SOCHUM
The Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee is the 3rd Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Committee focuses on human rights, advancement of indigenous populations, maintain the protection of children, religious issues, and the women’s rights.
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Agenda 1: Measures to prevent honour killings
Also known as shame killings, this practice is the homicide of family members who have brought shame upon a family by breaking principles of a community or religion. Recently, honor killings were brought into international limelight when Saba Qaiser, a 19 year old Pakistani woman was shot by her own father because she eloped with her boyfriend. Miraculously, she survived and is now the feature of a Oscar-nominated short subject documentary, “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.” The importance of preventing honor killings cannot be understated, as most perpetrators are let off the hook and never caught. For this agenda, delegates should discuss prevention measures and how to hold perpetrators accountable.
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Agenda 2: Combatting human slave trade
With approximately 20 to 30 million slaves worldwide, the human slave trade business has more people in slavery today than ever before. There are three main branches of human slavery: labor, child, and sex slavery. Globally, the cost for a slave is $90, whereas in the 1850s, the price was $40,000 (adjusted for inflation). Even with more awareness about this industry nowadays, the slave trade is not diminishing in any way. Human slave trade is a taboo topic and must be discussed with utmost respect. Delegates should discuss the problems surrounding the industry, prevention, and care for victims.