UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development

Dear Delegates,

My name is Michelle Burschtin and I will be your director for the UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development of Harvard National Model United Nations 2010!

I am a sophomore at Harvard, and plan on concentrating in Economics or Government. I have lived in New York City my whole life, but my parents are from Uruguay so Spanish was my first language. I have been participating in Model United Nations since tenth grade. At Harvard, in addition to staffing the college and high school conferences, I am a part of the Intercollegiate Model UN Team. Outside of Model United Nations, I am a Business Editor for The Harvard Crimson and am learning Portuguese.

I am looking forward to meeting all of you and discussing the topic I have chosen for the conference. I believe that discussing the current economic crisis will be interesting and I hope we will all learn about the causes, effects, and possible solutions for the situation that we are currently in. This is a topic of utmost urgency and importance in the international community today and one that I hope you will all find very intriguing.

I believe that we will have a lot to discuss in committee, as we examine the issue not only economically, but also politically and socially. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns, and see you all in February!

Sincerely,

Michelle Burschtin
Director, UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development
Harvard National Model United Nations 2010

Topic Area: The World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development

The period of economic decline that the international community is currently facing will take a toll on countries in every corner of the world. The World Bank is already beginning to take precautions to restore growth internationally. However, this is not just an economic issue, also a political and social one. We can expect the recession to slow the pace of education and healthcare, while increasing starvation, crime rates and unemployment. This committee will concentrate on the economic crisis that the international community is currently experiencing. While the media has focused primarily on the effects of the American recession has had on Wall Street and Investment Banking, as time passes the whole world will be affected on a very large scale. The effects of this unprecedented global financial crisis will hit every country, especially because of the fact that globalization has intertwined many of the world’s markets in the past decades.

Delegates will consider not only initiatives for multi lateral economic solutions, such as stimulus packages, open market operations, bailouts, deficits, etc., but more importantly, the effects of the recession on international development. Delegates will also discuss matters of humanitarian care and assistance, such as unemployment insurance, vulnerability funds and aid.

Development: As the economy worsens, how can we prevent the decline of development? The development of the economic wealth of countries is imperative for the well being of inhabitants. During this time it important to do what we can in order to ensure economic, political and social stability internationally. This is an issue that affects the richest of nations of the world, developing nations, and every country in-between.

Multi-Lateral Action: With the intertwining of world markets, there are many actions that can be taken, economically and otherwise, to improve the crisis. Delegates should consider ways to stimulate the economy and take into account past solutions and actions that have worked throughout history.

Humanitarian: During these hard times, we can expect many of our humanitarian concerns to be raised. For instance, with increased poverty comes increased world hunger, as well as questions about providing healthcare, education and more. Since we can predict that these will be problems facing us in the following decade, what can we do today in order to prevent or improve them?