Preparing for a MUN conference
Preparation is a critical part of any Model UN conference- you need to come prepared so you can deliver informed speeches, make strong arguments while negotiating, and write innovative and realistic resolutions on your committee topics. Preparation and research needs to focus on both your country and your topics, and it can add up to a lot of information that there’s no way for you to memorize! Because of this, its helpful to assemble a research binder.
The Research Binder
Research Binders are optional but highly recommended, especially since many conferences do not allow the use of technology in committee. An organized Research Binder will be your go-to resource during the conference as new terms and acronyms, previous resolutions and treaties, and possible solutions are mentioned.
Here is a list of 15 things to include in your research binder Researching Topic BackgroundAfter researching your country, you should begin looking into the topic that you’re going to be discussing. It’s important to have a good base of understanding about your topic before you dive in and try to decipher how your country feels about that topic.
Every committee offers you a topic synopsis, prepared by the chair to give you an overview of the topic(s). The chair may even choose to include controversial issues about the topics and what bloc positions are. A good guide should give you an understanding of the issue by the end of the introduction. Others require you to read further. Sometimes you need to do your own research. However long it takes, by the of the process you should know the specifics of: What? Why? How? Where? (if relevant) When? (if relevant) What is expected if no one intervenes Developing a Conference Strategy
As part of its preparation, all delegations should be involved in working toward solutions to the problems placed before the United Nations. This requires a great deal of negotiation and compromise, often at the expense of certain positions that may be of concern to an individual delegation. Each delegation’s representatives must therefore decide which items are of greatest importance to their country and set their strategies accordingly. Strategic areas to consider include the following:
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Country Profile
The CIA Factbook is a MUNers go-to resource in assembling a Country Profile. It's helpful to know your countries trade partners, GDP, alliances, and to have a basic overall understanding of your country.
Researching Past International Action and Country PolicyTo understand how to represent your country at the UN, you need to know two things- what the international community has already done about the topic, and what your country wants to do about it. To find Past International Action, you can look through news sources, your Countries voting record, and speeches and press releases.
Most importantly, this will help you come up with potential resolutions. Be sure to consider whether or not the plan is feasible, if your country’s economy is stable enough to support it financially, and your best solutions will get you the award! Future Policy Recommendations: The draft resolution that you, and your allies, will be writing can get inspiration from policy recommendations. These can come from the United Nations, think tanks, NGO’s and experts in the field. These recommendations can do two things. The first is to give ideas and inspiration for further policies to be built off of these. The second is to present yourself as knowledgeable in a debate. An example of using this is when other delegates bring policies that are vague or have already been done. In these cases you can use targeted policy recommendations to make your speech more effective. Resources
www.un.org www.scholar.google.com https://bestdelegate.com/resources/ https://bestdelegate.com/mun-research-made-easy-15-things-every-delegate-should-have-in-their-research-binder/ AUSMUN 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLO5SETBUWI&t=2s UQ United Nations Student Association: Research and Preparation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAVQpxLcP4o&t=484s Ministry of Foregin Affairs (MOFA) www.un.int/ (Permanent Mission to the UN) |