WRITING POSITION PAPERS
A Position Paper is your country's official opinion on a topic being addressed by the Model United Nations during its session. One page is all that is required. Keep the Position Paper short, concise and thoughtful. Be accurate in your presentation. You should be presenting the official opinion of the country you are representing, not your personal opinion or an opinion that may be unrealistic or unduly controversial. You have some freedom to state the position of your country as you wish. It could be helpful to include statistics and give possible solutions to problems. Position Papers can and will be used as a lead-in to resolutions in committee and in ECOSOC. Make sure that it focuses on the topic at hand. During the session, copies of the position papers will be available to all the delegates in the committee. These papers will aid in finding out who your allies or enemies are and what compromises might be reached with them.
WRITING RESOLUTIONS
Resolution Format Guide BODY The resolution is written in the format of a long sentence. There are format rules for resolutions, just as there are grammatical rules for sentences. 1. The resolution begins with The General Assembly for all General Assembly committees and with The Economic and Social Council for all ECOSOC resolutions. The Specialized Agencies use their own names as the introductory line. The rest of the resolution consists of clauses with the worlds of each clause underlined. 2. The next section, consisting of Perambulatory Clauses, describes the problem being addressed, recalls past actions taken, explains the purpose of the resolution and offers support for the operative clauses that follow. Each clause in the preamble begins with an underlined worked and ends with a comma. 3. Operative Clauses are numbered and state the action to be taken by the body. These clauses all begin with present tense, action verbs, which are generally stronger words than those used in the Preamble. Each operative clause is followed by a semi-colon except the last, which ends with a period. CONTEXT A well-written resolution demonstrates: 1. Familiarity with the problem. Relevant background information and previous United Nations actions are included. 2. Recognition of the issues. Arguments on the topic are specified early. 3. Conciseness. Every clause and phrase should have a purpose. 4. Good form. An otherwise sound resolution will suffer from clumsy grammar and sloppy form.
Delegates are encouraged to write resolutions. With the acknowledgement of your entrance, you will be sent a list of topics around which to write resolutions. However, good resolutions on other topics will not be rejected out of hand. Any resolution you write must be in accordance with your country's stated policy. A resolution is a text setting out problems and suggested solutions in a formalized way. These resolutions form the primary documents at the conference and are the main focus for MUN negotiations. Delegates spend their time in the appropriate committees debating, and amending resolutions that have been brought, and also spend time in the informal negotiating periods, lobbying and gathering support for them.
Resolutions must be submitted by one country and co-submitted by at least two others, before they can be debated.
FORMAT
The format of a resolution is strict, and certain rules must be followed. A resolution is divided into perambulatory clauses and operative clauses. The preamble contains the background to the problem and should be kept fairly short (1-3 clauses is sufficient), as the background will be covered in the debate itself. The preamble has little effect on the purpose of the resolution. The arguments for the action you are proposing, and the reasoning behind the calls for action should be in the operative clauses. To gauge the real meaning of a resolution, look at the operative clauses first, and consider how they might be adapted to meet your country's needs. However, note that resolutions for committees must not be entirely related to one country. A region or bloc of countries is acceptable, if it is relevant to global politics. A resolution is all one sentence. At the end of each perambulatory clause there is a comma; at the end of each operative clauses there is a semicolon. Operative clauses should be numbered. Clauses may be divided into sub-clauses labeled (I), (ii), etc.
PREAMBULATORY CLAUSES Affirming Alarmed by Approving Aware of Believing Bearing in mind Confident Contemplating Convinced Declaring Deeply disturbed Deeply regretting Desiring Emphasizing Expressing its appreciation Expressing its satisfaction Fulfilling Fully aware Having adopted Having considered Having considered further Having denoted attention Having examined Having heard Having received Having studied Noting with satisfaction Observing Realizing Reaffirming Recalling Recognizing Referring Recalling Seeking Taking into account
Deeply concerned Deeply conscious Deeply convinced
Fully believing Further deploring Further noting Further recalling Guided by
Keeping in mind Noting Noting with approval Noting with deep concern Noting with regret
Taking into consideration Taking note Viewing with appreciation Welcoming
OPERATIVE CLAUSES Accepts Affirms Approves Authorizes Calls Calls for Condemns Declares accordingly Deplores Demands* Designates Draws the attention Emphasizes Encourages Expresses its hope Requests Further invites Solemnly affirms
Further proclaims Strongly condemns Have resolved Notes Proclaims Reaffirms Recommends Supports Trusts Takes note of Transmits Urges
Congratulates Endorses Confirms Considers
Expresses its appreciation Reminds Regrets
AMENDMENTS
We strongly recommend that delegates submit amendments to a resolution, rather than simply vote against it, as it leads to a more interesting debate (See Sample Amendments). Any country may submit an amendment at any time, and all amendments the chair has received by the end of time for the motion will be debated at the beginning of time against. Each amendment has two minutes for and two minutes against (this time is reasonably flexible, depending upon the length of and interest in the amendment). This time is separate from the actual motion time. Amendments must be submitted to the Chair and written on your headed notepaper. Write down exactly what you wish and pass the note to the Chair, who will read it aloud, and open debate on it. A separate sheet must be used for each amendment, or for an amendment to an amendment (which is also allowed, though amendments to amendments to amendments are not!). Amendments must state clearly: a) The line or lines in which the amendment is to be made (if it is not a whole clause); b) The clauses which are affected by the amendment; c) The kind of amendment. You may strike, add or insert words, phrases, or whole clauses. It is not customary to amend perambulatory clauses, as they are simply an introduction, unless it is a friendly amendment (one which the submitter accepts).