UNDP
Topic: Philippines Tycoon Recovery
Hello delegates! My name is Emma Guo and I am a junior at Mission Viejo High school with the honor of being your chair for the upcoming UNDP Novice Committee. Having been involved with MUN heavily since freshman year, I cannot imagine my high school career without it- a feeling that I wish to share with you at MVHSMUN’s 31st annual conference. Outside of MUN, I am the Vice President of MVHS Key Club, a volunteer at Mission Hospital, a member of CSF, secretary of the Let it Be club, and a candidate for the IB program. I look forward to creating the most interactive and helpful learning experience possible for MUN that can be possible with your cooperation through research and giving your best effort, which will help MUN open doors for you to improve your public speaking skills and build your awareness of global issues. In committee, you will be debating and forming solutions while collaborating with other delegates. MUN is a hidden treasure of high school and is an amazing experience that I hope to add to with this conference. I look forward to meeting you in committee!
Position Paper emails are on the novice website under UNDP
Philippines Typhoon Recovery
Background
Around eight months ago, a tragedy unforeseen unraveled on December 4th, 2012 when the landfall of a violent and nation-changing category 5 super typhoon struck the Philippines at 160mph; Typhoon Bopha slammed full force into south-eastern Philippines, shattering both innocent Philippine citizens’ lives and coastal cities and villages on the Mindanao region. Known locally as “Pablo”, a typhoon of this catastrophic extent has not been seen since 1812 and over 200,000 homes and more than 1,000 lives were taken as well as mass evacuation of the area totally around 6.2 million people overall that were affected by this super typhoon. Despite the widespread disaster of miles of infrastructure and the aftereffects, awareness and media attention has reached minimal levels compared to level of support needed.
Insufficient funding and minimal awareness has led to less than 50% of the funds needed to help successfully clean up vast areas of abandoned coastlines which are left barren and uninhabited. After Typhoon Bopha, the aftereffect of this typhoon continues to hinder Philippine quality of life. The Philippines needs to rebuild and empower reconstruction efforts to restore coastline towns. This includes not only finalization on the clearing of debris, but also the rebuilding of roads, railroads, bridges, and other structures affected by the typhoon. The recurring issue of disposing the wreckage caused by the disaster has been monumentally slower than predicted; by reducing the wreckage and damage in the Philippines and replacing it with towns again, many jobs and homes will be created along with the decrease of poverty.
Along with architects, town planners, and scientists, a reliable plan that addresses coastal reinforcements that are not manmade are preferably necessary. The offered protection of these would be an economically and environmentally-friend method of defending reconstructed cities.
The importance of rebuilding is not only to replace what was once there, but to improve upon it. The Philippines hopes to repopulate disaster-stricken areas with more modernized, technologically and medically advanced areas. Education and health sectors are vital in these areas to be added because of the lack of medical and educational availability of schools or clinics. The more that education is integrated into modern Pilipino society, the more beneficial. Giving the younger generation the opportunity to enroll in schools is a long-term investment because when they grow up, they will be the next generation of leaders as well. Many coastal cities have populations of children that go straight to working in factories or family businesses rather than enrolling in higher levels of education. The availability of health and education sectors would benefit the rebuilt society in the future.
UN Involvement: Through the UNDP, it has passed resolutions to assist families devastated by this horrible Typhoon. The UN has accumulated 48 million dollars to fund these expensive. This specific plan outlines a way where the country will receive continuous life-saving assistance and recovery support to around 920,000 people in Mindanao. Major needs meet include shelter, early recovery and livelihoods, food security and agriculture, water, sanitation, and hygiene. Overall, The UN has done many things to aid this tragedy.