In Model UN, crafting your resolution and selling its ideas to the committee are some of the most important objectives facing any delegate. But everyone gets a chance to debate and vote on the resolutions of any committee they are in; it’s far more challenging to be the one responsible for the content of a resolution, and to further defend it. Although experienced delegates might already be aware of some basic methods with which to craft effective resolutions, there are always competing delegates who will try to detract or undermine your own clauses. Taking your resolution writing from a place where it is passable, to being outright bulletproof can make all the difference in any committee.
Written Content
The most common area which delegates wishing to detract from your resolution will target will be the actual content of your clauses. Often targets during unmod merger sessions and question-and-answer periods include the sources of funding for your programs, the relevance of where you’ve placed your program or project, whether the program overlaps with already existing UN programs, and if the program truly aligns itself with the principles of national sovereignty and existing international law.
Although with specificity you can usually avoid most of these pitfalls, the next step to make your clauses impenetrable will be to consistently reference existing UN resolutions, multilateral frameworks, and other international law to lend legitimacy to your programs. If you can say clearly which other UN programs your new program compliments or which articles of the UN Charter your clause falls under in your clause, a lot of these common substantive questions may not even come up during your question and answer period. Some basic documents you should try to reference often are:
- UN foundational documents such as the UN Charter or Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Current UN programs which may compliment or correspond to your program; consider how the Sustainable Development Goals interact with all current UN Offices and Programmes
- Current committee-specific programs: if you’re discussing changes to UN Peacekeeping, reference current UN Peacekeeping missions, or if you’re discussing climate change, reference the COP process of the UNFCCC.
- Historical programs: building off of or correcting the mistakes of former UN Programmes can often be very effective, and referencing them in this context can make your clauses seem like a much needed improvement.
Presentation
Along a similar vein, making your resolution likeable or attractive to the committee is another way to avoid resistance or make your clauses much more noticeable. This is where small details such as giving your resolution an effective and possibly entertaining acronym can prove very useful. In having smaller details such as this advertise your resolution in a memorable way, delegates are far more likely to debate and possibly vote for your resolution.
Similarly, don’t stray from using noticeable terms or catch phrases which distinguish how you discuss your resolution from others. Giving speeches about resolutions over long moderated caucuses can eventually turn committee session into monotony, and just as everyone in the room has started feeling bored about a topic, bringing up an entertaining or catchy point concerning your resolution can center the attention on your resolution. In making your document appear almost entertaining in nature, with clever acronyms and catch phrases throughout, can not only distract some from wanting to detract from it, but also attract other delegates towards voting for it. Effective presentation compliments well-written content, and by pursuing both, your resolutions can become something truly bulletproof in any debate.
