Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee
The Question of Non-Self-Governing Territories
topic A: Absence of Accountability Measures on Administering Powers
topic B: Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Traditions
(Note: both parts A and B will be discussed throughout conference)
This year’s SOCHUM committee deals with the Question of Non-Self-Governing Territories through the lens of the role of Administering Powers and the preservation of cultural heritage and traditions. Non-Self-Governing territories, essentially modern colonies, have struggled to preserve their identities and basic rights in the face of powerful Administering Powers that fail to fulfill their minimum responsibilities. Their future as territories and as protected peoples invites the question of what it means to be a nation and all that can encompass.
Despite the conception of the list of non-self-governing territories in 1945, 17 territories remain, each navigating unique stories of self-governance, aspirations towards statehood, and cultural preservation. In recent years, Western Sahara and the Falkland Islands have come up in the news for their role in international relations with the former becoming a landmark action in the Middle East of the Trump administration that has caused the deterioration of relations between Algeria and Morocco and the latter’s referendum impacting Argentina-UK relations. Action within the UN has been minimal beyond annual meetings of the C-24 through SPECPOL that have yet to produce substantive change in treatment towards territories by their Administering Power state. In a territory’s efforts to achieve statehood or integration, the Administering Power state is responsible for hosting referendums and allowing the exploration of structures of self-governance. What happens when the Administering Power blocks such opportunities repeatedly? What impact does this have on the defense of the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities? Consider the impacts this has on the lived experiences of territory residents.
Parallel to this obstruction, for members of such minorities, protecting language, culture, religious identity, as well as tangible and intangible heritage are of primary concern. Various policies of accommodation have been devised to address cultural diversity, which range from assimilatory tactics to the active promotion of diversity. Within this debate, and in the context of an increasingly globalized world, the idea of multiculturalism looms large. While solutions to issues of territory can often be answered concretely, cultural preservation demands some more creative solutions. The question of effectiveness in proposed solutions is also problematic; in attempts to preserve a minority’s culture, it is not always evident whether policies are precisely and sufficiently targeting the cultural concerns of a minority.
Delegates of SOCHUM will be asked to come up with a resolution that addresses the social and cultural impacts of sidelining the processes of self-governance and sovereignty for non-self-governing territories and the role of SOCHUM and the UN moving forward. Delegates will also need to evaluate the UN’s authority and Administering Power system in relation to cultural heritage protection mechanisms and protections of minority groups, should non-self-governing territories and their peoples be categorized as minority groups.
Director's Letter:
Dear Delegates,
Welcome to Harvard National Model United Nations 2022 and the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee! I cannot wait to welcome you all to our committee in February!
I am a junior at Harvard originally from Boston, Massachusetts. At Harvard, I am concentrating in Government and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, or Modern Middle Eastern Studies. As you can probably guess, I am especially interested in international relations with a focus on the Middle East, where my family is originally from, and decolonization.
Outside of class, you can find me at the Institute of Politics, where I co-Chair Politics of Race and Ethnicity programs, at community events for the Society of Arab Students and the Harvard Islamic Society, or working at the Admissions Office on the Undergraduate Admissions Council. And of course, most importantly for us here, I am a part of the International Relations Council, where I travel for our competitive Model UN team and staff HMUN and HMUN Dubai, our high school conferences.
HNMUN 2022 will be my third HNMUN, after serving as Assistant Director of WTO and Legal for the past two years. Within the network of Harvard conferences, it will be my eighth conference as I competed as a delegate throughout my four years of high school, served as an Assistant Director of SOCHUM at HMUN 2020, Director of SPECPOL at HMUN 2021, and DISEC at HMUN 2022. Beyond HNMUN, Model UN as a whole has offered me so much. As an Arab-American, I began participating in Model UN during the start of the Arab Spring. Model UN offered a space where my identity and connection to other nations mattered, where straddling dual domestic and international identities held value.
As you likely know, collegiate Model UN offers a unique sense of community as you see many familiar faces conference to conference across the circuit. Whether it is your first college conference or your last, I hope Harvard National Model UN will serve you in the same way, linking you to the collegiate Model UN community and ensuring you leave with at least one more circuit friend.
This committee may involve some more abstract and original thinking on your part as you come up with resolutions, but it is meant to be an opportunity for creativity and collaboration as no one delegation will have the answers to it all. I hope it will challenge you to be constructively critical of the institution we all simulate.
As we approach conference, please reach out to me if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to introduce yourself. I truly cannot wait to meet you all!
Sincerely,
Janna Ramadan
Director of the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee
Harvard National Model United Nations 2022