Chairs:    Clara Yoon, Molly Zechar, International Academy

1. Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador

2. Protection of Human Rights of Workers

Economic and Social Council

ECOSOC

Topic One: Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador

Introduction:

          Surprisingly, one of the chairs spent the first eighteen days of her summer in Ecuador working with indigenous peoples through UNESCO.  She visited the Ilalo Community in the Andes (2 hours South of Quito) and spent a week in the rainforest with the Cofan Community (8 hours North of Quito) and the Siona Community (13 hours North of Quito).  For specific questions regarding her trip or the indigenous peoples she encountered (plus lots of pretty pictures) contact her at glow815@aol.com.

The root of the conflict lies in the fact that most of the Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador were once nomadic.  As industry grew in the nearby cities the lives of the nomads began to change.  Where they had one followed the migration of animals in the rainforest and across the Andes, cites and homes now stood in their way.  This eventually led the government to give each community an allotted plot of land.  No longer allowed to roam the country they were forced to settle on the land and create a means of supporting themselves.  After generations of migrating they were at a loss, this plunged the communities into extreme poverty.  The Ecuadorian Government began to provide seeds (for coco and coffee plants) to the communities at a low cost so that they could farm.  However there were several problems with this solution, mainly that very few individuals had farmed before.  Another problem was that the land was poor for farming, for instance, the layer of humus (soil the plants grow in) is only ten centimeters thick in the rainforest and the slopes of the Andes are very windy.  Farming in the rainforest also required the clearing of all trees and plant material severely hurting the forests diversity.  Needless to say, progress on this front was slow and many of the communities are still living in poverty.  

Current Situation:

          Along with the Ecuadorian government several UN bodies and NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) are trying to assist the indigenous peoples.  Together with UNESCO and SELVA (Fundacion “SELVA” Vida Sin Fronteras, Ecuador based) the Ilalo Community in the Andes and the Cofan and Siona Communities of the rainforest cooperate on a bamboo growing project.  Bamboo is grown in the rainforest (which is not as devastating to the rainforest as coco or coffee) and purchased by the UN for a US dollar a stalk and given to the Ilalo to build homes and schools (see picture).

With the bamboo and the money they receive from growing the bamboo they are able to build and buy necessary supplies (a certain quantity is provided monthly by the UN).  The goal here is to get the communities completely independent from the UN by providing them with partnerships to acquire needed supplies. 

          While there are positives there are also many negatives the indigenous peoples have to face.  Oil is a major export of Ecuador and it is found in the rainforest.  These communities are abused by the oil companies such as having hazardous material dumped on their land (see picture).  The people are forced to vote to maintain Ecuadorian citizenship, but receive little representation or consideration.  In addition, the continuous poverty has lead many young people from these communities to leave commune in search of a job to earn money to support their families.  This has resulted in a decline of the population following old indigenous traditions and a mainstreaming of the Ecuadorian culture.  This is similar in nature, but not yet to the degree, of the assimilation of Native Americans in the United States.

Goals of the Committee:

Focus Questions:

Web Links:

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Protection of the

Human Rights of Workers

Introduction:

            There are many areas of workers’ rights from having equal opportunity for employment to having the right to form unions once employed. This session of the Economic and Social Council will focus on protecting workers’ rights to a safe employment, or protection from abuse in the workplace.

            The workplace can be an extremely dangerous place. However, there is much that can be done on the parts of the employers in order to minimize the hazards.

            Unfortunately, employers worldwide do not sufficiently protect their workers from these dangers and sometimes employers subject their workers to more dangers, as well. Abuse can range from pecuniary abuse like refusing to pay wages to physical abuse, which can include sexual abuse. Other examples of worker abuse include physical violence to workers, excessive work without rest, and forced confinement.

            This sort of abuse is most prevalent in the cases of women workers, children workers, and migrant workers.

            This is still a rather broad scope of the issue, but remember, it is up to you guys on the day of SEMMUNA as to which direction will be taken. We suggest that research is focused on migrant workers (as the UN Commission on the Status of Women is focusing on combating trafficking of women and girls and the International Labour Organisation is focusing on youth employment).

Current Situation:

            In Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html), it is stated that workers have the right to “just conditions of work” and “renumeration which ensures an existence worthy of human dignity.” Furthermore, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/declaris/DECLARATIONWEB.INDEXPAGE) was adopted in 1998 to “uphold basic human values” in the workplace worldwide.

The Human Rights Watch has reported that governments fail to properly monitor employers and have thus failed to take action against abusive employers. Because of this laxness, the cases of abuse have grown.

Migrant workers, because they are from other countries, face much more adversity when being employed. There are discriminatory attitudes that contribute to the heightened levels of abuse. In addition, migrant workers are at a disadvantage for they do not have the knowledge necessary to fight back. If the migrant workers are undocumented, there is also the fear of being deported that keeps them from complaining about the abuse.

In order to combat this abuse, the UN has set up a Committee on Migrant Workers (see below for web link) and has made declarations of the rights of Migrant Workers (also see below).

            However, migrant workers still suffer from abuse in the workplace. Even though the UN, as well as the governments of countries, has striven to eliminate such abuse, it still persists. Your goal today is to improve on already existing programs and perhaps begin some new initiatives to aid the workers (especially migrant workers) suffering from abuse.

Goals of the Committee:

Focus Questions:

Web Links: