International MUN Philippines 2022

Study Guide

Committee: United Nations Educational, Scientific

and Cultural Organization

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Table of Contents

Introduction of the committee .................................................................................... 3

History of UNESCO ...................................................................................................... 4
Structure and functions of the committee ................................................................ 4
Topic 01: Ensuring quality education and increasing access to e-learning in
remote areas ..................................................................................................................... 5
Background or history of the topic ............................................................................ 5
Discussion of the problem ........................................................................................... 6
Current situations and The Role of Governments ................................................. 9
Bloc positions ................................................................................................................ 11
Questions A Resolution Must Answer .................................................................... 13
Bibliography & Further readings ............................................................................. 13
Topic 02 : Combating the illicit trafficking of cultural property ...................... 17
Background information............................................................................................. 17
Discussion of the problem ......................................................................................... 17
Current situation and actions in effect .................................................................... 18
Potential bloc positions ............................................................................................... 21
Questions A Resolution Must Answer (QARMA) ............................................... 22
Bibliography & Further readings ............................................................................. 22

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Introduction of the committee
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is an
organization under the UN that deals with the progression of education, science, and culture.
Besides that, UNESCO additionally propels a few rights to be protected with the capability of the
law over the rights to education, the rights to knowledge, the rights to scientific advancement or
even taking a part in the development of scientific progress. Based on the UNESCO 1945
constitution, the purpose of this organization is to give harmony and security by upholding joint
effort among the countries through training, education, science, and culture. The United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is the authority responsible for the international
coordination in education, science, culture, and communication. It bounds nations and societies,
and the wider public so that each child and citizen:

1. To apply sciences to guarantee human advancement in sound administration and

preserving the natural resources,

2. To empower Scientific Research and Training, includes securing the Human Resources
and improving,

3. To uphold increased and diffuse information, includes promoting the importance of

education, culture, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) in Less
Developed nations, meanwhile at the same time safeguarding social legacy and cultural
heritage in the modern era,

4. To give a new drive to mainstream education, and to spread the cultural heritage in order
to keep it well preserved,

5. To advance scholarly collaboration and mutual understanding to accomplish

comprehension of individuals in all degrees of mass-correspondence.

Other than being mandated to promote education, sciences, and preserving cultural heritage,
UNESCO also has the power to take key actions in several rights to be advanced such as rights to
freedoms of expression, rights to education, etc. Additionally, UNESCO legitimately works
directly with other UN organs, for example, the General Assembly, Security Council, and the
Economic and Social council by pushing its need issues to other UN organs. Consistently, the
UNESCO has been expounding legitimate instruments in numerous structures, for example,

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declarations, recommendations, and conventions Those legal documents suggest and recommend
various kinds of solutions to the member states

History of UNESCO
History of the Council After the second world war II, several countries were indeed in the
European Region declared to re-establish a fundamental basic system, including the human rights,
economy, social-humaniora project, and also the most important is education and the rise of
cultural innovation. In order to do that, forecasting the Conference of Allied Ministers of
Education (CAME) to abandon harsh circumstances and focus on global development is
compulsory for that conference; a combined forty-four countries must promote ‘intellectual and
moral solidarity of mankind. Equally important to highlight is the result of the conference has
upcasted the original body named by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO). This body has been agreed upon by thirty-seven countries to apply as
Universal Collaboration. Thereafter, the conference UNESCO began in Paris firstly from 19
November to 10 December 1946. It has engaged other countries to gather in, such as Japan and
the Federal Republic of Germany in 1951, continuing with the Russian Federation after the cold
war in 1992 alongside 12 Soviet Governance around. For instance, more than 15 countries were
invited to this UN body and become the current legitimate representative, for example, the Society
Republic of China, and the African Union countries in 1971.

Structure and functions of the committee

According to its Constitution, UNESCO has three main bodies: the General Conference, the
Executive Board, and the Secretariat. Once every two years, delegates from all of the Member
States of UNESCO gather at Paris for the UNESCO General Conference. The General
Conference has the right to make decisions in regards to budgetary matters. Therefore, Member
States looking to implement certain programmes are required to provide the means for it in the
budget process. The General Conference is responsible for approving the budget for the upcoming
two-year period. The General Conference also approves UNESCO’s medium-term strategy and
programming framework every six years. The Executive Board is in charge of managing UNESCO
between General Conference sessions. The Secretariat primarily manages UNESCO’s day-to-day
operations, with the Director-General as their head.

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Topic 01: Ensuring quality education and increasing access to e-learning in
remote areas

Background or history of the topic

Nowadays, the quality of education has shifted to the Modern Education System. Modern
education is defined as an advanced education concept that focuses on students’ needs rather than
assuming that all students have the same level of understanding, and is mainly executed with
distance learning methods. This standard teaches the skills that are mostly required today which
include writing, visualizing, imagining, and thinking skills. One of the skills that are mostly taught
are skills of science and technology since modern education and the quality of them frequently
relies on computers and the internet. The quality of the education system favors independent
learning methods and encourages the students to be self-motivated and self-directed to achieve
their academic purposes. It might be difficult for some students since it lacks social interactions
among students or between student and teacher to have further discussion regarding learning
material, moreover because of the pandemic that fosters and forces us to rely on e-learning
systems. The chance to get distracted is also quite high since the environment surrounding will
differ for each student. But besides those challenges, e-learning systems also give opportunities for
all students to learn in any education institution they prefer since most of them are mainly online.
This system also cuts the cost to receive quality education which probably comes from different
countries with the learner. The rapid technological advances will continue to transform the
workplace and require continuous learning and development. There is a variety of skills needed to
face the advancement of technology caused the shift of professional opportunities, such as
adaptability/ flexibility, motivation/ self-direction, teamwork, and problem-solving, and a
workforce with those skills and abilities is more prone to learn new knowledge and skills to address
the rising needs affecting their performance. In the face of challenging economies and scarce
resources, business organizations are constantly looking for ways to address their performance
needs effectively and efficiently, technology also comes to provide various solutions to assist with
the learning and development efforts of the workforce. In order to achieve those skills and
capabilities, a suitable curriculum and learning method needs to be determined. The modern
education system was created in hopes to support the academic goals to achieve the skills in
response to future work and to create human resources which correspond with workplace diversity
and demand.

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Discussion of the problem

Literacy has the meaning of a set of writing, reading, and counting skills. Apart from the
conventional concept, literacy is also understood as a means of understanding, interpretation,
identification, creation, and communication in an increasingly rapid digital, information-rich, text-
mediated, and fast-changing world. Literacy is essential for development. It is a key to
communicating and learning all kinds of fundamental conditions to the most recent knowledge in
societies. Literacy is also a survival tool in this competitive world with the global crises over water,
food, energy, and socio-economic disparities. Literacy leads to empowerment for all and it helps
to achieve the right to education which is an essential requirement for lifelong learning and it is
vital for human development and to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Illiteracy
costs are deceptively far-reaching. There are a lot of direct and indirect costs of illiteracy. The
direct costs include the limitation of people in emerging countries and rural areas to get the
opportunities for innovation and it dampens the economic potential of millions of people which
leads to a global economic loss of up to USD $1.19 trillion. Meanwhile, the indirect costs include
the limited opportunities for employment for youth which lead to higher chances of poverty,
crime, and dependence on government welfare or charity. Furthermore, The New England Journal
of Medicine reported that there is a link between illiteracy and health issues. In this disruptive era
literacy is not enough to compete and survive in this world since all of our aspects has been shifted
to become more technical things and IoT (internet of things) related including our education
system. People with reading problems may avoid outpatient clinics or doctor appointments
because they are intimidated by the paperwork moreover if they use e-medical records. People
with low literacy skills are more likely to have poor health including diabetes and heart failure than
those with high literacy skills

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 (Literacy Challenges UNESCO, 2015)

As what has stated in the data above, the majority of areas in Africa were only having a
literacy rate under 73% and 61 Million of them have not succeeded the primary school. This
number specifically shows that countries with low literacy rates are mostly developing countries
since they have various obstacles to supporting the development programs, as well as facilitating
their citizens to receive proper public services, health treatment, and jobs. Literacy is the basis of
all education systems, how about if all nations began to shift education to online-based? Can all
the nations apply the system and make it more fruitful? can all of the citizens have access to IoT
education while they even cannot succeed in primary school?. When the majority of people cannot
meet the desired quality of education, they are not able to receive a job and an increase in the
unemployment rate, and the poverty situation will follow. And poverty will also lead to global
hunger and prevent the children from getting access to quality education

This high illiteracy and lack of education quality rate also have a huge impact on their national
budget since the cost needed to provide public facilities are higher than in other countries. This
was caused by the situation where most of the citizens have no basic literacy skills such as reading,
writing, and counting, they have little to zero understanding of every information given to them
including basic and regular information such as medication side effects, and transportation route,
or food ingredients. When someone has no know-how on those basic needs like ingredients, it can
lead to several serious problems like food poisoning or fatal allergies. They won't be able to use
public transportation or apply for a job to get a better livelihood. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the

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worst affected regions with massive illiteracy rates, out-of-school youth, and unemployment. But
on the other side, this also becomes an issue in developed countries such as the United States,
where they have more than 30 million adults that are not able to read. Other developed countries
like Australia are also affected, especially the indigenous community where unemployment is
widespread. Quality education rates are also divided between women and men since, in most areas,
women face more difficulty to have quality education compared to men. It comes into a result
where the illiteracy rate for women is higher. Based on data conducted from UNESCO, UNICEF,
and various organizations statistics, it shows that women have a significantly lower gap compared
with men specifically in African and Southern Asia countries. below are 2 case studies that will
guide you have more knowledge regarding the impact of low-quality education

1. Rural Illiteracy and Poverty in Sub Saharan

About 50% of the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region’s population is poor. It is also
worsened by the fact that women lack access to quality education in these countries. As a result,
children born to mothers with no education are almost 3 times more likely to die before they are
5 than those born to mothers with secondary education. The other obstacle that is faced by SSA
is the deployment of teachers in remote areas. The generally poor socio-economic conditions make
it difficult to recruit teachers. And those who are already employed usually seek to migrate to urban
areas and it affects a significant gap between rural and urban areas both in quality and quantity of
teachers supplied. When talking about rural or remote areas we cannot standardize the quality of
education in rural areas in all the countries. rural areas in developed countries will be different
from rural areas in developing countries even if both of them are categorized as remote or rural
areas.

2. "Silent Epidemic" in the United States.

In America, illiteracy and low quality of education lead to a host of damaging effects.
Annually, the United States suffers USD 225 billion due to illiteracy which becomes the main root
of unemployment, lack of workplace productivity, and crime. The Washington Literacy Council
stated that 68% of those arrested in the U.S. are illiterate. Based on a New England Journal of
Medicine study, the patients who could not read repeatedly visited emergency rooms and suffered
worse health issues.18 One of the cases is a 64 years old patient with diabetes who did not take his
medication even when he has a high interest in getting well. After consultation with his doctor and

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with a more simple explanation of medication instructions, this patient left the hospital with a
discharge summary. Five months later, he went to a community clinic and reported that he was
taking medication but his glucose log shows a jumbled mess. After that, the doctors finally
diagnosed him with illiteracy.

Current situations and The Role of Governments

The OECD Learning Framework 2030 has been laid out because of quick changes in the
public eye both from natural, financial, and social perspectives. Explicitly on confronting the social
perspective where innovation is the greatest variable on the significant change. This system expects
to make future-prepared understudies. It could be said of liability to take an interest in the planet
while affecting individuals, occasions, and conditions to improve things. There are two variables
to assist people with exploring amidst an intricate and dubious world, which are
1. customized learning climate that propels and upholds understudies to make associations
with various growth opportunities and plan their own learning projects and,
2. lay-out a strong starting point for proficiency and numeracy in the time of advanced
change. A review led to finding the most basic abilities that far off understudies ought to
have alongside innovation working, which basically connected with the capacity to
understand anyone at their core like correspondence, self-heading, dependability,
discipline, drive, adaptability, and self-viability.
Instructors and coaches are supposed to be engaged with the virtual labor force to really encounter
this remote work strategy, and incorporate the required skills into acquiring results and further
illuminating tasks and appraisals. To give fair quality instruction as a cutting edge framework, a
few nations have figured out how to overhaul their educational program and shift their learning
technique into distance learning, however a few different nations, generally creating one, could
likewise confront difficulties in giving the innovation and showing powers required. With the
customary schooling system that is as yet utilized in certain areas, a ton of understudies are
experiencing issues to understand the school material given. They don't have a high-level training
framework which additionally entangles the growing experience. In different cases, more
difficulties happened explicitly in distant regions. Absence of training foundations and showing
powers, the huge measure of youngster work, next to zero access for innovation, and a high lack
of education rate. A few non-industrial nations additionally experience the ill effects of issues that
prevent the advancement of schooling and its results, like political shakiness, monetary hardships,

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socio-social viewpoint, and instructive difficulties. To accomplish quality schooling for all,
UNESCO and nations overall ought to promptly track down arrangements on the most proficient
method to give the cutting edge school system because of future expert open doors, especially
amidst the inward emergency looked by non-industrial nations. There is likewise a portion of the
past worldwide activities that the UN has made. UNESCO has executed worldwide proficiency
endeavors starting around 1946 to ceaselessly further develop the worldwide proficiency rate, for
example, advancing education overall as followed by the reception of Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) number 4 which is Quality Education. This program runs by pushing the
significance of proficiency as a worldwide plan and guaranteeing collaborations with different
activities including through organizations and organizations. UNESCO additionally upholds
Capacity Development for Education (CapED) for nations to make approaches, projects, and
tasks explicitly for instruction changes, instructor capabilities, Technical and Vocational Education
and Training (TVET), and proficiency for its residents, particularly for young ladies and ladies
since UNESCO likewise advances orientation equity in the entirety of their works. Close to this
venture, they likewise foster a provincial program called Action Research: Measuring Literacy
Program Participants' Learning Outcomes (RAMAA) to extend public capacities by assessing and
observing learning results and the nature of projects directed toward education improvement.
Following the innovation advancement and learning strategy, UNESCO has fundamentally
worked on their program by leading a versatile learning week and starting the UNESCO-Pearson
for Literacy-further developed jobs in the computerized world. While simultaneously they keep up
with refreshed data sets and insights to screen the advancement of the worldwide education rate.
These endeavors have shown results to bring down the ignorance rate in certain nations however
it likewise gives unimportant consequences for most country regions on the planet. There are also
some past conventions that UNESCO and other related bodies made to foster the modern
education system including e-learning systems such as:

UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education

The UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education covers the right to training widely
and lawfully restricting in worldwide regulation. It is likewise perceived as the foundation of the
Education 2030 Agenda and turns into a strong instrument to accomplish Feasible Development
Goals no. 4 expects to guarantee comprehensive and impartial quality instruction and advance
long-lasting learning potential open doors for all. The primary arrangement of this Show

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incorporates guaranteeing free essential training, access to auxiliary and advanced education,
comparable guidelines for all open instructive foundations, preparing open doors for educating,
calling, and so forth.

Local Government Intervention

As of the 1945 compromise, the Industry insurgency has started the new undertaking in Paris
Responsibility and European Commission's International Cooperation and Development. The
Standards worked an excess SDG worldwide instruction among multilateral and bilaterals
connectedness. This point is to give to the concurred, and adjust their work on seven needs to
further develop productivity and responsibility, including joint support, limit advancement, and
information harmonization. The extent of distribution isn't absolutely to trouble just the
understudy yet we include the instructor, address, training volunteer, and furthermore the top of
the schooling establishment to guarantee the instruction stage in a contention zone or weak region.

Modern Education Technology 2017 Convention

The 2017 Modern Educational Technology (MET 2017) was held to bring imaginative scholastics
and modern specialists to advance exploration and formative exercises in present-day executives,
schooling innovation, and sociology. The show is likewise expected to advance logical data
exchange between specialists, designers, architects, understudies, and specialists around the world.
This meeting likewise gives an amazing open door so that members could see the instructor's
practice and communicate with inventive instructors who apply innovation in their day to day
study hall exercises

Bloc positions
Countries are now taking efforts to tackle the issues of the quality of education in their country.
The report shows that countries below are taking various efforts such as EGRA (Early Grade
Reading Assessment) or implementation of foundational skills assessments.

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Latin America
Countries in Latin America launched a program called LLECE or Latin American Laboratory for
Assessment of the Quality of Education. 15 countries and the Mexican State are participating in
this program. This program is divided into two major assessments; language and mathematics.
Language program goals include the basic identification of different types of text, vocabulary, and
messages, the distinction between audience and text author, and recognizing specific information
in the text. Meanwhile, numeracy, geometry, general skills, operation with numbers, and common
fractions are included in the goals to understand mathematics

Southern and Eastern Africa

Southern and Eastern Africa established a central education program called SACMEQ (The
Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality) which consists of
16 countries. Its main mission is to provide basic and equal education in its member countries
through monitoring, evaluating, and comparing the condition of schooling and the quality of
education in the African region.

Southeast Asia
In 2012, Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics SEA-PLM was launched in an effort to assess
and monitor student acquisition of knowledge and skills and to improve the quality of education
in Southeast Asia. All member countries have set similar curriculums to achieve the goals. The

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curriculum covers mathematical literacy, reading literacy, writing literacy, and global citizenship
literacy.

Pacific Island
15 countries in the Pacific island launched and administered the PILNA (Pacific Island Literacy
and Numeracy Assessment) program under the pacific community. The program's mission is to
improve learning outcomes for children and youth in Pacific Island countries. The program has
resulted in the overall improvement in the number of literacy and higher education quality across
the region.

Questions A Resolution Must Answer

1. What can be done to make UNESCO's current programs to be more efficient and effective
in improving the quality of education moreover fostering technology and IoT.
2. Are there any solutions to be used by UNESCO in order to deploy qualified teachers,
provide better education facilities, and access e-learning systems in rural areas?
3. What should be done by UNESCO to raise awareness of the importance of quality of
education and access to the e-learning system in education?
4. How can the United Nations member states, Non-Governmental Organizations, and
stakeholders role in improving the global quality education rate while handling poverty and
unemployment in their own countries?

Bibliography & Further readings

Abdullah M. Al-Ansi. July 2017. Reforming Education System in Developing Countries.
International Journal of Education and Research. Vol. 5 No. 7.
https://www.ijern.com/journal/2017/July-2017/25.pdf. (May 14th, 2022)
Akarowhe. Kingsley, ‘Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the Educational
System of the Third World Countries as a Pivotal to Meet Global Best Practice in
Teaching and Development,’ Vol. 5, No. 2:10,
American Journal of Computer Science and Information Technology (2017)
DOI:10.21767/2349- 3917.100010 Britannica. UNESCO International
Organization. https://www.britannica.com/topic/UNESCO (May 14th 2022)

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Australian Council for Educational Research (2014). The Latin-American Laboratory for
Assessment of the Quality of Education: Measuring and comparing educational
quality in Latin America. The Centre for Global Education Monitoring, (May 14 th
2022).

Bangura, Sheka. (2013). Ritsumeikan Journal of Asia Pacific Studies Vol. 32. Review: Rural
Illiteracy and Poverty in Sierra Leone and Sub-Saharan Africa.
[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/60542162.pdf], (May 13th 2022).

Carnet. 2018. Modern Education Technologies - MET 2017 Convention Held.

https://www.carnet.hr/en/modern-education-technologies-met-2017-
convention-held/. (May 14th, 2022)
Christina Animashaun. Vox. 2019. How Remote Work is Quietly Remaking Our Lives.
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/9/20885699/remote-work-from-
anywhere-change-coworking -office-real-estate. (May 13th, 2022)

Datareportal. (2019). Digital 2019: Global Digital Overview.

[https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2019-global-digital-overview].(May 14th
2022).

Erin. N. M (2006).The Silent Epidemic — The Health Effects of Illiteracy. New England
Journal of Medicine. Marcus, E. N. (2006). The Silent Epidemic-The Health
Effects of Illiteracy.
[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6915365_The_Silent_Epidemic_-
_The_Health_ Effects_of_Illiteracy]. (May 14th 2022).

Gartner. 2020. Gartner CFO Survey Reveals 74% Intend to Shift Some Employees to
Remote Work Permanently. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-
releases/2020-04-03-gartner-cfo-surey-reveals-74-per cent-of-organizations-to-
shift-some-employees-to-remote-work-permanently2. (May 13th, 2022)
ICMET. 2021. The 2021 3rd International Conference on Modern Educational
Technology (ICMET 2021). http://www.icmet.org/ (May 14th 2022)
Katie Evans. Upwork. 2018. New Report Finds Majority of Companies are Embracing
Remote Teams, Yet More than Half Lack a Remote Work Policy.
https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/future-workforce-report-2018. (May
14th, 2022)

Mark. R, Clinton. R, Margarete. S (2008). The Global literacy challenge: a profile of youth
and adult literacy at the midpoint of the United Nations Decade 2003-2012.
UNESCO. Office of the Secretary General. UNESCO: United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Our World in Data. (2018).
Literacy. [https://ourworldindata.org/literacy]. (May 13th 2022).

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OECD. 2018. The Future of Education and Skills: Education 2030.
https://www.oecd.org/education/2030/E2030%20Position%20Paper%20(05.04
.2018).pdf. (May 14th, 2022)

Pacific Community (2019). Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment 2018
Regional Report. Educational Quality and Assessment Division (EQAP)-Pacific
community. Rao, B. S. V. and Gupta, P. V. (2006). Australian Journal of Adult
Learning Vol. 46. Low Female Literacy: Factors and Strategies.
[https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ797610.pdf]. (May 13th 2022).

Roberta S. and Nathan J. S. 2019. Remote Work: Equipping Business Students for the
Working Reality.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b045109c258b4052b14cd0d/t/5c8d6f0e
e4966b4eaedbf0df/1 552772880182/Academic+Paper.docx.pdf. (May 14th,
2022)

SACMEQ. About SEACMEQ: Mission. SEA-PLM. About: History.

https://www.seaplm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25
&Itemid=26 6 SEA-PLM. About: Methodology.
https://www.seaplm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26
&Itemid=26 9 Sean. C (2019). Global literacy targets already off track -UNESCO.
BBC. (May 14th 2022).

Sean Peek. Business News Daily. 2020. Communication Technology and Inclusion will
Shape the Future of Remote Work. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8156-
future-of-remote-work.html. (May 14th, 2022)

Singh, C. K. (2015). Women Literacy in India - Issues and Challenges.

[https://www.longdom.org/articles/womens-literacy-in-india-issues-and-
challenges.pdf]. (May 14th 2022).

Springer Link. 2019. Contemporary Education Curriculum in Africa Region Establishing

Great Manufacture. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-13-
6635-2_4 (May 13th 2022) UNESCO. UNESCO in brief - Mission and Mandate.
https://en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco (April 9th 2021)

UNESCO in Brief- Mission and Mandate. UNESCO. Education transforms lives

UNESCO. (2019). UNESCO Literacy Projects.
[https://en.unesco.org/themes/literacy-all/projects]. (May 14th 2022).

UNESCO. (2019). Literacy. [https://en.unesco.org/themes/literacy]. (May 14th 2022)

UNESCO. (2019). What UNESCO does on Literacy.

th
[https://en.unesco.org/themes/literacy-all/action]. (May 15 2022).

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UNESCO. 2017. Memory Of The World Register Construction and Fall of The Berlin
Wall and The Two-plus-four-treaty Of 1990.
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/mo
w/nomination_forms/Ger many%20Berlin%20Wall.pdf / (May 14th 2022)
UNESCO. 2017. The Organization’s History.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/%20unesco/about-us/who-we-are/history/
(May 13th 2022)
UNESCO. 2019. UNESCO’s Convention against Discrimination in Education.
https://en.unesco.org/themes/right-to-education/convention-against-
discrimination. (May 14th, 2022)
UNESCO. 2020. Areas of Action. https://en.unesco.org/fieldoffice/hanoi/expertise
(May 13th 2022)
UNESCO. 2020. Paris Outcome Statement. https://en.unesco.org/news/paris-outcome-
statement-multilateral-education-partners-commitment-jo int-action-sdg-4 (May
14th 2022)
United Nations. 2020. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.
https://sdgs.un.org/un-system-sdg-implementation/united-nations-educational-
scientific-and-cultura l-organization-unesco (May 13th 2022)

World Literacy Foundation. (2020). Illiteracy and Unemployment: A Global Crisis!

[https://worldliteracyfoundation.org/unemployment-global-
crisis/#:~:text=What%20if%20
you%20couldn't,massive%20%241.5%20trillion%20a%20year!]. (May 15th 2022).

Yomi K (2016). African Countries are facing the world's worst teacher shortage. Quartz
Africa. (May 15th 2022)

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Topic 02 : Combating the illicit trafficking of cultural property

Background information
Cultural property represents the very identity of various peoples. Thus, protecting it is of great
importance to the preservation of the heritage of humankind. To do so, measures that help prevent
trafficking in cultural property must be established.
The definition of “trafficking in cultural property” that will be used during the conference is as
follows according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “Trafficking in
cultural property involves several acts that may ultimately result in the loss, destruction, removal,
or theft of irreplaceable items.1” This leads to the peoples who are the true owners of the cultural
property not being able to access them and being neglected their cultural heritage.
A commonly known form of cultural property trafficking is looting. Relics and monuments from
previous generations are oftentimes buried underground. Therefore they are in danger of being
stolen and sold in places such as black markets. And in that process, sites that contained those
artifacts get destroyed and render it impossible for archaeologists to examine the area and study
the past. Like so, trafficking in cultural property occurs all across the globe, but efforts to put a
stop to such crimes are yet to be made.

Discussion of the problem

The significance of this agenda lies in the fact that cultural property is essential to cultural identity.
Borrowing the words of Blue Shield International, “[c]ultural property is a powerful tool in
determining what is remembered—and what is forgotten or obscured. For example, after conflicts
and disasters, buildings can provide visible symbols of who is given priority in rebuilding if the
community is divided—or who is not given permission at all.2” Hence, the preservation of cultural
property is necessary to the memory of a certain group of people since it shapes the cultural identity
of that group. UNESCO has also recognized such linkage between cultural property and cultural
identity. “In 1976, a UNESCO panel formulated the principle that ‘cultural property is a basic

1
United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. 2022. Trafficking in Cultural Property. [online] Available at:
<https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/organized-crime/intro/emerging-crimes/trafficking-in-cultural-
property.html#:~:text=Trafficking%20in%20cultural%20property%20involves,artefacts%20of%20its%20shared%20heritage.>.

2
Wilson, V., 2022. What is Cultural Identity and Why is it Important?. [online] Exceptional Futures. Available at:
<https://www.exceptionalfutures.com/cultural-identity/>

17
element of a people’s identity.’ In 1982, the then chairperson of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental
Committee for the Return or Restitution of Cultural Property described the loss of cultural
property in terms of the ‘loss of being.’3”
Cultural identity is indispensable when it comes to one’s journey to find self. To be more specific,
“[it] is a critical piece of your personal identity (and worldview) that develops as you absorb,
interpret, and adopt (or reject) the beliefs, values, behaviors, and norms of the communities in
your life.” Therefore it is important to conserve the cultural property of peoples so that the process
of forming one's cultural identity, and further, personal identity is not interfered with.

Current situation and actions in effect

Though it is not enough, international organizations and intragovernmental groups have made
efforts to address the problems regarding trafficking in cultural properties. The most prominent
of those efforts are as follows.

- The UNESCO 1970 Convention4

The UNESCO 1970 Convention, also called the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting
and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property,
implores UNESCO Member States that have ratified the Convention to set up measures that
would help combat the trafficking of cultural property. To be more specific, based on the
principles of “prevention,” “restitution,” and “international cooperation,” the states that have
ratified the Convention are obliged to:

Adopt protection measures in their territories (art. 5) :

Elaborate draft appropriate national legislation.
Establish national services for the protection of cultural heritage.
Promote museums, libraries, archives.
Establish national inventories.
Encourage adoption of codes of conduct for dealers in cultural property.
Implement educational programmes to develop respect for cultural heritage.

3
COLEMAN, E., 2017. Aboriginal art, identity and appropriation. [Place of publication not identified]: ROUTLEDGE.
4
UNESCO. 2022. About 1970 Convention. [online] Available at: <https://en.unesco.org/fighttrafficking/1970>.

18
Control movement of cultural property (art. 6 to 9) :
Introduce a system of export certificates.
Prohibit the export of cultural property unless it is accompanied by an export certificate.
Prevent museums from buying objects exported from another State Party without an export certificate.
Prohibit the import of objects stolen from museums, religious institutions or public monuments.
Penal sanctions to be imposed on any person contravening these prohibitions.
Emergency import bans may be adopted when the cultural heritage of a State party is seriously endangered by
intense looting of archaeological and ethnological artifacts (Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, etc.).
Require art dealers to maintain a register of the exact origin of each object they purchase.

Return stolen cultural property (art. 7):

At the request of the State Party of origin, another State Party will seize and return cultural Property on its
territory stolen from a museum, religious institution or public monument.
The request has to be made through diplomatic channels.
The object has to be documented as being part of the inventory of the institution the requesting.
State has to pay just compensation to an owner who has purchased the object in good faith or holds a title which is
valid according to national law.
The requesting State has to provide all the evidence to support its claim.

- UNIDROIT Convention (1995)5

The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) is an independent
intergovernmental organization with the purpose of studying ways to modernize and coordinate
laws related to commerce between states. UNIDROIT was established on the basis of UNESCO’s
request. And it has since worked on “developing a uniform minimum corpus of rules of private
law relating to the international trade of art.” It is also a supplementary body to the UNESCO
1970 Convention, which is mentioned above.
UNIDROIT, in association with the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the
Return of Cultural Property to Its Countries of Origin or Its Restitution in Case of Illicit
Appropriation, makes efforts to protect cultural property–more specifically, to standardize the
definition of state ownership of undiscovered cultural objects. And “[t]he resultant Model
Provisions and their explanatory guidelines are made available to the relevant domestic bodies and

5
UNESCO. 2022. Legal Texts on illicit trafficking. [online] Available at: <https://en.unesco.org/fighttrafficking/legaltexts>.

19
legislatures to help them establish and recognize state ownership of undiscovered cultural objects.”
The specifics of the UNESCO-UNIDROIT Model Provisions are as follows:

Provision 1 – General Duty

The State shall take all necessary and appropriate measures to protect undiscovered cultural objects and to preserve
them for present and future generations.

Provision 2 – Definition
Undiscovered cultural objects include objects which, consistently with national law, are of importance for
archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science and are located in the soil or underwater.

Provision 3 – State Ownership

Undiscovered cultural objects are owned by the State, provided there is no prior existing ownership.

Provision 4 – Illicit excavation or retention

Cultural objects excavated contrary to the law or licitly excavated but illicitly retained are deemed to be stolen
objects.

Provision 5 – Inalienability
The transfer of ownership of a cultural object deemed to be stolen under Provision 4 is null and void, unless it can
be established that the transferor had a valid title to the object at the time of the transfer.

Provision 6 – International enforcement

For the purposes of ensuring the return or the restitution to the enacting State of cultural objects excavated contrary
to the law or licitly excavated but illicitly retained, such objects shall be deemed stolen objects.6

- UNESCO-EU cooperation7

6
UNESCO. 2022. Model Provisions on State Ownership of Undiscovered Cultural Objects. [ebook] United Nations Educational, Scientific,
and Social Organization. Available at: <https://fr.unesco.org/sites/default/files/unesco-unidroit_model_provisions_en.pdf>.

7
UNESCO. 2022. UNESCO’s Cooperation with the European Union to Fight Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property. [online] Available at:
<https://en.unesco.org/fighttrafficking/eu-cooperation>.

20
As reported by UNESCO, “[s]ince the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in 2010,
the [European Union (EU)] and UNESCO have undertaken a number of joint initiatives to
strengthen the regulatory environment and promote capacity-development, supported by the
European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG
EAC). The current project ‘Inter-regional and crosscutting action aiming to strengthen the fight
against the illicit trafficking of cultural property’ is a continuation of a series of projects related to
the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property.”

- UNODC mandates on trafficking in cultural property8

UNODC mandates in regard to trafficking in cultural property cover thorough crime prevention
and criminal justice responses of Member States. All this is done through the support of Member
States and relevant international parties, namely the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime, as well as the International Criminal Police Organization
(INTERPOL), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), the World Customs
Organization (WCO), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the
International Council of Museums (ICOM).
The UNODC puts into consideration the International Guidelines for Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice Responses with Respect to Trafficking in Cultural Property and Other Related
Offenses when dealing with the criminal activity.

Potential bloc positions

The European Union9
In order to protect cultural heritage, the EU has put up the following regulations:
- When exporting cultural property from the EU
The Council Regulation (EC) 116/2009 on the export of cultural goods requires the presentation
of an export permit to customs for the export of certain cultural goods from Union customs
territory, and ensures that exports of those goods are subject to uniform controls at the Union's

8
United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. 2022. UNODC mandates on illicit trafficking in cultural property. [online] Available at:
<https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/organized-crime/trafficking-in-cultural-property-mandate.html>.
9
Taxation and Customs Union. 2022. Cultural Goods. [online] Available at: <https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/customs-
4/prohibitions-and-restrictions/cultural-
goods_en#:~:text=EU%20rules%20for%20the%20protection,part%20of%20its%20cultural%20heritage.>.

21
external borders. After the formation of the Internal Market in 1993, which abolished all
boundaries between Member States, the Regulation tries to balance the concept of free mobility
with the protection of cultural heritage.
- When importing cultural property into the EU
Regulation (EU) 2019/880 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the introduction
and import of cultural goods aims to prevent the illicit trade in cultural goods, particularly when
such trade may contribute to the financing of terrorist activities, and to prohibit the import into
Union customs territory of cultural goods that have been illegally exported from third countries.
It's also expected to deter tax evasion, money laundering, and other organized crime activities.

In accordance with the ad hoc regulations above, countries that are related to the EU could form
a bloc to further develop already existing regulations into more effective ones.

Questions A Resolution Must Answer (QARMA)

1. What can be done to enforce the UNESCO-UNIDROIT Model Provisions?
2. How can the international community further prevent trafficking in cultural property
from happening?
3. Is there a way to retrieve misplaced cultural properties and return them to their rightful
owners?--or is this something unnecessary?
4. What additional international legal measures could be created for the purpose of
combating trafficking in cultural property?

Bibliography & Further readings

COLEMAN, E., 2017. Aboriginal art, identity and appropriation. [Place of publication not
identified]: ROUTLEDGE.

Taxation and Customs Union. 2022. Cultural Goods. [online] Available at:
<https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/customs-4/prohibitions-and-restrictions/cultural-
goods_en#:~:text=EU%20rules%20for%20the%20protection,part%20of%20its%20cultural%2
0heritage.>.

UNESCO. 2022. About 1970 Convention. [online] Available at:

<https://en.unesco.org/fighttrafficking/1970>.

22
 UNESCO. 2022. Legal Texts on illicit trafficking. [online] Available at:
<https://en.unesco.org/fighttrafficking/legaltexts>.

UNESCO. 2022. Model Provisions on State Ownership of Undiscovered Cultural Objects. [ebook]
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Social Organization. Available at:
<https://fr.unesco.org/sites/default/files/unesco-unidroit_model_provisions_en.pdf>.

UNESCO. 2022. UNESCO’s Cooperation with the European Union to Fight Illicit Trafficking of
Cultural Property. [online] Available at: <https://en.unesco.org/fighttrafficking/eu-cooperation>.

United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. 2022. Trafficking in Cultural Property. [online]
Available at: <https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/organized-crime/intro/emerging-
crimes/trafficking-in-cultural-
property.html#:~:text=Trafficking%20in%20cultural%20property%20involves,artefacts%20of
%20its%20shared%20heritage.>.

United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. 2022. UNODC mandates on illicit trafficking
in cultural property. [online] Available at: <https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/organized-
crime/trafficking-in-cultural-property-mandate.html>.

Wilson, V., 2022. What is Cultural Identity and Why is it Important?. [online] Exceptional
Futures. Available at: <https://www.exceptionalfutures.com/cultural-identity/>

23