Country: Republic of Mali

                  Committee: Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee
              Names: Alejandro Guzmán and Carolina Sabater
Delegation: WorldMun UCAB

Topic: Protecting Health in Conflict Zones

In consideration of the 3rd Sustainable Development Goal: Ensure healthy lives and promote
well-being for all at all ages, Mali firmly believes that health is the germ warrant of humankind's
prosperity, as it constitutes the insurance of vigor and vitality, forces that maintain human beings able to
thrive. Consequently, healthcare workers must be provided with the utmost of government's endeavors
regarding protection, proper equipment and infrastructure to efficiently serve their community. That being
said, one of biggest challenges that the international community faces in this area is assuring the security
of health care workers and the integrity of their equipment amid scenarios of armed violence.  
  According to Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), 108 of the 402 reported attacks against
medical facilities took place in Syria1, where the lack of security for a proper health care has now become
a constant due to the internal armed conflict. Furthermore, according to the Safeguarding Health in
Conflict Coalition, in Syria, as in other 22 countries, being a healthcare provider is considered a threat
beyond an occupation, hence, the inhabitants of these nations where it is even considered a privilege to
have health care, are unable to access qualified health services.
In our country, healthcare has been severely affected by internal armed conflicts since its
beginning in 2012. According to International Red Cross Committee, (ICRC) More than 3 million
Malians are in need of humanitarian assistance because of the grave damages caused on health facilities
as well as the difficulties to effectively transport humanitarian aid and medical supplies 2. Human Rights
Watch (HRW) reported that in six occasions during 2016, ambulances and vehicles that transported aid
where theft by rebel groups; in four of the accidents, sick passengers and workers were forced out of the

vehicle3.
Moreover, there are currently 1350 civilians in quality of healthcare workers deployed by the
United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) 41
receiving constant support on personnel and security from the Malian Government. This mission aims for
the security stabilization tasks, with a focus on protecting civilians and human rights monitoring.
Additionally, Mali established a project with the United States of America, called the USAID/Mali Health
Strategy52 which goal is to develop enduring improvements on health services and resources, aiming to
recover the quality life of our citizens.
The government of Mali considers of essential importance that Member States center their
endeavor on creating consensus policies, aimed at improving the transportation means of medical
supplies, to contribute with the enhancement of affected medical facilities in conflict zones. Also, our
nation believes in the establishment of databases under the guidance of the World Health Organization
(WHO), with the identity of healthcare workers in countries with internal armed conflicts in order to
provide periodical reports to establish precise control on the security of health care personnel in conflict
zones.
As the aforementioned solutions compose a glimpse of Mali’s constant willingness and
commitment towards reaching well-being for the global citizens, it is auspicious to quote an antique
Malian proverb “If there are a thousand forms of evil; we shall find a thousand remedies”
11
https://s3.amazonaws.com/PHR_syria_map/web/index.html
2
https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/africa/mali/mali-conflict
3
https://www.safeguardinghealth.org/sites/shcc/files/SHCC2017final.pdf
24
https://minusma.unmissions.org/en/history
5
https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1864/USAID-Mali%20Health%20Strategy%202014-2018.pdf