By: Katelyn Jamoul, Student Reporter*

Sunday, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates made speeches calling for transitioning immediate relief efforts to sustainable development. They also addressed how the collaboration among Member States involves not only responding swiftly to crises, but also strategizing long-term recovery. Representative Kerem Tosun of Saudi Arabia describes the problems we are facing with distribution, saying, “The various groups working to provide this aid directly lack cooperation…The inefficiencies in communication between the local people who need help and those international actors attempting to help them have led to the charitable aid given by the world being wasted.” These concerns were incorporated into draft resolution AC, which encompasses aid delivery, resource mobilization and infrastructure development to mitigate future disasters. Representative Tosun said, “This resolution, Disaster Incidence and logistics framework, works to strengthen existing connections and build new ones between the various international actors, seeking to provide efficient and equitable aid to empower local communities in the wake of climate disasters.”

Member States worry that developed nations are taking advantage of developing nations. Saudi Arabia calls out Western powers for taking billions of dollars for hurricane relief. Not only are States misusing aid, the lack of communication from NGOs is affecting Member States in need. In addition, Representative Tosun responded to allegations of 600 million dollars of mismanaged relief funds, clarifying “In Haiti in 2010, we saw hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable donations essentially wasted by NGOs who could not establish proper communication with local communities, leading to massive miscommunications in delivering aid. Six hundred million dollars went to building a dozen or so houses rather than working to support the people calling for help.” 

Many Member States donate to the global humanitarian aid fund and will consider taking action against the misuse of funds; this would hopefully fix inequalities in aid distribution. Member States throughout the body call for transparency and tracking of the funds. Some expressed concerns of Members profiting while other Member States struggle to survive. Representative Tosun said the draft resolution “should empower people by providing them opportunities to find their footing after climate disasters. This includes providing jobs to the local community in rebuilding damaged infrastructure alongside UN agencies or trusted NGOs.” This global effort seeks to address emergency response to rehabilitation and reconstruction, empowering affected communities to regain stability and resilience.

_{The views and opinions expressed in this article were part of a simulation of the United Nations held from 18 to 21 November 2023 and do not reflect the views and opinions of the American Model United Nations Conference, American Model United Nations International, LLC., *Katelyn Jamoul, Wichita State University or the governing bodies of the states mentioned in the article.}