA-04 March 26

Re.:                             Clean Water in Guinea
Submitted to:            General Assembly
Submitted by:            Luxembourg
Date:                           March 26, 2023

Whereas Article 3 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.”, and

Whereas Article 25, section 1 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care, and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”, and

Appalled that 14.76% of people in Guinea do not have water, and

Horrified that 829,000 people die per year of contaminated water worldwide,

Be It Hereby Resolved That The General Assembly:

SP(G)UTUW

/S-voo-toov/

Saving People (in Guinea) Under the Terms of Undrinkable Water

  1. The plan shall be carried out within the country of Guinea using the technological advancement of one hundred twenty-six water extraction devices, carved out of underground resource transport equipment, using power procured from the star nearest our planet. This permanent pump would attach to sanitized groundwater, in which it would then extract from the confines of the geosphere, making fresh, decontaminated water to the inhabitants of the regions we assist. The execution of this prospect would require the aid of translators of the indigenous tribes I would be helping, for their oral communications are notably distinguishable from the customary languages of those gathered. The other people required for this execution would be defenders of the individual volunteers implanting this structure. In order to keep water gained from this reservoir clean, there would need to be industrial-grade pipes and backflow preventers, in order to not let impure Hydrogen Monoxide into the system. This would additionally require five cubic meters of concrete per location to seal the pipe at the top, and a spout for aforementioned water to have an escape point.

  2. This would require a capital of $16,642,075 United States Dollars, which would be equivalent to 15,469,474.40 European Euros. This would be gained by raising the dues of the 27 highest prospering countries by 0.5% for the next year, which would cover the cost of this endeavor.
  3. This shall be seen as successful if there is a 70% decrease in water-based deaths in Guinea, and a 50% decrease in lasting waterborne disease damages in Guinea.
  4. This will take a total of 51 weeks, with 5 water retrieval mechanisms being built for every two weeks of this ongoing prospect.
  5. If this project succeeds, this project would be expanded to Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea, for the reasons of them being on the same continent and their names containing that of the original. If this prospect further continues, then it would be expanded to other continents, specifically in the countries of Guyana and Papua New Guinea.

Resolution GA-05 March 26

Re.:                             Animal Cruelty in Factory Farms and Feedlots
Submitted to:            General Assembly
Submitted by:            Greece, Ireland, Lebanon, Mexico, Norway
Date:                           March 26, 2023

Whereas Article 25, section 1 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care, and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”, and

Whereas Objective 6, of the UN CONVENTION ON ANIMAL HEALTH AND PROTECTION, “Protect animal welfare globally,” and  

Whereas Objective 7, of the UN CONVENTION ON ANIMAL HEALTH AND PROTECTION, “Protect animal interests globally (for instance: interest to live, to be free, well-treated, to be represented),” and

Whereas Objective 8, of the UN CONVENTION ON ANIMAL HEALTH AND PROTECTION, “Strengthen human obligations of responsibility, care and assistance towards animals,” and

Whereas Sustainable Development Goal #12 is Responsible Consumption and Growth, and

Whereas Sustainable Development Goal #13 is Climate Action, and 

Aware that the majority of farm animals in the world are factory-farmed, and

Alarmed that more than 100 billion animals are killed for meat and other animal products every year, which works out to hundreds of millions of animals every day, and

Aware that there are 400 feedlots in Australia and the largest has a capacity of 10,000 cattle, and

Aware that Australia ships $2.5 billion dollars worth of beef and $3 billion dollars worth of lamb per year, and

Concerned that factory Farmed meat more commonly contains the COVID-19 virus, and

Alarmed about methane gas produced by bovines contributes to 14% of all emissions leading to climate change, and

Aware that Australia agricultural industry produces 70m tonnes methane every year, and

Concerned that all factory farmed animals live their lives in cages or stalls hardly big enough to move and never learn to do anything except eat. They never are given a chance at life and are treated like plants. As these creatures are raised to do nothing they are never given a chance to change, and 

Alarmed about Factory farms being key culprits of droughts, floods, and bush fires. The Australian Black Summer bush fires of 2023 killed 3 billion animals and trillions of invertebrates, 

Be It Hereby Resolved That The General Assembly:
1.     Will develop a program called Omni Life Equals to drive towards improved conditions in all factory farms and feedlots. Factory farms and feedlots shall cleanse as well as sanitize floors and walls at least once a week or more. In order to prevent contamination of groundwater and local waterways, feedlots will be requested to store manure in sealed containers for the production of biogas with leakage of less than 1% OR store it in underground pits lined with non-permeable lining in a location above the water table at all times with a cover to prevent rainwater from causing an overflow. The animal feed shall be primarily protein-rich carbohydrates and ground in order to decrease methane production. The cattle feedlots will also provide hay for chewing to prevent acidosis and death which sickens other animals in the enclosure. Factory farms shall make the lighting mimic the outdoor lighting patterns.

2.     Cost: The UN will collect funds from Austria, Australia, and the USA of 10 million each with a total of $30 million dollars to provide funds to the factories and feedlots for the cost of industrial grade feed grinders, manure pits with impermeable lining and lids. These funds will be given in two installments with half of the money needed given to the farms at the onset and the other half at the 2 year mid program evaluation mark if they have made the suggested improvements (cleaning facility once a week, changing feed to ground protein-rich grains with supplement of hay, and proper management of manure) to their farm.

3.     Timeline: Omni Life Equals will be piloted in Australia as a means to determine effectiveness and to be able to make changes before expanding. Omni Life Equals will continue in Australia for 5 years with an evaluation of effectiveness occurring at 2 years to see if progress has been made. The UN will monitor progress which will be measured through methane emissions with the goal of a minimum of a 25% reduction of methane produced in Australia. If that goal is reached we will continue the program as is and if not we will begin other methods of reducing methane.              
     
4.Evaluation: If Omni Life Equals is successful, the plan to improve animal rights and living conditions within factory farms will be expanded to other nations with high rates of factory farms, such as the United States. 5.     Proposed Second Stage: After the successful 5 year plan, a second stage will be added where the factory farms will be responsible for funding the reforestation efforts through ReForest Now in order to revegetate losses from bush fires as well as from factory farms. All factory farms and feedlots will be encouraged to partner with ReForest Now, and will plant and maintain one hectare of native forest per acre of property of the factory farm itself. 


Resolution GA-06 March 26

Re.:                             Child Labor in China
Submitted to:            General Assembly
Submitted by:            Germany, China
Date:                           March 26, 2023

Whereas Sustainable Development Goal #3 is Good Health and Well-Being, and

Whereas Sustainable Development Goal #4 is Quality Education, and

Deeply concerned about 7.74% of children between the ages 10-15 are laborers although the legal working age in China is 16, and

Noting that one study found that on average, a child who works 6.75 hours a day has 6.42 fewer hours to study, and

Taking into consideration China’s less developed regions have more prevalent rates of child labor, and

Recognizing that China’s incredibly competitive economy makes companies take any opportunity they can to get a leg up over their competitors, even illegally, and

Affirming 1 in 3 children in child labor don’t do any school.

Be It Hereby Resolved That The General Assembly:

  1. The United Nations will create child abuse protective services (CAPS) to enforce labor laws and hope to protect children. They will start by exploring and investigating the factories in China. If this is successful, we will be going to work in Taiwan.
  2. We will hire as many inspectors as we can to go to the factories and investigate.
  3. We would like to see child labor go down in China at least 25%.

Budget

100 inspectors = $260k annually for the inspectors

3 trainers X 80k annually = $240k annually per trainer

Asking for $500k in total from any country that will donate

Bobbi

Bobbi Kennedy is the middle school coordinator for Civitas. She also helps with high school activities and keeps the web site from imploding.