COMMITTEE INTRODUCTION

For 75 years, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has stood for a powerful truth in our world: “Every child has the right to grow up, to be educated and nurtured, to be protected and raised to contribute to our ever-growing society.” The agency asserts that the rights of children should be established on ethical standards and advocates for a universally applicable framework that ensures every child, regardless of their place of birth, is entitled to these rights. With its presence in more than 190 countries, UNICEF has delivered life-changing outcomes across the globe, with 2022 being one of its most remarkable years regarding its increase in contribution towards humanitarian assistance, and remarkable achievement regarding saving children of a few specific countries undergoing certain crises, such as the war in Ukraine, flooding in Pakistan, and severe drought in Ethiopia. UNICEF also publishes an annual report of its funding to ensure equal distribution and provide clearance in the facilities and programs it is using its funds for.

 

Over the last 4 decades, drug use among juveniles has become more and more prevalent even with the intervention of UNICEF. The additional supplement of newer drugs such as marijuana, heroin, and especially vape to the traditional licit substances of alcohol and tobacco, gave rise to both quantity and variability of such drugs within middle school and high school. UNODC reports that in America during a 20-year period from 1970 to 1990, by the time teenagers reach 8th grade, over 25% of them have had a drink, and the prevalence doubles when they reach senior years. The problem beyond is rehabilitation programs and centers for the youth, where in reality there are not enough centers for teens to access and rehabilitation methods are usually ineffectual. 

 

Although being able to pinpoint drugs as one of the many major problems affecting teenagers in their development, UNICEF has been frozen in place as most of its focus was more on supporting individual projects that assist with juvenile drug abuse, and not hosting programs and training by themselves. UNICEF’s assessment of the activities that promote drug prevention among youth is also limited, which such a remark should be in the view of this year's HMUN Mock #18 UNICEF delegates.

 

Topic

“Facilitating drug prevention and rehabilitation methods among the youth” 

Delegates would be diving into the multifaceted areas of facilitating proper drug prevention and rehabilitation methods among the youth.