Here is a list of all the committees that will be represented in TIMEMUN.
Beginner committees (Delegates for whom TIMEMUN is their first – third MUN conference. Capped at 40 delegates per committee)
Human Rights Council (HRC)
Freedom of Religion: Although the UN enshrined freedom of religion in Article 18 of the Declaration of Human Rights, the actual approach to religion varies by country. Today citizens in 61 countries are said to experience discrimination or persecution based on their religious choices. This constitutes over half of the world’s population, as many of the most populous countries are included. The HRC committee will discuss laws and policies which target religious minorities, or favor one group over another, from a human rights perspective.
Freedom of Expression: Freedom of expression is a cardinal value, one on which many other freedoms rest. However, In much of the world, freedom of expression has gone backwards in recent years. According to the Global Expression Report 2023, 80% of the global population has less freedom of expression than it did in the year 2000, almost 25 years ago. Only 13% of people live in “open” countries, the lowest mark in over 20 years. The committee will propose steps to reverse this disturbing trend.
UNGA 1: Disarmament and International Security (DISEC)
Paramilitaries: Deaths from interstate armed conflicts (wars between countries) have plummeted in the last 80 years. While this is good news overall, in part it reflects a shift in warfare to civil wars and wars involving non-state actors (terrorist groups, separatist fighters, militias, and various proxies of states). Thus, the number of people displaced by conflicts worldwide is actually at the highest recorded levels. From Columbia to Sri Lanka, Myanmar to West Africa, Ukraine to Iraq, Yemen to Northern Ireland, Sudan to El Salvador, paramilitary groups have come to play an outsized role in armed conflict, and even in controlling and administering territory. DISEC will discuss this growing challenge, and share ideas to address it.
Bioweapons and non-state actors: Use of biological weapons is considered a war crime, and nearly all countries have signed on to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). However, there are rising concerns about non-state actors (terrorist groups and militias) developing their own biological weapons. These fears are exacerbated by the risk of using artificial intelligence tools designed to improve the medical field, to develop bioweapons. DISEC will look at this cutting edge problem.
Intermediate committees (Delegates who have been to at least two conferences already. Capped at 30 delegates.)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Countering Russia: NATO’s express purpose is ensuring the “freedom and security” of all members. However ,its founding goal was to address the threat from the Soviet Union, particularly towards European members. With the fall of the Soviet Union, it was hoped that NATO could realign its objectives, and NATO signed several agreements with Russia in 1997 (NATO-Russia Founding Act) and 2002 (NATO-Russia Rome Declaration). However, the optimism proved short-lived, as Russia under President Putin has clashed with Western countries repeatedly, most jarringly with the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. As such, the NATO committee will be forced to revise its approach to the security threat from Russia.
Domestic Terrorism: Domestic terror–terrorism carried out by local citizens, is of growing concern around the globe, and a security issue for NATO specifically. The issues range from online radicalization to citizens who have gone abroad to join ISIS and other groups returning to home countries, to enemy states utilizing local actors to attack NATO members, to lone wolf attackers. The NATO committee will draft a strategy to respond to this pressing concern.
US Senate
Immigration Reform: Immigration has proven to be a divisive topic in US politics in recent years, with President Trump promising to build a wall with Mexico, and the state of Texas spending almost $150,000,000 to bus over 100,000 immigrants to other states. US immigration law hasn’t had a meaningful, comprehensive change in nearly 40 years and is long overdue for an update, but getting bipartisan support will not be easy.
Foreign Aid: The US gives out more aid (70 billion dollars in 2023) than the GDP of half the world’s countries. This is an important foreign policy tool, but also a burden on US taxpayers. There are also ongoing debates about which regions, conflicts, and issues to focus on with providing aid. The Senate committee will discuss rules on how to allocate foreign aid, such as minimizing corruption or preventing weapons from being used for human rights abuses, while creating a target budget for 2025’s foreign aid.
Special Regional Committee (SRC)
The Special Regional Committee (SRC) is composed of MENA countries along with other countries relevant to the debate, and focused on Middle East related pressing issues. In this committee, rather than writing resolutions, the committee members will try to draft and sign Peace Accords. The two topics to be covered in the SRC are:
1. Renewing and expanding the Abraham Accords initiative under the new US administration, and
2. jumpstarting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in hopes of reaching a historical, comprehensive, negotiated end to the long-lasting conflict.
Advanced (Delegates who want a more dynamic, challenging committee. Capped at 20 delegates.)
Security Council (SC)
Libya conflict: After 13 years of armed conflict, the situation in Libya has stabilized but peace is still far away. The country remains divided into the area clustered around Tripoli under the UN-recognized GNU’s control, the majority of the territory controlled by General Hafter’s LNA forces, and southern Libya, which has been taken over by groups like ISIS-Libya, or local militias. After the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to Libya resigned publicly in April 2024, citing the lack of willingness of the sides to reach an agreement, the UN Security Council must explore new ideas for bringing peace to this war-torn country.
Syria conflict: While President Bashar Assad has been able to maintain his hold on power, nearly a third of the country still remains under the control of non-government forces. The ongoing Syrian war has already shaped the war in Iraq, fueled the growth of ISIS, led to tensions with Turkey, Russia, the US, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other regional actors, and triggered one of the largest refugee migrations to Europe. Although the war is less acute than at its height, there are still millions of Syrians displaced from their homes, and armed conflict remains ongoing. The Security Council will take up this war as part of its annual review.
Historical Security Council 1994
The historical SC will take place in 1994, as the UN Security Council deals with the war atrocities occurring in Rwanda, as well as the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, and the subsequent armed conflict that has erupted in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
CRISIS | Organized Crime Council: Mafias and Intelligence Agencies
Organized crime is responsible for an estimated $870 billion a year, around 5-10% of the global export industry. Organized crime organizations, from mafias to drug cartels, impact local economies, raise levels of violence, and exacerbate corruption, often infiltrating government and law enforcement ranks, while devastating local populations. The Organized Crime Council will bring together leaders of national and international law enforcement agencies around the world to cooperate in their quest to thwart organized crime, while the leaders of the world’s most powerful organized crime groups meet to explore partnerships, set ground rules, and plan their own response to the crime fighters.
CRISIS | Percy Jackson
In this crisis committee, students will enter a realm where delegates will navigate the treacherous waters of mythological politics and modern diplomacy at Camp Half-Blood and across North America. As Percy Jackson characters—whether demigods, humans, or even gods themselves representing various ancient Greek factions—you must strategize, negotiate, and unleash your heroic skills to prevent a divine catastrophe and bring peace to the world of gods and mortals.