UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations' global development network. Headquartered in New York City, UNDP advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.

   Topics for discussion:

  • Combating marine litter and promoting better ocean life infrastructures
  • Promoting the incorporation of businesses into the achievement of the SDGs

Director: Sarah-Mae Lieverse

Hello everybody! My name is Sarah-Mae Lieverse. I will be joining you from London, although I am originally, born and raised in Amsterdam. After completing my LLB and MA in the UK, I am now working as a provenance researcher into Nazi Looted Art whilst also completing some of my own projects within the field.

I have been chairing MUNs now for quite some years and am very excited to have the opportunity to be your director this year. Having chaired the UNDP before, I look forward to seeing all the creative solutions and approaches you have to this years challenging but necessary topics. I look forward to meeting you all in Riga at LVMUN in and outside of the sessions.

Assistant Director: Emma Goss

Hello and welcome to LVMUN 2018 UNDP! Sarah and I are so excited to meet you all and get going with our two topics which are not only pivotal for the future of our world but also will surely be very interesting for you all to research and discuss. A little about myself: I am in my fourth year studying Physics at the University of Edinburgh. I grew up in Kenya and Denmark. I have been doing MUN for seven years and i cannot wait for my first visit to Latvia and my first LVMUN!

Combating marine litter and promoting better ocean life infrastructures

Marine litter has been inescapable in news of all formats recently. From clips of David Attenbourgh’s Blue Planet II which were shared by millions on social media platforms to mainstream media covering the topic and scientific papers showing the staggering scale of the problem. Much of the world has suddenly become aware and horrified at the condition of our oceans and the impact on the animals which call the oceans their home.

In December 2017 200 nations signed the Nairobi Convention agreeing to work together to tackle the problem of plastic waste in the ocean. While this resolution recognizes the problem and decides that the world must change in order to solve the problem, it is neither binding nor does it lay out a time frame. A year on the UNDP will meet in Riga to build on the Nairobi Convention. It will be important for us to look at the problem from both a regional and international perspective and to consider how every nation has contributed to marine litter and how we can come together to clean our seas, for now and the future.

Promoting the incorporation of businesses into the achievement of the SDGs

Of the many lessons learned from the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, one of the clearest was the necessity to improve partnerships with the private sector if goals are to be achieved. The Sustainable Development Goals are more numerous and further reaching. It would be naive to believe that the systems that will need to be put in place for the furtherance of the SDGs could be built by governments or NGOs alone. Additionally using local businesses to supply those systems brings jobs of all levels and development to the area. Capitalism can be a useful tool to identify gaps in the market and build infrastructure and opportunity to fill those gaps.

Encouraging businesses to collaborate with the UNDP will require education at many levels and workshops and conferences to build bridges. During the debate we will investigate how to outline a solution keeping in mind the huge variation in the aspect each SDG aims to improve and in the projects implementing the SDGs are active. It is also key that the businesses work in the spirit of the SDGs such that their fulfillment is truly a team effort.