MMUN Preparation Guidelines

MMUN conference in St. Louis is a small but excellent conference. What makes this conference a great experience is the small size and location but, more importantly, it is the level of advance preparation expected of all participants is quite high. You will meet other delegates from across the United States that will also be attending the larger NMUN in New York. The conference runs two day plenary sessions which is unique among Model UNs.

Position Papers

Position papers are required for each committee in which we will be participating. 

• Papers must be submitted electronic form - email submission are permitted 

See the following link on preparing position papers

• What the paper should include:

  The position paper should include a brief introduction and a comprehensive breakdown of the country's position on the topics that are being discussed within the committee. An excellent position paper must include:

          a developed introduction
          clear definitions of concepts and terms

  • a clear statement of policy on each topic;
  • the country's background on the topic;
    • political and/or foreign policy
    • action taken by the specific government in relation to the topic
    • conventions, and resolutions that the country has approved
    • quotes taken from speeches made by heads of government
  • the type of resolution the country hopes to accomplish.

Initial draft position papers for MMUN are due first day of class January and final papers are due to us by end of January 2006.  Delegates failing to meet this deadline will be dropped from the team.

Return to top

Resolutions

MMUN does not allow advanced preparation of resolutions.  Resolutions will be developed as a group project within the committees in order that you may learn the concepts of negotiation and concession.   Having said that, it is clear that the practice writing of resolutions can be a valuable preparation tool in familiarizing you with the resolution process and in crystallizing your ideas about what might work.  Therefore, each of you should prepare a practice resolution reflecting our position on each of the agenda subjects.  These will be for practice only and should not be used during the actual conference.  We can then debate these practice resolutions during our practice simulations.

See the following link on Resolution Writting

Return to top

Beginning and Organizing your research

There are many organizational instruments with which delegates should be aware.  The following provide a guide indicating where they are available on the web.  As a starting point, each of you should read the Charter of the United Nations, paying particular attention to the preamble and any provisions impacting your particular topic areas.  The Manual also recommends reviewing documents conceived by UN Secretaries-General, including An Agenda for Peace (including its supplement), and An Agenda for Development. 

The Key to being a successful Model UN delegate begins with research and knowing what to research (click here) 

Research Links are below

Return to top

Rules of Procedure

There are many of these and they are detailed in the Delegate Preparation Manual, a copy of which will be provided to each of you.  

See the following link on rules of procedure

Return to top

 Research Links

The following are links to websites that should help in your preparations: