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Prepare Yourself Honorable delegates, you are the essence of every Model United Nations; therefore, it is your preparation what makes of it, either a remarkable or an unsuccessful activity. At this point, you have in your hands the choice of seizing this fruitful opportu- nity. Are you ready to accept the challenge? If you are willing to, below you will find a series of useful recommendations and helpful guidelines that will accompany you in your journey towards becoming the ideal delegate. STEPS TO BECOME A WELL-ROUNDED DELEGATE STEP 1: Knowing everything about YOUR COUNTRY. Getting to know the background information on your assigned country sometimes involves coming across a broad range of facts that obscure the truly necessary information for your preparation. You should take into account the following questions; they will help you find specific facts that are pertinent. 1. What kind of government does your country have? 2. What types of ideologies (political, religious or other) influence your country’s government? 3. By which domestic issues is your country’s foreign policy influenced? 4. What are some major events in your country’s history? Why are they important? 5. Which ethnicities, religions and languages can be found in your country? 6. Where is your country located and how does its geography affect its political relationships? (Geopolitical importance) 7. Which countries share a border with your country? 8. Which are your country’s allies? 9. Which countries are your country’s “enemies”? 10. What are the characteristics of your country’s economy? 11. What is your country’s gross domestic product (GDP)? How does this compare to other countries in the world? 12. When did your country become a member of the UN? 13. Does your country belong to any intergovernmental organization outside the UN system such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)? 14. Does your country belong to any regional organizations such as the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU) or the Organization of American States (OAS)? 15. Does your country belong to any trade organizations or agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)? Do you usually get lost and do not know how to begin researching? Are you one of those delegates who have trouble at the moment of knowing which word to put in the Google Bar? Check this out. Begin with this: 1. Look up your country’s permanent mission to the UN. http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/portal/lang/en/home/websites 2. Find your country’s voting records and read speeches on the United Nations Bibliographic System Website. http://unbisnet.un.org 3. Look at the CIA World Factbook for a general overview on your country, and for figures and statistics as well. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html 4. Check the NEWS. (Websites, TV, Newspapers) 5. Read the US State Department report on your country. http://www.state.gov STEP 2: Knowing everything about YOUR TOPIC. For a satisfactory development in every committee, it’s strongly recommended that each delegate knows enough about their country and topic in order to be able to identify the main issues during the debate and propose viable solutions. 1.What is the main issue? How does it affect your country? 2.What has your country done to solve the issue? 3. What are the various “sides” in the debate? 4. Which aspects of the issue are most important to your country • Posibles soluciones -> finalmente, presenta un borrador de las soluciones que piensas plantear en la redacción de tu papel de trabajo. 1

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Transcript of Prepare Yourself

  • Prepare Yourself

    Honorable delegates, you are the essence of every Model United Nations; therefore, it is your preparation what makes of it, either a remarkable or an unsuccessful activity. At this point, you have in your hands the choice of seizing this fruitful opportu-nity. Are you ready to accept the challenge? If you are willing to, below you will nd a series of useful recommendations and helpful guidelines that will accompany you in your journey towards becoming the ideal delegate. STEPS TO BECOME A WELL-ROUNDED DELEGATE STEP 1: Knowing everything about YOUR COUNTRY.Getting to know the background information on your assigned country sometimes involves coming across a broad range of facts that obscure the truly necessary information for your preparation. You should take into account the following questions; they will help you nd specic facts that are pertinent. 1. What kind of government does your country have? 2. What types of ideologies (political, religious or other) inuence your countrys government? 3. By which domestic issues is your countrys foreign policy inuenced?4. What are some major events in your countrys history? Why are they important? 5. Which ethnicities, religions and languages can be found in your country? 6. Where is your country located and how does its geography aect its political relationships? (Geopolitical importance)7. Which countries share a border with your country? 8. Which are your countrys allies?9. Which countries are your countrys enemies? 10. What are the characteristics of your countrys economy? 11. What is your countrys gross domestic product (GDP)? How does this compare to other countries in the world? 12. When did your country become a member of the UN? 13. Does your country belong to any intergovernmental organization outside the UN system such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)? 14. Does your country belong to any regional organizations such as the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU) or the Organization of American States (OAS)? 15. Does your country belong to any trade organizations or agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)? Do you usually get lost and do not know how to begin researching? Are you one of those delegates who have trouble at the moment of knowing which word to put in the Google Bar? Check this out. Begin with this:1. Look up your countrys permanent mission to the UN. http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/portal/lang/en/home/websites2. Find your countrys voting records and read speeches on the United Nations Bibliographic System Website.http://unbisnet.un.org 3. Look at the CIA World Factbook for a general overview on your country, and for gures and statistics as well. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html4. Check the NEWS. (Websites, TV, Newspapers)5. Read the US State Department report on your country. http://www.state.gov STEP 2: Knowing everything about YOUR TOPIC. For a satisfactory development in every committee, its strongly recommended that each delegate knows enough about their country and topic in order to be able to identify the main issues during the debate and propose viable solutions.1.What is the main issue? How does it aect your country? 2.What has your country done to solve the issue?3. What are the various sides in the debate?4. Which aspects of the issue are most important to your country

    Posibles soluciones -> nalmente, presenta un borrador de las soluciones que piensas plantear en la redaccin de tu papel de trabajo.

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  • 5. How will your country attempt to shape the debate at the conference? What are the key issues which your country will try to address and nd solutions in the committee?6. What arguments will other countries have?7. What are the positions of the key actors in the issue?8. How do the positions of other countries aect your countrys position?9. f your country is associated with a regional bloc, what is the blocs position on the topic? Are these policies in line with, or do they stand in opposition to, your national policies on the problem?10. Is there evidence or statistics that might help to back up your countrys position? Take these tips into account too:1. Look at the NEWS! 2. Take a look at the UN Economic and Social Development page, which has an index to some important issues as well as a list of UN agencies that work in various issue-areas. Also, through the United Nations Documentation Center you can nd resolu-tions and voting records from the current and previous years. http://www.un.org/en/documents/index.shtml 3. NGOs are an important part of the UN system, in part due to the valuable research and information they generate. Look for NGOs that address your topic.4. Read academic publications! Although they can be complex, they provide in-depth information on many issues. STEP 3: Knowing everything about the UN. You are in a simulation of the United Nations; therefore, it is utterly necessary to have an ample knowledge on the system and its actions on the topic that will be discussed. 1. United Nations structure.2. Members of the United Nations and its bodies.3. Recent UN actions on the issue.4. The factors that resulted in the success or failure of the previous actions of the UN.5. Conferences and meetings held regarding the issue. STEP 4: Knowing how to FIND IMPORTANT INFORMATION. How to Find UN Documents in Five Steps or Less1. The UN Bibliographic Information System (UNBISnet), available at unbisnet.un.org, can be used to nd: Resolutions passed by the Security Council, ECOSOC, and General Assembly (1946 onward); Voting records for all resolutions which were adopted by the General Assembly (1983 onward) and the Security Council; Speeches made in the General Assembly (1983 onward), the Security Council (1983 onward), the Economic and Social Coun-cil (1983 onward), and the Trusteeship Council (1982 onward).2. The UN News Centre, available at www.un.org/news, can be used to nd press releases from UN bodies and the Secre-tary-General.3. The International Court of Justice's website, available at www.icj-cij.org, can be used to locate ICJ decisions. 4. For research, news and resources on specic topics, the UN's website has a section on "Issues on the UN Agenda," available at www.un.org/issues.How to Find Resolutions Passed on Any Topic1 Go to UNBISnet at unbisnet.un.org2. Under the heading "Bibliographic Records," click on "New Keyword Search."3. You are presented with four optional search elds. Enter a topic or keyword next to "Subject (All)." If you want to rene your search to one specic body, such as the Security Council, select "UN Doc. Symbol / Sales No." in the second drop-down menu, and enter the appropriate resolution code. For instance, all Security Council resolutions begin with S/RES; all General Assembly resolutions begin with A/RES; all ECOSOC resolutions begin with E/Year where year is the year in which the resolution passed. Enter any of these codes in the second search eld, or leave it blank to search all committees on the topic.

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  • To limit the search results by date, scroll down to the "User Dened Limits" and select "Year of Publication," the appropriate delimiter, and enter the year of the resolution.4. Click on the "Go" button.5. All the resolutions passed by the UN on that subject will appear in a list. If available, a link to the actual resolution will be provided in each of the ocial UN languages. How to Find Voting Records for a General Assembly or Security Council ResolutionNOTE: GA resolutions passed before 1983 are not available.Go to UNBISnet at unbisnet.un.org1. Under the heading "Voting Records," click on "New Keyword Search."2. You are presented with four optional search elds. Enter the appropriate resolution number next to the drop-down reading "UN Resolution Symbol."3. Click on the "Go" button.4. The resolution you want will come up. Under the resolution number is a link to the full text of the resolution. Below that is the full voting history, with Y and N standing for yes and no votes. How to Find Speeches on an Issue Delivered by Your Country's RepresentativesNOTE: Speeches are only available if they were made in the General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Coun-cil, or Security Council since 1983; not all speeches made in this time are yet online. Most speeches made in subsidiary bodies of these organs will not be available.1. Go to UNBISnet at unbisnet.un.org.2. Under the heading "Index to Speeches," click on "New Keyword Search."3. You are presented with four optional search elds. Enter the country's name next to the drop-down reading "Country/Organization." If you would like to limit the topic, enter a keyword next to the drop-down reading "Topic." To limit the UN body in which the speech was given, enter the appropriate code next to the drop-down reading "Meeting Record Symbol." Enter A for the General Assembly, S for the Security Council, E for ECOSOC or T for the Trusteeship Council.4. Click on the "Go" button.5. All speeches given by your country on this topic will be listed. Click on the link to display the full text of the speech if it is available.How to Find All Press Releases on a TopicNOTE: Only press releases issued in 1995 or later are available.1. Go to the Press Release Series Symbols Index at www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/press1.htm. Scroll down until you see your committee. Record the symbol listed to the right of it.2. Go to the UN News Centre at www.un.org/news.3. Under "Press Releases" on the sidebar on the left, click on "Search."4. The Full Text search page will appear. In the box next to the word "Keywords," type your topic or a one-word description of it, a space and the symbol you found in Step 2.5. Click on the "Search" button.How to Find an ICJ Decision on a Specic Topic1. Go to the ICJ website at www.icj-cij.org.2. Click on "Decisions" in the header. If you know the year of your case, scroll down until you nd it. If you know just the topic of the case, or one of the parties, use the "nd" function (Ctrl-F on a PC) and enter the country name or keyword.3. When you nd the case, click on the appropriate link.4. To see the full text of the decision, click on the "Judgment" link on the left of the page, if it is available. If it is not available, the case has not yet been decided.

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