Position Papers by Country

Position paper for Bangladesh

Committee:	GA First
Topic:	The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects
Paper text:
The delegation of the republic of Bangladesh recognizes the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons as one of the biggest threats to international peace and security where the republic reaffirms its commitment to global peace and security. We recognize that the weapons are a tool of violence and can lead to devastating consequences from single crimes to terrorism. The easy availability of arms and light weapons fuel conflict and an endless cycle of violence and human rights abuses. We affirm this issue and are prepared to come up with solutions that tackle the root causes of its supply and demand of illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. We have had a long and tragic history of illicit trade in small arms and light weapons where the country situated in a geopolitical region continues to face these issues especially around the cross borders of the country. As mentioned above, a primary cause of the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons takes place mainly due to cross border trade with India where in fact the Bangladesh National Weapons Survey (2022) found that 70% of said weapons entered the 2 country through the country’s cross-border with India and Myanmar. It has been noted that the increased activity of illicit trade in small arms and light weapons is linked to higher homicide cases, human smuggling, and piracy in the country. We recognize that the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons is not only a security crisis but also a threat to humanitarian and development aspects of the country that require holistic solutions. We, the Republic of Bangladesh, stand ready to combat this issue where we recognize the severe impact it can have on the country and its people. We believe that through stronger international cooperation with the UN as well as its neighboring countries as well as strengthening the borders and regulating online marketplaces that distribute such weapons can reduce the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons as well as its impact on communities.

Committee:	GA Second
Topic:	Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
Paper text:
Sustainable economic development is necessary to make sure our world is moving in a forward direction. The world is growing more and more independent and it is becoming crucial that member states continue to manage the development of globalization in a positive way. The United Nations plays a big role in ensuring that globalization benefits all member states by reducing inequalities and fostering balanced economic growth, innovation, and opportunity. Free and fair trade, access to global markets, and cooperation between member states that allows everyone to benefit from economic growth are all some of the best ways to have positive sustainable development. In an effort to help build up this cooperation, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offers good structure for attaining this growth. This plan that was adopted back in 2015 has the goal of ending poverty by means of all of the member states working together. Similarly, the tenets of South-South cooperation encourage developing member states to support one another, share knowledge, and exchange different technologies. This technology transfer is essential in order for everyone to profit from scientific and industrial breakthroughs. By fostering international cooperation, the United Nations can ensure progress that benefits all member states. The United Nations will continue to encourage inclusive globalization and sustainable development, and will serve as a powerful force in shaping a fairer, more prosperous global economy.

Committee:	GA Second
Topic:	Protection of global climate for present and future generations of humankind
Paper text:
We support what the UN has done to curb climate change and we’re grateful for those efforts. Through the Paris Agreement, the UN rallied the world around a shared commitment. By conducting the Global Stocktake, countries are now able to collectively evaluate the current status of implementation and identify remaining gaps. The Green Climate Fund has opened a path for developing countries to respond to climate change while keeping their sacrifices to a minimum. And with the launch of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, we can spot climate risks early, act on them, and speed recovery in affected areas. Taken together, these UN efforts work as a cycle for responding to climate change. Despite this progress, we remain concerned about how much support is actually reaching people on the ground—especially in vulnerable developing countries. That’s why we’re calling for measures that make these agreements and principles truly workable and sustainable in practice. They need to deliver in the near term and be measurable. First, climate funds cannot stall at the pledge or governance stage—they must be genuinely accessible to developing countries. That means establishing direct-access windows and streamlining fiduciary processes. Above all, funds must reach frontline communities quickly. There are urgent needs right now: mangrove restoration, conservation and restoration in the Amazon, and responses to sea-level rise, among others. Second, we need a system for transparent, fair evaluation of these projects—and for updating our approach based on the results. Under independent UN oversight, we should establish clear reporting and review, and a mechanism for swift course correction. Climate action is a long game, but the decisive moments are brief. If we only draft grand plans and fail to oversee and course-correct, we will miss the chance to change course. Done right, clear milestones, transparent data, and rapid adjustments can turn ambition into measurable results on the ground.

Committee:	GA Third
Topic:	Universal realization of the right of peoples to self-determination
Paper text:
Bearing in mind the core values regarding non-self-governing territories stated in Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations, we reaffirm the right of peoples to self- determination within territories under colonial authority. Thanks to the efforts made by the UN, the number of non-self-governing territories has decreased to 17. The benefits of independence, the freedom to create an individualized identity within a state, the growth of economies, and the social reforms have strengthened not only these states, but the UN itself. For this reason, we emphasize the importance of political and social freedoms of peoples within a state, and we endorse past efforts of the UN to establish protections of these humanitarian entitlements, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We acknowledge that without the protection and support of member states in the UN, these new states would struggle to thrive as they do now. While we recognize the importance of self-determination and the decolonization of states, we urge the UN to proceed with caution on the issue in regard to indigenous peoples within preestablished states. The UN has been a champion for self-determination since its establishment, but we remind fellow member states that state sovereignty is a crucial pillar as well. It is important to afford people within a given state freedoms to form their own government when it is absolutely necessary. We call upon our member states to consider the precedent set by granting peoples within a preexisting state the ability and support to break away from their state, and the harm it causes each state to lose pieces of their territory. For this reason, we reaffirm the UN’s efforts to offer its support of self- determination to those states which still face the hindrance of colonization – and further recommend that member states recognize these territories as their own states – and request that the UN carefully considers cases of those which involve the grievances of indigenous peoples of preestablished states, and all possible outcomes their independence.

Committee:	GA Third
Topic:	Improvement of the situation of women and girls in rural areas
Paper text:
We assert that the advancement of rural women and girls is vital for the growth and development of all states around the world. We are in full support of the United Nations’ economic, political and agricultural programs toward this goal. Additionally, we maintain that education and health measures are imperative to advance the situation of these communities. We implore member states, as well as the United Nations, to invest in both educational and health measures for women in their rural communities. As well as this, we hope that the United Nations will take action to ensure measures are put in place and that these goals are met. Rural women and girls must have equal access to education as their urban counterparts. For economic freedom, as well as social freedoms. We also urge the establishment of healthcare initiatives to ensure these women and girls are getting the medical care they need. The building of healthcare facilities in rural areas or providing transportation to nearby facilities is essential to the United Nations’ goal of women’s advancement. We reaffirm the significance of women and girls, rural or otherwise, in development. We urge the United Nations, as well as individual member states, to invest in initiatives and programs that help women and girls acquire the education and healthcare needed to lead healthy, fulfilling, and free lives.

Committee:	GA Plenary
Topic:	Our ocean, our future, our responsibility
Paper text:
We recognize that the oceans of the world are a crucial part of life for every person of every country, and we see the damage and dangers to our oceans that are occurring everyday. Measures must be taken by both individual countries as well as the international community to protect our waters. We urge countries to develop and maintain Marine Protected Areas (MPA) to help protect areas of water that are most vulnerable. These MPAs are optimal to make sure that easily disturbed ecosystems and endangered species stay safe. We hold the belief that the UN should urge member states to establish more MPA’s in their own waters. In this regard we support the 2023 Global Oceans Treaty and believe that any state who has not ratified the treaty should quickly do so. Addressing the issue of balancing the economic and industrial needs of a state with its obligation to the environment we firmly believe that the idea of a blue economy is ideal. States have the responsibility to regulate their industries and invest in the technology and methods to protect their own waters. Member states will be able to continue industries such as deep sea oil drilling and industrial fishing just with new improved technologies and stricter regulation. There are many non-government organizations all over the world that dedicate themselves to the protection of the environment and the natural ecosystems of the oceans. These organizations are crucial for many countries to continue trying to improve the ocean's ecosystem. Promoting these organizations is something that landlocked states can do to help the conservation of the world’s waters. Support from any country would be more than welcomed by any smaller organizations. Land locked countries can also try to regulate their own industries that may have connections to the seas to attempt to pressure the businesses and industries to be more environmentally friendly. This and so much more can be achieved by both independent member states and the UN as a whole to make sure our future and our oceans are well guarded.

Committee:	GA Plenary
Topic:	Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations
Paper text:
Humanitarian aid is something many take for granted. Things like natural disasters may only affect one country from far away. That does not diminish the need to strengthen aid to those affected. Member states have a moral obligation to help those in need and support resolutions and ideas like the Humanitarian Reset. The founding resolution was created in 1991 and the implementation guidance only passed in 2006 that means the UN has only had about 20 years to fix and unsurprisingly while progress has been made there is still a ways to go. The downfall is not due to the many hardworking individuals who dedicate their lives to this work but it is the lack of funding and operational failures we give to them. The OCHA has evolved brilliantly from a purely reactionary to an imperfect system at no fault of their own. The onus is on member states to support these organizations like the IASC transformation that increased accountability and strengthened responses. Now nearly fifteen years after that landmark decision the job is not finished. Too often there are gaps in funding, and bureaucracy that slows response. Bangladesh affirms the need for better coordinating and strengthening humanitarian aid to affected countries. Humanitarian aid is essential for countries affected by war and natural disasters. Bangladesh supports all efforts to grow humanitarian aid throughout the world and the UN to facilitate the proliferation of aid to countries in need. Bangladesh requires the support of all the nations to help recover from natural disasters. This is not a partisan issue. Member states must transcend political divisions to uphold commitments to humanitarian assistance. This is not about countries; this is about people, hold yourself to the standards that the UN was created for. The UN must remain a place for equity and diplomacy, and support proposals to strengthen aid for disaster-stricken countries.

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