Lesson 3 - Position Papers and Problem Solving
MUN Position papers
Position Papers are important to any MUN experience and as a delegate, you’ll eventually need to write one. But making your Position Paper isn’t just about the writing, before you start, you should understand some of the basics of your topic and have a plan in mind. This means that you have some preliminary solutions and an understanding of what your objectives for the committee will be. In the long run, this will make the Position Paper process easier and will help you to create a better product. Today, we’re going to show you exactly what you need to start off your next Position Paper.
This lesson will cover the basics of Position Paper writing, including what they are and how they work. After, we will help you convert your ideas into practical solutions that you can propose to fellow committee members.
What is a Position Paper?
In a Model UN committee, your goal is to solve a problem. A Position Paper is an essay where you present your delegation's assessment of the situation and how you plan to fix it. It's a way to showcase your understanding of the problem and share your ideas for solutions.
A Position Paper is meant to accomplish two key goals:
Summarize the relevant aspects of your topic
Introduce your solutions
Your paper should highlight how the topic is relevant to your delegation, your proposed solutions and why they’re best.
Doing this properly requires that you go through a process of research and problem-solving. These steps help you to find key information that helps to create something more substantive.
Crisis Committee Position Papers
Position Paper requirements may also apply to delegates in Crisis committees. However, in these situations, the process can be a bit different. Since delegates aren’t normally representing a country, the background research can be less intensive. Rather, the Position Paper will be more action-based and may include a discussion of Crisis arc plans.
For Ad-hoc committees, Position Papers aren’t required since delegates don’t yet know the committee topic or their character.
Why does a Position Paper matter?
Delegates
Along with Resolutions, the Position Paper is going to be one of the most important documents for your conference. The research process gives you a chance to learn about your topic and to start building up plans. The general paper requirements help to provide a skeleton to structure your ideas in a meaningful way. This can also help you to see how your delegation is related to the topic. The Problem-solving phase helps you to consider solutions before your conference. In some cases, there are awards for the best-written Position Papers. At times, Delegates can share position papers with other committee members to more efficiently understand eachothers ideas
Chair
For the chair, reading Position Papers can help them to see how Delegates want to approach the committee topic. This can help them to do a better job at moderating the flow of debate over the course of the conference – they can suggest topics for debate and keep the discussion moving. A Position Paper can also prove which Delegate came up with a certain idea. This helps people get the credit they deserve.
Example Position Paper
Before we get into the specifics, here’s what your Position Paper might end up looking like:
Position Paper requirements
Before you even start writing, it’s important to verify your conference requirements. Position Papers can vary significantly between conferences and you want to make sure that you’re adhering to the appropriate specifications. Sometimes, a conference will have very specific instructions for what to include. In other cases, the provisions might be more general. At times, you’ll have to write a very comprehensive essay and other conferences may only need a short Position Paper.
The Position Paper process
Next, we want to show you what the entire Position Paper-making process can look like.
It’s always best to start working on your Position Paper a few weeks before your conference. This can give you the time to find the right angle for your solutions and consider your end result. On top of this, in many cases you may be learning about an unfamiliar topic and adjusting can take time. If you’re a more experienced delegate, you might be able to streamline this process.
Delegates should begin writing their Position Papers after completing a few things first.
Here's a suggested timeline:
Week 1: Read the Background Guide and conduct research.
Week 2: Analyze the information, brainstorm solutions, and create an outline.
Week 3: Write the Position Paper, structuring it according to committee guidelines
Week 4: Revise, seek feedback, and finalize the paper for submission.
This timeline should allow you to thoroughly prepare and understand your topic. By following these steps, you can submit well-structured and impactful Position Paper.
We’ve already discussed Background Guides and Research here, so let’s jump straight into Problem-Solving.
Problem-Solving
The solutions that you create will not only form the backbone of your position paper but also shape your entire in-committee experience. It is crucial to develop robust solutions that can withstand scrutiny and garner support throughout the conference.
Consider your core ideas and think about how to gain agreement from other states for your proposals. Additionally, ensure that your solutions align with your internal policy as demonstrating an understanding of your state's policy and actively working towards its implementation will be appreciated by the chair and enhance your credibility as a delegate.
There are two parts to the Problem-Solving Process:
Ideation
Marketing
Ideation Part 1 - Creativity
The essence of Model UN lies in pushing the boundaries of diplomacy and engaging in meaningful discussions on real-world issues.An integral part of this process involves presenting creative solutions to address these issues, allowing for exploration of their viability.
Creative solutions have the power to offer fresh perspectives on complex global issues. They can catch the attention of delegates and the dais, demonstrate your ability to think outside the box, and distinguish your position from others.
Coming up with Creative Solutions - Here are a few tips on how you can come up with more creative solutions on your own:
Research extensively: Deepen your understanding of the topic by conducting thorough research. Explore case studies, and real-world examples that can inspire creative thinking and provide valuable insights.
Be open-minded: Cultivate an open and receptive mindset that welcomes new ideas and alternative viewpoints. Avoid dismissing ideas too quickly and be willing to adapt and modify your own proposals based on constructive feedback.
Collaborate: Engage in constructive discussions and brainstorming sessions with fellow delegates. Delegates working on other topics can provide interesting insights that you can bring to your own debates.
Consider long-term impacts: Look beyond short-term solutions and consider the long-term effects of your proposals. Think about sustainability, social impact, and the potential for transformative change in your solutions. This extra perspective can help you to approach the issue in a way that other delegates may not
Ideation Part 2 - GROOVY
Once you have generated a set of creative solutions, it is important to transition from ideation to practical implementation. No matter what your plan is – always make sure that you stay GROOVY.
Using this approach will help you evaluate the feasibility and practicality of your solutions.
Grounded
Don’t go overboard with your solutions, make sure they are realistic and make sense considering your committee topic.
Researched
Make sure you can provide statistics and facts that help to back up your ideas.
Original
Try something different, don’t just copy all of the same ideas that have already been used.
Open
You want to be able to coordinate with other delegates in your committee, think about how other delegates would be able to integrate with your plans.
Varied
Have a few plans as a backup, you never know what might happen in your committee.
Yourself
Always prioritize your delegation and its policies. Make sure that your solutions are something that your state would support.
Bringing your Solutions together
Any solution that follows these 6 ideas will be something that will not only get the attention of the dais and of other delegates in your committee, but it should also make it very difficult for other delegates to discredit.
Practical analysis of your Solutions
If you feel as if you’re getting overwhelmed with the problem-solving phase, it’s always best to bring things back to the basics and ask yourself one simple question:
What is the benefit that you are providing?
When you think about your solutions in this simple way - you’ll be able to remove the confusion and bring yourself back to what matters. This approach helps you focus on the actual advantages your solutions offer and makes it easier to evaluate how well they work.
So, as you work on solving problems, always remember to think about the ultimate benefit you want to achieve. It will guide you through the problem-solving process more effectively.
Make your own GROOVY Solutions!
Pick any of the following Delegations to Represent:
and come up with a solution for any of the following problems
You can use the worksheet here to plan out your solutions!
Marketing Your solutions
Making sure that you have a great idea is really important - but having an idea that everyone remembers is just as vital. This is where quality marketing comes in, remember that even if you have the best solutions in your committee, they wont be as effective if the other delegates cant easily understand and get behind them.
There are a few techniques that can help you:
Keep it simple - With Model UN, sometimes its easy to go too far and just make your solutions as elaborate and convoluted as possible. But when making your position paper you don’t have too much space to make your point and its far easier to make your point by using a few well thought out, practical solutions.
Use an acronym - bringing your initiative under the umbrella of an acronym can help your chair to remember it when they read your position paper and can link a certain problem solving approach to your delegation.
Identify your marquee solution - If an acronym doesn’t suit, try and figure out the one idea that any delegate will be able to remember you by and will recognize as yours when it comes to the resolution writing phase. If you’re going to stand by it, make sure that it is a well thought out and effective solution. It can also help you with future solutions as delegates will recognize you as a competent problem-solver.
Worked Example – Iceland and Ocean Conservation
Here’s an example of what your problem-solving path might look like, from finding the most important parts of your background guide to conducting your own research.
Make their solutions even better
Think about the ideas that were proposed by the Delegates from Iceland.
Are they realistic and do they make sense considering the research provided?
Are they solutions that make sense considering Iceland’s research?
How would you improve them?
What solutions would you suggest instead?
Try make an acronym with that combines some of your own ideas to make their initiative more memorable.
4 – Writing
Now, you’re finally ready to put your Position Paper together! After taking care to assemble your research and solutions, it’s best to keep the structure of your Position Paper as simple as possible. Your goal is to help the Chair to get a basic idea of where you stand on the topic as quickly as possible.
In general, you want to split up your paper between CONTEXT and SOLUTIONS, the context helps to explain why your solutions are needed, why they’ll be effective and how you believe they’ll influence the situation. The Solutions are the actions that you will take over the course of your conference and will be the way you hope to make a difference. They can can also include basic ideas that can also be introduced in an opening speech.
The Key Sections
State Position
Help the reader understand your opinion on your committee topic as efficiently as possible. You should bring your reader up to speed on why they should care about the matter at hand and why your position is the most rational. You can do this through a general discussion of your state’s opinions on the topic at hand. It can include an overview of why this subject is significant backed up with vital pieces of information and key statistics.
State Role
How is your state related to the committee topic? Have they made any attempts to solve the problem? If so, how successful have they been?
Note: If your state has no relation to the topic, you can use this section to talk about what you think your state would do or just skip straight to a discussion on Past-actions.
Past Actions
Here, you can start discussing any significant past attempts at solving your committee topic (If there have been any). This might include any UN operations or declarations, it could also include actions by other states to solve the problem. Sometimes, you can comment on how effective you think these approaches were and if they still serve as a useful guide to help solve the problem. Some Position Papers may rely more significantly on discussions of past actions than others.
Solutions
Considering all of this information, how do you believe the committee should move forward? Give a basic outline of some of your plans and explain why they’re the best next steps to take. If you’d like, you can also explain how you see your delegation working with the rest of the committee and why it might also be of benefit to them.
Sources
Give links to the sources you used to write your article. Each conference will have different sourcing requirements so make sure you follow their guides appropriately!
What makes a great Position Paper?
Every committee, state, and conference that you go to is going to be very different and there’s a number of different requirements to be aware of. You can’t really have an established ‘recipe’ for how to structure any Position Paper. But any great Position Paper will have a few things in common:
Show an Understanding of the matter at hand
Are carefully Researched
Have the GROOVY-est solutions
Concisely deals with the problem at hand in a way that is easy to understand.
Some things to avoid
No clear position – Your Position Paper should help your reader to understand… your position. So for this reason you shouldn’t hold back too much on your delegation’s opinion about the topic. Your goal is to make sure the person reading your paper knows where you stand. Clarity is your friend. If your state has no real opinion on the topic, you can make some of your own decisions on how you’d like to act, as long as you can still back it up.
Not enough facts – The Position Paper is your chance to show off a little bit. Demonstrate how much you know and that you’re invested in finding a solution to the committee topic.
Unnecessary language – It’s easy to go overboard with the official language. It’s something that just doesn’t help and can make your opinion more difficult to understand.
Fake facts – Unless you’re dealing with a topic that doesn’t have any statistics or research, you want to make sure that you’re not just making something up to back up your claims.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now understand some of the essentials of Position Paper writing and are ready to take on your next conference!
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
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