Country Selection and Position Papers

Model UN MeetingDecember 15, 2014

Our CountriesCommittees in red are still available.

If you have not been assigned a country, please write your name, country, and

committee preference down.

Plenary-Zeke DISEC-Ryan

Shulze SOCHUM-Katterli SPECPOL-

Cameron P

EcoSoc-Drew Hale

UNHRC-Haleigh Pierce

UNHCR UNICEF- riley

boggan UNESCO WHO-Josh Collins

Guatemala-10 Spots

Plenary-Cameron Long

DISEC-Ty SOCHUM-Lilly

Shortle SPECPOL-Aksel

Sjogren WHO-Zack

Patton UNEP

EcoSoc-Logan Whitney

UNHCR UNHRC-Caleb UNODC-Will Carrol UNDP-Jacob

Newman UNICEF-Kacey

Tallant UNESCO-Cameron

Klepac

South Korea-13 Spots

Plenary-Jonathan Herera

DISEC-Ryan Alford SOCHUM-Hannah

Dickerson SPECPOL-Michael

Fedetov WHO-Logan Allen UNEP-Athena

Berger

EcoSoc-Caroline Barnes

UNHCR UNHRC-Cheyenne UNDP-Bailey

Nichols UNICEF-Brooke

Patton UNESCO-Noah

Simpson

Spain-12 Spots

Historical Security Council:◦ Calvin Barnhill◦ Kristian Noll

Near Future: 3 spots◦ Security Council

(Nigeria): Seth Miller◦ Pakistan: John Peter◦ India: Madison

Tafolla

Crisis

Committee Topics

Topics for GA Plenary are set at conference.

GA Plenary

Cyberterrorism/Cyberwarfare Biological and Chemical Weapons

GA 1: DISEC

Torture and Other Cruel and Inhumane Punishment

Rights of Undocumented Migrants

GA 2: SOCHUM

Private Military Contractors Rights of Indigenous People

GA 4: SPECPOL

Eliminating Violence Against Migrants and Migrant Workers

Mega Event Displacement

EcoSoc

Development Cooperation with Middle Income Countries

Sustainable use of Biofuels

UNDP

Protection of Endangered Species Measures to address Global Climate

Change

UNEP

Using Technology to Improve Public Health Illegal Organ Trade

WHO

Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Elimination of Racism and Xenophobia

HRC

Child Marriage Use of Children in Armed Conflicts

UNICEF

Cultural Extinction Regulation of Human Cloning

UNESCO

Revisiting Israel & Palestine The Situation in Syria

HCR

Case of Using Hallucinogenic Drugs to Treat Mental Disorders

Use of Cryptocurrency in Money Laundering

UNODC

You must be a returning member to be on a crisis committee

Historical Security Council: (2 seats) Near Future: India vs Pakistan (2 seats)

◦ Security Council: Nigeria◦ India◦ Pakistan

Crisis Committees

Background guides are available here

Website

Position Papers for Dummies

Due Date: Friday, December 19

Midnight

A position paper is an overview of your country’s stance on different issues

In order to attend the HAMUN conference in January, you need to have an approved position paper

You will also need to have passed all your classes for the fall semester!!!

This is a brief document, but is very important for the committees.

What is a position paper?

First: It allows the delegate to think about their policy on specific issues from the country’s point of view, before attending the conference

Second: It serves as a simple information guide on your country’s policies to use at the conference

Third: It acts as an outline for the preliminary draft resolution

The Purpose of the Policy Statement

Length: ¾ to 1 page long Spacing: Single Font: 12 pt, Times New Roman Saved as: .doc, .pdf, .rtf

Policy Statement Format

Committee Country Topic School: MagnoliaHigh School Sponsor: Katherine Cantu Name:

Header

Pick an international issue.◦ Most of you will be on committees that already

have a list of topics. If this is the case, you should select a topic from your committee.

You need to research that topic from your country’s point of view◦ Keep in mind elements of culture, history,

geography, natural resources, neighboring countries, population, etc.

To begin writing your paper…

You need to show that this is an international issue, thereby warranting the attention of an Intranational agency, like the UN◦ Which regions or countries are also being affected

by this topic?◦ Use specific examples and dates.

Position paper cont.

You need to know if any international action has already been taken to address your topic◦ Use specific examples and dates

Describe your country’s position on the topic. ◦ How is this issue affecting your country?◦ What actions has your country taken in the past in

regards to this topic?

Position paper cont.

Finally, propose specific UN action for the future.◦ What actions could your committee take to

address your topic?◦ What actions would your country be in support of?◦ What actions would your country be against?

Position paper cont.

This is not a report on your country. The paper should address the topic,

written from your country’s point of view. It is okay to put in a few lines about why

this would be best for your country, but other countries in your committee will not care unless it helps them too.

This is a persuasive paper, written to get what you want.

It needs to be written and researched very carefully.

What your paper is not…

You will need to include a Works Cited Page The Font should be the same as your paper. Your sources need to be in MLA format, and

in alphabetical order according to the author’s last name

The library has a citation machine program that can help you with this.

Citations

Each graded policy paper will be e-mailed to me, with the rubric attached.

The papers will be graded by your committee chairs.

In order to pass, all eight items on the rubric must be present

Scoring

Header Explanation and

definition of the issue

A short summary of recent international action related to the question

A statement of the country’s position on the issue

Specific suggestions for a solution

Reference to at least three key documents relating to the issue that are NOT cited in the policy statement

Policy statement is appropriate length (1 page)

Policy paper is saved as .doc, .pdf, or .rtf

Rubric

Go to HAMUN’s website:◦ http://www.houstonareamun.org/

Click “Committees and Research” Then click “Position Papers” Click on your committee for a background guide

Or E-mail me:◦ Kcantu@magnoliaisd.org◦ Remind 101: Text @556675 to (281)769-7345

Any more questions?