NationStates Jolt Archive

Social Justice - Significant (?)

The United Nations recognises the enormous human suffering that can be caused by natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis, and by events such as famines, outbreaks of epidemic diseases, and water shortages. We also understand that the effects of these disasters can be proportionately higher in less economically developed countries (LEDCs), due to a number of factors including a higher population density, poorer infrastructure and distribution systems, and less developed healthcare systems.

While the UN applauds the actions of private charity organisations in the relief of such disasters, we are concerned that their relatively small scale, and lack of large quantities of monetary reserves, places their actions into the category of a delayed 'crisis management', rather than an instant response to a natural disaster, or attempts to avert potential problems before they become crises. Such charities are forced to wait until a disaster becomes sufficiently newsworthy to merit public attention, before appealing for money to fund relief operations that may take days or weeks to gain the funds to be fully put into effect. This causes what has been known as 'compassion fatigue' in the public, caused by exposure to a 'grief pornography' that elicits ever lesser contributions to ever more tragic crises.

The United Nations therefore forms a Disaster Relief Fund to provide rapid relief to people affected by natural disasters, funded by a levy of 0.05% of GDP from all nations possessing a level of GDP per capita the same or higher than the UN average, as measured by official UN figures. This levy will be voluntary, so as not to be classified as a tax, though we hope that moral duty and public pressure will cause individual states to contribute. Any individual state may contribute more than 0.05% of GDP if they wish.

The Fund will be adminstered by the United Nations Disaster Relief Committee (UNDRC), the precise form and makeup of which will be finalised at General Assembly level should this bill pass. The UNDRC will administer food, medical, and any other kind of necessary aid to disaster-affected LEDCs, working together with private charities where this is the most effective way of providing this aid. The UNDRC will also act to provide food or water relief to LEDCs in the early stages of droughts or famines, to avert human tragedies before they happen by supplying food and water before shortages cause the type of suffering that is currently necessary to elicit a public response. We hope that this will save many lives. This aid will never be conditional on quid pro quo arrangements, such as the enforced adoption of structural adjustment programs or import/export controls that favour donor countries' products over those of the disaster-affected nation.

The UNDRC reserves the right to take all steps necessary to ensure that aid reaches the people who need it and is not corruptly diverted for other purposes, and will take all legal steps to achieve this aim.

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I'm reasonably sure which of these paragraphs will get the most attention. If you can think of a better way to do it, let me know. :)

Considering.......



The IRCO
A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.


Category: Human Rights
Strength: Significant
Proposed by: Los chingados

Description: This legislation would hereby implement the International Red Cross Organization, an organization whose sole duty is to provide support for all the nations under UN rule. It functions as a non-profit organization and is run purely on donations and grants to prevent the corruption of government from interfering with its main goal to provide food, shelter, and humanitarian aid to those in need. They would be the first response team to natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and any other events which threaten the lives of citizens. May it be so that the interests of all the citizens in the free world be protected by such a humanitarian group such as the IRCO.

Votes For: 11,835
Votes Against: 1,600

Implemented: Mon Sep 1 2003


and........


Good Samaritan Laws
A resolution to restrict civil freedoms in the interest of moral decency.


Category: Moral Decency
Strength: Mild
Proposed by: Mikitivity

Description:
The NationStates United Nations,

RECALLING its resolution, the IRCO, adopted Sep. 1, 2003, which established the voluntary funded International Red Cross Organization (IRCO) for United Nations members in order to be “the first response team to natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and any other events which threaten the lives of citizens”;

OBSERVING that in addition to medical and law enforcement personnel, that these first response teams include technical and engineering professionals who in many non-emergency situations may be highly regulated by domestic liability laws;

CONCERNED that international disaster assistance programs like the IRCO as well as volunteer disaster assistance teams sent by other nations are limited in their effectiveness to quickly respond to disasters and emergency situations due to the lack of pre-existing disaster assistance arrangements, such as arrangements concerning the liabilities associated with volunteer response and recovery teams carrying out emergency aid;

1. AFFIRMS the right of nations responding to offers of disaster assistance to decide which offers to accept and which offers to refuse;

2. PROCLAIMS that nations responding to offers of disaster assistance also have the right to refuse assistance from specific individuals and / or types of aid;

3. CALLS UPON all nations to develop domestic “Good Samaritan” laws granting volunteer based first responder teams, including technical and engineering professionals, some immunity to civil liability associated with work and professional judgments made while rendering disaster assistance provided that they do not act with reckless or intentional disregard of known dangers; and

4. DECLARES that the immunity to liability associated with rendering aid applies only to work associated in disaster or emergency assistance, and that all other normal domestic laws should apply to these individuals.

Votes For: 10,303
Votes Against: 3,990

Implemented: Fri Oct 8 2004

And.........


Tsunami Warning System
A resolution to improve world security by boosting police and military budgets.


Category: International Security
Strength: Mild
Proposed by: Grosseschnauzer

Description: The NationStates United Nations,


DEEPLY REGRETTING the scale of the loss of life and property due to tsunamis;

AWARE that the some of causes of tsunamis include earthquakes, volcanic activity, landslides, and celestial impacts, but that the primary danger associated with a tsunami is related to the displacement of water (i.e. waves);

NOTING that these disasters can impact multiple nations at the same time;

EMPHASIZING that the citizens from non-coastal communities may be at risk while on vacation or business in coastal communities;

CONVINCED that by pooling resources to detect potential tsunamis, issuing warnings to the areas likely to be impacted, coordinating international aid efforts, and sharing research related to tsunamis, that nations can better prepare for these disasters;

1. ESTABLISHES a United Nations sponsored and funded Tsunami Emergency Warning Center (TEWC), to be staffed by a team of technical experts who can collect and monitor seismic and stage data in order to study the physics related to tsunamis in different locations, identify possible threats to populated areas, and issue warnings in the event of such a threat;

2. REQUESTS member nations to forward seismic data already being collected to the TEWC to aid in its research and monitoring program;

3. SUGGESTS that governments that do not have seismic networks work with the TEWC and other nations in order to enhance existing seismic monitoring and planetary and oceanography programs (which can be considered linked to police and emergency response budgets for the purposes of NationStates);

4. AUTHORIZES the TEWC to establish a network of land-based and deep ocean buoys and sensors to monitor changes in the water surface across the network, in order to confirm possible tsunamis created by earthquakes or volcanic activity as well as to observe and identify tsunamis created by other physical processes that are undetected by seismic waves (such as landslides or large scale impacts);

5. DIRECTS the TEWC to develop a standardized tsunami warning protocol that can be used in member nations that can be easily recognized by citizens and travelers;

6. MANDATES that the TEWC transmit advisory warnings to member nations based on its timely analysis of data collected by both the seismic and water surface monitoring programs;

7. CALLS UPON member nations to provide the TEWC with emergency contact centers that can quickly respond to tsunami warnings issued by the TEWC;

8. REITERATES the need for member nations to develop evacuation and response plans in the event of a tsunami warning by ensuring that adequate emergency response teams and equipment is available to deal with the likely damages associated with a tsunami appropriate for that nation;

9. EXPRESSES ITS HOPE that in the event of a tsunami disaster that nations will continue to offer humanitarian assistance to affected nations; and

10. ASKS that member nations work with the International Red Cross Organization to coordinate international tsunami relief efforts.


Based upon an original proposal by Tejasdom, with subsequent contributions by Mikitivity, Grosseschnauzer, and Groot Gouda.

Votes For: 15,961
Votes Against: 2,678

Implemented: Thu Jan 27 2005


And...........


Natural Disaster Act
A resolution to improve world security by boosting police and military budgets.


Category: International Security
Strength: Mild
Proposed by: Groot Gouda

Description: DEEPLY REGRETTING loss of life and material damages as a result of natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, floods, blizzards, etc;

NOTING that these disasters do not stop at national borders;

OBSERVING the Tsunami Emergency Warning Center as instituted by the Tsunami Warning System (Resolution #90);

NOTING that the aforementioned Resolution #90 has limited effect for other natural disasters;

ALSO NOTING that the measures implemented by this resolution can and should be used for further research and development of natural disaster warning systems;

1. DEFINES "natural disaster" as any disaster caused by (physical) geographical, geological or meteorological processes, including but not limited to earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, typhoons, floods, blizzards, etc;

2. ESTABLISHES a Natural Disaster Assessment Organisation (NDAO) which has the following tasks:
a. Conduct research on natural disasters, preventative methods and monitoring systems,
b. Coordinate international cooperation on this field, in scientific research and in practical solutions,
c. Create protocols for warning about possible disasters, evacuation plans and local disaster awareness programmes,
d. Maintain contacts with local authorities and local organisations in order to improve communication of information about possible natural disasters and how to respond to them,
e. Maintain contacts with national governments participating in the NDAO, the Tsunami Warning Center, and the UN;

3. EMPHASIZES that the NDAO is meant primarily for natural disasters with an international impact;

4. REQUESTS that member nations collect and share geological, meteorological and other relevant data with other countries and the NDAO to assist in monitoring, forecasting and researching natural disasters;

5. URGES all nations to establish and fund a National Geological Survey and a National Meteorological Office which can colelct data, contribute to the NDAO as well as work on a national or regional level on the monitoring of potentially dangerous sites and conduct research;

6. EMPHASIZES that technology alone is not enough, but warning and evacuating the population efficiently is just as important, as well as having plans for dealing with a disaster and the rebuilding of the affected region;

7. URGES all nations to contribute financially, organisationally or otherwise to the NDAO;

8. CALLS UPON all nations to provide care and assistance in case of a natural disaster, by themselves or through recognized UN organisations such as the International Red Cross;

The People's Republic of Groot Gouda would like to thank Grosseschnauzer, Mikitivity and the Nederland region for their input.

Votes For: 12,955
Votes Against: 3,094

Implemented: Sun Apr 24 2005


Why, please tell me, should we add to the weighty resolutions already in existance other than to increase our UN tax burden.

Enough already!

Resolution 29 establishes the IRCO, but provides no guaranteed funding for it.

Resolution 76 is about human actions rather than organisation and funding.

Resolution 90 is only about one specific, relatively rare type of natural disaster.

Resolution 100 is probably the best of these, but it doesn't cover famines, epidemics, droughts, etc., only 'one-off' natural disasters. It also concerns itself with 'international' disasters - so crises local to one country may not be covered.

And if you really don't want to contribute 0.05% of GDP to this (in Britain, the equivalent of about one CD album per year per person), then you don't have to.

In the light of your response, I will probably reword the proposal so that it doesn't overlap with 100. It will concentrate mainly on famines, droughts, epidemics, etc, rather than national disasters (and change the proposal name too).