National Defense University’s Model United Nations

Position Paper on the COVID-19 Pandemic

As representatives of the nation of France, we look forward to collaborating with our fellow nations to
solve the crisis that is the Covid-19 pandemic. We have felt the devastating effects of the pandemic
firsthand, with over 3 million cases and over 75,000 deaths. We believe that as a global community we
can take this collective experience of suffering and turn it into a period of unprecedented cooperation
and positive change. In the words of our President, Emmanuel Macron, “This crisis, undoubtedly more
than any other, requires cooperation, requires the invention of new international solutions.”

France’s mission with the United Nations Security Council has long been a mission of preserving the
human rights of people worldwide. As a member of UNSC, our utmost priority will be making sure that
we can facilitate cooperation to prevent the obstruction of anything that would get in the way of further
protecting people against human rights abuses during the pandemic.

Due to the restrictions, France had to face the worst form of economic recession. There was an 8.3%
decrease in France’s economy in 2020, and the country has not seen a recession to this extent since
World War II. For example, France’s travel and tourism sector’s contribution to the French economy
decreased by 48.8% due to travel restrictions. As a result, that sector alone lost 193,000 jobs. Nationally,
one can see the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in France through a surge in the country’s
unemployment rate to 9.1% during the third quarter of 2020, which marked a two-year high. However,
the unemployment rate decreased to 8.1% in the first quarter of 2021.

France holds the health of its citizens and the people around the world as a top priority. Organizations
like Secours Populaire Francais have been aiding people by providing emergency aid like food, clothing,
and housing. During the first lockdown, Secours Populaire Français provided food to 1.27 million
people at one of its facilities. France has had a close relationship with the World Health Organization.
We will continue to work with the WHO to aid with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the long
recovery that will be underway in the near future. Most importantly, the distribution of vaccines to
every nation-state. As the world’s fifth-largest donor*, France has mobilized significant resources of €1.2
billion to fight the spread of COVID-19 in the most vulnerable countries, most of which are in Africa.
France is increasing its contributions and commitment to multilateral bodies fighting the pandemic: the
UN and its specialized agencies and programmes, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and
the World Food Programme (WFP).
We pride ourselves on our world-class universal healthcare system and we will focus on improvements
to healthcare systems and medical education in low-income nations to combat future crises. Restrictions
and preventive measures imposed by France have been successful in keeping the coronavirus pandemic
under control even as the neighboring European countries are struggling with a virulent second wave.

As of now, France has a clear stance on vaccinations. While it is not forcing people to get vaccinated, the
French government thinks that everyone has to get vaccinated to make the world safe for everyone. As
of 18 July 2021, France had strict New Vaccine Requirements and on 12 August 2021, France's
vaccination strategy was a declared Pass experiment after passing laws, and on 07 September 2021,
France vaccinated two doses to 45.8 million people.

Human rights are incredibly important to France. As one of the many nations leading the world on issues
of human rights, we are excited to participate in this year’s conference. All citizens of the world should
have access to the COVID-19 vaccine regardless of their financial situation. the denial of medical care
during this pandemic is a human rights violation.

France has begun sending oxygen generators destined to become long-term fixtures of hospitals in
India, which has begun receiving the first deliveries of foreign aid to help it face a surging Covid-19
epidemic with more than 300,000 new cases every day for nearly a week.

The French-provided equipment also contains an initial delivery of five liquid oxygen containers that can
provide medical oxygen to 10,000 patients per day as well as specialised medical equipment including 28
respirators and 200 syringe pumps.

France is pleased to be part of the United Nations Children’s Fund where nations can come together to
advocate for children’s rights in a very difficult time. The pandemic has exposed the problems in our
world’s infrastructure, leaving many vulnerable children at risk, and many in poverty suffering much
worse than they were even one year ago. Global poverty rates have increased exponentially since the
beginning of the crisis, as countless have lost their source of income. France has long been committed to
supporting those most vulnerable and this year is no exception.

Le Republique Francaise looks forward to this 2021 United Nations Conference.