United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime:
Breaking the Cycle of Drug Violence and Criminal Finance in Latin America
Letter from the Executive Board
Dear delegates, Welcome to DBISMUN 2025! We are your Executive Board members for this conference, Rajvir Sanghavi, Ethan Fernandez and Deshna Gala.
A good committee has open debate, facts and speeches, but a great committee contains coordination, teamwork, creativity and pure electrifying debate. These 2 days will be filled with energy, emotion and passion for debate as we embark on this expedition dotted with conflict. We urge our delegates to put their best foot forward, protecting and preserving their portfolio’s best interests while at the same time, reaping a fruitful experience for both the Executive Board as well as well as the fellow delegates.
Model United Nations, or MUN for short, is a world of its own, pushing each and every one to their limits. This conference promises to offer a plethora of opportunities to navigate your way into the ever-evolving world of debate. With speeches, information and hours of research, we strongly believe that along with the papers and laptops, please bring your confidence, flair, and passion to the room, and leave any prejudice, inhibitions or self-doubt, outside the door. Because when you enter, delegates, you are diplomats of your countries.
Considering today’s rapidly evolving world with significant technological advancements on every corner of the globe, we still need to focus and shed light on the conventional issues that have not only been prevalent but controversially iconic in the past couple of decades. Latin America: a hub for said ‘conventional issues’, is littered with conflicts throughout the region. The two most disruptive ones include Drug Violence and Criminal Finance.
Intergovernmental organisations like the UN have been working tirelessly to address this issue. The UNODC, being at the forefront of the relevant conflicts, needs to work hard to anticipate changes and immediately tackle the issues with long-lasting effects.
The issue of drug trade rose in the 1970s and 80s in countries like Colombia with armed cartels such as the Medellín and Cali cartels. The issue revolves around the interconnected problems of drug trafficking, organised crime and illicit financial transactions. These have been responsible for the instability of the region for years. This ‘cycle’ thrives on poverty, weak governance, and high demand for drugs. This fuels corruption and violence. The ‘cycle’ perpetuates as law enforcement is constantly in a deficit of resources or is compromised, moreover, communities lack acceptable and sustainable economic backup, making them more vulnerable to being preyed on by the constant illicit cycle.
To finally break this cycle, the members of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will have to collaborate and harbour regional cooperation to propose a united front in the face of this vast issue, which sends shockwaves not only in the form of drugs and terror financing but also financially to numerous countries around the world.
The Executive Board of UNODC expects the delegates to handle the matter at hand with utmost sophistication and professionalism while keeping in mind each country’s foreign policies and tactical capabilities.
Regardless of your experience as a delegate, there is always going to be something new to take away from each MUN. These include speeches, moderated caucuses, 1v1s, or even a resolution. Apart from research on the agenda, delegates need to be up to date with their country’s international policy, related historical events and current situation relating to the agenda. You need to have the utmost respect for the conference to try and simulate an environment close to that of an actual United Nations conference, all while enjoying these two days with us. We promise you will learn a lot, make new friends and go back home with more knowledge about this intricate political world we live in than before.
Lastly, we urge you not to underestimate the profound impact of lobbying and developing social skills, because this way you not only form friendships but also alliances and blocs that could prove to be crucial in committee.
We wish you the best of luck and look forward to seeing you at the conference!
Yours Sincerely, The Executive Board of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Rajvir Sanghavi, Ethan Fernandez and Deshna Gala
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Don Bosco International Model United Nations 2025
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