Topic: UN's Role of Addressing Sectarian and Ethnic Conflict within a Nation
Country: Kazakhstan
Delegate Name: Ellen Vial
School: Royal Oak High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Kazakhstan position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
Ethnic conflict has plagued mankind throughout recorded history. The terms “ethnic conflict” and “sectarian violence” are subject to many definitions, and have been exhibited in varying levels of severity, from heated debate to mass genocide. The United Nations has done much work to prevent ethnic conflict before it even starts, let alone spreads to other nations or escalates within a nation. In spite of our efforts, such conflict still exists. The Republic of Kazakhstan believes that there is still much more we can do, to put a stopper on the bottle that is intra-national ethnic conflict.
In order to address sectarian violence, one must find the root of the problem on a conflict to conflict basis. According to Jenny Gustafsson’s The Role of the United Nations in Preventing Violent Ethnic Conflicts, the three initial causes of ethnic conflict within a nation are structural inequalities, poverty, and the transition of a society. The state of Rwanda was plagued by genocide in 1994 when tensions between the Hutu majority and Tutsi minority finally reached their breaking point. The War in Darfur began between Arab nomads and Black African farming communities during a period of immense drought and overpopulation, when Sudan was facing a number economic hurdles, many of which they have yet to overcome. More recently in Iraq, the nation has seen heightening of conflict between the Sunni and Shi’a Muslims since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
The Republic of Kazakhstan has managed to avoid escalated ethnic conflict in part thanks to the formation of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence building Measures in Asia (CICA), which aims to promote cooperation, peace, confidence, and friendship throughout Asia. The Republic of Kazakhstan believes that building regional support the way CICA does would help address national interests and heighten security considerations of states at risk of unstable ethnic conflict. We would also recommend stressing tolerance and education beginning at a young age. Lastly the Republic of Kazakhstan would like to see an enhancement of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, which aids nations after the culmination of a violent conflict. If the Peacebuilding Commission was more active in addressing the conflict before it could climax, many lives would be saved in addition to money and resources. The Peacebuilding Commission could focus on, among other things, the abovementioned tolerance education program. If international education stressed tolerance as much as it ought to, we as a united community could begin to decrease ethnic conflict generation by generation.
