MUN student’s Handbook

Student’s Name:
Grade:
 Table of Contents

● What is MUN…………………………………………………..
● How do I prepare for my first conference?..............................
● Position paper…………………………………………………
● Opening Speech ………………………………………………
● Resolution paper…………………………………………….…
● Rules of Procedure……………………………………………
 The following delegate handbook is intended to provide students with all of the logistical and
procedural information regarding the PIONEER /MUN conference.

What is Model UN ?

Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an extra-curricular activity in

which students typically role-play delegates to the United Nations and simulate UN
committees. This activity takes place at MUN conferences, which is usually organized by a
high school or college MUN club. At the end of most conferences, outstanding delegates in
each committee are recognized and given an award certificate; the Best Delegate in each
committee, however, receives a gavel.

Thousands of middle school, high school, and college students across the country and around the

world participate in Model United Nations, which involves substantial researching, public speaking,

debating, and writing skills, as well as critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership abilities.

Once a team has registered for a conference, it receives a country to represent. Each student on that
team will represent that country in a different committee with different topics. For example, Best
Delegate High School could be assigned China and have different students representing China in
the disarmament committee, the human rights committee, the development committee, and so forth.
 How do I prepare for my first
conference?

There are typically three items to prepare before you walk into your conference:

The Position Paper , Opening Speech, and a Research Binder.

1. Position Paper (or Policy Statement)

Position papers are usually one to one-and-a-half pages in length. Your position paper should
include a brief introduction followed by a comprehensive breakdown of your country's position on
the topics that are being discussed by the committee. A good position paper will not only provide
facts but also make proposals for resolutions.
A good position paper will include:
· A brief introduction to your country and its history concerning the topic and committee;
· How the issue affects your country;
· Your country’s policies with respect to the issue and your country’s justification for these policies;
·Quotes from your country’s leaders about the issue;
· Statistics to back up your country’s position on the issue;
· Actions taken by your government with regard to the issue;
· Conventions and resolutions that your country has signed or ratified;
· UN actions that your country supported or opposed;
· What your country believes should be done to address the issue;
· What your country would like to accomplish in the committee’s resolution; and
· How the positions of other countries affect your country’s position

Research Tips
• For UN sources:
– site:un.org + topic
• For government sources:– Find the country code (.qa)
– site:gov.qa + topic
 This Photo by
POSITION PAPER
Unknown Author is
licensed under on Human Rights
Committee: Commission
CC BY-SA
Topic: Violence against Women
Country: The Kingdom of Denmark
Delegate: William Hayward Wilson, Shea University

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Although this doctrine was adopted in 1948, the world
has fallen quite short of this goal. Violence against women pervades all states and it is the duty of the
international community to ensure that all persons are afforded equality and respect. Despite cooperative
efforts at combating gross human rights abuses, such as the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination
of Violence against Women, the United Nations has not been able to alleviate the injustice women
worldwide experience daily.
The Kingdom of Denmark believes that in order to end violence against women, nations must look to
empower women in all aspects of society. This includes promoting equal gender roles in government, civil
society, education and business. However, Denmark also recognizes the need to combat human rights
abuses against women as they occur, and no nation is immune to gender violence.
In 2002, the Danish Government launched an extensive action plan to combat domestic violence against
women. The plan includes measures to help treat abused women, identify and prosecute the perpetrators,
and incorporate professional medical and psychological staff into the rehabilitation process. The action
plan currently reaches out to both governmental and nongovernmental groups on the local level
throughout the nation.
The Danish Centre for Human Rights in Copenhagen, Denmark’s foremost national human rights
institution also promotes and protects human rights. Based on the Centre’s research, Denmark’s
parliament can promote human rights-based legislation and education/awareness programs throughout
the nation. The Centre also addresses the UN Commission on Human Rights annually regarding human
rights developments in Denmark and internationally. Denmark has no record of committing major human
rights violations, most importantly any targeted at women. In its 2003 Annual Report, Amnesty
International also found no human rights violations against Danish women.
Women are invaluable to Denmark’s society and have achieved significant economic and social gains in the
20th century. Currently, 75 percent of medical students in Denmark are women. Denmark is confident that
this Commission can bring about an end to violence against women without compromising the sovereignty
of member states. Education remains perhaps the most useful tool in protecting victims of gender-based
violence. Governments, UN agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can plan a coordinated
campaign that educates national populations on the various ways women are violently targeted. Similarly,
harmful traditions, such as honor killings and female genital mutilation, must be stopped by reforming
traditional views of women in society.
Children of both sexes need to be taught at an early age to value the rights of women in order to prevent
such violence in their generation. Another way to stop gender violence would be to reproach member
states that consistently violate treaties such as the Convention on Political Rights of Women (1952), the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), and the Declaration
on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993). Although this Committee cannot impose sanctions,
it can pass resolutions verbally condemning states that commit human rights violations. The UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights can also meet with representatives of governments that violate the above
treaties to discuss possible solutions.
In order to prevent gender violence, nations must work together to build a culture of support, equality and
community. As such, the Kingdom of Denmark looks forward to offering its support, in whatever form
possible, to nations firmly committed to ending violence against women in all its forms.
Opening Speech :
1. Start with an Attention-Grabbing Introduction

Walk confidently to the front of the room, stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart, and
immediately engage your audience.
Though there are many exciting ways to start off your dialogue, there are four easy ways
to kick-start your speech and pull in the other delegates in the room:

● Interesting Facts: Facts demonstrating how serious a global issue is or how

it affects your country specifically can help engage the audience.
● A Quote: Start with a quote from a well-known global figure. It can help the
audience feel more connected to you through their connection to the person you’re
quoting.
● A Question: By starting your speech with a rhetorical question, you can assure that
your listeners are really thinking about the issue and how it may affect them or other
people.
● A Story or Anecdote: A more personal appeal in the form of a story or anecdote
can carry with it some emotion and demonstrate the real human effect that global issues
have on individuals, rather than just statistics about large groups of people in tragic
situations.

Example: “Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the
world.” These words were spoken by Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani and international
activist fighting for global education and gender equality.

2. Make a Clear, Positive and Succinct Argument

During the introduction, your goal was to engage your audience and make sure that they were
paying attention. Now that you’ve got their attention, it’s time to explain your policy and why
you think that this is the best way for the international community to move forward.

Your opening speech is meant to tell the world what your country stands for and what policies
you want. Speaking time is limited, so every second of your speech is precious. Because of this, it
is important that you don’t waste your time directing combative comments at other countries and
being negative. Make a very optimistic, positive speech, and clearly outline your policies and your
reasons for them.
 3. Arguments should be limited to just a few main points

Each point can be broken down into two main parts:

The Why: Speak briefly about the components of the problem that your plan will seek to address,
and cite relevant information about how the issue affects your country specifically.
The What: Make a clear statement of your country’s suggested solution for the issue, and briefly
explain actionable plans for what you want the international community to do.

Example:

The Why: Access to education is one of the most pressing global issues facing the international
community today, and Colombia remains committed to providing that access to as many citizens
as possible nationwide. One of the main obstacles to accomplishing the Millennium Development
Goal of Universal Primary Education is the availability of qualified teaching professionals.

The What: To combat this issue, Colombia advocates for international cooperative
agreements among countries with stronger education infrastructure to partner with countries
in need of
education support. These partnerships can be leveraged to promote the sharing of best practices
and expertise to train educators in host countries and create long-term permanent systems,
rather than the traditional method of simply flying in educators to train students temporarily.

4. Conclude with a Call to Action

A memorable Model UN speech should persuade the audience, not just inform them of issues, so
you need to finish with a call to action by which you leave your audience with a task. Ask
yourself why shall you spend your time writing a speech about an issue if you’re not going to ask
anybody to do a anything about it?
Simply put, a call to action asks your listeners to go forth and tackle this issue, whether through
domestic policies or international cooperation. Be creative with this call to action, but also carve a
 clear path that leads your audience towards what they can do to help implement these policies as
quickly as possible.

Example: We’d like to invite all of you to move forward with us to collaboratively generate new
and effective measures to provide education to as many of the world’s youth as possible. We
encourage all Member States to form these partnerships for domestic, industry-oriented education,
and to provide the next generation of global youth the greatest degree of opportunity possible.

Sample Opening Speech

Committee: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Topic: Changing visa policy to combat illegal migration
Country: United Kingdom

Honorable chair distinguished delegates, 

The United Kingdom is strongly against making visa access easier. While the death of the 39 Chinese found
inside a refrigerated lorry from Bulgaria on October 23rd, 2019 is regrettable, our only option is informing
potential migrants of the danger to themselves.
Illegal migration into Britain is around 650,000—give or take a couple hundred thousand. Many of these enter
countries on tourist visas and then stay. Changing the laws will only give smugglers more opportunities.
Britain proposes the UN create translated online platforms to apply for legal visas, while also showing the
dangers of illegal migration. The UN should invest in the proliferation, so this information reaches the right
people. The smugglers who get past our x-ray machines, canine units, heartbeat monitors and carbon-dioxide
sniffers are extremely resourceful. If we loosen visa laws, they will adapt and continue to take money from the
poor but now with the white hats, we handed to them.

Resolution paper

A resolution contains all the proposed solutions to a topic. Learning to write a resolution is very
important because the ultimate goal of the committee sessions is for delegates to come up with
written solutions to the problems they are trying to solve. The primary authors of the resolution will
also be recognized as the leaders in the committee which distinguishes them from everyone else for
awards.
 Most conferences require students to write resolutions during the conference. Specifically,
resolutions are usually written during unmoderated caucus (sometimes called informal caucus)
where delegates are free to roam around the committee to collaborate on ideas with each other,
and sometimes students work outside in hallways or computer labs as well.

Basics of a Resolution

Who: Who writes a resolution? Any delegate in the committee can write a resolution
(although in rare instances an observer state is not allowed to directly write a resolution).
The author of a resolution is called a sponsor. Most resolutions have multiple sponsors
because it takes a group of countries to share good ideas and to come to a consensus. Some
conferences allow delegates to sponsor multiple resolutions for each topic while others only
allow delegates to sponsor one per topic.
What: What is a resolution? A resolution is a document that contains all the issues that the
committee wants to solve and the proposed solutions to that issue. It’s called a resolution
because that’s what the United Nations calls the documents they produce. Technically, the
resolution should be called a draft resolution before it is voted upon and then called a
resolution after it is successfully passed during voting bloc.
When/Where: When and where are resolutions written? Most conferences require
students to write resolutions during the conference. Specifically, resolutions are usually
written during unmoderated caucus (sometimes called informal caucus) where
delegates are free to roam around the committee to collaborate on ideas with each other,
and sometimes students work outside in hallways or computer labs as well. Resolution-
writing becomes more focused during the latter sessions of committee when different
country policies are clear and different ideas have been mentioned already. These
conferences will not allow any pre-written resolutions. A few conferences have “docket-
style” debate. This is when students are required to submit resolutions to the conference in
advance and the chairs pick the best ones and put them into a docket. The delegates focus
only on the resolutions in the docket when they get to the conference and work on
amending them.
Why: The ultimate purpose of a committee session is to pass a resolution. All the speeches,
debate, negotiation, and teamwork is supposed to lead up to a resolution which contains all
the proposed solutions to the issue. The resolution(s) that the majority of the committee
agrees upon will be passed during voting bloc and the sponsors will be informally
commended for building consensus on good ideas. Most conferences allow multiple
resolutions to pass as long as they do not contradict each other, but a few conferences allow
only one resolution to pass.
 

A resolution is actually really simple to write. It has three main parts: the heading, the
pre-ambulatory clauses, and the operative clauses. We’ll break down the example above into these three
parts below.

1. Heading

● Forum Name: Name of conference hall.

● Committee:
● Topic:
● Signatories: (List all signing countries)
● Sponsors: (List all sponsoring countries

The committee name and topic should be self-

explanatory. The sponsors are the authors of the
resolution.
The signatories are other delegates in the committee who do not necessarily agree with the
resolution but would like to see it debated.

Most conferences require a minimum number or percentage of sponsors and signatories (or a
combination of both) before a resolution can be presented — this encourages consensus-building.

You will also notice some numbering (on the top right corner in the example). This is usually
provided by the committee chair and is just a way to number the different resolutions — usually
by the order they are received or approved — so that delegates can easily differentiate or reference
them.

2.Pre-ambulatory clauses

Pre-ambulatory Clauses: These clauses are used to provide background information

related to the topic to back up its operative clauses. First word of the pre- ambulatory
17 clauses should be italicized. Each pre-ambulatory clause ends with a comma.*

NOTE:* Pre- ambulatory clauses can refer to, mention or cite previous resolutions,
treaties and\or a statements presented previously by UN bodies.
 Samples:

● Affirming ● Contemplating
● Alarmed by ● Convinced
● Approving ● Declaring
● Bearing in mind ● Deeply concerned
● Believing ● Deeply conscious
● Confident ● Deeply convince
For example, my country wants to address the issue of how HIV/AIDS has spread rapidly in
sub-Saharan Africa. I pick a pre-ambulatory phrase from above — I’ll use “Alarmed by” —
and then I combine it to say:
Alarmed by the 17% increase in HIV/AIDS contraction among sub-Saharan African countries
in the past five years,

Strategy Tip: In general, you want fewer pre-ambulatory clauses than operative clauses. More
operative clauses convey that you have more solutions than you have problems.

1. Operative clauses

Operative Clauses: Operative clauses identify or present solutions to the topic discussed
in the pre- ambulatory clauses. Unlike the pre-ambulatory clauses, operative clauses
should be numbered and placed in an organizing manner. Operative clauses begin
with a verb and end with a semi colon, and the last clause ends with a period.

Samples: ● Fulfilling
● Accepts ● Fully aware
● Affirms ● Having examined
● Approves ● Emphasizes
● Authorizes ● Encourages
● Calls ● Proclaims
● Calls upon ● Endorses
● Condemns ● Expresses its appreciation
● Confirms ● Expresses its hope
● Considers ● Further requests
 Deeply Disturbed ● Further resolves
● Emphasizing ● Has resolved
● Expressing it’s ● Regrets
appreciation ● Recommends
● Having received ● Strongly supports
● Noting
● Deplores
● Declares accordingly ● Draws the attention
For example, my first solution is to distribute low-cost medicines for HIV/AIDS to sub-Saharan
African countries. I pick an operative phrase from above — I’ll use “Calls upon” — and then I
combine it and number it to say:

1. Calls upon the developed countries and major pharmaceutical countries to provide
low-cost, generic medicines for HIV/AIDS to sub-Saharan African countries;

Strategy Tip: Usually more details in an operative clause will make it stronger or at least
make the idea more clear to other delegates. A simple way to strengthen each operative clause is to
answer the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” of each resolution.

Sample Draft Resolutions

DRAFT RESOLUTION

Submitter :

Sponsors: United States, Austria and Italy

Signatories: Greece, Tajikistan, Japan, Canada, Mali, the Netherlands and Gabon

Committee: General Assembly (Third Committee)

Topic: Strengthening UN coordination of humanitarian assistance in complex emergencies

The General Assembly,

Reminding all nations of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which recognizes the inherent dignity, equality and inalienable rights of all
global citizens,
Reaffirming its Resolution 33/1996 of 25 July 1996, which encourages Governments to work
with UN bodies aimed at improving the coordination and effectiveness of humanitarian
assistance,

Noting with satisfaction the past efforts of various relevant UN bodies and

nongovernmental organizations,

1. Encourages all relevant agencies of the United Nations to collaborate more closely
with countries at the grassroots level to enhance the carrying out of relief efforts;

2. Urges member states to comply with the goals of the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs

to streamline efforts of humanitarian aid;

3. Requests that all nations develop rapid deployment forces to better enhance the
coordination of relief efforts of humanitarian assistance in complex emergencies.

Rules of Procedure IN THE CONFRENCE

❖ Quorum (roll call)

At the first formal session of the committee, the chair will conduct a roll call of all registered
countries in the committee to determine which delegations are present. When the country
name is
called, delegates must say:
“The Delegation of [represented country] is present and voting.”
or
“The Delegation of [represented country] is present.”
In this way, delegates establish voting privileges for their nation. If they come in late to the
sessions, they must notify the chair in writing. At least half of all delegations plus one must be
present for business discussions to occur. This is called a simple majority and is used as a
reference for voting to take place.

❖ Speaker’s Time
Next, the chair will ask if there are any points or motions on the floor. Any delegate can request
the motion to set the speaker’s time. This simply means the committee will vote on how much
time each country will have for its opening speech. Most commonly this would be for one
minute. Once acknowledged by raising his/her placard, any delegate can say:
“The delegation of [represented country] would like to set the speaker’s time to one minute.”
The chair will then ask the delegate whose motion passed to go up and give his speech. Once
this selected delegate has finished his declaration, the chair will proceed to establishing the
speakers’ list.

Speakers’ List
At this time the chair will ask who would like to be on the speakers’ list. It is important that
delegates raise their placards and wait until each country has been written down.

❖ Caucusing

Once the chair says, “The floor is now open for caucusing. Based on that, are there any points or
motions on the floor?” the delegates can request caucusing. During a caucus the delegates are
allowed to speak to each other about the different topics. There are two types of caucusing.
● Moderated Caucus.
This is a formal debate where delegates remain at their seats. There are a limited number of
speakers allowed for a limited amount of time, discussing a certain aspect of the issue at hand.
 To request a moderated caucus, a delegate says:
“The delegation of [represented country] would like to present a motion for a moderated caucus
to discuss [subtopic], with a total time of 15 minutes and interventions of 1 minute.”

The chair will proceed with a vote. This means that 15 delegates will be able to speak for 1 minute
each. No delegate may speak more than once in the same moderated caucus unless per request of a
right of reply .

● Unmoderated Caucus.

This is a formal break from the collective meeting where delegates may leave their seats to
discuss with other countries. At this time delegates may also begin to draft resolutions.
Requesting a regular caucus is very similar to moderated caucusing. To request a regular
caucus, a delegate says:
“The delegation of [represented country] requests the meeting be suspended for a regular caucus
to discuss [subtopic], for a total time of 10 minutes.”
Again, the chair will hold a vote on the matter. Finally, at the end of the meeting, a delegate can
ask to adjourn the meeting by following the same procedures.

MUN – ENGLISH Useful Phrases

● To have the floor

To have been given the right to speak in debate before the house.

● To yield the floor

To give up the right to speak either temporarily when yielding to a point of information

or permanently at the conclusion of one's speech.

● Useful Phrases to be used :

When starting to speak
Mr./Madam Chairman...

● When asking for permission to speak

(The delegate of ) requests the floor

● When beginning a speech

Albania wishes to speak in favor of/against this motion/resolution/amendment because...

● When wishing to ask a question

The delegate rises to a point of information/point of order

● When asking a question

Is the Chair/the speaker (not) aware that..

Does the speaker (not) agree that..

When pausing to answer questions

This delegate is open to points of information

When moving an amendment

Zambia moves to amend the resolution by striking/inserting/adding the words...

● When concluding a speech

Ecuador urges the assembly to vote for/against this motion...