FORUM​: Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

QUESTION OF​: The Question of Organ Trafficking

MAIN SUBMITTER​: Ecuador
MAIN CO-SUBMITTER​:
CO-SUBMITTERS​:
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL,

Recognizing​ that organ trafficking disproportionately affects individuals from lower

socioeconomic backgrounds leading to unethical choices where people with lower financial
status give up on their organs and sell them which the brokers do not pay the promised prices,

Recalling​ the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals which targets to achieve
universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential
health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and
vaccines for all,

Acknowledging​ the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates five to ten percent
of all organ transplants performed worldwide use illegally trafficked organs; with most patients
from More Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs) buying organs from Less
Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs),

Alarmed ​by the statistic showing the global black market for organ transplantation to deliver a
profit between 600 US dollars and 1.2 billion US dollars each year; furthermore, the average for
illegally trafficked organs can cost up to 200,000 US dollar each,

Taking into consideration​ that the 24 countries with adopted presumed consent laws that
recognize citizens as organ donors unless specified otherwise, have gained a 10% rise in organ
donation, and are met with donation levels ranking 30% higher than those countries operating
without presumed consent,

Deeply disturbed​ that in the United States alone, another candidate for organ transplantation is
added onto the waiting list of over 114,000, as the number of donors and transplants continue to
grow slowly, with only 34,770 organ transplants being performed as of 2017,

1. Calls for​ the creation of a new United Nations organization constituting of international
researchers and delegates from member nations, the United Nations Biological Tissue
Advisory Committee (BTAC), overseen by the World Health Organization (WHO) with
 the mandate of:
a. conducting annual investigative and comprehensive research on the issue at large,
with the aim to:
i. provide a thorough and concrete and non-partisan dataset of empirical
research for reference purposes,
ii. identify global trends in the severity and impact of organ trafficking, as
well as potential links to other socioeconomic issues,
iii. identify and prioritize regions severely affected by the issue,
iv. evaluate and assess impacts of government legislation aimed to address
the issue of organ trafficking;
b. increase transparency and public awareness of the issue at large, through means
such as but not limited to:
i. host and broadcast publicly biannual meetings concerning the directions to
continue approaching the issue of organ trafficking,
ii. publish investigative research and statistics to the general public,
iii. debunk popular urban legends and misrepresentations of the issues
through the use of empirical data,
iv. promote and recommend public research funds and charity funds for
addressing the issue,
v. creating mediums like posters or videos to be displaced on public services
for not only the nations’ citizens but also for foreign tourists which
addresses organ trafficking as a global issue;
c. establish a global cooperative fund for supporting member nations in
implementing measures to combat this issue, funded through member nations, the
general public, and international institutions such as the World Bank, with the aim
to:
i. subsidize research that aims to increase the efficiency of organ storage and
transplantation systems,
ii. fund research and entrepreneurial projects in biotechnological frontiers
such as to reduce the dependency of human organ transplants,
iii. aid and subsidize member nations in implementing policy combating
organ trafficking,
iv. provide loans and grants for financially challenged member nations to buy
advanced biotechnological equipment and personnel training,
v. enhance and promote international collaboration in addressing this issue
on a global scale,
vi. actively engage ordinary citizens in funding for this cause;

2. Recommends​ UN member states, in association with BTAC, to enforce regulations and

 institute legal proceedings against illicit organ trafficking through ways such as but not
limited to:
a. tightening Central UN-Wise Surveillance Authority and management that enable
governments to sanction hospitals conducting illegal transplants,
b. adapting forms of legislation against transplant tourism such as, but not limited to:
i. the creation of a system that ensures the legitimate procuring and
distribution of legally obtained organs;
c. criminalizing the initial steps of organ trafficking in order to enable authorities to
take preventative action before transplantations occur through ways such as but
not limited to:
i. the formulation of policies criminalizing trafficking in collaboration with
international law enforcement agencies such as Interpol,
ii. the adoption of criminal frameworks modelled after transplant tourism
laws;
d. the creation of a cooperative legal international framework that deals with issues
of illicit organ trafficking through ways such as but not limited to:
i. the establishment of mutual judicial assistance within criminal
investigations and proceedings,
ii. enacting laws and treaties working towards the formulation of extradition
agreements,
iii. exercising the use of international jurisdiction using theories of utilitarian,
deontological, and political when concerning cases of selling, purchasing,
and trading illegally obtained organs;

3. Endorses​ the enforcement of implemented laws that have proven effective on the
combatting of illegally trafficked organs through ways such as, but not limited to:
a. granting authorities the right to detain suspects of conspiracy in relation to selling,
purchasing, and trading of illicitly obtained organs,
b. all nations to hold bi-annual meetings in their regions to discuss solutions for
organ trafficking that have been proven effective, and assisting one another with
new issues regarding organ traffickers,
c. monitoring the networking systems used by illicit organ syndicated through
Global Network Operations (GNO), such as, but not limited to:
i. the sharing acquired information and intelligence between member states
concerning the illegal practice of selling, purchasing, and trading organs in
order to prevent and combat the crime prior to its inception,
ii. tracking electronics transfers of funds to suspect syndicated for the
purpose of identifying and verifying sponsors of such individuals or
organizations,
 d. developing domestic laws that establish acts of illicit organ trafficking as serious
criminal offenses and the creation of adequate punishments for those offenses,
e. tracking transfer to origins and recipients of illegitimate businesses laundering
money in relation to illegal organ transplantation and purchasing fought by
Organized Crime and Anti-Money-Laundering Unit of the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC);

4. Requests​ for tighter regulation along international borders and checkpoints to prevent
illegal international trafficking of organ tissue, through means such as but not limited to:
a. introducing technology scanning for the presence of biological tissue to detect
illegal smuggling of organs at points of entry,
b. co-operating, if possible, with bordering nations to establish a methodical code of
conduct if individuals are caught smuggling biological tissue,
c. increasing patrol personnel at points of entry of popular smuggling routes;

5. Encourages​ all nations to spread awareness about illicit organ transplants, transplant
tourism, and organ harvesting, as well as to promote the donation of organs, through
means such as but not limited to:
a. creating a campaign to prevent organ trafficking on social media through ways
such as but not limited to:
i. inform all internet users about the current urgency of organ trafficking,
ii. display statistics regarding the number of illicit organ transplants,
iii. draw attention to the dangers of illicit organ transplantations,
b. making advertisements to promote voluntary organ donation through ways such
as but not limited to:
i. posters in community leisure areas to ensure that the information can be
seen by the majority of citizens,
ii. billboards in urbanized cities,
iii. television advertisements that discuss the major benefits of legal organ
donations,
iv. flyers in hospitals as a reliable source of information regarding how,
where, and why organ donation is essential to improve public health,
c. organising voluntary classes in communities teaching citizens about information
regarding organ trafficking such as but not limited to:
i. online courses including video sessions and scholarly articles containing
said information,
ii. physical classes such as those in community colleges,
iii. seminars and speeches performed by expert in the field,
d. instituting a regional organization with the sole purpose of educating citizens
 about organ trafficking and assisting with voluntary donations;

6. Urges ​member nations to collaborate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and

research institutes to encourage biotechnological innovation to reduce demand for donor
organ tissue through means such as but not limited to:
a. launching national and international-scale competitions for biotechnological
innovations with the aim of:
i. actively engaging members of the public and raise awareness of the issue
of organ shortages,
ii. establish new technological procedures to combat existing organ
shortages,
iii. providing grants, loans, and patents for winning projects and ideas to be
implemented as pilot programs,
b. facilitating exchange and educational programs for citizens in developing
countries to learn more about advanced technologies, through means such as but
not limited to:
i. provide research and internship opportunities at advanced research
institutes to better understand modern technologies that will benefit their
local communities in addressing the issue,
ii. allow researchers to visit local communities where organ trafficking is
prevalent to better understand local situations,
c. promoting the use of biotechnological means as an alternative to address the
existing organ shortage, including alternative means such as but not limited to:
i. the bioengineering of organ tissue for transplant purposes through ,
ii. support the development biotechnology allowing for computer-aided
design (CAD) and 3-D printing of organ tissue;

7. Encourages​ member nations to facilitate a more efficient and transparent distribution and
allocation of donated organs through means such as but not limited to:
a. creating official “donor clinics” for organ donors, adhering to conventions and
regulations set by BTAC, in order to promote a more transparent organ donor
system,
b. the creation of a international system of organ banks for longer-term storage and
preservation of donated organs, overseen by BTAC,
c. establish a national standardized system aimed to match donors and recipients, in
association with national databases, based on attributes such as but not limited to:
i. urgency of recipient’s medical condition,
ii. geographical locations of the donors and recipients,
iii. organ donation history of the recipient and family members,
 d. adopt need-based allocation systems to reduce inequalities;

8. Recommends​ member nations to increase the number of eligible legal donors in

respective countries in order to combat the organ shortage through means such as but not
limited to:
a. the established global cooperative fund’s provision of benefits for individuals who
legally donate their organs, through means such as but not limited to:
i. free or subsidized government medical checkups at regular intervals,
ii. premium medical insurance opportunities and social security benefits,
iii. reduced inheritance tax,
b. making all eligible citizens organ donors through presumed consent and allowing
citizens to opt-out of organ donation mandatory from birth and giving them right
to choose whether they would want to keep the agreement to donate their organs
at the age when they become adult in their own country, with the aim to:
i. adjust social norms and stigma surrounding organ donation,
ii. eliminate bureaucracy needed to register as a legal organ donor,
iii. engage a larger portion of the population on this issue;

9. Further encourages ​member nations to reduce dependence on international organ trading,

with exception to times of emergency, through means such as but not limited to:
a. mitigating exportation of organ tissues to other countries and placing tariffs
and/or quotas on imports of organ tissues from other nations,
b. promoting the use of domestic organ tissues in transplants through means such as
but not limited to:
i. providing tax breaks and subsidies to hospitals using domestic tissue to
conduct organ transplants,
ii. requiring additional governmental authorization if foreign organ tissue
must be used in transplant procedure.