Queen’s College Intra-school MUN

STUDY GUIDE

Agenda: Establishing Parameters for a Global Children's Happiness

Index and Steps Nations Need to Take in this Regard
Committee: United Nations International Children’s Fund
 Table of Content

Sr. No. Topic

1 Letter from the EB

2 Introduction to the Committee

3 Background of the Agenda

4 World Happiness Report

5 Mental Health and Happiness

6 Conclusion

7 QARMA

8 Bibliography & Additional Links for Reference

 1. Letter from the EB

Greetings Delegates!

The Executive Board of UNICEF welcomes you to the Queen’s College Intra-School
MUN!

Congratulations on choosing a committee with such a pivotal agenda. We want to

thank you for the time and effort you will put into this committee.

This Background guide is very well versed in touching upon several but not all aspects
of the given agenda. This guide is just a start to your research pandora, and not your
complete research. Use this as a guiding tool when you begin looking up the various
repercussions and issues involved, given the situation.

Remember that whatever decision you make today may be the changing instrument
for our leaders tomorrow and the several people waiting for justice.

This committee is yours, and the decisions it takes will be yours as well. The world
looks up to you to come up with new and effective solutions! Remember to have fun
and, at the same time, be the best diplomat version of yourself.

We are looking forward to a great debate!

Regards,
Executive Board
United Nations International Children’s Fund
 2. Introduction

The United Nations International Children's Fund, or UNICEF, was established by the
United Nations General Assembly in the aftermath of World War II. The initial
objective of this body was to help provide relief and support to children living in
countries devastated by war.

UNICEF was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1946.
UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to save children's lives, defend their
rights, and help them fulfill their potential from early childhood through adolescence.
UNICEF works with partners worldwide to promote policies and expand access to
services that protect all children. The Polish physician Ludwik Rajchman is widely
regarded as the founder of UNICEF and served as its first chairman. In 1950,
UNICEF's mandate was extended to address the long-term needs of children and
women in developing countries everywhere. In 1953 it became a permanent part of
the United Nations System. The words "international" and "emergency" were dropped
from the organization's name, making it simply the United Nations Children's Fund.
However, it retained the original acronym, UNICEF.

Structure of UNICEF

Overall management and administration of the organization occur at different

headquarters, where the Fund's global policy on children is shaped. Specialized offices
include the Supply Division, based in Copenhagen, which provides such essential
items as most life-saving vaccine doses for children in developing countries. The
UNICEF Global Shared Services Centre in Budapest provides HR administration,
payroll, invoicing, payments, master data, and global help desk services to UNICEF
staff and offices worldwide. For this reason, UNICEF is the world's leading advocate
for children in the world as it has a presence in 190 countries and the headquarters
office are the following:

- Headquarters, New York, United States of America

- Regional Office for Europe, Geneva, Switzerland
 - Supply Division, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Innocenti Research Centre, Florence, Italy
- Brussels Office, Belgium
- Office for Japan, Tokyo, Japan
- Seoul Office, Republic of Korea
- Global Shared Services Centre, Budapest, Hungary

It is important to recall that UNICEF has a unique feature that is different from
other UN organisms. The National Committees are an integral part of UNICEF's
global organization. There are 34 National Committees globally, each established
as an independent local non-governmental organization. Serving as UNICEF's
public face and dedicated voice, the National Committees work tirelessly to raise
funds from the private sector, promote children's rights, and secure worldwide
visibility for children threatened by poverty, disasters, armed conflict, abuse, and
exploitation. Concerning the funding of this institution, it is exclusively by
voluntary contributions, and the National Committees collectively raise around
one-third of UNICEF's annual income. This comes through contributions from
corporations, civil society organizations, and more than 6 million individual
donors worldwide.

Documents and Reports

UNICEF research and publications have become synonymous with advocating for
the rights of children. Aside from being critical vehicles that promote policy
discussion and guide decision-making, they showcase our efforts and our partners'
efforts on behalf of children.

From flagship publications to documents of historical interest, discover highlights

from the archives.
 3. Background of the Agenda

Happiness is an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction,

contentment, and fulfillment. While happiness has many different definitions, it is
often described as involving positive emotions and life satisfaction.

When most people talk about happiness, they might be talking about how they feel in
the present moment or referring to a more general sense of how they think about life
overall.

If we've defined happiness as both positive emotions and meaning in our lives,
happiness is a state where we might experience positive personal emotions like
contentment, ease, or joy. But we also experience positive prosocial emotions that give
us a greater sense of meaning—emotions like connectedness, gratitude, and
compassion. Although we often think happiness comes from the things that happen
to us, science suggests that happiness primarily comes from our brains. That's why
changing the way we think can increase our happiness with no change.
 4. World Happiness Report

The ninth world happiness report was made in 2021. Finland and Iceland are the
happiest nations, while Afghanistan and Zimbabwe are at the bottom. India has been
ranked 139 out of 149 countries in the list of UN World Happiness Report 2021.

Resilience, which's our cap potential to evolve to tough or tough lifestyles, studies the
use of intellectual, emotional, and behavioral flexibility, which is human strength.
And the WHR 2021 file suggests that human happiness is remarkably resilient.
Significant lifestyles, events, and changes, whether or not practical or terrible, are
referred to for their more minor than predicted effect on our baseline stage of
happiness.

But given the scale and scale of the worldwide pandemic disaster that has inflamed
2% of the whole human race and ensuing in a 4% bounce in worldwide deaths, in
conjunction with untold illness, grief, stress, uncertainty, tension, and loss, it appears
abnormal that we remained as satisfied in lifestyles, and satisfied with lifestyles.

Findings:

● In 2020, we were as likely to be satisfied in lifestyles – as measured via way of

everyday enjoyment of effective feelings and be satisfied with lifestyles – as
measured via a form of means of reflective lifestyles satisfaction.
● And as in 2019, Nordic international locations are the happiest locations on
Earth – Finland as soon as again – for the fourth 12 months running – takes the
primary spot, observed via the means of Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, and
the Netherlands.
The WHR additionally picked up a vast boom withinside the everyday enjoyment of
terrible feelings in 2020, including anger, fear, and sadness. A deep dive into Asian
records discovered that this emotional negativity turned into terrible information,
approximately growing case numbers. But while those improved, so did humans'
mood. The records additionally confirmed a boom in pronounced intellectual fitness
issues for the duration of the early levels of the outbreak, mainly amongst the ones
already struggling with intellectual fitness issues.

Nevertheless, and while the long-time period effect of the pandemic on intellectual
fitness because of recession, unrest, poverty, and inadequate intellectual wellness
continues to be unclear, humans have proven extraordinary resilience in adapting to
the disaster.
 5. Mental Health and Happiness

Mental health has been one of the victims of both the pandemic and the resulting
lockdowns. When the pandemic broke out, there was significant and immediate
deterioration in mental health in many countries worldwide. The estimates vary
depending on the measure used and the country in question. However, the results are
remarkably similar: in the UK in May 2020, an overall mental health measure was 7.7%
lower than expected without the pandemic. The number of reported mental health
problems was 47% higher. In terms of mental health, it was higher among women,
adolescents, and the poor in the groups who already had more mental health
problems, exacerbating existing inequalities in mental well-being. As mental health
needs have increased, so have mental health services in many countries, which is
profound considering that the pandemic is likely to have lasting effects on the younger
generation.

Also, tackling mental health problems would be four times more effective at
increasing happiness than reducing poverty. Experts and researchers use terms like
"epidemic" and "crisis" to characterize the mental health challenges currently faced by
many college students. Mood disturbances represent only some of the prevalent
mental health issues experienced by college students. Others include serious problems
like suicide, eating disorders, and addiction. Mental health professionals stress the
importance of talking about such matters, but students tend to consider these stresses
a normal part of college life. In other cases, they may lack the time, energy, will, or
money to seek the support they need. This guide contains information to help students
identify potential mental health issues and locate valuable community resources. The
mental health of students worldwide is linked to their happiness, and challenges like
depression, anxiety, suicide are caused due to mental deprivation, conducting a chain
of events leading to or originating from the effect on a person's happiness.

6. Conclusion

As we go through tough times, each of us must maintain our mental health. Negativity
is spread across the world; if one does not properly care for their mental health, one
may be devoid of happiness. In most research, it has been found that children with a
high level of creativity interpret happiness as an emotional phenomenon. Their image
of happiness is characterized in terms of social interaction and a focus on other people.
Children with a low level of creativity correlate happiness with the satisfaction of their
material needs. As global citizens and delegates, as a committee, you must strive your
way to implementing solutions to ensure the agenda.
 7. Questions a Resolution Must Answer (QARMA)

➢ How can the World Happiness Report be used to increase the percentage of
happiness in countries?

➢ How can the various Sustainable Development Goal’s be used to achieve the
agenda?
➢ What social and cultural influence can be used by the UN?
➢ What steps must countries take to provide in the formation of the Index?
 8. Bibliography & Additional Links for Reference

➢ https://www.unicef.org/files/Every_Childs_Right_to_be_Heard.pdf
➢ https://worldhappiness.report/blog/media-round-up-on-the-world-happiness-
report-2021/
➢ https://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/top-5-mental-health-problems-facing-
college-students/
➢ https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2021/happiness-trust-and-deaths-under-
covid-19/
➢ https://brandgenetics.com/speed-summary-world-happiness-report-2021/
➢ https://www.econlib.org/archives/2009/11/the_effect_of_c.html
➢ https://www.unicef.org/