Topic: Emergency Food Security Assistance for Refugees
Country: Georgia
Delegate Name: Karina Peeva
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Georgia position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
Food security is a specifically important yet often neglected aspect of assistance for refugees that Georgia is glad to see the FAO addressing. The people displaced by conflicts around the world deserve adequate food supplies and Georgia will work to help address this issue. The situation in Iraq and Syria, outbreak of Ebola in west Africa, and fighting in Ukraine unfortunately have been recently adding to the number of refugees, already substantial from the displaced of developing countries, mainly of Somalia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Another reason for the increase in the number of refugees during the past five years are the draught-related emergencies and armed conflicts in West Africa.
Georgia has been involved with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the past and hopes to continue contributing to efforts supporting refugees. There are 259,575 refugees and internally displaced people in our country, many from the Abkhaz-Georgian conflict. Georgia has also had an influx of Chechen refugees in 1999. As implied above, the question of providing food to refugees is pertinent to not only our country but also to many others.
Food and other short-term humanitarian aid would be the usual global response in providing for refugees. Any steps we take, however, need to be considered. Not only our actions need to be taken into account, but also how each specific country will be affected individually. The impact on food security will be various. Our solutions should provide at least temporary relief, yet our actions should also facilitate development, since the majority of refugees, especially those having fled from civil conflict areas, are in a protracted situation, staying for a long time in their countries of asylum. The key to identifying a given situation in preparation for UN action will be making sure of the need of emergency action by requiring that there has been a recent influx of displaced people whose food security is low. The proper UN action should then constitute the implementation of a program customized for the situation and countries involved. Georgia would like to work with others contributing
