Zarah-Louise Danziger

Dear Delegates, 

The theme of our conference this year is “Sustainable Development in a Capitalist World.” Environmental issues may seem to be the most important components of sustainable development, however, two more aspects play a major role in sustainability: the economic factor and the social one. In the ECOSOC, we will be focusing on the last two when we discuss “Improving Development Assistance in LEDCs.” This is important because every country has the right to develop, and helping them to do so sustainably is the responsibility of the already developed nations. Unfortunately, most development aid comprises only one of the three aspects and is therefore not sustainable. For instance, China's Belt and Road initiative is supposedly meant to boost the GDP of developing countries. However, it has been accused of human right violations, having negative impacts on the climate and using debt-trap-diplomacy. If these accusations are true, this program would be an example of non-sustainable development aid, which must be avoided. 

In order to improve development aid in LEDCs, programs must balance all three aspects of the sustainability triangle. Your solutions need to concentrate on creating measures that effectively aid development without compromising any aspect of sustainability or the country's sovereignty.

On a personal note, I am so excited to be serving as the President of ECOSOC this year because it was my first ever committee. This year will be my 8th Conference and 4th time chairing. Other than debate, I enjoy art, theater, music, and math. I will be 17 and in 12th grade at the John F. Kennedy School in November. 

I look forward to meeting you at the conference, 

Zarah-Louise Danziger 

President of ECOSOC