United Nations Commission on Population and Development
Family Planning
Family planning allows women to control the number of children they have and the intervals at which they become pregnant through both contraceptive resources and fertility treatment. These services empower women with greater autonomy over their bodies and lives. More broadly, family planning can lower fertility rates, which can have serious implications for population levels and lead to social, environmental, and economic development. Thus, over the course of the conference, delegates will design policies and legislative solutions to increase access to family planning or otherwise to achieve the goals of family planning through less mainstream methods.
Of course, there are elements of family planning that can be controversial in some cultures. Delegates will work to design creative solutions to the reservations that some governments and societies may hold against certain family planning services. They will also research existing family planning methods that they can implement in the countries they represent. Overall, this committee will enable delegates to think innovatively about what types of policies may help to provide women with reproductive healthcare resources while also contributing to their country’s development as a whole.
Director’s Letter:
Dear Delegates,
Welcome to the Commission on Population and Development (CPD)! My name is Nithyani Anandakugan, and I could not be more thrilled to be your director at Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN) 2022!
I am a junior at Harvard College studying history with a secondary field in economics. I grew up in Acton, Massachusetts—a town not too far from Harvard’s campus and the city of Boston. Acton also happens to be the place where Steve Carell (Michael Scott from The Office) grew up.
In high school, I was involved with student government, our school newspaper, and the Speech and Debate team. These activities all taught me the value of public speaking and collaboration. Outside of school, I learned Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance form. Currently, I write for the Harvard International Review (HIR). The magazine gives me a platform to write and to share my ideas outside of the classroom. I have also tutored elementary age students in the Cambridge area through a program called CASP. This usually involved a couple of worksheets and then a lot of candy.
I discovered the wonderful world of MUN as an assistant director for UNEP at HMUN 2020 (our sister conference for high school students). I learned a great deal just from listening to delegate speeches. More importantly, I had fun, which is why I came back for more! Last year, I directed a similar CPD committee at HMUN 2020, and this year I am serving as USG ECOSOC for HMUN. What struck me most about the model UN experience is the diversity of the delegates. Competitors at HMUN come from all over the country. This also means that delegates bring to committee a variety of perspectives.
Our committee will revolve around the issue of family planning. We will discuss the importance of family planning in providing women with more autonomy over their lives and bodies, and we will innovate ways to increase access to family planning services globally. I hope that this committee will give delegates the opportunity to have a respectful discourse about these meaningful issues and to collaborate with one another to produce insightful ideas along the way!
I’m looking forward to meeting you all at the conference! If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out!
Sincerely,
Nithyani Anandakugan
Director, Commission on Population and Development Harvard National Model United Nations 2022