POSITION PAPER  Requirements and Evaluation Criteria

Position papers are an important element of judging in selecting the overall team awards.  In order for a team to be considered for an overall award the team must have submitted a complete position paper package (one per each committee on which that country is seated), the papers must be in the prescribed format. Please email position papers to bwright1@jccc.edu

A position paper is a one page statement of a country’s policy on each of the topics under consideration by a committee and the rationale behind it. Issues requires each country’s representatives to submit position papers to each committee on each topic of debate. There are several reasons for position papers. Writing position papers serves to focus delegates’ thoughts on the topic areas. Position papers also give Committee Chairs an opportunity to learn the degree to which the delegates understand the topic areas. Delegates should have copies of their own position paper so they can refer to them the day of the event. The papers will also be of use when delegates attempt to write a resolution that may deal with the points of major concern to the committee. Furthermore, access to the papers may allow them to clarify points made in another delegate’s speech.

A position paper must be written on each committee’s topic area. When writing their position papers, delegates should ask themselves two questions about the issues in the topic areas:

• What are the major points of interest or concern in this area?
• What are the possible resolutions to the problems in this area?

Next, delegates should answer specific questions about their country’s position:

• Of what regional or functional grouping is our country a part?
• What is our country’s policy on the topic? Why?
• What issues in this area are particularly relevant? How?

Delegates may wish to research their country’s position on issues in the area and on similar issues that have directly affected their countries.

The above information should then be placed in a one-page position paper. Delegates are not expected to cover in a single page their nation’s policy on every aspect of the topic, but rather to give a short  statement of purpose for their actions in the committee. Delegates are encouraged to include any avenues that they wish to pursue in committee in attempts to provide a solution to the problem presented. An example of a position paper follows this section.

Each position paper should have a heading at the top with the following information:

• The delegate’s name (bold and centered)
• The committee name (bold and centered)
• The country’s name (bold and centered)
• School

Then each topic section is to have a heading

• The topic title (bold and italicized)

Position papers should be submitted in Times Roman 10 or 12 point font on diskette in Microsoft Word format or transmitted as an email attachment.  Position papers should be transmitted as a country package and not individually and must come from the faculty advisor and not the individual students. Last the position paper needs to follow the below criteria.

Since the 1990’s and the end of the Cold War, the United Nations has seen a rise in the use of sanctions imposed by the Security Council in facilitating the objective of peace and security for the international community.  In Article 39, The Charter of the United Nations sets forth the ability and obligation of the Security Council to seize matters with “the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression.”  Articles 40 and 41 of the charter detail that authority and the discretion the Security Council is obligated to consider when the imposition of sanctions is deemed necessary to satisfy the body’s objective.  Although recognizing the ability of the Security Council to impose sanctions for the peace and security of the international community, and the intent of Article 42 in directing that matters seized by the Security Council should be evaluated through the imposition of sanctions prior to any military action, The Republic of Mali stresses the gravity of any such decision. Sanctions should be considered only after all other means of diplomacy are exhausted.  The Republic of Mali contends that sanctions should have a single goal, and they should be lifted immediately upon the satisfaction of the Security Council’s demands.  To both facilitate the clear and precise actions deemed necessary by the Security Council, and to encourage a quick response by the targeted state, any sanction should be multilateral in its implementation.  When considering a proposed sanction, the Security Council should consult all affected parties: the sanctioning states, targeted states, and third party states.  To further empower a multilateral nature to sanctions, and to justify the Security Council’s demands of a targeted state, the Security Council should solicit the opinion of the General Assembly to demonstrate an international consensus.  Article 50 of the Charter should also be considered when the Security Council evaluates any proposed sanction.  People experience suffering even without bombs being dropped or guns being fired.  At times, the suffering can be experienced to a great extent and tremendous casualties may result.  The reality of the affected people should be weighed heavily in any decision.  Though Mali has never felt the direct impact of economic or political sanctions, there have been negative impacts from economic sanctions as a third party state.  Third party states will inherently face an economic impact, and though Article 50 allows for states to consult with the Security Council as to the economic burden experienced after sanctions have been implemented, there should be due diligence by the Security Council to foresee any negative economic impact resulting from the imposition of sanctions under consideration.  The establishment of trust funds to assist third party states encountering negative economic impact experienced through the implementation of sanctions will help to facilitate international consensus by eliminating opposition based upon purely economic concerns, and will serve to alleviate any negative impact to innocent citizens. 

The Republic of Mali has been an active leader in progressing human rights and rule of law for all people.  Mali has signed 43 Human rights treaties, and has demonstrated to the world the progress that a country can make when there is a dedication to democratic values.  Since the signing of its constitution, the Republic of Mali has achieved great success in the battle against poverty and hunger.  For almost 60 years the international community has endeavored to establish a foundation of sustainability and justice for all of earth’s citizenry, and the United Nations General Assembly has furthered the cause with the ratification of resolution A/RES/60/151 which defines the reality that to satisfy the objective of global democracy and further human rights, the international community must continue its financial support.  The General Assembly has established the precedent for intervention and reviewing post-conflict situations in their evaluation of The Democratic Republic of the Congo, A/RES/59/207, the situation of Human Rights in Turkmenistan, A/RES/59/206, and the regional oversight of democracy and human rights in Central Africa, A/RES/59/183.  The Malian President, Amadou Toumani Toure, challenged the international community when he presented his vision for a democratic world, “We need a climate of freedom and the rule of law in order to create a context conducive to good governance, to the fight against corruption and to participation by populations in all their diversity, especially cultural diversity, in the management of their affairs and in the free choice of their representatives.  We must have a clear, unambiguous common position that condemns brutal disruption of the democratic process. We have to prevent by all means genocide and flagrant violations of human rights.”  Mali has made substantial efforts to protect the inalienable rights of its citizens, and is currently involved with several multilateral programs in an effort to facilitate further progress.  One such instance is Mali’s collaboration with Nigeria in continuing the growth of democracy within the African continent, and to further enable women in the political process.  The Republic of Mali has demonstrated the internal efforts to approach democracy on a local level, but it is up to the democratizing nations to follow Mali’s example and it is the responsibility and obligation of democratized nations to aid these nations in their plight.