UNHCR
Student Leaders
CHAIR
Sarah Cao
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Margaux Moos
Director's Letter
Dear Delegates,
I’m Sarah, and it is my pleasure to be one of your chairs for the first ever NMH Model United Nations Conference! I grew up in China and I currently reside in West Hartford, Connecticut. I am a junior at Northfield Mount Hermon school and I am also the Under Secretary General of Delegate Affairs.
I have been doing Model UN for a few years now and have taken on more roles as the years progressed. I had my first experience with it when I was in sixth grade, when my school hosted a conference as an end of the year history project. Now, a couple years and more conferences later, I am serving as your chair for the UNHCR committee. Even though it is a virtual conference, I hope to make this an amazing experience for everyone!
Outside of Model UN, I love playing volleyball and I am an outside hitter for my team at NMH. I also love music, and I play the violin and piano. I am a first violin for the symphony orchestra at school and have been a part of the Western Mass District Music Festival in previous years. Last summer, I had the opportunity to participate in the Resonance Fair in China, a music festival that raises funds for communities in need. Other than playing music, I love listening to it (you will most likely always spot me with my earbuds in). Finally, I am an avid reader and spend a great portion of my free time in used bookstores or cafes reading.
COVID-19 has hit us all hard and taken its toll on everyone. The refugees and displaced communities, in particular, have been significantly impacted by the pandemic. Many of them live in overcrowded conditions that make it easy for diseases to spread. In addition to the health threats, forcibly displaced people have faced particularly difficult economic and social challenges associated with the pandemic. The work that the UNHCR does is incredibly important to find solutions that include refugees when looking to stop the spread of the virus and rebuild. In just a few weeks, you will be the UNHCR for a day.
I look forward to meeting all of you and do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns in the time period!
Sincerely,
Sarah Cao
The UNHCR, short for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is a "global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights, and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people" (UNHCR.org).
UNHCR Topic Summary
The impact of COVID-19 on refugees
​
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a committee that is mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration, or resettlement to a third country. There are more than 79.5 million people during the time of COVID-19 forced to leave their homes due to conflict and persecution, so the work of the committee is more important than ever. The topic that the UNHCR will be discussing is the impact of COVID-19 on refugees. This committee will dive into addressing the rights, economic and social security, and health of refugees and how it has been impacted by COVID-19.