Whenever you are handed a country and a topic, it is important for you to know three things in order to make an intelligent judgment call as to what your policy should be.
1) Have a good understanding of the issue and a sense of direction: more often than not, a MUN delegate tends to neglect this area. Many delegates often do not understand the delegate's guide because of this. However, having a good understanding of the topic, as well as knowing exactly where the problem lies and how to approach it are very important.
1) Have a good understanding of the issue and a sense of direction: more often than not, a MUN delegate tends to neglect this area. Many delegates often do not understand the delegate's guide because of this. However, having a good understanding of the topic, as well as knowing exactly where the problem lies and how to approach it are very important.
Research the topic thoroughly! Find past UN actions, and use them as guiding stars for your policy. United Nations, like any other political organization, tends to repeat policy statements over and over again. None of the issues that UN talks about are truly "new" issues; they just happen in different locations of the world, or in different time frames (some of them are age-old issues that are never resolved). Due to this, having a good understanding of the issue is your top priority so that you can formulate intelligent and responsible policy statements.
2) Understand your own country: Many delegates focus on this aspect of the MUN research more than any other. However, this should only be your second step in your research, once you understand the topic at hand.
2) Understand your own country: Many delegates focus on this aspect of the MUN research more than any other. However, this should only be your second step in your research, once you understand the topic at hand.
Country research can be difficult due to the nature and obscurity of some countries, such as Bangladesh and Chad. One main helpful source for any kind of policy is www.un.org. Go to their archives, which are fairly easy to navigate, and search for speeches made by your country's delegation on the topic.
One thing to avoid in MUN research is stereotypes. Many delegates tend to formulate their own policies based on what they think the country they represent would do or say. Often times, they can be extremely off policy. For example, many people think that Brazil would support the idea of Free Trade Agreement of America, simply because how great the idea of free trade is and many Latin America just do what United States want them to, which is support FTAA. Brazil, on the other hand, is the biggest opposition to the FTAA. So you can see that without research, people can easily fall into the trap of stereotyping countries and people.
3) Work with your allies: One important thing in MUN events is writing resolutions and working papers. However, working papers will never be supported if you don't have people agree with your position, and resolutions will never pass if there is no support for them. Creating your own bloc/group is very important.
3) Work with your allies: One important thing in MUN events is writing resolutions and working papers. However, working papers will never be supported if you don't have people agree with your position, and resolutions will never pass if there is no support for them. Creating your own bloc/group is very important.
Pay attention to what other delegates say in their speeches; find out who can be of help to you and who probably will be against you. As long as you can find a group of friends (yes, you have to make friends, I know it sucks) to support your ideas/actions, you are in a good position.
Creating allies often requires sacrifice on your part as well. A good delegate often makes concessions and compromises instead of forcing his or her policy down other people's throats (unless your country's policy is to insist upon doing so, e.g. United States, Israel and to some extent France). Going into a conference, you should know which policies on which you will not compromise, as well as those that are somewhat more expendable.
For example: China will never let Taiwan become independent, but can probably yield grounds on North Korea if the offers are right. The United States will always support actions against terrorism.
Knowing your policy and sticking to it is the important thing, as is compromise on less important points - an essential skill to obtain. In the end, you should always try your best effort to compromise with even your staunchest opposition. Possibly the single most important thing MUN reflects is compromise. Mending ties with others and eventually reaching an agreement should be your objective.