NationStates Jolt Archive

UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION #9

Keep The World Disease-Free!
A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.

Description: While the hygiene standards of the world has certainly improved in the last 100 years, there is more to be done.

Every citizen in every land should have the right to:

At least one toilet in their house;
At least one washbasin in their house;
At least one of either a bathtub or a shower;
in order to comply with hygiene standards and prolong life expectancy.

Furthermore, vaccinations should be made available to the public, although they don't have to be mandatory.
Vaccinations against the big diseases such as:
Malaria, typhoid, rubella, cholera, polio, et al.

With the backing of the UN, we can give even our poorest inhabitants a nice, clean, healthy life.




My fellow delegates,

I have been slowly reviewing the resolutions and several have posed serious questions for my nation.

While resolution #9 touts itself to be aimed at reducing disease, I can't help but question the ineffective and costly means it suggests in doing so.

While having at least one toilet and one washbasin in every home is a noble idea, there are too many areas where plumbing does not reach and wells have to be dug to provide water. This resolution does not factor in the cost for providing those benefits, nor does it factor in the cost for the maintained and installation of plumbing, septic tanks, and various other items needed to meet the conditions of this resolution.

Furthermore, it does not address the millions of dwellings that have been built and exist throughout the world that were built before the creation of the resolution.

Finally, this resolution provides undue strain on nations with few resources by requiring an infrastructure to be created with goodwill being the only currency to pay for plumbing, septic systems and the like needed to meet the terms of this proposal. It also makes no effort to establish how the water needed to provide these amenities would be acquired and fails to realize that there are too many people in the world with shortages of drinking water and this resolution seriously reduces the water that would be available for purposes of consumption.

By the way the resolution is written; even a mountain cabin is required by international law to meet the terms of this resolution when many of those features are not necessities in the cabin.

I eagerly urge my colleagues to quickly draft a repeal that take so much of a limited precious resource from the thirsty people that truly need it. We should be focused on actual solutions to the problems of global disease. I find that having mandatory baths or showers are required when vaccinations are optional is the greatest flaw in a resolution that was intended to fight disease.

Alexander Thorne
Un Ambassador for Al Thera

I would urge you to write that repeal yourself and post it here. You've already articulated your arguments for the repeal of Resolution #9, and it would be a simple matter to put them in resolution format. Then others in the international community can help continue the drafting process and refine your repeal so that it can be successful.

At least one toilet in their house;Define what a toilet is and in what part of a house it has to be in. We consider an outhouse as part but do not build them right next to it. Most are at least 200 feet from the main house especialy a kitchen and dining area. For those cold night on don't want to run to the outhouse in the show we have what we call a #10 can under our beds. Which come morning we task one of our house servants to dispose of before night comes and we might have need of it again.

At least one washbasin in their house;Here in many homes they have such but since there is no requirement to provide direct water supply systems we simply send a servant to the creek and get water when needed.
At least one of either a bathtub or a shower;Again same as the washbasin we have one but in warmer times we prefer just to go down to the creek and take care of this process. Or during rainy season just get naked and step outside in the back yard and do our duty to nature and self.


Thus how is this costly as we saw no increase in cost when it was implimented as we had already been in complience with it. All had their outhouse, washbasin, and bathtub and shower. Only cost increase now is due to wages of servants going up that take out the #10 can and draw water for such to cover the extra work they do since now we take baths more often even during winter, like once a week not a month. So if you will excuse me it Monday so my time in the tub.

I see where you're coming from. Things were odd in the olden days, and digging through the past to burn the chaff is a noble enough effort. I'll pitch some feedback when I see a repeal.

I see where you're coming from. Things were odd in the olden days, and digging through the past to burn the chaff is a noble enough effort. I'll pitch some feedback when I see a repeal.

As will I, since this resolution was cited in another debate regarding the phrasing of rights. This, for instance, gives every citizen a right to a toilet, with no statement as to how that toilet is to be provided. Thus, it implicitly becomes the duty of the state to do so.

There was an different attitude in the early days of the NS UN, and this resolution reflected those carefree days. Under the current convention, this resolution is patently illegal, but those conventions cannot be retroactively applied to previously passed resolutions.

In the first place UN resolutions can only impact UN member states. The UN can't put a single toilet in a non UN nation if that non UN nation doesn't want it to, and I'm not even sure it can if it wanted to.

In the second place the resolution does nothing. The words used are "should have the right to" and there is no supporting or enforcement provisions. Yes this came from the carefree days when the UN actually passed "resolutions" as opposed to "legislation." Such feel good and do nothing resolutions, "I proclaim August 8 'be kind to werepenguins day' are blatently illegal under the new conventions because all resolutions actually do something, so they must at least say something that does something.

So this resolution does nothing. What would the repeal do? Something. Since the resolution is "Category: Human Rights Strength: Significant" the repeal would be the opposite but lesser in terms of power. Do we really want a reduction of human rights because some people don't like a badly worded useless resolution? Do we really have to explain to some of the idiots that push pencils and count beans in many of our nations that the repeal does not mean we have to go out there and dismantle toilets of mass destruction?

I don't know, that's why I'm asking. I'd say "why not" and go for it.

Do we really want a reduction of human rights because some people don't like a badly worded useless resolution? Do we really have to explain to some of the idiots that push pencils and count beans in many of our nations that the repeal does not mean we have to go out there and dismantle toilets of mass destruction?

I think people will view the repeal more positively is it is clear that there's something better on the way. A resolution addressing the basic needs of humanity in order to improve the quality of life is a good thing, but, as I've argued before, it has to be done correctly.

I think people will view the repeal more positively is it is clear that there's something better on the way. A resolution addressing the basic needs of humanity in order to improve the quality of life is a good thing, but, as I've argued before, it has to be done correctly.

Possibly two sets of standards. One can be for the more urban settings, where plumbing and such is already installed. While having a seperate set of standards for the rural areas, where (like mentioned in OP) plumbing is impratical.

We find it pretty hilarious that the UN is defining inalienable rights as "life, liberty and the pursuit of going potty".

This should be repealed and quickly, at the very least, to bolster the credibility of the UN.