How to Write a
Position Paper
“Well Begun, Half Done”
- Dr Hulme (Alma College Model UN Professor)
What is a Position Paper?
Position Papers are three paragraph papers
written BEFORE conference
Students take time to research
● their country,
● the issue their committee is facing,
● what is being done to fix the issue already
● Solutions they can recommend
Students read one another’s papers which
helps them to make groups with like-minded
goals and interests at conference.
Why Do We Write Position Papers?
● Position Papers helps students to learn about the topic
and the country they will represent
● It is the students chance to get an early start on
conference
● Each country in the world has something important to
bring to the table - when students don’t spend time on
their paper, the whole world loses out on that
country’s unique perspective and ideas
Position Paper Overview!!!
Paragraph 1: Identify the Issue!
- Clearly identify what issue you are addressing and PROVE that isn’t a major,
urgent, global problem
Paragraph 2: What is being done to solve the issue currently?
- Identify important and recent attempts by the U.N., your country, and
international organisations to help fix this issue
Paragraph 3: Your Solutions!
- Provide detailed ideas to address the issues identified in paragraph one
Writing Paragraph 1
Paragraph One identifies an issue and
proves it is a serious, urgent, and global
problem
How do we do that?
First, we want to gather up all the
information from our Committee
Background Guide Breakdown
- Subtopics
- UN Bodies/Organizations your
committee works with
What to include in Paragraph 1
Paragraph one is written as a series of sentences each with its own unique and
complete idea.
Each sentence will address a sub-issue of the topic with a SHOCKING statistic and
proves the sub-issue is IMPORTANT and URGENT
Each statistic must be from one our the reliable sources we talked about, from the
last five years, and must be unique from other statistics in the paragraph
Paragraph 1: Sentence Format & Example!
● Your Country Name
● An italicized Introductory Word(s) (Alarmed by, Deeply distrubed, etc.)
● Unique SHOCKING Statistic!
● May sure the shocking statistic is connected to your topic
● Cite your source - Name of U.N. group publishing the document, name of the
document you used, and the year it was published.
Ex:
Brazil emphasizes that by the year 2050, there will be an estimated 200 million climate
migrants globally, equating to one in every 45 people being displaced from their countries
creating disruption within borders according to the International Organization for Migration
Research Series’ Migration and Climate Change (2021).
Writing Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2 identifies what the global community (the U.N.) is
currently doing, over the last few years, to address the issue you
are addressing.
Paragraph 2 shows off your background research on the topic
What to include in Paragraph 2
Paragraph two is written as a series of sentences each with its own unique and
complete idea.
Each sentence will address a sub-issue of the topic with a recent or current
attempt by the United Nations or groups of nations to fix the issue
A good 2nd paragraph will include treaties, frameworks conventions,
resolutions, conferences, agreements, and sometimes major international
projects.
Paragraph two should have a sentence on EVERY sub-topic problem you
address in paragraph one. This is called matching your clauses.
Paragraph 2: Sentence Format & Example!
● Country name
● An italicized Operative word introducing the current attempted solution
● The name of the current attempted solution
● What problem it addresses
● How it addresses the issue
Ex.
Brazil emphasizes the World Bank’s Climate Action Plan 2021-2025 which
has facilitated the transfer of funds from partners to developing states in
order to increase national capabilities through building climate resilient
infrastructure.
Writing Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3 uses your research to provide the international
community with solutions to fix issues your committee is addressing.
These ideas should be original ideas, but you do not have to create
something entirely new, instead you can expand, model, adopted, or
add to programs, projects, and agreements that exist and work.
Ideas MUST be detailed: Who, what, why, how???
What to include in Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3 is written so that each sentence is
complete and unique from all other sentences.
Each sentence provides a single solution and ALL
relevant details.
Good solutions include U.N., regional, and
country specific programs, projects,
conventions, and agreements.
Remember to MATCH CLAUSES!
Paragraph 3 should offer as many DIFFERENT
KINDS of ideas as possible in order to appeal to
many nations.
Paragraph 3: Sentence Format & Example!
● Country name
● An italicized Operative Word recommending your solutions
● The project, program, or idea you are recommending
● What it does
● How it works
● What U.N. orgs, NGOs, U.N. bodies are involved
● How it relates to the topic/Why its an important solution to have
Ex.
Brazil calls for other regional banks to model after the Inter-American Development Bank
in its support of climate investment funds, which are funds directed towards climate
resilient infrastructure and low carbon development, in order to mitigate the effects of
climate change and prevent potential feud over property.
Important Things to Keep in Mind…Always!
1. Begin paragraph with country name
2. Do not include ANY background information
3. Do not use old documents in paragraph 1
4. Each sentence needs to relate specifically back to your overall topic for committee—
no “fluff”
5. Try to integrate natural sounding language…remember this is still a paper
6. It’s equally important to relate each subtopic back to the overall topic in each sentence
7. The first time you use a concept or UN organization, you spell it out fully followed by
the abbreviation in ( ). Any time after, use abbreviation.