Asociación De Naciones Unidas De La República Dominicana (Anu-Rd)

Security Council

2002 New York Metropolitan Area Model United Nations Conference

History of the Security Council

The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 Jun 1945 thereby concluding the United Nations Conference on International Organization. It went into effect a few months later on 24 Oct 1945. This gave birth to the Security Council as well as the other main bodies of the United Nations.

Articles 23-32 of the U.N. Charter deal specifically with the Security Council. Originally Article 23 only called for eleven members, while Article 27 stated that the number of affirmative votes needed on procedural matters was seven. However, on 17 Dec 1963, amendments were adopted to Articles 23 and 27. These amendments were enforced on 31 Aug 1965. The amendment to Article 23 increased the Council’s member size from eleven to fifteen. The amendment to Article 27 increased to number of affirmative votes needed on procedural matters from seven to nine. Those were the last changes made that affected the inner mechanisms of the Security Council.

Five of the Security Council’s fifteen members are permanent members. They are the United States of America, Russian Federation, France, the People’s Republic of China, and the United Kingdom. It is the duty of the General Assembly to elect the other ten non-permanent members. These non-permanent members are elected to two-year terms.

The Security Council has, arguably, the greatest power of any of the bodies present in the United Nations. It’s overall objective is maintaining international peace and security. Its functions ( include:

• To recommend to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary General and, together the with the General Assembly, to elect the Judges of the International Court
• To exercise the trusteeship function of the United Nations in “strategic areas”
• To take military action against an aggressor
• To recommend the admission of new Members and the terms on which States may become parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice
• To call on Members to apply economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggression
• To formulate plans for the establishment of a threat to peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken
• To recommend methods of adjusting such disputes or the terms of settlement
• To investigate any dispute or situation which might lead to international friction.

In accordance with the United Nations Charter, the Security Council acts pretty much on it’s own. It is, however, required to make annual, and sometimes special reports for review and consideration to the General Assembly. Under the Charter, all Member States of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. While other organs of the United Nations make recommendations to governments, the Council alone has the power to take decisions, which Member States are obligated under the Charter to carry out.

Topic I. The Situation in the Middle East: Water Rights

“Water is needed in all aspects of life. The general objective is to make certain that adequate supplies of water of good quality are maintained for the population of this planet, while preserving the hydrological, biological and chemical functions of ecosystems, adapting human activities within the capacity limits of nature and combating vectors of water related diseases” (Agenda 21)

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Within the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) areas of Israel, there is a lack of many human resources that are essential to maintain even the most basic standard of living. Water is one such resource that is in short supply to Palestinians throughout Israel. Residents within the overcrowded Gaza Strip area have access to “50% less water than what the average American has access to daily.” In reality, the water crisis existing between Israelis and Palestinians is not only one of insufficient supply, but also a lack of equal distribution. There is indeed a shortage on the horizon as Israel’s Water Commissioner, Meir Ben-Meir, stated “at the moment I project a water scarcity in 5 years. I can promise that if there is not sufficient water in our region, if there is scarcity of water, if people remain thirsty, then we shall doubtlessly face war.”

During the summer of 1999, many Palestinian farmers residing in West Bank had their water allotments cut by 40%, due to drought and shortage of water in the Sea of Galilee. However, domestic consumption within the Israeli settlements was unaffected by the imposed water cuts. Farmers and homeowners were still allowed to water gardens, plants and lawns.

One major stumbling block in the Middle East peace negotiations has been the struggle by Palestinians to gain unfettered access to clean water. The state of Israel has absolute control over the flow and allocation of water to the WBGS. The main water source for this region is the Jordan River drainage basin. There have been agreements made on the topic of water in nearly every round of peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis since the late 1970’s. This is particularly true in the case of the Declaration of Principles from the Oslo accords, the Cairo Agreement and the Taba agreement.

These three agreements contain water-related provisions and spell out principles designed to resolve these “water wars”, for lack of a better term. By law, Palestinians are entitled to access the underground aquifers of West Bank and Gaza, and are also allowed access to the Jordan River basin. However, Palestinians are only receiving 15% of their water from the WBGS aquifers and are currently being denied all rights to access water from the Jordan River.

A problem often encountered while attempting to reach a solution to the water crisis is that none of the major international frameworks for solving riparian/resource disputes are binding. Although they provide a basic framework for resolution of riparian disputes, the Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers (1966), the Complimentary Rules applicable to International Resources (1986) and the Seoul Rules on International Groundwater, are not binding in international law.

In 1999 at the Fifty-Second Session of World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Assembly, the Director of Health for the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA)presented a comprehensive report on the health and living conditions of Palestinians within the Occupied Territories for the year of 1998. This report contained a WHO survey of Nutrition and Anemia within the Occupied Territories, in part to measure the purity of water available to Palestinians. The results of the survey showed that signs of lead poisoning and high levels of salinity, often five times more than international standards allow, are present within the water supplied to Palestinians.

Also discussed in the survey is the lack of proper waste disposal facilities within the WBGS areas. UNRWA and WHO statistics state that only 66% of Palestinian households in the West Bank are connected to sewage removal systems. The situation is even more alarming in the Gaza Strip, where the number of homes with proper waste disposal systems decreases to 47 percent. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has accused Israel of dumping wastewater through a pipeline directly over the border, and into Gaza Strip. The PNA claims that as much as 500,000 cubic meters (cm) of wastewater has been dumped in Gaza over a two-week span. The dumping of this wastewater could affect the underground water resources of the area. Within Gaza, there are no above ground water resources; therefore the dumping of polluted wastewater could possibly affect the only source of consumable water in the area.

Groups such as UNRWA are strongly concerned with the disparity that exists in not only water quality, but also the quantity of water available to Palestinians both for household and agriculture use. Indicators of these disparities are in per capita water consumption ratios by Palestinians versus Israeli settlers. In the WBGS areas, the per capita water consumption in units of cubic meters (cm) favors Israeli settlers to Palestinians at an astounding rate of 13 cm to 1. In addition, Palestinians are forced to pay exorbitant rates for their water supply. Whereas settlers pay $0.40 per cm for domestic use and a highly subsidized rate of $0.16 cm for agricultural use, Palestinians pay a standard rate of $1.20 per cm for their piped water, of which only 26% - 40% of Palestinians are privileged to have access.

Israel has maintained that their responsibility is to provide ample water supply to all residents of Israel. Israeli has steadfastly denied giving any preferential treatment to settlers. However, a spokesman of the Jewish Ariel settlement stated, ”Certainly in any interim period it’s absolutely mandatory that Israel maintains control of the water sources that are necessary to maintain the people of Israel”.

Palestinians are also prevented from utilizing WBGS underground water resources, which are the only source of water in the Gaza region (WHO 5/3/99). In one Palestinian camp outside of Hebron, roughly 7,000 people rely on water that is supplied to them by the UN. Unfortunately this water supply runs for only two hours per day. Within Hebron itself, a single water source provides water to over 100,000 refugees (BBC 8/26/98). Israeli Water Commissioner Meir Ben-Meir, has generously stated,“ Israel will not irrigate cotton, and let Palestinian children die from thirst” (quoted in Stutz 1994). There are flaws to this Israeli thought process. Namely, Palestinian society as a whole is not merely fighting for domestic water rights, but also the right to equitable water use in order to assist in the development of their industrial and agricultural sectors.

These Israeli practices are especially harmful when you consider that agriculture represents roughly one third of the Palestinian gross domestic product (GDP) (5.4.2). Simple access to available water resources is not a reality. Permission for well-drilling must be obtained from Israeli military authorities and only 23 permits have been granted for wells since 1967, with only three permits being for agricultural use (The Water Commission 1993). However, the share of agriculture in the gross domestic product has declined from 40% in 1988 to 22% in 1995, while still employing about 14% of the total labor force (PDP 5.4.2).

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through their Program of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP), has cooperated with the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Agriculture, to provide technical expertise and capital investment on various projects, aimed at assisting the agricultural and economic sectors of the WBGS. Through generous donations from UN member states, UNDP/PAPP has been able to lay the groundwork for initiating many projects ranging from water harvesting to agricultural policy formation.

U.N. Secretary - General Kofi Annan recently stated that the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians required “statesmanship and vision, in order to solve this unique and challenging situation”. Despite international intervention in this problem, the struggles that exist between the Israelis and Palestinians remain an internal problem that must be solved between their representative governments. Until Palestinians are given social and civil rights equal to that of Israelis, conflicts within the borders of Israel will continue to be fought. Israel’s discriminatory water practices only tell a portion of the Palestinian story. Palestinian society is at a crucial point in history. Without lasting peace, the Palestinians of the WBGS will be forced to continue to base their economy and lives around uncertainty. For now, Palestinians continue to find difficulty in realizing any true sense of social or economic growth, with the constant threat of total isolation looming just one stone’s throw away. Is the violence in the WBGS, and the entire Middle Eastern region for that matter, a direct result of this “resource warfare”? How will the paucity of freshwater and the inequality of distribution affect the area 10 or 15 years down the road if not handled properly now? What role can the SC play in a riparian dispute?

References

Adams, Paul. (2000), BBC News, 9 January 2000.

Adams, Paul. (1998), BBC News, 26 August 1998.

Elmusa, Sharif S. (1996) Negotiating Water: Israel and the Palestinians

Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington, D.C.

Gardner, Frank. (2001), BBC News, 13 March 2001.

Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, “Divide and Rule: Prohibition on Passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank”. Jerusalem: B’Teselem, March 1998

Isaac, Jad. (1993), “Core Issues of the Palestinian- Israeli Water Dispute”. Applied Research Institute, Jerusalem (

Kantor, Shmuel. “The National Water Carrier”, (Ha’Movil Ha’ Artsi).

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“Palestinian Economy in Shambles.” New York Times, 7 April 2001

Palestinian National Authority. (1999), Palestinian Development Plan.

The Water Commission for the study of Water Conditions in the Third Round of Talks of the Multilateral Negotiations on the Water Issue (1993), “Report on the water conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories”

Welsh, Paul. (2000), BBC News, 2 June 2000.

World Health Organization. “Health conditions of, and assistance to, the Arab population in the Occupied Territories, including Palestine” 5/3/99

Sabbah, Walid and Isaac, Jad. (1995) “Towards a Palestinian Water Policy” 26-28 June 1995, Applied Research Institute, Jerusalem

UNSCO, Press Release, 13 February 2001

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UNSCO, “The Impact on the Palestinian Economy of the Recent Confrontations, Mobility Restrictions and Border Closures, 28 September- 19 October 2000”

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Topic II. Emergency Session

The United Nations Security Council is prepared to deal with conflict twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The Security Council’s duty is to deal with conflict on a case-by-case basis. The world’s crises are unforeseen and they can become a threat to peace and security at a moments notice. It will be the duty of the METRO Security Council to respond to a crisis. Depending upon the crisis and its severity, a certain amount of your time and sessions will be spent dealing with an emergency crisis. More information will be made available as the conference approaches. We suggest that all students representing countries in the Security Council prepare for the crisis by researching and knowing current events.

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