• Question of mitigating exploitation of women in labor

• Question of abusive forced marriage 

• Addressing economic inequalities for women in poverty

Cecilia commenced as the head of the Economic Section at the Australian Embassy in Hanoi in August 2023. Prior to this Cecilia was leading a team negotiating the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) which includes pillars on trade, supply chains, the green economy and anti-corruption and tax.

Cecilia led work at DFAT on Australia’s engagement with the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the G20 from 2021-2022.  Cecilia has spent much of her career at DFAT working in South Asia with postings to New Delhi and Colombo. She was also the Director of the DFAT Northern Territory Office from 2017-2019. Cecilia completed a Bachelor of Arts/ Commerce from the University of Sydney. She has a Diploma of International Development from LSE and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ms. Kay Strenio is currently the Primary Years Program (PYP) Coordinator at UNIS Hanoi. She has been teaching for about 36 years, 13 of those years were in an administrative role and 23 years were teaching in a classroom. She has been at UNIS for 5 years, the first year she was a Grade 1 teacher and the past 4 years she has been working as a PYP Coordinator. She says that teaching is a very rewarding profession to have, especially when she compares her experiences with those of her brothers who work in law and banking. 

In the past, she has worked in the United States as part of the bilingual education program movement where she would teach students who immigrated from Mexico to the US in Spanish for half the day and in English for the other half of the day. This system has now changed though because psychology has shown that students get confused with having the same teacher teach them in two different languages (therefore students now have one teacher who teaches them in Spanish and another teacher who teaches them in English).

A global issue that Ms. Kay is very passionate about, and always has been growing up, is gender equality. This is because the way she was raised by her mother was very different to the way her grandmother and mother grew up. For example her and her two older brothers would always share the work (everyone would set and clean up the table or everyone would take on one part of cleaning the house). However, her grandmother would be confused at the beginning as to why the boys were cleaning the bathroom, because Ms. Kay’s mother broke the family cycle of raising her children in the traditional male and female roles. Because of this, she also thinks that people sharing their stories of their experiences is a great way to share and inspire others about the topics we are interested in.

When I asked her about how she thinks elementary school students can be included in the MUN, she mentioned that some of the Grade 4 and 5 units already try to include elements of MUN, however the most effective way would be to create a co-curricular activity to practice their debate and research skills. One example for how some MUN elements are included within the curriculum is in Grade 4 where there is a unit on the rights of a child and they have to organise themselves to study the United Nations as a system/organisation and then they take a problem that they try to address similar to how the UN would.

Honorable directors, fellow chairs, distinguished delegates, and most esteemed guests, 

My name is Isabella Danielle Dizon, a sophomore at Brent International School Manila. I have been doing MUN since 2020 and this marks my 14th conference; I am honored to be the Head Chair for SDG 5 for the UNISMUN 2025 March Conference, with this being my first time serving as a chair. 

The theme for this conference, “What role can integrity play in the balance between development and security prioritization?”, highlights a significant challenge in our ever-developing world. Integrity is the backbone of ensuring security amidst development, especially with international collaboration and interactions. 

SDG 5 (Gender Equality) is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out by the UN, and encompasses issues ranging from mitigating discrimination to gender equity in various sectors. Seeing that half of the global population are women, it is evident that this committee is essential to promote a world where gender alone does not entail injustice.

The three topics we will be addressing in this year’s conference are “The question of mitigating exploitation of women in labor”, “The question of abusive forced marriage”, and “Addressing economic inequalities for women in poverty”. 

The first topic of “mitigating exploitation of women in labor” focuses on ensuring access to fair and non-discriminatory labor rights for women, a crucial element of ensuring women’s participation in all sectors. The second question of “abusive forced marriage” explores the origins behind this practice, and secures women’s futures from a life of torture. Finally, the third topic of “addressing economic inequalities for women in poverty” facilitates a well-rounded discussion regarding this SDG; this topic considers how we can address the root causes of the problem overall and allow women to thrive on their own. Although they are individual topics, each of them play a key role in ensuring gender equality. 

I hope to provide all delegates with a fun and safe environment for debate and growth, and I’ll be available at any time if delegates need support. Good luck with your preparations delegates, and I look forward to seeing you all in March!

Honorable directors, distinguished delegates, fellow chairs and most esteemed guests,

My name is Ju-Ha Han. I am currently in 10th grade at the International School of Phnom Penh. It is my utmost pleasure to serve as the Deputy Chair of the SDG 5 committee for the UNISMUN March 2025 conference, which marks my 8th MUN conference. 

This year’s theme “What role can integrity play in the balance between development and security prioritization”, addresses the challenges of rapid development while emphasizing the role of integrity which ensures effective and reliable systems. 

One of the 17 SDGs, SDG 5 is focused on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. Gender equality is not only a basic human right, but an essential foundation in building a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world by creating a world where women and girls can live free of violence and discrimination, with equal opportunities. 

The topics that will be discussed in SDG 5 are “the question of mitigating exploitation of women in labor”, “the question of abusive forced marriage”, and “addressing economic inequalities for women in poverty”.

The first topic addresses the critical issues from various forms of labor exploitation and ensuring women’s rights in workplaces and all employment types. Moreover, the second topic addresses the issue of forced marriages, which happens when one or both people do not, or cannot consent and are pressured into the marriage, often resulting in various forms of abuse. Lastly, the third topic addresses economic inequalities which may limit financial resources and economic opportunities. 

I look forward to the engaging debates and hope to contribute to a successful and memorable MUN conference this year.

Thank you, 

Ju-Ha 

Greetings honorable delegates, fellow chairs and most esteemed guests,

My name is Ophelia Schlager and I am a sophomore at United Nations International School Hanoi. This is my first conference as a chair for MUN and my second conference in general at MUN. I am very excited to meet everyone at the UNISMUN 2025 March Conference.

The theme of this UNISMUN conference is “What role can integrity play in the balance between development and security prioritization?” What I find most interesting about this theme is how it addresses the issue of the development of a nation and the protection of its security, which is very present in many developing countries.

SDG 5 is a committee that deals with issues surrounding gender inequality, an issue of human rights and justice. Some issues include eliminating gender based violence, closing gender gaps, or removing discriminatory legislation and social norms. 

The three topics of this conference are “the question of mitigating exploitation of women in labor”, “the question of abusive forced marriage”, and “addressing economic inequalities for women in poverty”.

The first topic is important as it addresses the violation of human rights women all over the world are facing, especially through hard labor work. The second topic addresses the ethical issue of forced marriage that is still legal in many countries globally and how women sometimes have to endure abuse in these relationships they didn’t agree to. Finally, the third topic raises issues surrounding inequalities women face within the economy, especially gender pay gaps or underpaid female workers.

I hope that I can help all of you grow throughout this conference, both as debaters and as people. I will do my best in giving guidance and feedback to all delegates, to ensure they feel comfortable in this conference. I am excited to be a part of this experience with you!

Thank you,

Ophelia Schlager