Dear Delegates, It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2014 Montessori Model United Nations Conference.

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1 Dear Delegates, It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2014 Montessori Model United Nations Conference. The following pages intend to guide you in the research of the topics that will be debated at MMUN 2014 in committee sessions. Please note this guide only provides the basis for your investigation. It is your responsibility to find as much information necessary on the topics and how they relate to the country you represent. Such information should help you write your Position Paper, where you need to cite the references in the text and finally list all references in the Modern Language Association (MLA} format. The more information and understanding you acquire on the two topics, the more you will be able to influence the Resolution writing process through debates [formal and informal caucuses], and the MMUN experience as a whole. Please feel free to contact us if and when you face challenges in your research or formatting your Position Papers. We encourage you to learn all you can about your topics first and then study your country with regard to the two selected topics. Please remember that both committee members need to be well versed and ready to debate both topics. Enjoy researching and writing your Position Papers. We look forward to seeing you at the Conference! MMUN Secretariat Team info@montessori-mun.org

2 NGO Forum The NGO Forum is a special type of Model UN committee where delegates create their own non-governmental organizations (NGO). An NGO is any nonprofit, voluntary citizens group that performs humanitarian services. Examples of globally-recognized NGOs include the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and Amnesty International. In the NGO Forum, delegates represent themselves instead of countries. Delegates from different schools are grouped into 4- to 6-person teams. Each team will identify a problem in the country of Malawi regarding the rights of children and create an NGO that addresses this problem. During the MMUN Conference, team members will work together to create an NGO, including a name, a logo, and a program that addresses their assigned topic area. Teams will also produce a display board that describes their NGO. Teams will present their display board to the entire conference at an NGO Expo during the Friday night social event. The NGO Forum strongly complements the goals of the MMUN Conference, the Montessori philosophy, and peace education. It is creative, encourages teamwork, and develops students empathy for the problems that people face in other countries. The NGO Forum also gives its delegates a chance to share what they ve learned with the other delegates of the conference. And delegates can potentially take their NGOs beyond the conference and turn them into actual programs in their schools and communities.

3 Child Rights in Malawi Topic Background Malawi is a country located in southeastern Africa. Malawi was part of the British Empire from 1891 to 1953, then part of the former country of Nyasaland until 1964, when it gained independence. The government of Malawi was a dictatorship from 1964 until 1993, when it first held multiparty elections. Today, Malawi has a population of 16 million people and its capital is Lilongwe. i Malawi is also a developing country with over half of its population living in poverty. ii To lift its people out of poverty, Malawi s president, Joyce Banda, has been a strong advocate for improving education and women s rights. iii And one of the keys to improving the lives of its people in the long-term is to help its children. Children have human rights. The international community has a special treaty to identify and protect these rights called the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children s rights include the right to safety, education, equality, and even the right to play. iv Malawi is a party to the Convention v and has made many efforts to fight for children s rights. vi To lift its people out of poverty and promote the rights of children, the Malawi government is trying to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by vii Malawi is on track to meet several goals, but it is projected to fail in two areas related to the rights of children: universal primary education and gender equality. viii Malawi is projected to fail at these goals in part because of two large problems with its education system: At the primary school level, only 4 out of 5 children are enrolled in school the goal is to have all children enrolled in primary school by 2015; ix At the secondary school level, fewer girls than boys are enrolled in a classroom of 75 students (the average classroom size in Malawi x ), 33 are girls and 42 are boys on average the goal is to have an equal ratio of boys and girls attending secondary school by xi The Malawi government has identified multiple reasons for these problems, including: A shortage of qualified primary school teachers; Not enough schools, classrooms, desks, textbooks, and teachers housing; High disease burden due to HIV/AIDS, which leads to absenteeism, especially among girls who take care of the sick; Poor participation of school committees and communities in school management; xii

4 Girls dropping out of school because of early marriages, pregnancies, family and cultural responsibilities girls, especially older girls, are expected to take care of old or sick family members instead of going to school. xiii Past Actions To address the challenge of increasing the number of boys and girls enrolled in primary school, the government of Malawi is trying to do the following: Transfer teachers from secondary schools to primary schools; Expand existing teacher training colleges and build additional colleges in order to improve on the quality and number of qualified teachers in primary schools; Build 50 primary schools, 1,000 teachers houses, and 1,500 classrooms every year; Replace textbooks regularly; Provide grants to girls in selected areas; Scale up school feeding programs (school meals) and the Take Home Rations initiative in order to increase enrollment and retention. xiv To address the challenge of increasing the number of girls enrolled in secondary school, the Malawi government is trying to do the following: Build girls boarding facilities in secondary schools and teacher training institutions; Make it easier for girls who withdraw from school because of pregnancy to go back and continue with their education; Encourage girls to pursue education in fields that have traditionally been dominated by men; Introduce an equitable selection policy at secondary schools so that there are an equal number of girls and boys. xv To achieve its goals of universal primary education and gender equality, the Malawi government needs help from NGOs. One example of a Malawi-based NGO is HELP, which stands for Hope, Educate, Love, and Protect. One of its projects is a Teacher Aide Program, which trains and funds teacher aides who will assist Malawi teachers reduce the size of their classrooms. xvi Possible Solutions Shannon Massey grew up in Massachusetts and was 16 years old when she first visited Malawi in After seeing Malawi s overcrowded schools and limited student resources, Shannon and her mom and dad founded Educate Malawi, an NGO that provides supplies, funding for teachers' housing, and scholarships for children to attend school. They have a special scholarship program just for girls who wish to remain in school. xvii You are going to create your own NGO to help the Malawi government achieve its goals of universal primary education and gender equality. Your NGO should address one or both of the following problems:

5 How to ensure that all Malawi boys and girls are enrolled in primary school; How to increase the number of Malawi girls attending secondary school. You should research the reasons behind these problems and develop solutions to address them. For example, if you believe that Malawi children are not going to school because there aren t enough teachers, then a potential solution is to hire more teachers. But how do you find the teachers or train them? Which schools are in most need of teachers? How much will it cost to train teachers, and where do you find the funding? If Malawi does not receive additional help from NGOs, it will fail to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of universal primary education and gender equality by 2015, and it will fail to help protect and promote the rights of children. What can you do to turn this around and help the people of Malawi succeed? Further Research Guiding Questions Why aren t all Malawi boys and girls attending primary school? Why aren t more girls attending secondary school? Don t rely only on the reasons provided in this guide conduct research on Malawi s education system and culture. Identify whom you want to help your beneficiaries. Will you help make sure that all children are enrolled in primary school? Or will you focus on increasing the number of girls who attend secondary school? Conduct research in order to understand who your beneficiaries are, how they feel, and what they need. Brainstorm solutions to help your beneficiaries. How will your solutions be implemented? Who is going to implement it? Whose help do you need? Where and when will it take place? How much will it cost? Write your solutions into an NGO action plan (available on the Montessori Model United Nations website).

6 Research Sources UNICEF: Malawi Convention on the Rights of the Child Commemorating 20 Years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Malawi Malawi Ministry of Education Plans for Malawi Ministry of Foreign Affairs CIA World Factbook: Malawi i About Malawi. Malawi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ii Africa: Malawi. CIA World Factbook. Population below poverty line: 53% (2004). iii Joyce Banda Becomes Malawi s First Woman President. NGO News Africa. iv v vi vii See the section on the Millennium Development Goals in the Montessori Model United Nations Teacher Manual, under International Laws and Initiatives. Learn more about the MDGs here: viii 2010 Malawi Millennium Development Goals Report. Ministry of Development Planning and Cooperation, Government of Malawi. Page ix. Available here: ix Ibid, page 22. x Educate Malawi. xi Ibid, page 26. The girls-to-boys ratio of 0.79 equates to 33 girls in a classroom of 75 students. xii Ibid. page 23. xiii Ibid, page 26. xiv Ibid, page 24. xv Ibid, page xvi Teacher Aide Program. HELP. xvii Educate Malawi.