ECOSOC Agenda Brief

The Economic and Social Council

Agenda: The Economic and Social instability and insecurity of the “Global
South”.

The “Global South” is a term commonly used to refer to the widely known ““North- South” divide
that came into prominence soon after the second world war. It encompasses nearly 157 nations
but is not differentiated wholly on geography. The “Global South” comprises of Central and South
America, Africa, Middle East, Central , South and South East Asia (Japan, Australia, South Korea,
Singapore, and New Zealand are not included in the south). The traditional divide is used to highlight
the difference socio-economic and political conditions between the developed and developing nations.

One key criteria used to classify a developing nation as the same is that though often wrought with
social and political upheaval they possess great potential for economic and cultural growth in an
ever globalising world. The main challenges faced by these countries is the lack of consistency in a
political and social stiructure due to corruption, civil war, ethnic and religious tensions, tranditional
values etc. This inconsistency and its secondary ripples out in to a prevalent state of instability.

The chief aim of this conference is to discuss in detail the instability and insecurity that is present
in the “Global South” and what are their causes and effects- including but not limited to –money
laundering and corruption, human rights violations, transnational crime etc. The final objectives
however, is to draw from these discussions and reach a plausible and constructive solution to these
issues and pass a resolution on the same. Delegates are requested to be mindful of current issues
such as the global recession, the Afghanistan War etc. which closely involve the Global “North”.
Though the discussion will be south centric, the main purpose is to deliberate the actions of the entire
world community and suggest ways to remove this divide.

Questions to Consider:

1. What are the major conflicts and trends in the “Global South” that leads to instability and
insecurity?

2. How have these trends effected the global stage and how intricately are they linked
to the “North”? What are the chef challenges in this regard faced by your country?

3. Is the structure of the institutions and the way in which South-South Cooperation has been
promoted and developed until now is an effective one?

4. How to use the experiences of successful developing countries and transfer tacit knowledge
to improve the situation?

5. How to improve financing of projects? Is aid effective or, alternatively, should FDI of
the “North” in developing countries be promoted?


Useful Resources:

The Brandt Report- that really popularized the term Global South: http://www.stwr.org/special-
features/the-brandt-report.html
Centre for Global South- American University: http://www1.american.edu/academic.depts/
acainst/cgs/links.html
United Nations Civil Society: http://www.un.org/en/civilsociety/
UNA- USA:
Economics for Development: http://www.economics4development.com/

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