TAEHYEONG KO (taehyeong.ko@yale.edu)

Topic 1: Illicit Trafficking of Wildlife

The illicit trafficking of wildlife is a transnational organized crime that poses a serious threat to biodiversity, human health, and security. It is one of the most profitable forms of illegal trade, with the practice estimated to be worth billions of dollars annually. Illegal wildlife trafficking is driven by a number of factors, including that of demand for exotic pets, alternative medicine, and luxury goods. Fueled by corruption and weak governance, the illicit trafficking of wildlife has a number of negative impacts. It can lead to the decline and extinction of species, disrupt ecosystems, and spread diseases. It can also have a negative impact on local economies and communities that rely on wildlife tourism and sustainable use of natural resources. In order to combat the illicit trafficking of wildlife, this committee will address the root causes of the problem. How can governance and law enforcement be improved to combat wildlife trafficking? What role can international cooperation play in combating wildlife trafficking? What are the most effective ways to reduce the demand for trafficked wildlife products?

Topic 2: Child and Forced Marriages

Child and forced marriages are serious human rights violations, and disproportionately affect girls and women. Every year, an estimated twelve million girls under the age of eighteen are married. This practice has a number of negative consequences for girls and women, including dropping out of school, early pregnancy, increased risk of becoming victims to domestic violence and sexual abuse, poor health outcomes, and limited economic opportunities. Child and forced marriages are driven by a number of factors, including poverty, gender inequality, and cultural norms. They are often seen as a way to reduce the financial burden on families, to control girls’ and women's sexuality, and to uphold traditional values. To address the root causes, laws and policies against child and forced marriages must be strengthened. How can laws and policies against child and forced marriages be strengthened? What kind of support should be provided to girls and women who have been affected by child and forced marriages? What are effective ways to reduce poverty and gender inequality, which are known causes of child and forced marriages? Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that many cultures accept and promote child marriage. To what extent should these cultural systems be acknowledged while still challenging the negative impact of these practices?

ANDRE FA’AOSO (andre.faaoso@yale.edu)

Topic 1: Indigenous Resource Consent and Repatriation of Colonized Lands

Countries around the world have been formed through the act of colonialism, which is the act of taking control of lands that the colonizing party did not originally own. Indigenous and allied citizens are pressuring governments of colonized countries to repatriate lands that were taken from indigenous people by colonial forces. Alongside this, indigenous authorities within countries such as New Zealand and Australia have called for co-governance policies. Co-governance consists of equal representation of indigenous tribes and government officials at the decision-making table and is a form of governance that formalizes indigenous political voices within the legislative process. Implementing co-governance has led to divisive rhetoric over whether it should be adopted. Still, it has been referred to as an effective way to address resource consent and the possession of colonized lands. Delegates in this committee are encouraged to discuss how indigenous populations should be honored, and address the concerns of ethical resource consent and the repatriation of colonized lands. Delegates should find a resolution that honors indigenous rights and aims to consult indigenous populations on allocations of natural resources and ownership of land. Delegates will look at various intersections of society and determine how indigenous people should be better honored and included in important decision-making.

Topic 2: Non-Proliferation of Outer Space Arms and the Role of Space in Global Order

Outer space is becoming more accessible to governments and industries as space technology evolves and has grown countries’ ability to establish technological and geopolitical dominance. Relative to other countries, the United States, Russia, and China invest the largest proportions of their Gross Domestic Product into outer space projects and agencies. Past SPECPOL assemblies have emphasized that outer space should not be treated as an arms race, but instead a place for peace and cooperation. Competition between states has the potential to obscure further uses of outer space as a means to establish peace. Countries must outline their intended use of outer space, and consult whether it jeopardizes peace, order and cooperation between allies and other members. Delegates will cooperate on the terms of use of outer space technology and agree to the non-proliferation of outer space arms. Delegates will recommend how states can cooperate and peacefully use outer space to spearhead technological advancement. This forum will serve as a place for member states to form space agency and governmental alliances.

JENNIFER CENTA (jennifer.centa@yale.edu)

Topic 1: Addressing Food Insecurities in Conflict Zones

Within political unrest and armed conflicts, food insecurity becomes a critical and immediate threat. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) confronts this pivotal issue, understanding that conflict amplifies food shortages, leading to hunger and malnutrition of all affected civilians. As chaos and violence persists, UNEP strives to discover innovative and sustainable solutions to ensure that proper sustenance is able to reach the most vulnerable. Delegates will be immersed in a multifaceted discussion exploring how environmental sustainability, conflict resolution, and humanitarian action intersect. Delegates are also tasked with a crucial mission: establish reliable food access and consider how humanitarian aid distribution can be optimized. What sustainable agricultural practices can be introduced to enhance food security? What role does diplomacy play in mitigating food insecurities in conflict zones? Delegates will have to navigate this multifaceted topic, with the end goal of achieving a resolution that establishes nourishment and stability in the midst of adversity.

Topic 2: Preservation of Coral Reefs

Scientists estimate that ninety percent of the world’s coral reefs will die by 2050 due to climate change, pollution, and overfishing. These ecosystems are not only crucial to sustaining biodiversity, but they are also vital contributors to the global economy. Coral reefs support a staggering variety of marine life, some of which hold the key to groundbreaking medicines. However, the perilous state of coral reefs leads to declining fish populations, diminished tourism revenues, and increased vulnerability to coastal erosion. This topic challenges delegates to address the economic implications of coral reef preservation as well as the ecological consequences of reef depletion. How can nations mitigate economic losses associated with the decline of coral reefs and support affected coastal communities? What global strategies can be employed to combat climate change, reducing stress on coral reefs? How can the tourism industry balance economic benefits with reef protection? What role should marine protected areas play in conservation, and how can we empower local communities to participate actively in preserving these ecosystems? Delegates must come together to find comprehensive solutions to ensure the health and prosperity of both ecosystems and global communities.

JULIAN SUH-TOMA (julian.suh-toma@yale.edu)

Topic 1: Combating Human Trafficking

Today, millions of people will be quietly targeted, enslaved, and commodified by other human beings. Human trafficking, broadly acknowledged as a contemporary form of slavery, is multifaceted, intractable, and global. As this crisis marks the intersection of various urgent human rights issues– from gender violence to political displacement– it also poses a unique set of challenges. Human trafficking lacks a silver bullet, tracing its roots deeply and broadly, stemming from economic and social inequality, symptoms of global neoliberalism, and internal political turbulence. At the same time, effectively combating human trafficking also forces reformers to traverse through uncertain statistical terrain, as data collection and litigation procedures worldwide have yet to meet the complexity of the moment. In this absence of robust data collection and issue awareness, we are also in risk of “fighting the problem blindfolded.” In this committee, delegates will bring innovative solutions to address one of the most pressing and complex humanitarian challenges we face today.

Topic 2: Child Labor

In 2020, one in ten children worldwide were subjected to child labor. This is over 160 million children, exploited by the corporations that feed us, clothe us, and provide us with everyday services. From Nike to Samsung, not only is the scope of child labor immense, it is deeply ingrained into the global economy. However, not all child labor is created equal. In underdeveloped countries, children are more deeply integrated into the workforce, enforcing barriers to education, social mobility, and perpetuating violations of basic human rights. There are also varying severities of this global practice– the UN has identified a multitude of hazardous and extreme cases, ranging from dangerous work situations to commodification and forced prostitution. In this committee, delegates will approach the issue of child labor with the nuance of global positionality and imaginative resolutions.

JESSICA HUANG (jessicahuang.jh3359@yale.edu)

Topic 1: Accessibility to Healthcare

Over half of the world’s population lacks access to basic healthcare, while more are forced into extreme poverty due to healthcare expenses. Due to global and country-specific healthcare inequities that reduce access, life expectancy currently varies by thirty-four years between low-income and high-income countries. At the same time, healthcare inequities are slowing development and hindering sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Although progress has been made through investments in primary healthcare and service deliveries, there is still much work to be done. This committee will explore global healthcare inequalities such as wealth-related inequalities, availability of services, and social factors to consider a world where accessible healthcare for all can become reality. How can we reduce healthcare deserts? Is universal healthcare coverage attainable and how can countries take steps towards this goal? Global inequalities in healthcare must be addressed in order to ensure that all people around the world can receive the care that they deserve to receive.

Topic 2: The Impact of Algorithms & Tech on Healthcare

Technology has become an increasingly key component of healthcare around the world. From telehealth to the use of algorithms, including artificial intelligence, the introduction of technology into healthcare is meant to reduce error, increase efficiency, and – supposedly – reduce bias. Certainly, algorithms and technology have contributed to major breakthroughs in the medical field. However, many medical technologies are still relatively new, having been integrated in the late 1960s. It is crucial, then, to take necessary action against unintended negative consequences. Healthcare technologies should be used in a way that is safe and ethical, without putting patients at risk or increasing the social disparities that already exist within healthcare. When constructed and/or implemented incorrectly, or not carefully regulated, the use of technology in healthcare can exacerbate healthcare and social inequities. This committee will focus on the safe incorporation of algorithms and technology in healthcare, its potential impacts, and how to ensure the safety of all people and patients.

MICHAELA WANG (michaela.wang@yale.edu)

Topic 1: Education Curriculum and Access

Aboriginal Taiwanese students underperform their non-Aboriginal counterparts with lower enrollment rates, higher dropout rates, higher absenteeism, and lower literacy rates. At the center of these disparities is the persistent legacy of colonialism driving resource inequities and assimilative curricula, which endanger the cultural and linguistic identities for the sixteen Aboriginal tribes. In recent years, tribes and the Ministry of Education (MOE) have reformed education policy to bridge these disparities. In 1999, the MOE passed the Education Act for Indigenous People, which promised to provide all students at any stage of their 12-year Basic Education with opportunities to learn the languages, histories, science, and cultures of indigenous peoples through indigenous knowledge and history courses. In 2001, the MOE revised the Grade 1-9 Curriculum Guidelines to add local languages as a required subject. Yet the most prominent solution has been experimental education: inspired by charter school policy in the United States, the experimental school movement emerged in 1999, which Aboriginal communities co-opted starting in 2016 to preserve tribal culture and languages. Exploring the realm of education sovereignty, delegates must consider the issue of education disparities from a variety of different angles, evaluate the current policies, and work together to find sustainable solutions.

Topic 2: Rematriation of Traditional Territories

In this committee, delegates will think beyond just the de jure return of land by law (repatriation), but also the return to the indigenous ways in which it was used (rematriation). The sixteen officially recognized indigenous groups in Taiwan face the concern of not only repatriation but rematriation. In 1968, the KMT government began the legal registration of Aboriginal land in Taiwan as Aboriginal Reserve Land. Despite this, legal loopholes give the Taiwanese government and corporations access to indigenous land. For instance, if indigenous people do not cultivate the reserve land, the government allows villas, hotels, and factories to open. These establishments not only disrupt the communities but also degrade the environment. The legacy of these problems remains, as Aboriginal people have no full legal ownership over the land. Delegates will consider what rematriation looks like in the form of legislation, crafting policies that not only return ownership but bring Aboriginal people back in sacred relationship with their ancestral lands.

NICK LIU (nick.liu@yale.edu)

Topic 1: Protecting Tangible Cultural Artifacts

The idea that global colonialism — those systems of oppression upheld by schemas of race, wealth, and military might — is alive and well today can be evidenced from a trip to many major museums. The British Museum, for example, is known for the disputed legacy of its artifacts, many of which were taken during Britain’s imperial era. In recent years, there have been calls from formerly colonized nations that there is a moral obligation for these artifacts to be returned. Moreover, the notion that a first-world museum can thrive off of the tourist revenue and academic prestige from improperly-acquired foreign artifacts is considered to be reprehensible by many. Even in instances where explicit thievery, colonial or otherwise, cannot be proven, the question exists of what it means for an artifact to be collected and displayed. Should it be labeled unjust for cultural artifacts to be torn from their original context, to be relegated to the exhibits, private collections — worse, to the archives — of a first-world power?

Acknowledging these complexities, Western collectors and museum officials often raise in response the importances of accessibility, care for artifacts, and a global cultural education. In many cases, Western museums have made holds over individual artifacts to prevent their return to ongoing zones of conflict or other threat. How can we, as a global community, better balance the local-global dichotomy of tangible culture in creating a more equitable world for the acquisition of artifacts? What guidelines can we enact to facilitate the moral, safe, and efficient repatriation of individual artifacts? Specifically, what role can provenance laws play in preventing future acts of exploitation?

Topic 2: World Heritage in Danger

As the world grapples with the challenges of modernization, a new major challenge has emerged to the protection of World Heritage sites. Alongside the expected issues of war and conflict, environmental fluctuation, and urban encroachment, corporate activity has emerged as yet another pressing threat. Throughout the last three decades, around 140 UNESCO World Heritage sites have been hurt by mining, oil and gas initiatives, large hydropower projects, and other industrial advances. World Heritage sites—covering only 0.5% of the earth’s surface—are important havens for natural beauty, biodiversity, cultural preservation, and the well-being of indigenous peoples. As threats to these sites can have uniquely multifaceted consequences, it becomes of great importance to address possible solutions. What guidelines need to be implemented to better protect World Heritage sites from both natural and anthropogenic harm? How can we reimagine the human need for natural resources and living space in a way that acknowledges the cultural and natural significance of land?

ZOEY DUAN (zoey.duan@yale.edu)

This committee is a crisis committee. This committee will mimic a futuristic Taiwan that experiences a sudden sink due to an environmental crisis. Delegates will represent different Taiwanese governing entities/stakeholders and must collaborate to effectively respond to this ever-adapting crisis. This committee will have one topic.

Topic 1: D-365: Intelligence Received on Environmental Crisis

Three hundred and sixty-five days before the onset of what will be known as “The Great Sink” of 2030, government officials receive an anonymous tip that predicts an environmental crisis will soon be afflicted upon Taiwan. A National Disaster Response Unit is assembled with representatives from various government, environmental, financial, and humanitarian agencies to address and combat the impending catastrophe. Preparing and facing this crisis will require the collaboration of all such agencies to identify key strategies, balance priorities, and develop a multi-dimensional response plan that will not only ensure the safety of the Taiwanese people but also safeguard the long-term sustainability and growth of the country. But first, the unit must dissect Taiwan’s natural history, global trends, and the received intelligence to hypothesize the possible causes of The Great Sink and what secondary disasters or events may emerge from it. What factors are contributing to or accelerating the sinking? What defenses or failures in the current system may affect the trajectory of the crisis? Then, the unit must plan accordingly. What preventative measures can be feasibly implemented before the sink begins? What action plans should be executed during and after the crisis? The unit must carefully consider and prepare for every possible scenario while remaining flexible to adapt to new and unexpected situations.

SOPHIA CHIN MCMANUS (sophia.mcmanus@yale.edu)

This committee is based on the alternate vigilante/superhero reality of 1980s America as described by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in serialized comic book form. The plot and historical context of Watchmen are ingrained in Cold War alternate history, in which America won the Vietnam war with the help of Dr. Manhattan, an almost all-powerful superhero, and the Watergate scandal never happened. Delegates will be able to engage with both the real historical timeline and the divergences created by the comic book to discuss issues of national security and world peace.

Topic 1: Revisiting the 1977 Keene Act

In the year of 1977, the Keene Act was enacted into American law, thereby banning vigilantism and masked hero activity. The exceptions to this were heroes that were working within the US government at the time—Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian. The House Committee on Un-American Activities, now restructured to include members of masked hero groups such as the Minutemen, the Watchmen and other non-government parties, will gather in 1985 to reconsider this ban in light of rising crime rate, assassinations and disappearances of prominent figures and Dr. Manhattan’s sudden departure from earth that has thrust America into disarray. Members of this committee will not only debate the contributions and faults of masked crime fighters in the past, but also their potential for harming or sustaining future society.

Topic 2: Discussing the Nuclear Arms Race

In the Watchmen universe, Dr. Manhattan, a man with incredible super powers, was responsible for the USA’s overwhelming victory in the Vietnam war. His ability to manipulate particles at a subatomic level and cause mass destruction is viewed fearfully by other states, accelerating the nuclear arms race worldwide. The year is now 1985; the USSR is still alive and well in the alternate comic book timeline, and conflicts in areas such as Afghanistan have no end in sight. While Dr. Manhattan’s powers may be great, the US government cannot rely on him to prevent an all-out nuclear attack on America. The House Committee on Un-American Activities should not only scrutinize what side its members align with in the Cold War, but also debate and implement solutions before doomsday arrives. Is there hope for collaboration and peace as things are? Or should a greater, artificial evil be created in order to end human conflict?