1 | Background Guide for DISEC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Message from the Chairperson 2

Introduction to The Disarmament and International Security

Committee 3

Introduction to the Agenda 4

History of the Conflict 5

The Timeline of the Conflict 7

The Forces involved in the conflict 14

Humanitarian Crisis 16

Truces 17

Questions A Resolution Must Answer (QARMA) 18

Position Papers 19

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 Message from the Chairperson

Greetings Delegates,
It is my utmost privilege to welcome you to the Disarmament and
International Security Committee (DISEC) of CoMUN 2022 and it is an honour
to serve you on the Executive Board. 
The issue at hand is one of great importance and the agenda has
been chosen after careful consideration of modern-day relevance and
possible future developments. It is an agenda that has often been pushed
aside and overlooked because of the sheer volume of crises that the world
has faced in recent times.  While we were all focused largely on the
pandemic there were hundreds and thousands of lives being lost and
permanently altered because of this conflict and you as delegates now have
the opportunity to amend that error on the part of the international
community. 
You have the opportunity to think of the people that were previously left
to the wayside. But will you? I as your Chair sincerely hope that you do, I
hope that you use this MUN for what it was once intended… to simulate the
United Nations, to bring forward solutions akin to those that would be
brought forward in an International Setting. To see how we as people can
use the gifts and abilities we have been given, to help the international
community– not to harm it. And I trust that over the committee's three days,
we will see nothing short of diplomacy and incredible skill from every one of
you delegates. 
But remember: The purpose of this background guide is only to widen
your outlook on the agenda and to serve as the most basic levels of your
knowledge. This should not be the only research you possess. Further note,
that it cannot be provided as proof to enforce an argument in committee. You
have an incredible well of research to draw from, so go and delve deep into
our agenda.  I look forward to seeing and interacting with all of you in the
Committee. 
Wishing you the best of luck! 

The Chairperson of the DISEC,

Mathew William.

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 Introduction to The Disarmament and International Security
Committee

The First Committee deals with disarmament, global challenges and

threats to peace that affect the international community and seeks solutions
to the challenges within the international security community.
All 195 members and observer States are allowed to attend and
participate in this committee. The DISEC came into being with the creation
of the UN, so it first met shortly after the primary UNGA session, in January
1946 – with representatives of just 51 nations. the primary ever resolution,
was adopted by the first meeting of the Committee on the 24th of January
was to form a commission on the issues raised by atomic energy. DISEC
possess an important mandate of considering disarmament and
international security issues across the world, so as to ensure peace and the
progress of society. It attempts to make agreements between states on
these issues to form a consensus to confront those issues on their mandate.
It considers all matters referring to disarmament and international security
within the scope of the Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any
other organ of the United Nations; the general principles of cooperation in
the maintenance of international peace and security, also as principles
governing the regulation of armaments; promotion of cooperative
arrangements and measures aimed at strengthening stability through lower
levels of armaments. it's the only Main Committee of the General Assembly
entitled to verbatim records coverage. The General Assembly is the main
deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations.
Comprising all Members of the United Nations, it provides a singular forum
for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues
covered by the Charter. The functions and powers of the overall Assembly
are stipulated in Chapter IV of the Charter of the United Nations. According
to the UN Charter, the aim of DISEC in the General Assembly is to establish
‘general principles of cooperation in the maintenance of international peace
and security, and also to offer “recommendations with regard to such
principles to the Members or the Security Council.” Although DISEC cannot
directly advise the safety Council’s decision-making process, the UN Charter
explains that DISEC can suggest specific topics for Security Council
consideration.

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 Introduction to the Agenda

“Discussing the state of unrest in the Tigray region with special emphasis
on the resettlement and provision of aid to the displaced population.”

At an impasse between parties abusing their power and unhappy

state officials, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mr Abiy, mobilised
ordinary citizens to take up arms to block the Tigrayan advance. “Nothing
will stop us. The enemy will be destroyed”, he told a group of soldiers at the
battlefront while dressed in fatigues. Civilian structures in towns in Tigray,
including hospitals, schools, factories, and businesses, were shelled, looted
and destroyed by Ethiopian federal forces, regional militias and Eritrean
armed forces.
People deserted and thrown to the wayside with hardly a care for their
well-being. Men, women and children, are all being abused and killed for a
war that they had nothing to do with. The number of casualties increasing
day by day and the government doing nothing to aid its citizens. The
international community, focused primarily on the pandemic, was left with
hardly a fleeting thought to spare for those suffering under these
circumstances. Along with the death and humanitarian crisis, the war
displaced millions of people causing a new refugee crisis the world could
not handle. With a temporary truce being announced and both parties still
unsatisfied with the outcome, the fate of this great nation lies in the
balance. 

We present to you the Disarmament and International Security

Committee (DISEC).

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 History of the Conflict

After the fall of Colonel Mengistu and the EPLF declaring Eritrea
independent from Ethiopia, the TPLF was left with the most power and
influence over Ethiopia.
Meles Zenawi a member of TPLF became the first Prime Minister of the
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Ethiopia had a federal system in
which different ethnic groups control the affairs of 10 regions. The Tigray
People's Liberation Front (TPLF) - was influential in setting up this system. 
Under the four party-coalition, Ethiopia became more prosperous and
stable, but concerns were routinely raised about human rights and the level
of democracy.

For almost three decades, the party was at the centre of power, before
it was sidelined by Mr Abiy, who took office in 2018 after anti-government
protests. Politics was liberalized, set up a new party (the Prosperity Party),
and removed key Tigrayan government leaders accused of corruption and
repression.
Mr Abiy dissolved the coalition in 2019 - but the TPLF refused to join
his new Prosperity Party. Abiy ended a long-standing territorial dispute with
neighbouring Eritrea, earning him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. There has
long been animosity between Tigray and Eritrea's government. This caused
unease among critics in Tigray. Tigray's leaders saw Mr Abiy's reforms as
an attempt to centralize power and destroy Ethiopia's federal system. The rift
grew when the central government suspended funding for Tigray and cut
ties with it in October. The TLF considered this a declaration of war 
The feud came to a head in September, when Tigray defied the central
government to hold its own regional election. The central government, which
had postponed national elections because of coronavirus, said it was illegal.
On 4 November 2020, after the TPLF was accused of attacking military
bases in the region, Ethiopian federal forces launched an attack in Tigray,
starting a civil war. TPLF claims that it seized military equipment and took
thousands of soldiers prisoner because Mr Abiy was preparing to send
troops into the region. TPLF was joined by the Oromo Liberation Army, while
federal troops were bolstered by soldiers from Eritrea, historical enemies of
the TPLF. Tens of thousands of civilians fled the conflict, moving east, deeper
into Tigray. Some fleeing Tigrayans accused the Amhara forces now in
control of rape, killings and looting - accusations the Amhara deny.
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Ethiopian federal forces and allied troops have been accused of
weaponised sexual violence, mass detention and summary executions. As
the conflict escalated to Amhara and Afar regions, the Tigrayan forces have
also been accused of abuses against civilians.
Witnesses say the collaborative efforts between Ethiopia and its allies
led to an attack on Abala, a community of predominantly Tigrayan people
which can be considered an ethnic cleansing of the Tigrayans. The allied
forces killed unarmed Tigrayan civilians, from house to house, seeking
Tigrayans out in a killing campaign that continued over five consecutive
days.
In August 2021, the Tigrayan forces were accused of murders and
other atrocities in other towns in the Afar region, like Galicoma. Where they
were accused of rape and many human atrocities against the people in that
region.
The rift between the beliefs and policies of the Ethiopian Government
and TPLF has brought a civil war with casualties that were mostly civilian
and heavy loss of life to both sides accused of committing great atrocities
against its people. 

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 The Timeline of the Conflict

4th November 2020- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordersa military response
to what he calls a “traitorous” attack on his federal army camps in Tigray. He
blames the attack on the ruling party of the region (The TPLF) which was in
power for almost three decades before he took office in 2018. 

Eritrea moves troops into Ethiopia- After nearly 10 days of conflict, Eritrea
who had previously signed a peace deal with Abiy (that won him a Nobel
Peace Prize) moves troops into the Tigrayan region to assist the Ethiopian
forces 

19th November 2020- Ethiopian government forces hadbeen fighting their

way towards the capital of Tigray: Mekelle from all directions which is home
to almost half a million people.
The Ethiopian troops took the towns of Axum and Adwa according to several
government statements. They start advancing towards the town of Adigrat
which is about 120 miles north of the capital.
In a televised address, Getachew Reda said that their fighters have inflicted
increasing casualties in Raya.
At the Um Rakuba settlement in Sudan, where aid workers are setting up a
camp in the scrubland for 10,000 mainly Tigrayan refugees, those who
arrived queued up for cornflour porridge and put up makeshift shelters.

28th November 2020- Abiy declares that military operations were

completed in the Northern Tigray region while saying that he was in full
control of the capital of Mekelle. However other reports indicated that there
was still armed combat taking place in the region.
The TPLF said that the Eritrean army attacked them from the north and
forced political refugees of Eritrean origin to go back to Eritrea.  They
claimed that the army was blatantly stealing large amounts of Tigrayan
resources and taking them back to Eritrea.
25th February 2021- Amnesty International reportedthat Eritrean soldiers
have ‘killed’ hundreds of civilians in the “holy city” of Axum after months of

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both Ethiopia and Eritrean forces denying the Eritrean soldier’s involvement
in the conflict while there have been multiple reports of ‘Ethnic Cleansing”.
Amnesty International reports that Eritrean troops fighting in Ethiopia’s
Tigray state systematically killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the
northern city of Axum on 28-29 November 2020, opening fire in the streets
and conducting house-to-house raids in a massacre that may amount to a
crime against humanity.
Satellite imagery analysis by the organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab
corroborates reports of indiscriminate shelling and mass looting, as well as
identifies signs of new mass burials near two of the city’s churches.
The mass killings came just before the annual celebration at Axum Tsion
Mariam, a major Ethiopian Orthodox Christian festival on 30 November,
compounding the trauma by casting a pall over an annual event that
typically draws many pilgrims and tourists to the sacred city.

23rd March 2021- Abiy admits the presence of Eritreantroops and officials
say they massacred more than 100 civilians in Axum and elections are held
across most of Ethiopia but not in a single region in Tigray. 

30th June 2021 - Western nations have been urging both sides to agree to a
ceasefire, with the UK and Canada hailing the truce declaration. 
A spokesman for the Tigrayan forces battling Ethiopia's government warned
Tuesday in an interview with Reuters that the rebel Tigray Defense Forces
would enter neighbouring Eritrea and Ethiopia's Amhara region to pursue
"enemy" forces if necessary.
At a U.S. congressional hearing on the conflict, U.S. Agency for International
Development Administrators Sarah Charles told lawmakers the “U.S. believes
famine is likely already occurring” in the region. She said the U.S. estimates
between 3.5 to 4.5 million people need “urgent humanitarian food
assistance” and that up to 900,000 of them are “already experiencing
catastrophic conditions.”

2nd July 2021 - Un officials warn that nearly 400,000 people in Tigray have
been affected by famine and there was a risk of more clashes in the region
despite a unilateral ceasefire. Ethiopia’s UN ambassador, Taye Atske
Selassie Amde, told reporters after he addressed the council that the
purpose of the ceasefire “is not to make a siege, it is to save lives.”

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4th October 2021 - Prime Minister Abiy is sworn in for another five-year
term. 

18th October 2021 - An Ethiopian Aircraft launcheddeadly strikes on Tigray.

Ethiopia’s government initially dismissed the reports, but the state media
later confirmed the air force had struck the targets of the region’s ruling
party Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The Ethiopian Press Agency said the
raids hit media and communications equipment used by the TPLF, adding
that “measures to prevent civilian casualties during the air strikes were done
successfully”. UN chief Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned” about the
escalation of the conflict and called for all sides to avoid targeting civilians
and stop fighting. Tigray TV – controlled by TPLF – said the attack on the city
of Mekelle was carried out by “Abiy Ahmed”.

1st November 2021- The Tigrayans claim control of two key cities in Amhara
-- only a few hundred kilometres north of Addis Ababa. 

2nd November 2021- Ethiopia declares a nationwidestate of emergency.

3rd November 2021- A joint UN-Ethiopian report says crimes against

humanity may have been committed by "all sides."

24th November 2021- Abiy arrives on the frontline to personally direct the
counter-offensive. While Abiy is away, Deputy Prime Minister Demeke
Mekonnen Hassen would take charge of routine government business in his
absence, government spokesman Legesse Tulu told a news conference. 
U.S. Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman said the Ethiopian military and regional
militias had been able to hold back Tigrayan attempts to cut the corridor, but
Tigrayan forces had been able to move south towards the capital. Feltman,
along with former Nigerian president turned African Union envoy Olusegun
Obasanjo, has been trying to broker a ceasefire between the two sides.

2nd December 2021- The government says it has recaptured a string of

towns, including Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

20th December 2021-  The rebels say they are withdrawing from Amhara
and Afar and pulling back to Tigray.

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22nd December 2021- The government says its forces will not advance
further into Tigray, raising hopes of a possible cooling of the conflict.
He also proposed the establishment of a no-fly zone over Tigray to prevent
air attacks over the region and the imposition of an international arms
embargo on Ethiopia and Eritrea. As a result of a months-long government
blockade, some of Tigray’s 6 million people have begun starving to death,
according to aid groups. Thousands of ethnic Tigrayans have been
detained or forcibly expelled in an atmosphere stoked by virulent speeches
against Tigrayans by some senior Ethiopian officials. Alarmed human rights
groups have warned some of the anti-Tigrayan rhetoric is hate speech.

19th and 24th December- The UN says dozens of civilians were killed in
Tigray between December 19 and 24 in an "intense series of air attacks."

7th January 2022 - 56 people are killed in a drone strike on a displaced

persons' camp in Dedebit in northwestern Tigray, according to the rebels.
Military spokesperson, Colonel Getnet Adane, and government
spokesperson, Legesse Tulu, did not immediately respond to requests for
comment. The government has previously denied targeting civilians in the
14-month conflict with Tigrayan forces.

10th January 2022 - Aid agencies suspend operations in the area, with the
UN saying "the intensification of air strikes is alarming." The UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement to the
AFP news agency on Sunday that the attack in the town of Dedebit in
northwestern Tigray had “caused scores of civilian casualties including
deaths”, according to its preliminary information.

14th January 2022 - The UN puts the death toll for the month at least 108
civilians and says war crimes could have been committed.

25th January 2022 - Tigrayan rebels say they have been "obliged" to resume
combat in Afar in order to assure the safety of its people. 

24th March 2022- The UN estimates that 4.6 million people in Tigray lack
access to adequate food.  The government declares an "indefinite
humanitarian truce" to help hasten the delivery of emergency aid into Tigray.
Tigrayan rebels agree to a "cessation of hostilities" if access to aid is eased.

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1st April 2022 - The UN says the first international aid convoy in three
months arrives in Tigray's capital Mekele.

Atrocities that have been committed throughout the conflict

1. The Abala Massacre

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) accused the Ethiopian
army of killing more than 250 Tigray civilians and causing the displacement
of hundreds from the district of Abala, Afar. Eritrean troops and Afar local
forces went house to house breaking into the houses of the Tigrayen
residents and brutally murdering 273 people.  In a press statement, the
government of Tigray said that the Ethiopian army and their allies are
looting, harassing, and killing civilians living in the area. Furthermore, the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that dozens
of civilians were recently killed in airstrikes in the war-torn Tigray region of
northern Ethiopia, claiming it is the highest casualty toll since the attacks
that October. The strikes targeted the towns of Alamata, Korim, Maisho,
Mikuni, and Melazat in southern Tigray, as well as the provincial capital,
Mekele. Survivors and witnesses say the Ethiopian allied forces went door to
door for five days straight, targeting Tigrayans. Survivors remember seeing
hundreds of bodies littered all over the street – young men, children and
even pregnant women – on December 24, 2021- just days after Ethiopian
allied forces raided her hometown of Abala in the Afar region. “They
[soldiers] protected civilians of other ethnicities and erased the Tigrayans,”
said Desta who now lives in the Derg-Ajen camp for internally displaced
people (IDP) on the outskirts of Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital. “They killed,
gang-raped, looted and arrested every Tigrayan they found in the town. Only
if you knew an Afar to either hide you or help you escape, could you be
saved.” In the camp, there are almost 7,000 people who fled from Abala to
Tigray in late December, including 26 girls who reported cases of sexual
violence. The survivors, mostly women and children, are currently sheltered
in four IDP centres including Derg-Ajen, all located on the outskirts of
Mekelle.

2. November Northern Command attacks

The 4 November Northern Command attacks were attacks on the
Ethiopian National Defence Force Northern Command headquarters in
Mekelle and bases in Adigrat, Aguila, Dansha, and Sero in the Tigray Region

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by armed forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front on 4 November
2020 that many have regarded as the trigger of the conflict. 
The Ethiopian federal government stated that these attacks justified
the ENDF's military action against the TPLF, which, at the time the attacks
occurred, held control over the Tigray Region. TPLF called the action "a
pre-emptive strike".
The TPLF alleged that in the months and days before the fighting erupted
Ethiopian armed forces had been mobilised towards Tigray, apparently also
being deployed into nearby Eritrea in cooperation with that country's
leadership. 
In a statement made late in December 2020, Ethiopian prime minister
Abiy Ahmed stated that extrajudicial executions had occurred during the
attacks. He stated that the "TPLF identified and separated hundreds of
unarmed Ethiopian soldiers of non-Tigrayan origin, tied their hands and feet
together, massacred them in cold blood, and left their bodies lying in the
open air." Abiy suggested that the TPLF forces had "recorded themselves
singing and dancing on the bodies of their victims.”

3. Sergeant Bulcha’s Report

The base was surrounded by hundreds of TPLF special forces and
militias, including Tigrayan soldiers from the camp who had defected to the
TPLF, after 23:30 on 3 November. Sgt. Bulcha together with other soldiers
requested a colonel to unlock a storeroom with the soldiers' weapons. The
colonel refused. Sgt. Bulcha suspected that the colonel, an ethnic Tigrayan,
refused on behalf of the TPLF. The soldiers eventually obtained their
weapons, by which time TPLF forces had started shooting. A war with guns
erupted on the 4th of November, there were reported to be around 132
casualties with more injured.
The ENDF soldiers were taken to a TPLF base at Abiy Addi, 150
kilometres to the southwest, where they were held for two weeks and
provided with tea, bread and not much water. Bulcha and his colleagues'
valuables were confiscated. After negotiating the burning of their uniforms
to avoid them being re-used by the TPLF, the ENDF soldiers were transported
in trucks, each carrying 500 soldiers, to the border between the Tigray
Region and Amhara Region at the Tekezé River, which they crossed by boat.
The soldiers walked 16 hours to Soqotra where they were lodged at a police
compound and the wounded hospitalised.

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4. Extrajudicial executions
In a statement made late in December 2020, Ethiopian prime minister
Abiy Ahmed stated that extrajudicial executions had occurred during the
attacks. He stated that the "TPLF identified and separated hundreds of
unarmed Ethiopian soldiers of non-Tigrayan origin, tied their hands and feet
together, massacred them in cold blood, and left their bodies lying in the
open air." Abiy suggested that the TPLF forces had "record[ed] themselves
singing and dancing on the bodies of their victims." 

5. Widespread sexual violence

Soldiers and militias subjected Tigrayan women and girls to rape,
gang rape, sexual slavery, sexual mutilation and other forms of torture, often
using ethnic slurs and death threats. The pattern of acts of sexual violence,
with many survivors also witnessing the rape of other women, indicates that
sexual violence was widespread and intended to terrorize and humiliate the
victims and their ethnic group.  Survivors still suffer significant physical and
mental health complications. Many complained of physical trauma such as
continued bleeding, back pain, immobility and fistula. 
Some tested positive for HIV after being raped. Sleep deprivation,
anxiety and emotional distress are common among survivors and family
members who witnessed the violence. Twelve survivors said they were held
captive for weeks and repeatedly raped, in most cases by several men, some
in military camps, others in houses or grounds in rural areas. 
Two survivors had large nails, gravel, and other metal and plastic
shrapnel inserted into them, causing lasting and possibly irreparable
damage. Soldiers and militia repeatedly sought to humiliate their victims,
frequently using ethnic slurs, insults, threats, and degrading comments.
Several survivors said that the rapists had told them, “This is what you
deserve” and “You are disgusting”.

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 The Forces involved in the conflict

1. The National Military: The Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF)

The Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) has around 140,000
active personnel, the vast majority of them in the army, according to the
Janes security data group. ts troops have been tested by Islamist militants
in Somalia and rebel groups in Ethiopia’s border regions, as well as the
two-decade border war and then standoff with Eritrea that only ended in
2018. Its air force gives it dominance in the skies over Tigray. According to
Janes, it has 15 Sukhoi Su-27SK and eight MiG-23ML fighter jets, around 20
Mi-24 and Mi-35 helicopter gunships and a range of air defence and
missile systems, as well as scores of Russian T-55 and T-72 tanks. A senior
diplomat working on the Ethiopia crisis said Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had
increasingly fallen back on support from forces from Tigray’s southern
neighbour Amhara in ground fighting - raising the risk of ethnic violence.

2. The Northern Command

Regional fighters control the headquarters building and have seized
heavy weapons, according to a United Nations report seen by Reuters. It is
unclear how much of the federal military’s hardware was in Tigray when
fighting broke out. Abiy’s government says it has carried out air strikes to
destroy equipment in the hands of the Tigrayans. “The importance of the
armour in Tigray cannot be overstated,” a military source in the Horn of
Africa told Reuters. The northern region’s ruling Tigray People’s Liberation
Front (TPLF) says it has taken over the Northern Command’s assets. The
federal military has acknowledged the loss of a compound but said its
troops remain loyal and have been fighting back.

3. The Tigray Forces (TPLF)

As many as 250,000 soldiers and militia serve under regional
commanders in Tigray, according to the International Crisis Group. It is
unclear whether those all count separately from the soldiers under the
ENDF’s Northern Command and how many are active, but that still amounts
to a significant force. The TPLF says it has air defence systems that have

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shot down a federal army jet, an assertion dismissed by the military. The
regional force has a formidable history. Tigrayan fighters led the rebel
march to drive out the Marxist Derg regime in 1991 and bore the brunt of the
Eritrean war.

4.The Eritrea Forces

Over Tigray’s northern border, Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki – a
long-time foe of the TPLF - controls a vast standing army which the CIA
estimates at 200,000 personnel. His government has dismissed TPLF reports
that Eritrean troops have already crossed the border. Any such intervention
could tip the Tigray fighting into a regional war. Eritrea has a system of
mandatory military service for all adults which rights groups say amounts to
indefinite conscription for many and forces thousands to flee the country.

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 Humanitarian Crisis

The current conflict has led to the downfall and overall destruction of
many cities in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, where people are still suffering from
the effects of the war. They are in desperate need of food, shelter and basic
human necessities.
People from these states have been victims of the internal disputes and
displacement of their hometowns. They have been wounded, murdered,
sexually abused and just degraded with no regard for the sanctity of human
life. 
It has been extremely challenging to aid the displaced and hurt
population while the government is enforcing strict control over the region
with reports of it being referred to as a ‘de-facto humanitarian aid
blockade’. 
The blockade has included the unfortunate shutdown of
telecommunications, electricity and even banking services in the region and
several restrictions have been placed preventing aid providers from
assisting in the humanitarian response and exacerbating the crisis. 
Since the start of the crisis, the region has been receiving an inadequate
amount of water. The sources of clean water for the people of Tigray have
been slim to none which leads to extremely unhygienic and unsanitary
causing a spike in water-borne diseases.  People in the Tigray region are
said to be consuming dead crops and roots from the fields instead of proper
meals due to a lack of availability of a clean and sustainable food source.
Even with a rise in sickness in this region, there is still an overwhelming lack
of medicine. Reports of killings of humanitarian workers are also coming
from near the Tigray region which has been brought in by the ‘REST TIGRAY’
non-governmental agency. Stolen trucks filled with supplies have been
going missing which has led to multiple humanitarian agencies
withdrawing themselves from this region or terminating branches in this
region altogether.

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 Truces

Observers of Ethiopia's Tigray conflict have seen encouraging signs of

peace in the past few months.  The truce announced by Ethiopia's federal
government is still holding nearly two months after it was announced. Tigray
fighters, who have been battling a coalition of federal forces and regional
militias since November 2020, have largely withdrawn back into the northern
Tigray region from neighbouring Afar.
There have been reports of fighting in the Amhara region, which also
borders Tigray, as well as in western Tigray, which is under Amhara region
administration, but it is unclear who is involved and who is to blame. 
By and large, though, there has been a "pause in large-scale fighting," finds
the International Crisis Group, an independent think tank, in an April
analysis of the situation in Ethiopia.
This "has generated cautious optimism," the analysis finds.
The US State Department also speaks of "encouraging actions" that have
laid the groundwork for peace in past months, including the government's
lifting of the state of emergency and its release of some political prisoners,
as well as the delivery of "desperately needed food aid to war-affected
communities."
But there are concerns that if more isn't done and done soon, full-scale
conflict could flare up again.
The spokesperson for the Tigray People's Liberation Front, which ruled
Tigray before the federal government ousted them, warns that President
Abiy Ahmed needs to put his words into action.  Abiy's National Dialogue
Commission, which is tasked with bridging the fault lines between the
country's estimated 80 plus ethnicities, excludes the TPLF, as well as its main
ally, the Oromo Liberation Army. 

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 Questions A Resolution Must Answer (QARMA)

1. Is the current truce called by the government a viable long-term

solution to the problem at hand?

2. What solutions can be reached to end this long-brewing conflict

between these two regions?

3. What is the role of DISEC in controlling the conflicts that erupt in this
region?

4. What can be done to assist the displaced and hurt population?

5. How can this type of Humanitarian Crisis (specific to the African

Region) be avoided in the future?

6. How to avoid the prevention of humanitarian aid to populations

affected as a result of conflicts?

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 Position Papers

Delegates will be required to submit a position paper to the

chairperson. A position paper is basically a formal document containing the
position or stance of your nation in this conflict. 
Position papers should be structured in three key parts. First,
delegates should establish their understanding of the problem at hand,
contextualising it both in terms of their national interests and that of the
international community at large. Delegates should then explain their
thoughts on solutions to the problems that are set to be brought up during
committee. They can focus on as many or few aspects of the conflict at hand
as they would like, however, they should bear in mind that proposing more
solutions gives them more options to work with in committee.
Position papers should be written formally and in the third person. For
example, a paper written from the perspective of Nicaragua should read,
“Nicaragua believes that…” Your position paper should be at least one page,
single-spaced, twelve-point Times New Roman font.
Your name, country,  school/delegation name, committee, and agenda
should be stated in the upper right-hand corner.
All delegates must submit a typed position paper to
disec.comun22@gmail.com. Please note that failure to submit the position
paper will result in disqualification from all awards.

20 | Background Guide for DISEC