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Ecosoc Delegates Guide
Ecosoc Delegates Guide
Delegates Guide:-
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Table of contents
Topic 5: Resources………………………………………………………………………page 20
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Introduction to Economic and Social Council
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), established in 1945,
represents one of the principal organs of the United Nations. ECOSOC makes
recommendations with respect to the General Assembly, to the Members of the
United Nations, and to the Specialized Agencies concerned such as the World Bank
and the World Health Organization. ECOSOC engages stakeholders such as
policymakers, business sector representatives and over 3,200 registered non-
governmental organizations.
The Economic and Social Council has 54 members, elected based on the
geographical representation for three-year terms by the General Assembly, with their
terms expiring on 31 December.
Each year, at the commencement of its first meeting, ECOSOC elects its Bureau,
composed of a President and four Vice-Presidents. The Bureau includes one
Government from each of the regional groups within the United Nations. Each year,
a representative from a region is chosen, on the principle of rotation, to head the
Council as its President.
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What is a position paper?
Position papers are usually one to one-and-a-half pages in length. However, most of
the position papers are usually one page 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. This is the third part. A position paper is an essential part of MUN
because it lays the foundation for a country’s stance in the topic and gives the
delegate ideas as to what should be said over the course of the conference. Position
paper reading commences after the roll call when all delegates are present and
accounted for. The chair will say, “If there are any motions on the floor, please raise
your placards now” after this you should raise your placard and if you are
recognized, you say, “the delegate of ‘whatever country you represent’ would like
to raise a motion to initiate position paper reading.”
Given below is a sample position paper. Certain things such as the ‘delegate
name’ which is given in the sample is not needed.
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Paragraph One – Issue and Position
Utilize this paragraph to clearly outline the main problems associated with your
topic. The point of the paragraph is to provide a basic foundation as to the current
situation associated with your topic. After generally describing the issue, give your
country’s policy regarding the issue, and state especially why your country supports
that policy. Policy statements can often be as short as stating your country supports
a certain action followed by a detailed qualification regarding this policy decision.
This section of your position paper should not exceed five to six sentences.
This paragraph is an opportunity for you to show the depth of your knowledge about
the past and current situations regard your topic. Be sure to discuss:
MUN terminology
When in a conference, proper knowledge of the terms and how you use them dictates
the proficiency of the delegate and puts them at a different level from the other
delegates. So here are the terms that you need to know.
Appeal of the Chair: A motion to challenge the decision of the Chair and
refers to a specific NMUN rule.
Chair: People who are in charge of leading the committee’s formal debate in
accordance to the NMUN Rules of Procedure.
Economic and Social Council: The Economic and Social Council is the
principal organ of the UN responsible for the economic and social work of the
organization.
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Majority Vote: A threshold at which many motions pass. A motion passes
with majority vote if more people vote yes than vote no (in the case of
substantive votes, ignore abstentions). To determine if something passes,
compare yes votes to no votes only. Tie votes fail.
Moderated Caucus: This occurs when position paper reading has finished.
The chair will say, “The position paper reading is now over. If there are any
motions on the floor, please raise your placards now” after this, you raise your
placards and if you are recognized, you should say, “the delegate of ‘whatever
country you represent’ would like to raise a motion for initiating a moderated
caucus for a time of … minutes”
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Perambulatory Clause: Sets up historical context and relevant international
law for a resolution, which justifies future action.
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Right to follow up: Used to respond to the delegate after they have said
something. You should say, “Request the right to follow up”. The chair will
then decide and say, “Right granted/denied”
Unmoderated caucus: This occurs after the moderated caucus is over. The
chair will start by saying, “The moderated caucus is now over. If there are any
motions on the floor, please raise your placards now.” You then raise your
placard and if you are recognized, you should say, “The delegate of ‘whatever
country you represent’ would like to raise a motion for initiating an
unmoderated caucus for a time of … minutes”.
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.
However, there are signatories. Signatories are countries that have not written the
resolution and not speaking for the resolution but still vote for it rather than against.
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
(here are some real 2011 Security Council resolutions). 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
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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.
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How to write to write a resolution?
How do I write a resolution and what does the format look like?
First, here is an example of how a resolution looks like:
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
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The heading contains four pieces of information: the committee name, the sponsors,
the signatories, and the topic (not necessarily in that order depending on each
individual conference’s rules).
It’s very simple to write a pre ambulatory clauses. First, take a statement that you
want to write about (perhaps an issue you want to solve or a specific fact from one
of the five bullet points above). You then take that statement, combine it with an
underlined pre ambulatory phrase, and end it with a comma. Here are some example
pre ambulatory phrases that you can choose from.
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For example, my country wants to address the issue of how Ebola 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 Ebola contraction among sub-Saharan African
countries in the past year,
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.
3. Operative clauses
Operative clauses state the solutions that the sponsors of the resolution proposes to
resolve the issues. The operative clauses should address the issues specifically
mentioned in the pre ambulatory clauses above it.
It’s very simple to write an operative clause. First, take a solution that you want to
include in the draft resolution. You then take that solution, combine it with an
underlined operative phrase, and end it with a semicolon (the last operative clause
ends with a period). Operative clauses are also numbered. This differentiates them
from pre-ambulatory clauses, helps show logical progression in the resolution and
makes the operative clauses easy to refer to in speeches and comments. Here are
some example operative phrases from UNA USA’s website that you can choose
from:
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For example, my first solution is to distribute low cost medicines for Ebola 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 Ebola 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. These details can actually be broken down into sub operative clauses
underneath the main operative clause.
1.A friendly amendment is a change to the draft resolution that all sponsors agree
with. After the amendment is signed by all of the draft resolution’s sponsors and
approved by the committee chair, it will be automatically incorporated into the
resolution.
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a required number of signatories in order to introduce it. Prior to voting on the draft
resolution, the committee votes on all unfriendly amendments.
Writing an amendment is very simple. All you have to do is make an operative clause
that adds, deletes, or changes an operative clause in a draft resolution. Examples
include:
• Adds an operative clause that reads “14. Encourages all Latin American countries
to…”
• Deletes operative clause 9. Changes operative clause 1 to read “1. Calls upon the
Red Cross to provide low cost medicines…”
How debate works?
Role call
Resolution announced to be debated
Main submitter called to the floor
Main submitter reads operative clauses
Main submitter makes a 3 minute speech about the resolution (why is it good?
Main submitter answers points of information (questions)
Main submitter yields the floor back to the chair or another delegate (“I yield the
floor back to the chair”)
Tips:
1. Come Prepared.
2. Maintain Diplomacy.
3. The best debater is the best listener.
4. Find a “universal principal” everyone agrees on.
5. Capture the audience’s attention.
6. Use Facts.
7. Capitalize on your strengths.
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Motions and points:
There are different points in MUN which have different purposes
Point of personal privilege: Refers to the comfort of the delegate. For
example: “Point of personal privilege! Can you open the window?” “Point of
personal privilege! May the speaker raise their voice”
Point of order: used when there is a wrong fact stated by one of the delegates.
You say “point of order! And then correct them” after they have finished
speaking!
Point of Parliamentary Enquiry: Point of information to the Chair
concerning rules of procedure. Example: “Could the Chair please explain to
the house what is meant by closed debate?”
A point CANNOT interrupt a speaker UNLESS it’s a point of personal
privilege due to audibility (voice of speaker)
“Motion to move into voting procedure” It’s a request to stop debate and
move directly into voting procedure Delegates can agree by raising their
placards. It can be granted or denied by the chair.
Yielding:
Delegates can only yield once consecutively. One delegate cannot take the floor,
speak, then yield the floor to another delegate and then have them yield the floor to
a third delegate.
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Resources:
https://bestdelegate.com/the-dos-and-donts-of-model-un-a-beginners-guide-
to-achieving-success/
http://www.google.jo/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved
=0CBwQFjAAahUKEwjmv8C8pMzHAhVoWdsKHYPlCHQ&url=http%3
A%2F%2Fwww.nmun.org%2Fdownloads%2FNMUNDelegatePrepGuide.p
df&ei=A5jgVaayMeiy7QaDy6OgBw&usg=AFQjCNG6BU-
_b6EkSuw749OFUD7gvKhfJA
https://www.nmun.org/conferences/new-york/prepare-for-
committee/committee-materials.html
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