Position Papers!

Created by Richa Lal

What is a Position Paper?
 Essay that outlines and briefly describes your
country’s/delegation’s stance on the topic
being debated.

 Mechanism to organize your information and

an easy way to prepare your opening
statement or later speeches.
Structure of a Position Paper
 Clearly labeled Committee, Topic, and
Country
 1-1.5 pages in length
 1st Paragraph: Brief introduction detailing
your country’s history (if any) with the issue.
 2nd – 3rd Paragraphs: detailed analysis of your
country’s opinion on matter, providing very
specific claims on plausible resolutions.
 Closing: Re-establish your overall stance
What To Include in a Position
Paper
 Anything Recent
 How the issue affects your country
 Security reasons, humanitarian issues, legality.
 Your country’s policies, and justification
 Statistics
 Actions taken by government
 QUOTES!!
What To Include in a Position
Paper
 Resolutions signed/ratified by your country
 Bilateral & Unilateral Agreements, Treaties
 UN Actions supported or opposed by your
country
 What your country believes should be done
 How other countries affect your country’s
opinion/decision
Extra Notes
 Don’t be overly loquacious, aka don’t be
overly wordy, and stick to your point, even if it
ends up being repetitive.
 Be organized by giving each possible
resolution
 Cite your sources!
 They love footnotes – show you didn’t just use
Wikipedia.
Good Sources
 The UN Database for resolutions/any
information
 Press conferences given by your country
following a UN convention
 National newspaper articles
 The CIA information site for various statistics
 Foreign Ministry Websites (for each country)

 http://www.unausa.org/munpreparation