During Sessions 1, 2 and 3, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees worked relentlessly on resolutions to help mitigate the food crisis in hundreds of refugee camps around the world. As a result of their work, they passed two resolutions to resolve the problem.
Within the committee, two resolutions had formed between the delegates on Topic 1, which was aimed at finding ways to resolve the food security crisis in refugee camps. However, while they both were aimed at tackling food security, they both had different approaches to the situation.
“We want to prioritize cash-based intervention and implement food rations to ensure all refugees are receiving equal amounts of food,” said the Israeli delegate.
The Israeli delegate went on to talk about how non-governmental organizations (NGO) are their leading approach to resolving the issue.
“Using NGOs can help fund food stability we believe… one way is through NGO sponsored trade schools,” said the delegate.
His group believes that by creating localized trade schools focused on agricultural innovation, this newfound education for refugees will help increase the food supply of these camps.
“These trade schools will allow for refugees to give back to their communities through the food that they’ll be able to produce,” says the Israeli delegate.
On the other side of the room though, other delegates took a different approach to resolving the issue.
“If we can implement new farming systems in refugee-heavy countries, this will allow for an increase in food security,” said the delegate from Argentina.
However, the delegate from Argentina said that his fellow delegates' resolutions were more focused on “authorizing a system of welfare cards to allow for better [refugee] societal integration.”
The delegate told Al-Jazeera Net that the system would apply to both new refugees, and those that have already been protected by the government. It would be a 5 year program that could be renewed as long as a refugee had protected status.
How to approach farming?
An exemplification of the differing strategies between the two groups was what they viewed as the most efficient to agriculture.
The delegate from Israel told Al-Jazeera that they plan to implement regenerative agriculture through a process called “hydroponic gardening’
“This method doesn’t use soil, but instead uses elements like water to help in more arid and desert regions,” said the Israeli Delegate. They hope this farming will result in increased agriculture in places like Northern and Central Africa, which is a primarily desert climate.
This take on agriculture was in contrast to the method that other delegates had in mind.
“We plan to have vertical farming in most refugee camps,” said the Argentinian delegate. “Even though it’s a more intricate and advanced form of farming, by planting crops in vertical columns, it results in less plots of land being used.”
The delegates hope this will allow for higher yields of crops in what are considered environmentally-lacking areas.
Despite the differences between the approaches of the delegates throughout their committee, they were able to understand that this situation is a dire one, and needs a solution fast. They successfully passed both resolutions around 9:40 a.m. during session 3.