Dear delegate, remember that thorough preparation is vital for being successful and enjoying the conference. Read carefully all the steps and prepare for the conference accordingly. In case something is not clear or you have a problem with preparing for the conference, email us and we will help you.
Useful information can also be found in the Delegate's Handbook. It is also advised to read through the complete Rules of Procedure.
After you have chosen a country and a committee, your first steps should be to gain as much background knowledge about your country as possible. You should research your country's political structure, culture, history, geography, economy. You should also make sure that you are familiar with the views and opinions of your country on international issues. Most importantly however, you should become well acquainted with your country's opinion on the topic that is to be discussed in your committee. In conclusion, as experienced MUN participants say, you should become “a citizen of your country” (meaning the country you represent) before you attend the conference.
General knowledge is the foundation for all of your further research.
Below you can find questions which you should ask about your country. You do not have to remember all the facts, but these information will help you build the basic image of the country you are representing. We recommend you to write a short comprehensive summary to bring with you to the conference.
What is its name and flag? Where does it lay? How big is it? What are the needs of the different provinces? How many inhabitans does it have? How was our nation formed? What wars were we in? Which countries were our allies? How did our borders change thoughout the time? Were there any significant historical events?
What is the political situation? What is the leading political direction? What recent laws or reforms were adopted? What are the targets of the contemporary government? How strong is our economy? How does it influence our political relations? What trading groups are we in? How developed the country is? How good is the health and education system? What is our infrastructure like? What developments is the government working on?
How is the society divided? Is there a great difference between the rich and the poor? What does this cause? What ethnic groups are there? What is the situation with the ethnic minorities? What traditions are there? Are there any problems with the traditions? What religions are there? What do these religons prohibit? What is our crime rate?
Do we posses nuclear weapons? How strong is our military? In what missions are we active? Are there any disputed territories?
There are many good resources with general information, which are listed below. If you want to find more specific, topic-related or thorough information, definitely look at RefWorld. There you can find Annual Reports of your country and many other reports, often on a specific topic. These are a perfect source of information.
This is the most relevant topic for the lobbying sessions and voting procedures.
You want to know, who your allies are and act accordingly. During the lobbying sessions you and other delegates will be getting into groups and creating resolutions together. Research the political relations of your country and have a quick look at possible allies in the discussions.
Look at what neighbors your country has and what are your relations with them. Look at what conflicts you have and what your governments agree on. Also find out, whether your country is a part of any different union apart from the UN, such EU, NATO, NAFTA and many others. Some of these could bound you to revalue your approach to the problem.
Research your topic thoroughly, think about how this relates to your country and what would your government’s approach to the problem be.
As a delegate, you will spend most of the time trying to tackle the problems of your committee. Try to completely avoid your personal opinion. Remember, you represent your country, not yourself at the conference.
Finding what your government has done for the problem of your committee can be dificult, but it will be the most important information for you during the discussions. Try to find resolutions submitted or co-submitted by your country or projects your country has funded. Put together your country’s approach to the problem and you will know, how to react to the discussions appropriately. Go through the Research papers provided by your Chairs and do a reseerch the topic itself. This will provide you with the right arguments for the debating.
We can recommend you to start with the UNbisnet and RefWorld. Then you will have to find more information by yourself.
As PORGMUN is a Model UN conference, we advise you do a little research on how the UN works, what parts it has and what is the basic hierarchy. Don’t worry if it gets overwhelming, we will teach the way UN operates at the conference! However, it is highly advisable that you have a quick read through the charter, so that you do not violate the basic rules of the UN during the debates.
A position paper is a document prepared by every delegate before the conference to share their country‘s basic views on the discussed topics. Its form should resemble that of a short speech presenting the country‘s aims and expectations for the committee debates. Every delegate is expected to send in one position paper summarizing their country's viewpoint on both of the topics. The ideal length for a position paper is 300-400 words. The position paper should include the name of the committee, the name of the topic and the delegate‘s country. Position papers are to be sent directly through MyMUN.net where they will be desplayed for the other delegates to read.
The deadline for position papers is April 1st.
Committee: Human Rights Committee
Topic: Freedom of Expression as a Threat to Global Security
Presented by the delegate of the French Republic
France believes that free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the fundamental rights of any man, hence it is crucial to preserve the values as presented by the ageless Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, which also inspired the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. France also follows the European Convention on Human Rights and consents to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.
France, however, insists on protecting individuals and groups from being defamed or insulted according to their ethnicity, nation, race, religion, sex, and sexual religion or due to a certain handicap. For that reason, the vindication of crime against humanity and incitement to commit such crime is considered a violation of the law.
Concerning the case of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in January of 2015, France firmly believes that ‘hate speech’ and ‘the right to blaspheme’ are often confused. Factors to be considered when distinguishing between the two are the prospect of violence as a result of the speech, the intent of the speakers and the context in which the words are spoken. Moreover, restrictions of hate speech seek to protect individuals, whereas anti-blasphemy laws rather serve to protect the state and its theology whilst threatening the security of an individual. That is why the French Republic strongly despises the terrorist act and sees it as a violation of the law.
The key areas of focus in terms of eliminating hate speech should be the distinction between hate speech, free speech and blasphemy (as the confusion of these may cause major disputes between citizens) as well as the guarantee of the freedom of expression.
Thank you for your attention.
Your duty as a delegate is to prepare a resolution before the conference.
What is a resolution? A resolution is a formal document which represents the opinion and position of a country regarding a specific topic. In a resolution, a delegate proposes actions that their country supports in regards of the discussed issue (committee topic). There is a particular structure that every delegate must follow when writing a resolution.
A resolution consists of two parts: Preambulatory Clauses and Operative Clauses. Writing a resolution may seem complicated at first but with the step-by-step guide provided lower, it will quickly become a lot easier. All clauses, in other words – both the preambulatory and the operative clauses, must begin with appropriate phrases. Preambulatory clauses state the reasons why the committee is addressing the topic and highlights past international actions on the issue. Preambulatory clauses can include reference to the UN Charter, cite past UN resolutions and most importantly – include general facts and statements on the topic, its significance and impact. Preambulatory clauses always begin with a present principle (see list of Preambulatory clauses) and end with a comma.
Operative clauses are the committee’s proposals on what should be done in regards to the discussed topic. The operative clauses should therefore describe the course of action that you as the delegate of your country propose. If the committee votes for your resolution, your proposed action becomes the UN’s proposed action. Clearly, operative clauses are much more important than preambulatory clauses, because preambulatory clauses only describe the reasons behind the operative clauses. Operative clauses should be the strongest part of your resolution. Operative clauses always start with a verb (see the list of Operative Phrases).
There are several other important things about clauses in general. Your clauses in the resolution should be logically arranged and clearly formulated. Clauses should not repeat themselves – every clause should be dealing with a different aspect of the given matter. The resolution must also be written correctly in terms of grammar, spelling and punctuation. Remember that during debate, the committee can accept amendments on operative clauses of the resolution, but the preambulatory clauses stay just as they were in the draft that you submitted.
FORUM: Disarmament Committee
QUESTION OF: Evolving measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring conventional arms and weapons of mass destruction
MAIN SUBMITTER: Brazil
CO-SUBMITTERS: France, Palestine, Sweden, Syria, Czech Republic, Germany, Russian Federation
The Disarmament Committee,
Noting that the danger of terrorist attacks involves not only weapons of mass destruction (e.g. bombs, dynamites, etc.), but conventional arms as well (e.g. revolvers, Man Portable Air Defense Systems, etc.),
Bearing in mind that over-armament is a very pressing issue in some areas of the world, including many parts of Brazil,
Realizing that conventional arms are being misused daily in terrorist attacks that aim to disrupt the international peace that the United Nations organization has pledged to protect,
Having considered that the disarmament measures have to be equal in all states, or else they might incite international legal disputes as well as illegal arms trade,
Guided by the hope for a future without fear concerning the situations described above,
The Delegate's Handbook will provide you with all the necessary information about the conference, what to expect and what it is going to be like. You will be given a copy at the conference, so you do not have to worry about printing it out. However, have a good look at it before coming to the conference, as it explains the debating procedure. If you do not fully understand it, do not worry. Before you start the actual debates, we will teach you how the debating works.
We strongly appeal to all of the supervisors to make sure their delegates know and use the proper language and rules of procedure during the conference. The complete rules of the PORGMUN Conference can be found here: Rules of Procedure. Here are some of the most important guidelines to be followed:
Points
Motions