Topic 1: G15_Rights of Migrant Workers
Topic 2: G15_Third Generation Human Rights
The Group of Fifteen, commonly abbreviated to G15, is an international economic organization designed to enhance cooperation and spur growth among developing nations. The G15, not to be confused with the Group of Eight, was founded in 1989 and has since expanded to include four additional countries. One of the main goals of the G15 is to “make authoritative pronouncements reflecting their common standpoint on the major developments in the world economy and international economic relations.” The organization also serves as a companion to the Group of Eight, which consists of substantially more developed and wealthier nations. The Group of Fifteen is designed to coordinate trade policies and investment among its members in order to improve its collective economic well being. The G15 does not have the same level of internal organization or bureaucratic stratification as other international organizations. However, the Group does maintain a Steering Committee, a biannual Summit of Heads of State and Government, and annual meetings of G15 Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The membership of the G15 is diverse in terms of economic strength, population, and government type. The G15’s member states include totalitarian states such as Iran as well as democracies such as Mexico. The G15 also includes two of the so-called “BRIC” countries – Brazil and India – that are commonly cited as the fastest growing economies in the world. Some of the most important issues confronting the G15 include balancing human rights with industrialization, maintaining control over emerging industries, and confronting the environmental repercussions of rapid growth.
The House at HMCA
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Harvard Model Congress Asia’s G15 will address some of the same critical challenges as the real Group of Fifteen. At HMCA, every delegate will represent the interests of a member state. For instance, a delegate may be assigned to serve as the representative from Brazil or the foreign minister of Mexico. During the simulation, delegates are expected to interact cooperatively in order to solve the problems posed by the conference briefings and any emergent crises. At the same time, it is important for delegates to remember the interests of their respective countries, and speak from the perspective of the nation they represent. Representatievs will prove pivotal to the overall flow of information in the conference as they are chrged with the pressing responsibility of conveying the economic interests of their respectiev memebr states to delegates in HMCA’ s many other committees. The G15 at HMCA will be heavily integrated into the other international programs, and can expect to deliver testimony to other committees throughout the conference. In some cases, delegates from both domestic and international programs will present their bills and proposals to the G15. In order to prepare for their roles as delegates to the G15, delegates should conduct research into the economic interests and government policies of their respective countries, and work towards a functional understanding of the G15 as a whole.
