Topic A: Re-establishing and Amending the Arab Court for Human Rights (ACHR) Statute
On September 7th, 2014 the League of Arab states approved the Statue of the Arab Court of Human Rights (ACtHR) finalizing a twenty-year process to place a set mechanism and charter to protect the rights of Arab citizens. The rectification was done with the aim of amending and revising the 2004 Arab Charter on Human Rights, which was unfortunately unsuccessful in constructing a secure and protected human rights foundation. Though, the re-establishment of the statute has received a mass of criticisms regarding unknown procedures, undocumented and vague proceedings, and obscure developments. Arab states have been working closely to promote peace, security and sustainability, therefore, the significance of officially assembling and implementing this charter is tremendous. Delegates will be tasked with:
Discussing the provisions and conditions of re-establishment.
Setting up guidelines to ensure provision regulation.
Proposing foundational clauses to adopt.
Many countries have discussed the reason behind the failure of the Statute of the Arab Court of Human Rights (ACtHR). Unlike its equivalent in other parts of the world, the Arab Charter on Human Rights has no court to interpret and enforce it, which causes it to remain a paper document. The Kingdom of Bahrain has proposed setting a court which is based within its borders, but the highly politicized justice system in the region makes it nearly impossible. Delegates may either add or edit rights and articles, discuss ways to overcome obstacles to ensure the ratification of the articles placed, or discuss ways to equate or distinguish the Arab charter of human rights to the universal human rights.
Please note that the procedure will differ for topic A only.
Topic B: Combating Vanishing Water Aquifers and Irrigation in the MENA Region
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures or unconsolidated materials, which can be extracted using a water well. Water aquifers are extremely important for the MENA region, as groundwater is the main source of water in 54% of MENA countries (some of the world’s most water-stressed countries). However, aquifers in MENA are coming under increasing strain due to unsustainable and inefficient use (the Middle East has the highest per capita consumption of domestic water in the world with 40-50% leakage in urban systems), ineffective preservation policies and deteriorating water quality (due to contamination from careless inhabitants and insufficient sanitation infrastructure). In this case, demand for freshwater is outpacing supply, which may trigger competition among water purifying sectors; though there might be an uncertainty in outcome, as prices might escalate (negative effect) or there might be an increase in water quality (positive effect) *motive to improve equipment*. Plus if governments/citizens are not mindful of their usage of water supply, the costs of restoration will be exorbitant (economic concerns). Additionally, water scarcity has become a critical constraint to agriculture as about half of irrigation water is wasted due to inefficient methods and misguided techniques, thus depleting the scarce water supply at a faster rate. Therefore, delegates must propose solutions regarding this ongoing issue, considering the region’s growing population, through either: proposing alternative water sources or setting provisions aimed at regulating groundwater use and overseeing vanishing aquifers.