Position Paper Guidelines

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2 Position Paper Guidelines A position paper is an essay specifying your country s stance on the agendas set by the committee. This document provides a comprehensive guide on how to write a position paper. In their position papers, delegates must include a coat of arms of their country at the top. They must clearly mention the committee name, the name of the country they are representing, their own name and the topic under discussion. A sample position paper can be found on the next page. We strongly recommend you to follow the order outlined below: 1. A thesis statement that clearly indicates your country s position on the issue being discussed. There is no need to state the obvious, such as defining key terms. For example, if the issue under discussion is the Legality and Effectiveness of Combat Drones, it is not necessary that you define what drones are (everybody in the committee, including the dais members, will know what drones are anyway.) Rather, jump to your stance: you support the use of combat drones or you don t. 2. Develop your stance with accurate facts and figures. Take full advantage of the speeches made by your country s politicians and heads of states. Tell us what your country has done in the past; this helps us understand your country s position on the issue. Be warned, however, that this involves not merely listing out the actions your country has taken. You must explain why your country took some actions and not others. 3. You may include counter-arguments. Be aware that other countries may challenge your viewpoints. Acknowledge a possible argument that your opposition might make. Take up that argument and present a possible counterargument. This can be done, for example, in the following way: Some countries like Country X believes that our actions have been wrong; however, we think that 4. Solutions. Your proposed solutions carry the most weight in the position paper. Propose solutions and make commitments for the future. Remember that

3 you may write your solutions in paragraphs or in bullet points. Either way, make sure that they are concrete and detailed. In the past, we have often had delegates suggesting solutions of the kind All countries must work together to solve this issue. These solutions are obvious and far from useful. Be creative and suggest innovative, detailed and concrete solutions to impress your dais members. Citations: Sources need to be cited in APA Format. You can find a thorough guide to the APA Format here. Caveats: 1. Remember that you are representing a country, not your own viewpoints. You might personally be in support of a certain issue, but the country you are representing might not. Refrain from using I believe, I think ; instead use We believe, We think. 2. While you may use the information that is provided online, you may not copy and paste whole sentences and paragraphs. Plagiarized position papers will be awarded a score of zero. 3. Use Font: Times New Roman, Font size 12 with normal line spacing and 1 inch margins in all your position papers. Though there is no word limit, we suggest you cap each position paper to one page or 1.5.

4 ! Committee: DISEC Country: United States of America Name of Delegate: Nina Shrestha Topic 1: Disarmament, Demobilization, Demining: Prerequisites for Peace in Africa On September 23rd of this year, American president Barack Obama announced a new policy that expanded on the United States already substantial efforts on humanitarian mine efforts. The policy committed the United States to ban all use of antipersonnel mines and to pledge, and, as a leader in international demining efforts, not to assist or encourage any other nation to produce or stockpile mines (UN News Centre, 2012). Furthermore, the United States has expanded the scope of the DDR to protect innocent civilians: our policies emphasize not just landmine clearance, but also medical rehabilitation for the injured and vocational and preparation training of specialized demining personnel and displaced civilians. Although the United States is proud to be the world s largest financial supporter of humanitarian mine action, we recognize the dire need for contributions by other member nations in funding not only their own national programs for change, but especially in contributing to international organizations such as the UN Regional Centre in Africa, which provides substantial support to governments in training for security forces and consulting for security sector reform, and the HALO Trust, which has invested thousands of dollars in R&D and the provision of new technologies such as Rotary Mine Combs and Orbit Sifters to help extricate hidden mines and to facilitate mine clearance in civilian areas (U.S. Dept. of State, 2014). We believe that the combination of reintegration through humanitarian relief efforts, effective diplomacy in influencing member nations to adhere to the Ottawa Convention, and demining using advanced technologies through NGOs and international organizations will build the necessary foundations for the revitalization of Africa. Furthermore, the United States believes there is a great amount of personnel and aid available within the UN regarding the DDR process with numerous departments, such as the UNODA,

5 UNREC, UNRDB, and the UNSSR (Friedman, 2014). However, with great gifts of aid comes the responsibility and need for reorganization. Therefore, we look forward to discussing with member states within the General Assembly First Committee solutions and methods to better organize and integrate existing departments and resources within the UN for a streamlined approach to the DDR process in Africa. Citations: Friedman, Uri. "A 24-Step Plan to Resolve the Ukraine Crisis." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 26 Aug Web. 28 Sept < UN News Centre. "General Assembly Grants Palestine Non-member Observer State Status at UN." N.p., 29 Nov Web. < NewsID=43640#.VCsfUyldU7o>. U.S. Dept. of State. "U.S. Landmine Policy." U.S. Dept. of State. U.S. Dept. of State, n.d. Web. 07 Nov Source: GSMSTMUNC Sample Position Paper