Resolution Paper

MUN

Resolution Paper

Writing a Resolution Paper

• A resolution contains all the proposed solutions to a topic.

• Learning to write a resolution is very important because the ultimate goal of the committee sessions is for delegates to come up with written solutions to the problems they are trying to solve.

Basics of a Resolution

Who

Why

What

The ultimate purpose of a committee session is to pass a resolution. All the speeches, debate, negotiation, and teamwork is supposed to lead up to a resolution which contains all the proposed solutions to the issue. The resolution(s) that the majority of the committee agrees upon will be passed during voting bloc and the sponsors will be informally commended for building consensus on good ideas.

What is a resolution? A resolution is a document that contains all the issues that the committee wants to solve and the proposed solutions to that issue. It’s called a resolution because that’s what the United Nations calls the documents they produce

Who writes a resolution? Any delegate in the committee can write a resolution. The author of a resolution is called a sponsor. Most resolutions have multiple sponsors because it takes a group of countries to share good ideas and to come to a consensus.

How to write a Resolution Paper.

A resolution is actually really simple to write. It has three main parts: the heading, the pre-ambulatory clauses, and the operative clauses.

Heading.

The heading contains three pieces of information: the committee name, the sponsors, and the topic.

Order of importance.

- Past UN resolutions, treaties, or conventions related to the topic.- Past regional, non-governmental, or national efforts in resolving this topic. - References to the UN Charter or other international frameworks and laws. -General background information or facts about the topic, its significance, and its impact.

Pre-ambulatory clauses.

The pre-ambulatory clauses states all the issues that the committee wants to resolve on this issue. It may state reasons why the committee is working on this issue and highlight previous international actions on the issue. Pre-ambulatory clauses can include:

In general, you want fewer pre-ambulatory clauses than operative clauses. More operative clauses convey that you have more solutions than you have problems.

Strategy tip:

It’s very simple to write an operative clause. - First, take a solution that you want to include in the draft resolution. - You then take that solution, combine it with an underlined operative phrase, and end it with a semicolon (the last operative clause ends with a period). -Operative clauses are also numbered. This differentiates them from pre-ambulatory clauses, helps show logical progression in the resolution, and makes the operative clauses easy to refer to in speeches and comments.

Operative Clauses

Operative clauses state the solutions that the sponsors of the resolution proposes to resolve the issues. The operative clauses should address the issues specifically mentioned in the pre-ambulatory clauses above it.

THANKS!

Good Luck!