ecosoc-panama

Gabby Reta Period 3 1/23/09 Country: Panama Poverty in Eastern Europe  **__Physical Geography:__** Panama’s official name is the Republic of Panama. The climate is tropical and very humid. Tropical rainforests can be found in the area. The year has a short dry season. Its location is 9 00 N and 80 000 W. To its northern border is Costa Rica and to the southern border is Colombia. The Pacific Ocean is located to the west and the Caribbean is to the east. The total area is 78,200 sq. km. __**Political Geography:**__ Panama’s government is a constitutional democracy and the chief of state is Martin Torrijos Espino. The main political party is Democratic Change. The capital is Panama. Panama is apart of the UN, UN Security Council, WHO, NAM and others. The number of men available for military service is 851,044. **__Cultural Geography:__** The official language is Spanish but English is also spoken. The most prevalent ethnicity is mestizo, and the main religion is Roman Catholic. The population size is 3,309,679 people. The population has grown is 1.54%. The only major city is Panama. The infant mortality rate is 13 deaths for every 1000 births. The life expectancy is 77 years old. **__Economic Geography:__** The GDP is $10,700 per capita. 7% of the land is arable. Natural resources include shrimp, mahogany, hydropower and copper. Agricultural products include bananas, rice, corn, coffee, and sugarcane. Industrial products include construction, brewing, and cement. The major imports are capital foods and exports are shrimp. The currency is the balboa but the US dollar is also accepted because they are worth the same amount.35% of exports go to the US and 32% of the imports are from the US. The main event since 1980 is that they overthrew the dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989.
 * __Source: __**  http://www.cia.gov/


 * __Background:__** Poverty in Eastern Europe has increased since the fall of communism in 1989 and 165 million people are live below the poverty line. 80% of them are children. Parents are simply too poor to care for their children so orphanges are filled to the brim. Many are malnourished and starving. In 1987 people living in extreme poverty was 1.1 million but now theres an estimated 17.6 million. For example, in the country of Kyrgyzstan, 88% of the population live in poverty. Most of the poverty is located in former Soviet-Union countries and many people are not able to attend school. The proportion of people in poverty live on less than 1 dollar a day. Something has to be done about this situation.


 * __UN Involvement:__** The UN has not been able to do much to help this situation because a lot of the world has been in a huge economic crisis. The UN wants to create new jobs to help raise people out of poverty. The resolution ECE/1424 was passed to help increase the governments role in the economy.


 * __Country Policy/Possible Solutions:__** Panama is not able to do much on this topic because 37% of our population in below the poverty line as well. However, we do encourage something to be done about this situation, we just cannot afford to donate any money. We propose the UN Board to Help Countries in Poverty or the UNBHCP. This committee will meet biannually to discuss policies on how to help nations with more than 35% of the population below the poverty line. Donations of every size can be made, but the normal size would be about $50,000. This would go towards helping feed the very poor people and boosting the economy.

[|**http://www.un.org/chinese/millenniumgoals/MDG%20Report%2007%20pr%20cis.pdf**] [|**http://www.un.org/chinese/millenniumgoals/MDG%20Report%2007%20pr%20cis.pdf**__**] http://www.esa.un.org/techcoop/regional.asp?ID=RER http://www.newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3737282.stm
 * __Sources:__** [|**http://www.fightpoverty.mmbrico.com/**]


 * __Country:__**Panama
 * __Trafficking of Organs__**

**__Physical Geography:__** Panama’s official name is the Republic of Panama. The climate is tropical and very humid. Tropical rainforests can be found in the area. The year has a short dry season. Its location is 9 00 N and 80 000 W. To its northern border is Costa Rica and to the southern border is Colombia. The Pacific Ocean is located to the west and the Caribbean is to the east. The total area is 78,200 sq. km.  __**Political Geography:**__ Panama’s government is a constitutional democracy and the chief of state is Martin Torrijos Espino. The main political party is Democratic Change. The capital is Panama. Panama is apart of the UN, UN Security Council, WHO, NAM and others. The number of men available for military service is 851,044. **__Cultural Geography:__** The official language is Spanish but English is also spoken. The most prevalent ethnicity is mestizo, and the main religion is Roman Catholic. The population size is 3,309,679 people. The population has grown is 1.54%. The only major city is Panama. The infant mortality rate is 13 deaths for every 1000 births. The life expectancy is 77 years old. **__Economic Geography:__** The GDP is $10,700 per capita. 7% of the land is arable. Natural resources include shrimp, mahogany, hydropower and copper. Agricultural products include bananas, rice, corn, coffee, and sugarcane. Industrial products include construction, brewing, and cement. The major imports are capital foods and exports are shrimp. The currency is the balboa but the US dollar is also accepted because they are worth the same amount.35% of exports go to the US and 32% of the imports are from the US. The main event since 1980 is that they overthrew the dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989. Source: **__http://www.cia.gov/

Background:__** Illegal trafficking of organs is a hotly debated issue in the UN today. Trafficking of organs is when organs are sold illegally because they were obtained without consent or even stolen from a live person. The most common organ that is trafficked is the kidney because it is the most compatible with other people and you only need one to survive. People take other's organs because they are desperate for money because they are so poor. Sometimes, people are so poor and can't obtain work that they sell their own organs to support themselves and their family.


 * __UN Involvement:__** The UN created the World Health Organization or WHO to deal with problems such as these. ECOSOC also deals with this because it deals with illegal trading and human rights issues. In Febuary 2008 the UN created the world's first forum against illegal trafficking of organs in Vienna.They work to place heavier punishments for trafficking of organs.


 * __Country Policy/Possible Solutions:__**Panama oppposes the illegal trafficking of organs and since it occurs near our country, it must be stopped. We would support anything that might stop this crime because it has caused many injuries to people and their families. We would suggest that the countries write a resolution to increase the amount of years in prison for committing this crime.

Sources: http://www.medhunters.com/articles/organTrafficking.html http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2008-02-12.html http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet16rev.1en.pdf http://www.un.org/apps/news/printnewsAr.asp?nid=25594 http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/ta03/EREC1611.htm

http://www.un.org/spanish/aboutun/organs/ga/56/verbatim/a56pv78e.pdf http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/ecosoc6134.doc.htm