Congratulations and thanks for submitting this for publication to Alvin C. of British Columbia, Canada

  As citizens of the west we lead lives of luxury and opulence unknown to many countries of the world.  We anticipate the newest electronics, demand the implementation of the newest technologies, and take for granted the basic necessities of life.  Such prosperity and wealth however are not enjoyed by all nations.  Men and women, in foreign countries, must contend with poverty, war, disease, and famine as they struggle to find livelihoods and meet the very basic standards of life.  With such severe problems raging around us, it is a testament to the prowess of an institution like the United Nations that it strives to alleviate the suffering endured by the destitute and empowers developing nations to overcome the obstacles that plague them.  These problems are vast, complex, and no, they cannot be solved overnight.  However, when we make it our duty to combat the most pivotal and vital issues, those often with fatal consequences, then we can rest assured that our efforts are both noble and worthwhile.

  Today, I'm going to address two major problems that have wrought untold misery in developing nations- first, measures against HIV/AIDS and second, expanding access to clean drinking water.  On my first point, as of 2007, 33 million people are known to be infected with HIV and 2 million of those have died because of AIDS.  This gross loss of human life is a deplorable tragedy in itself, but the effects are far more crippling.  15 million children across the world have been rendered orphans after losing both parents to AIDS.  Without support, protection, resources, and guidance these children die prematurely either of disease or malnutrition.  AIDS perpetuates a cycle of death that begins with the victim and ends with the slow decay of the offspring.  The question that must be asked is: What can be done about this?  Though there is no definitive cure for AIDS, antiretroviral drugs exist that can prolong the lifespan of a victim and defer the effects of the disease  giving the victim a shot at a decent life.  The availability of these drugs however is heavily restricted, as the manufacturers, major pharmaceutical companies, tightly control their prices to derive profit.  AIDS victims, poor and unable to afford the drugs, must watch themselves slowly perish.  To prevent ongoing deaths we need to encourage governments to offer tax incentives to pharmaceutical companies who lower the price of antiretroviral drugs sold to developing nations.  With more victims capable of affording more treatment, death rates will decline, families will flourish, and nations can truly begin to grow.

On my second point, increasing access to clean drinking water.  It has been estimated that 2.5 billion people must forsake clean drinking water.  Instead, they are forced to collect water from compromised sources where contaminants and bacteria can easily enter the water.  To drink diseased water in the west would be unthinkable, but in developing nations it is a sad fact of life.  Young children on a daily basis quench their thirst with liquid often giving them diarrhea-accountable for more than 37% of waterborne related deaths, and bathe in water that breeds parasites in their skin.  To force human beings to live in these conditions is not merely indecent, it is obscene.  We need to act quickly and adopt a course of action that has recently grown popular in Africa via the Red Cross.  The construction of inexpensive wells utilizing the local labor force has granted villages and towns access to water that normally would not have received it.  The strategy of using local workmanship, educating the population about maintaining wells, and empowering other villages to work together in building wells has spread with tremendous success and has allowed an unprecedented number of people to gain access to drinking water.  Without clean water, progress is impossible.

  For each his own; that, is a common expression in any society.  A country should and will pursue its own interests above others.  But when nations are still developing and are plagued with grave difficulties in progressing, in expanding, in improving, the altruism of other nations is some times relied upon.  HIV and a scarcity of clean drinking water, I feel, are two major problems that bear down overwhelmingly upon developing nations, poisoning their populations, and ruining their lives.  It is in our hands to eradicate these evils, and to make developing nations not merely developing nations but self-governing, independent, autonomous nations.  For as was said by the American intellectual Emerson:  “The greatest service one man can render another is to help him help himself."

Congratulations and thanks for submitting this for publication to Cheyanne V. of Alberta, Canada

           The human body is composed of more than fifty percent water. Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. The implications of a water shortage stretch far beyond the physical aspects; it affects all aspects of humanity. Water is necessary for all three pillars of sustainable development; environmental, economic, and social. If we continue at the same pace we are going, by 2025, three billion world citizens will be suffering from a water shortage. I believe that, as global citizens, we need to take preventative and restorative measures to protect the world’s most precious resource. It is a difficult task that will require cooperation through international policy, but it will have significant results.
            The first step to create change is education. Citizens of the world must be educated on how many of our actions are detrimental to the world’s water supply. Practices such as complex fossil fuel extraction right down to basic habits such as leaving the water on when you brush your teeth will have to be modified. Along with education will come new technologies that will make water use more efficient.
            The second step to create change is to put ideas into action. It is this stage that will require communication and cooperation. The placement of technologies and practices will take time money and skills, all of which are hard resources to come by in developing countries, where people live in the worst conditions. Water wells will need to be drilled to provide safe drinking water, reforestation will need to occur to allow for the soil to hold more water and act as a natural filter, and legislation will have to be put in place. Once the necessary infrastructure and programs are established research will have to be ongoing. Water tables, drainage patterns, world stores, and overall water quality will have to be monitored to ensure permanent changes.
            It will not be easy to make these changes. It will require funding, resources, and the changing of existing ideologies. But - the fact is, the “water crisis” needs to be dealt with immediately. Everyday three million people die due to water related issues, and at any one moment, fifty percent of the world’s healthcare facilities are occupied due to water related diseases. Not only will protecting and restoring the world’s water improve quality of life for citizens immediately, but it will allow for progress in other areas, such as the UN’s millennium development goals. If water is used effectively in agriculture, crop yields will increase, leading to the eradication of hunger. If people don’t have to spend four hours a day hauling water, education and gender rights can become more of a priority. If we can decrease the frequency of water borne illness, infant mortality rates will improve.
            In this society everything is linked. It will not be an easy task but, the preservation and restoration of water will have a domino effect. In dealing with one dynamic issue that we already know the solution to, billions of people can be helped in numerous aspects of their life. Water will be the adrenaline required to carry society into the future in a safe and enduring way.