LAI MUN SOCIETY

Position Papers

I. What is Position Paper

Although position papers are short – only two pages – they are a critical part of preparing

for an LAI MUN SOCIETY conference.

As opposed to a working paper or a resolution, which are written during the conference

and reflect the work and thoughts of several Member States and Observers working

together, a position paper is written before a conference and reflects the position and

actions of a single Member State or Observer.

For each topic, the position paper should provide a succinct policy statement representing

the relevant views of your assigned Member State or Observer. You should establish what

the key issues are for each topic and identify and address international and regional

conventions, treaties, declarations, resolutions, and other precedents that are relevant to

the topic, as well as what your Member State or Observer has done to address the topic

thus far.

You should also include recommendations for action to be taken by your committee in

addressing the topic moving forward. Your position paper must be comprised of entirely

original writing. LAI MUN Society will not tolerate plagiarism, which includes copying

directly from the Committee Background Guides provided to delegates.

II. Writing your Position Paper

Introduction
Within the introduction of your position paper, you will provide a very simple overall

introduction to the topics that your committee is discussing and your Member State’s or

Observer’s interest in discussing those topics at the upcoming conference. This

introduction needs to be only 2-3 sentences long. In this introduction, tell us

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1) the topics that your committee is discussing

2) your Member State’s or Observer’s feelings on discussing these topics and participating

in the committee’s work at the conference.

Example: The following topics are before the General Assembly Second Committee:

Promoting Access to Renewable and Sustainable Energy for Poverty Reduction and

Sustainable Development; Financing for Development; and World Commodity Trends and

Prospects. Lao People’s Democratic Republic believes that these topics have significance

within the international community and looks forward to discussing them at the upcoming

meeting of the Second Committee.

Topics
Following your position paper’s introduction, the remainder of your position paper will

discuss the topics on your committee’s agenda in the order that they are presented in your

committee’s Background Guide. At the beginning of each topic, you will list the full title of

the topic as found in the Background Guide, bolded and centered. Following this, you will

address the topic, looking to give context on the topic (why it is important to discuss), what

the international community and your specific Member State or Observer have done to

address the topic, and what your Member State or Observer proposes to do in addressing

the topic going forward.

As you write your position paper, consider using multiple paragraphs within each topic.

This allows you to provide information in an easy-to-read, well-organized format. For

example, you could have three paragraphs for each topic: the first paragraph for each topic

establishing the context and importance of the topic, the second paragraph for each topic

discussing what the international community and your Member State or Observer have

done on your topic, and the third paragraph for each topic giving specific recommendations

in addressing the topic going forward. When using multiple paragraphs within a topic, there

is no need to indent the beginning of each paragraph. Leave a blank line between

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paragraphs.

Establish the Importance of Topics

Following your position paper’s introduction, the remainder of your position paper will

discuss the topics on your committee’s agenda in the order that they are presented in your

committee’s Background Guide. At the beginning of each topic, you will list the full title of

the topic as found in the Background Guide, bolded and centered. Following this, you will

address the topic, looking to give context on the topic (why it is important to discuss), what

the international community and your specific Member State or Observer have done to

address the topic, and what your Member State or Observer proposes to do in addressing

the topic going forward. As you write your position paper, consider using multiple

paragraphs within each topic. This allows you to provide information in an easy-to-read,

well-organized format. For example, you could have three paragraphs for each topic: the

first paragraph for each topic establishing the context and importance of the topic, the

second paragraph for each topic discussing what the international community and your

Member State or Observer have done on your topic, and the third paragraph for each topic

giving specific recommendations in addressing the topic going forward. When using

multiple paragraphs within a topic, there is no need to indent the beginning of each

paragraph. Leave a blank line between paragraphs.

Example: Within the global population, a majority of the 1 billion individuals living in

extreme poverty are women. Women often have unequal access to employment – in 2013,

72% of men were employed, compared to 47.1% of women – and women are paid 60% to

75% of what men are paid, although women in developing countries often work longer

hours and in more vulnerable jobs than men. In addition, women are more likely to engage

in informal and unpaid care positions. Conversely, the further involvement of women in the

labor force not only improves the economic situations of women, but also the individual

economies of the Member States and the global economy as a whole. Accordingly, while

much has been done to increase the participation of women in the labor force in recent

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years, it is important to continue to address equal and equitable access to employment for

women to promote economic development and further improve the status of women

worldwide.

International and national precedents

Once you’ve established the importance of each topic, then tell us about the international

and national precedents in relation to each topic. In Model UN, “precedents” constitute

what has been done before to discuss a topic. How has the international community

addressed this topic thus far? What are key international documents, conferences,

conventions, resolutions, treaties, etc. that the UN, regional organizations, and/or your

committee have created on the topic, and what are key efforts previously undertaken to

address this topic internationally? In addition, what has your Member State or Observer

done to address this topic? You can provide specific examples of programs, documents,

laws, civil society and NGO work, and other efforts that your specific Member State or

Observer has made in relation to this issue

Example: As noted by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) during its recent session,

Member States and the United Nations (UN) have looked to improve gender equality and

address poverty in recent years, including during the Fourth World Conference on Women

in Beijing in 1995, the UN Millennium Summit in New York in 2000, and the post-2015

development agenda planning process that culminated in the adoption of the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. Furthermore, at its recent 60th session in

2016, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) discussed the topic of “Women’s

empowerment and its link to sustainable development;” Mexico participated in these

discussions. Nationally, in 2002, Mexico hosted the UN International Conference on

Financing for Development and continues to affirm its support of the financial strategies

within the Monterrey Consensus. Mexico has implemented many social and governmental

programs to address gender equality and poverty reduction. One example of Mexico’s

successful financial strategies for empowering women citizens, microcredit loans, was first

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discussed at the International Women’s Congress held in Mexico City in 1975; within the

last decade, the government has supplied 1.3 million microcredit loans, allowing Mexico to

address SDG 1 on eradicating poverty.

Propose Possible Solution

While each aspect of your position paper is important, proposing solutions to the topic is

perhaps the most significant, as it allows you to show that your delegation has researched

the topics and can offer thoughtful and creative solutions to address the topic going

forward. Prior to the conference, this will also allow your fellow delegates, as well as your

Committee Director and Assistant Director, to preview some of the ideas that you have for

talking about the topic and what you may be interested in accomplishing during the

conference. In this section of your topic, the solutions that you propose can be both

general and specific. Some solutions may be more general to encourage overall directions

where additional action can occur in line with your Member State’s or Observer’s positions

and/or to point out larger areas that need to be further 10 addressed. In many solutions,

however, look to provide specific details by describing the who, what, where, when, and

why to make it something that could feasibly be put into action. You can look at what has

been successful in your own Member State or region, or in another Member State or

region, and use those ideas to spark thoughts on solutions to propose going forward. You

don’t have to give us every single detail at this point – you will flesh things out more fully in

writing your working papers with fellow delegations at the conference! However, look to

give specific details that help your Committee Staff and fellow delegates understand your

ideas, what you would like to happen, and how your creative ideas will solve potential

issues and address the topic going forward. As you propose solutions, focus on solutions

within the committee’s mandate which are also realistic for the committee to carry out in

the near future. The mandate specifies what your committee has the power to do and not

do, whom it can tell what to do and whom it cannot, what it can discuss, and in what ways it

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can work. For example, a subsidiary body of ECOSOC could not tell ECOSOC to form a new

committee, but it would be able to suggest that ECOSOC consider action; similarly, the

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean could not tell the Security

Council to write a report on the topic of peace and security in the Middle East and North

Africa, but it would instead work within its own mandate to discuss topics related to

economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. You can find your committee’s

mandate in its founding documents and/or on its website. As you propose solutions, also

check to make sure they are in line with your Member State’s or Observer’s policies (as

much as you are able to determine). When proposing solutions, also consider where there

are existing entities that you can work with rather than creating a new committee or

organization for each recommendation – whenever creating something new, you have to

consider how it will be created, who will oversee it, how it will be financed, etc. Through

research, you can often find an existing committee or organization that you can propose to

work with for your new campaign, fund, and so on, rather than creating a new entity.

Example: The United Kingdom believes that crisis prevention and recovery situations must

include gender equality and the participation of women to be fully effective in addressing

conflict. The United Kingdom urges Member States to continue aid during times of conflict

and to specifically provide aid that will directly help by financing gender equality in areas of

conflict. Member States should work together with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

to explicitly address the conditions of women in conflict; this should be done at the

regional, national, and local levels. Member States who have committed to providing

international development assistance, such as Official Development Assistance (ODA),

should remain committed to providing aid, and Member States should support the efforts

of UN entities such as UN Women in order to assure that the assistance given appropriately

addresses empowerment and gender equality. In addition, the United Kingdom supports

the creation of a UN Programme on Financing Gender Equality During Times of Conflict.

This program will focus on financing opportunities for women in order to increase

empowerment and will be facilitated through existing UN Women efforts. Women’s

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participation in the settling of national and international conflict directly decreases the

occurrences and effects of conflict, and the United Kingdom believes that gender-specific

financing that explicitly offers aid for the empowerment of women will advance gender

equality and ultimately increase Member States’ abilities to address conflict.

Tips AND Tricks

position paper:

● Use topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph to provide information to

your reader about what you will be discussing within that paragraph and to

transition from paragraph to paragraph. A topic sentence summarizes the key idea

or ideas that will be discussed within that paragraph. At the end of each paragraph,

also look to provide conclusion sentences; it is particularly effective to include a

conclusion sentence at the end of each topic to summarize the 11 position of your

Member State or Observer on the topic and to emphasize the continuing need for

the international community to address the topic.

● Whenever using an acronym, give its full name in your first mention, and then

immediately afterwards include the acronym in parentheses. For all subsequent

references, simply use the acronym. For example, the first mention of the Economic

and Social Council in your position paper would be “the Economic and Social Council

(ECOSOC)”, and then your subsequent references throughout your position paper

would simply be “ECOSOC”.

● Look to use the third person, instead of the first person, throughout your position

paper. For example, rather than saying, “We believe that it is important to address

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 this topic,” say, “Germany believes that it is important to address this topic.”

● When citing UN resolutions in your position paper, list the UN entity that produced

the resolution, the resolution number, and the year that it is from, rather than

simply providing the document code. For example, cite A/RES/70/1 as “General

Assembly resolution 70/1 (2015)” or E/RES/2008/8 as “Economic and Social Council

resolution 2008/8.” If a UN document code doesn’t include “RES” (A/RES/70/1) it may

be a report (E/2015/7). Check the document’s front page to see what type it is. Cite

reports as “ECOSOC report 2015/7,” etc.

● In general, use the term “Member States” (with each word capitalized) rather than

“countries” or “nations,” since in most cases you’ll specifically be referring to

countries that are UN Member States. (Exceptions include terms like “developing

countries” and “least developed countries.”)

● When mentioning important international or regional precedents, such as major

conventions, declarations, and treaties, please italicize the titles of these documents

and provide the year of adoption – Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948),

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979).

Titles of reports should also be italicized – The Millennium Development Goals

Report 2015. When mentioning the names of UN organizations, you do not need to

use italics or quotation marks – the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the

World Health Organization (WHO).

● If you are interested in citing a short quote as a part of your position paper, please

be sure to include the quote in quotation marks and provide contextual information

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 on the quote within the larger sentence where you give the quote. For example:

“United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated at the adoption of the

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ‘The new agenda is a promise by leaders to

all people everywhere.’

● ” Use quotes sparingly - tell the reader your Member State’s or Observer’s positions

in your own words. Aside from any short quotes, ensure that your position paper is

completely in your own words.

● When summarizing an idea from another source, think about what the main points

are in that source and then express those main points using your own words.

● Once you have summarized something, read over it again and compare it to the

original source to make sure that you do not use any of the same main words or

phrases as the original source.

● All wording within your position paper that is the same as the original source should

be in quotation marks. In your research, you can search for examples of successful

programs that have been conducted in your Member State or around the world, and

in your proposals and recommendations, you can suggest a new program or

campaign based upon the previously successful programs. For example, you may

find a program that your Member State or another Member State enacted that was

successful in addressing the topic and could serve as a model for a new effort in

addressing the topic in another Member State, regionally, or internationally.

● Look to fill all or most of the two pages you have for your position paper (while

being careful to not go over two pages).

● If your position paper is only one-and-a-half pages, that means that you have an

unused half-page in which you could further share what your Member State has

done on the topic and what it wants to do in the future!

● Using all or most of the space allowed for your position paper gives you the

opportunity to fully represent the views of your Member State and address the

topics in detail.

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Position Paper Award

Position papers are a critical part of delegate preparation. They require delegates to

illustrate their knowledge of the agenda topics at hand, affirm the positions their

country takes on these topics, and recommend courses of action to effectively

address contemporary global problems. For Conference Staff, position papers

provide an effective indication of which issues capture delegates’ interest, and they

help Directors and Assistant Directors design a strategy for the facilitation of

committee debate. In addition, position papers often identify which delegates are

best prepared for the conference and are most likely to take a strong leadership

role in committee sessions. NMUN grants separate Position Paper Awards in

recognition of outstanding pre-conference preparation. While NMUN emphasizes

the educational significance of delegate participation, the organization also looks to

recognize delegates who have put exceptional work into their preparation for the

conference, as seen through the position papers. To be considered for a Position

Paper Award, delegations must have met the submission deadline. Position Paper

Awards are announced during the last committee session of the conference. The

following criteria are used by the conference staff to evaluate position papers:

Overall quality of writing, proper formatting, grammar, etc.;

Format:
1. The Top left should have the flag of your assigned country.
2. The Top right should have the coat of arms of your assigned country.
3. Then, from the next line, your country, committee, and agenda must be listed,
respectively.
4. Then, changing the paragraph, you must begin with the content for your position

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Sample Position Paper:

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Country: People’s Republic of China
Committee: Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL)
Agenda: Reconsidering China’s South China Sea Claims

The South China Sea is one of the most important trade routes for the countries surrounding it
and additionally possesses a large number of natural resources. Due to this there have been
tensions by all the surrounding countries as to the territory each one claims over the area. Most
notably there are concerns regarding the Spratly Islands, the Paracel islands, the Diaoyu/Senkaku
Islands and multiple reefs all of which are estimated to contain large oil reserves. One third of
global shipping, or a total of US$3.37 trillion of international trade, passes through the South
China Sea. About 80 percent of China’s oil imports arrive via the Strait of Malacca, in Indonesia,
and then sail across the South China Sea to reach China.

China has repeatedly been trying to solve the dispute through bilateral talks. China appreciates
the efforts made by the president of the Philippines and the government of Vietnam to negotiate
and settle the disputes through peace. In November 2002, China and the ten Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states signed the non-binding Declaration of the Conduct
(DoC) of Parties in the South China Sea. That document saw all eleven parties pledge their
commitment to eventually conclude a binding code of conduct. That document noted that “the
adoption of a code of conduct in the South China Sea would further promote peace and stability
in the region.” Officially the government stands by its determination to abide by the United
Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which it has signed and ratified.
However, China is the country where there has been the biggest impact due to this situation and
it remains firm on its nine-dash lines and historical rights over the territory marked by the lines.

The delegate of China feels that due to the unnecessary interference of countries such as the
United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia & other non-claimant countries
showing their involvement in the issue, the dispute is getting out of hand. This is an international
concern and the delegate of China urges the UN to take actions against such countries. These
countries breaching into the South China Sea with military ships and aircrafts is a serious threat
to the integrity of the boundary countries. The Chinese government shall provide help to those
who want to secure and maintain the territorial integrity and sovereign rights of the South China
Sea and the East China Sea. China under the UN is ready to play the role in protecting the
security of oversea interests and participate in international maritime cooperation to provide
strategic support for all the needy countries.

The delegate of China proposes the following solutions to settle the dispute:

· All the outsider countries that are not directly involved in this matter or don’t have their
country boundaries linked with the South China Sea must take back any type of military forces
they’ve deployed in the sea. The delegate of China requests the UN to take actions against any
country who doesn’t do so.

· The involved countries should come to a bilateral agreement through peace talks. China

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can also agree to a binding agreement which favours all the claimant countries including China.
The agreement will include allocations of the parts of islands and the sea that the countries get,
laws that the countries will implement in the territory allotted to them and will only be
implemented if all the claimant countries and the People’s Republic of China are fully satisfied
with the agreement.

References:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/06/china-complains-over-british-warship-sailing-t
hrough-disputed-south-china-sea

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45433153

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3042333/beijing-urges-un-commission-not
-consider-malaysian-claim-south

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/08/americas-freedom-of-navigation-operations-are-lost-at-sea/

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