Dear Delegates,
Welcome to NAIMUN XLIX and the Social Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, SOCHUM! Our names are Alissa Lee and Emily Rotolo, and this is our 3rd year on the SOCHUM dais and 2nd year as your Co-Chairs. Joining us on the dais is your Director, Heather Hedges.
Alissa is a rising senior in the Walsh School of Foreign Service majoring in International Politics and pursuing a certificate in Asian Studies. Hailing from the Chicago suburbs, Alissa has participated in Model UN since high school and this will be her 4th, and sadly final, NAIMUN. When not studying Chinese or interning in Washington D.C., she spends her free time watching TV marathons.
Emily is also a rising senior but in the College as an English major and minoring in Sociology. She is from the true Jersey Shore which is nothing like the TV show and has participated in Model UN since freshman year of high school more specifically has always been a part of SOCHUM. Emily is spending her summer in D.C. interning for Bisnow Media, and will start full time come graduation in May. When she is not working or at the beach Emily is training for the Marine Corp Marathon.
Your Director is Heather Hedges, a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service majoring in International Political Economy with a certificate in Justice and Peace Studies. She is originally from Manhattan Beach, CA where she was actively involved in her high school's Model UN and even attended NAIMUN twice as a delegate. When she’s not MUN'ing, she enjoys dancing, running, baking, and going to the beach.
This year SOCHUM will be debating two important topics: media freedom and gender based rights. In the world today, newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio have been joined be the Internet, increasing people’s access to news. However numerous governments, notably China, Turkey, and even Hungary, have taken measures to censor free media outlets. Our second topic, gender based rights, is another important topic undergoing many changes today. Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN has a mandate to protect women’s rights, a mission carried out in part by the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, created in 2010. However the differences in women’s rights between developed and developing countries, and even within OECD countries are huge and need to be addressed.
We’re all really looking forward to meeting you in February. In the meantime please read the background guide and feel free to email us with any questions. Get excited for NAIMUN and our fantastic committee!
HOYA SAXA!
Alissa Lee
Co-Chair, Social Humanitarian and Cultural Committee
NAIMUN XLIX
ael49@georgetown.edu
Emily Rotolo
Co-Chair, Social Humanitarian and Cultural Committee
NAIMUN XLIX
ear64@georgetown.edu
