BGA/3/19
Sponsored by Bhavesh Bhavanam, Andrew Brown, Keating Hollman, Visagan Saravanan of Franklin High School
The delegates above represented the Delegation of Belgium.
This legislation was filed in the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural category
Presented as part of the MUN B 2023 conference
| 1 | Deeply concerned that despite Belgium’s high economic standing among European nations, it is |
| 2 | ranked first among European nations by highest populated prisons, with most of its criminals being |
| 3 | sentenced to imprisonment, |
| 4 | |
| 5 | Noting with concern that Belgium has one of the highest prisoners per space in Europe, with there |
| 6 | being 1.21 prisoners per space available, |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Deeply conscious that Belgium had an incarceration rate of 93.9 per 100,000 in 2022, which is |
| 9 | three times the incarceration rate of Liechtenstein, and 6 times that of the best performer in the |
| 10 | world, |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Recognizing that prisons are an unsustainable and undesirable solution to the large presence of |
| 13 | criminals in Belgium, especially in areas with limited land area, |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Fully alarmed that prisons can be extremely inconvenient to the local population and can harm the |
| 16 | local environment if not properly maintained, |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Taking into consideration that the UN has not directly invested in a sustainable solution to the |
| 19 | problem of prison overcrowding in Belgium, |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Realizing that while Europe as a whole has taken a step towards reducing prison overcrowding, |
| 22 | there is still a long way to go before the issue is solved, |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Emphasizing that 43.4% of the Belgian prison population is foreign, which is extremely high |
| 25 | compared to the American prison foreigner population of 7.3%, |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Noting that 0% of the Belgian prison population is juvenile, which is one of the lowest in the world, |
| 28 | |
| 29 | The Delegation of Belgium Hereby: |
| 30 | |
| 31 | Seeks a sum of $10,440,000 for the salaries of 55 probation officers, so that Belgium can remove |
| 32 | prisoners from prison and put the said prisoners on probation; |
| 33 | |
| 34 | Requests that this sum be paid out equally throughout a 4 year period following the passing of this |
| 35 | resolution; |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Declares that the probation officers would handle around 50 criminals each; |
| 38 | |
| 39 | Affirms that the increase of probation officers will help solve the detrimental problem of |
| 40 | overcrowded prisons in Belgium; |
| 41 | |
| 42 | Proclaims that $20,000 of the requested amount will be spent on the training of new probation |
| 43 | officers; |
| 44 | |
| 45 | Draws attention to the fact that the implementation of this resolution will increase the amount of |
| 46 | available jobs in the law enforcement field, as well as reduce the workload on the workers |
| 47 | currently employed in prisons; |
| 48 | |
| 49 | Notes that the government of Belgium will be taking the initiative in implementing this plan, as |
| 50 | they will be covering the transportation costs of all newly hired probation officers after the passing |
| 51 | of this act; |
| 52 | |
| 53 | Trusts that this resolution’s passing will decrease the rate of prison overcrowding in Belgium and |
| 54 | also greatly increase the number of jobs in the law enforcement industry of Belgium; |
| 55 | |
| 56 | Expresses its hope that other UN member states will consider implementing similar measures in |
| 57 | their nations, as the reduction of prison overcrowding is a goal that all nations must work together |
| 58 | so that we as a society can progress towards a prisonless world. |
| 59 | |
| 60 |