UNESCO: UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

About the committee

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialised agency within the framework of the United Nations. UNESCO is devoted to building peace and cooperation in the minds of human beings through a core focus on education, social and natural sciences, culture, and communication. Its key functions are to bring about collective consensus on ethical issues, disseminate information and knowledge, and assist Member States in developing human and institutional capital, with the aim of furthering universal respect for justice, rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, as affirmed by the UN Charter.

Topics

Topic A: The question of the right of nations to demand return of their artefacts

Historical artefacts are regarded as an important mechanism for the preservation and intergenerational transmission of a nation’s culture. Despite this, many artefacts have been removed and continue to reside away from their homelands, while the black market for such items is highly lucrative. In response, UNESCO has worked to facilitate the return of goods, requiring states to seize illegally traded cultural goods and return them to their country of origin. However, the issue is far from uncontentious, and many agreements remain bilateral in nature. The issue requires renewed debate by the international community, not only to grapple with the practical logistics of the return of historical artefacts in terms of resources and enforcement, but to engage with its underlying ethical questions. This includes the competing demands of transitional justice, tourism and academia, the question of compensation, whether it is within the UN’s scope to make judgments over historical events, and more broadly, where the claims of national culture fit within a globalised world.

Topic B: The question of establishing a universal age of consent

The age of consent - the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent of consenting to sexual acts - varies immensely between state jurisdictions, based on the social, cultural and religious sensibilities of particular states. With the age of consent starting from as young as 12 (or without definition), there is considerable concern that a lack of consistency results in unequal protection of children from abuse, in particular sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Issues also arise where discrepancy exists between the marriageable age and the age of consent, providing significant leave for child abuse, as well as justifying practices such as child marriage. Further discrepancies exist in nations where the age of consent discriminates on the basis of then gender or sexuality of participants, perpetuating inequality. Yet, it remains to be seen how positive such change might actually be, or whether further harm, such as unsafe sex or disempowerment, may result. While the international community has been working towards establishing some safeguards, such as imbuing consent laws with extraterritoriality in order to reduce child sex tourism, moving towards a universal system remains up for debate.