United Nations Educational, Scientific,

and Cultural Organization

Introduction:
Hello, delegates! My name is Bethany Hansel, and I am so excited to be your director for this
committee! The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is
a committee within the United Nations that seeks to build peace through international
cooperation in education, the sciences and culture. One of UNESCO’s jobs is to ensure that all
children across the world have access to a high quality education. You all are going to be a part
of helping ensure this by coming up with solutions to a real-world issue that millions of children
across the world are currently facing: a lack of access to a quality education. Education,
especially in poor countries, is extremely important to helping countries develop socially,
economically, and politically. Kids who go to school are much more likely to succeed in life, get
a job when they are older, and help their country become a wealthier, more prosperous, more
equal, and more peaceful place. However, when millions of kids in a country aren’t able to go to
school, that country becomes stuck in a cycle of poverty, violence, and inequality. It is up to you
to come up with solutions that makes sure kids in these poor countries are able to get to school.

Topic 1: Improving access to education

According to the United Nations, 265 million school-aged children are currently not attending
school. Here are some of the reasons why:

Distance. ​Not having school buildings or

staff members nearby is one of the main
issues that keep children from being able to
attend school, because they will have to
travel a long distance just to get to a school.
Additionally, there are often much less
middle and high schools than there are
elementary schools in poor countries, which
discourages children from continuing on to
middle and high school because since there
are much less of them, they are usually
much farther away. Having schools that are
far away makes it not only difficult for
children to make it, but can be dangerous as
well, as children are sometimes kidnapped
on their way to school.
Fees. ​For families in poverty, it is much
more difficult to send children to school.
Many public schools in poor countries
require that families pay a fee for their child
to attend school. However, many families
often cannot afford these fees, and studies
have shown that many children do not go on
to middle and high school because it is so
much more expensive. Because school is so
expensive in some regions, families
sometimes have to engage in dangerous,
illegal, or excessive work simply in order to
afford the education that will grant their
children the opportunity to go to school.
School fees, in addition to simply keeping
students from being able to attend school,
place a great deal of extra burdens on
students’ families that should not be placed
on families that are already struggling.
Child labor. ​Often, families in poverty will
send their children to work in order to bring
in extra income for the family. In 2016, 152
million children were child laborers, and 36
million children aged 5 to 14 were not
attending school at all due to work. The
children that do work and attend school face
their own set of obstacles in relation to their
education. Working children who also attend
school often perform much lower in school
because of the physical, emotional, and
mental toll that working takes on them, and
due to the fact that they do not have as much
time to study and complete assignments
outside of school as their non-working
peers.
Water.​ ​Water is a necessary element
to life. Unfortunately, millions of people
across the globe struggle to obtain this basic
life necessity.​ ​In sub-Saharan Africa, 319
million people struggle with access to water,
and have to walk for miles every single day
to obtain water for themselves and their
families. The task of travelling to and
collecting water falls generally to women
and children, who have to walk an average
of 3.7 miles a day, and sometimes much school because they have to spend so much
farther. This lack of access to water and the time gaining access to their basic life
significant time that obtaining water takes necessities.
up acts as a barrier to children’s education,
as they are often unable to attend school or
they end up missing significant amounts of

What to expect during committee:

Model United Nations follows parliamentary procedure, which the committee director will walk
students through as it goes. First there will be a role call, and then afterwards the dias will expect
a representative to raise their placard, wait to be called on, and then ​motion to open debate​.
Delegates will partake in moderated caucuses (where one person speaks at a time) as well as
unmoderated caucuses (where delegates will be encouraged to walk around, talk to other
delegates to discuss their ideas and form teams made up of people with similar ideas, and draft
their resolutions). When motions for moderated debates are proposed, delegates should also
designate the length of time and point of discussion (e.g. a ten minute moderated caucus with a
forty-five second speaking time to discuss local solutions to combat global warming). Delegates
are expected to research their country’s position on the topic (what the country has done before
to address the issue at hand, how their country feels about the issue, etc.) as well as brainstorm
solutions that they and their country would think would work to solve the issue. Delegates will
be expected to write position papers prior to the conference to turn in to the dias. Delegates will
also be allowed to bring a small binder with any notes they want to have on them during
committee. During unmoderated caucuses, delegates will work together to write down all their
solutions to the issue at hand to be turned into the dias. All the delegates must then vote on the
resolutions and pass them with a majority ruling.