Indus International MUN 2011 Position Paper Guidelines

A position paper is a statement of a countrys policy on a single committee topic. Delegates are expected to write a position paper for each topic covered by their committee. Below, you will find guidelines for the writing of a position paper, an outline that may be used while writing your position papers and a sample position paper for your reference.

General Guidelines
The position paper is expected to provide: a concentrated, concise summary of all important aspects of the situation actions that have been taken to resolve the situation and statements issued by the delegate's country concrete, achievable and clear solutions proposed by the country. Delegates may create their own solutions, but they must follow the foreign policy of the country they are representing. The three sections shown below - Description of the Topic, Past United Nations Actions, Delegation Policy and Solutions must be present in the paper. The total length of the position paper must not exceed 2 printed A4 sized pages. Good position papers are generally more than 1 printed page in length. For readability, the position paper should be word processed, the content of the position paper should be in a serif font (such as Times New Roman) of around 10 pt in size, and line spacing should be 1.5. Sufficient page margins should be provided. A source must be provided for all statements that are not your own. All sources used must be listed at the end of the paper; particularly the sources quotations and statistics were obtained from. An established system of academic referencing, such as the MLA or APA citation styles, or the system used in the sample position paper below, must be used when citing sources. Inline citations or footnote numbering is useful in order to indicate which statements have been obtained from an external source.

Position Paper Outline

Delegate Name: School: Committee: Country: Topic: I. Description of the Topic A brief factual description of the topic, with emphasis on the existing global situation regarding the topic rather than your countrys policy on this matter. II. Past United Nations Actions Previous actions of the United Nations and its organs on the situation, along with your countrys policy on and support for these actions, if any. III. Delegation Policy and Solutions The foreign policy stance that your delegation will be taking on the topic (which must be in accordance with your countrys existing foreign policy), and proposed solutions or measures to be taken. This section may be written as points.

Citations
Sources referred to in the position paper, including the sources for all quotations, official statements and statistics used.

Sample Position Paper

Delegate Name: Kaustav Gopinathan School: Indus International School, Bangalore, India Committee: World Bank Country: Switzerland Topic: The World Bank's Support for the Millennium Development Goals I. Description of the Topic The MDGs represent the first successful attempt by the international community to establish and try to reach targeted humanitarian global objectives. However, the diversion of development funds to deal with the aftermath of the war on terrorism, the food and energy crisis of 2008, followed closely by the global financial and economic crises, have seriously jeopardized the possibility of attaining these goals. The World Banks Global Monitoring Report 2010 confirms that the impact of the financial crisis on progress towards achievement of the MDGs is likely to be considerable and long lasting.1 With only five years left to the target date for the MDGs, the Report finds the progress on MDGs to be uneven across different goals, and uneven in different regions of the world. Undeterred, Robert B. Zoellick, the President of the World Bank Group, has called upon the international stakeholders to recognize and overcome obstacles in reaching the [MDG] targets correctly adding that, business as usual will not work.2 Given the impact the World Banks vision, strategy, recommendations, and actions have on the attainment of the MDGs and the alleviation of extreme global poverty and human suffering, Switzerland recognizes the significance of its position on the Executive Board of the World Bank at this critical time. II. Past United Nations Actions The Swiss Federal Constitution reflects the priorities of the MDGs in stating that it shall assist in the alleviation of need and of poverty in the world and promote respect for human rights and democracy, the peaceful coexistence of peoples as well as the conservation of natural resources. 3 Further, the Federal Council (Swiss Cabinet) dispatches explicitly mention the achievement of the MDGs as one of the three priorities of Switzerlands bilateral and multilateral development cooperation activities.4 Switzerland believes that since the MDGs had generated universal support before the crisis, the MDGs should be pursued with the same vigour between 2011 and 2015 by all stakeholders.5 Accordingly, Switzerland has increased its Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.34 % of GNI (2008) to 0.47 % of GNI (2009), or just under 2.3 billion USD and the proposal to increase ODA to 0.5% of GNI will be discussed by the Federal Council in Spring 2011.6 The priority countries/areas Switzerland continues to work with, within the MDG framework, include Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, Mozambique, Tanzania , Bangladesh, Nepal, Mekong Region, Bolivia, and Central America.7 III. Delegation Policy and Solutions Switzerland believes that the Triple F Crisis and the unlikely completion of a few MDGs is no reason to become discouraged but instead should prompt us to redouble our efforts.8 Although Switzerland believes that an increased commitment in ODAs is needed in light of recent crises, increasing transparency,

focus, and long-term sustainability of the process can ease pressures off government coffers and improve the efficacy of the ODAs themselves. In sum, Switzerland calls for9: 1. The intensification of the efforts by the global community for the achievement of the MDGs, with the recognition that not all goals will be met in every region. 2. Prioritizing goals that do not require increased ODAs (such as removing gender disparities in school enrolment) 3. The close collaboration between the donor governments, multilateral institutions and recipients in developing countries with a focus on improving transparency and accountability in the process 4. Prioritization of key themes, unique to the recipient country, where ODAs would have the maximum sustainable impact. 5. Better capacity development of technical personnel to implement poverty-reduction strategies for MDGs 4, 5, & 6 more efficiently. Switzerland believes that the framework for the MDGs itself can be improved by: 1. Expanding the framework to include more global issues of security and human rights 2. Adopting a broader definition of poverty that encompasses the definition used by UNDP and the three dimensions outlined by the World Bank 3. Focussing less on the superficial symptoms of poverty and more on sustained, self-sufficient, growth of the area 4. Improving transparency in the monitoring and analysis of progress in the MDGs 5. Lessening their dependence on external factors such as global economic stability, wars & conflicts, crises etc. possibly by extending the deadline ENDNOTES
1. World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Global Monitoring Report 2010: The MDGs after the Crisis. Washington, DC: IBRD, 2010 2. ibid, xii 3. Swiss Federal Council. Millennium Development Goals: Progress Report of Switzerland, June 2010, pg 9 4. ibid. 5. ibid, pg 39 6. ibid pg 9 and http://www.alliancesud.ch/en/policy/aid/swiss-parliament-six-pack 7. Swiss Agency for Development Corporation. Key Aspects of the Federal Council Dispatch on the Continuation of Technical Cooperation and Financial Assistance for Developing Countries, May 2009, pg 11 8. Swiss Federal Council. Millennium Development Goals: Progress Report of Switzerland, June 2010, pg 39 9. The key policy and solutions in this section are based on the documents: Swiss Federal Council. Millennium Development Goals: Progress Report of Switzerland, June 2010 OECD. Switzerland: Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Peer Review, 2009., and http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/pdf/mdg%20outcome%20document.pdf
This sample position paper is the intellectual property of its author and has been used with permission. It has been provided for reference purposes, not as a definitive guide. It may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the author.