Maroc
Model United Nations
Position Paper Guide, MMXVIII

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Maroc Model United Nations Delegate Guide 1
 Position Paper

A Position Paper communicates the position of a country on a particular

topic. It is a short paper specifying your country’s policies and actions on the issue being
discussed in your committee. Each country represented in a committee should send a concise and
clear position paper to the chairs well in advance of the conference. Each paper should be
approximately one page and half long for each topic.

The necessity of a Position Paper

A well written position paper provides a basis for future Working Papers and Draft Resolutions.
Good position papers also make for a great introductory speech. Writing a position paper will
help you organize your ideas so that you can share your country’s position with the rest of the
committee, they will help you to stay focused on your country’s stance when discussing
particular agenda topics on the conference.

How do you write a Position Paper?

The best position papers are backed by facts and figures. However, the position paper is quite
short and too many facts and figures might make an unnecessary statistical summary out of it.
Please remember that the main purpose of this paper is to briefly explain your policy. You will
have plenty of time on the conference to support your policy through statical analysis.

The most important thing is that the Position Paper should not describe the topic but rather
describe the country’s position on the topic. If for example the topic is about ‘euthanasia’ then it
should be mentioned from the Introduction whether the country is in favour or against. Therefore
to write a position paper a delegate should look at governmental documents on the relevant sites
of the country that he/she represents. It is also useful to search through the databases of the UN
and detect for which resolutions your country voted in favour and which against. Furthermore
look at the actions that your country is taking on the current news (e.g. any treaties signed or
rejected, any acts or legislations that passed from the national parliament/congress)


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Maroc Model United Nations Delegate Guide 2
 Position Paper



Please pay careful attention to the following guidelines when drafting and submitting your
position papers. Each topic should be addressed briefly in a succinct policy statement
representing the relevant views of your assigned country. You should also include
recommendations for action to be taken by your committee.

Note: Once you write your position paper, place it on the google drive document that your
MUN Director/Advisor has shared with you.

A good position paper will include: All papers must be typed and
formatted according to the
❖ A brief introduction to your country and specifications below:
its history concerning the topic and
committee; ❖ Length must not exceed two pages, and
❖ How the issue affects your country; margins on the sides, top, and bottom are
❖ Your country's policies with respect to the to be 1 inch;
issue and your country's justification for ❖ The text of the body must be between 10
these policies; pt. and 12 pt. font, Times New Roman;
❖ Statistics to back up your country's ❖ Country/NGO name, school name, and
position on the issue committee name clearly labeled on the
❖ Actions taken by your government with first page;
regard to the issue; ❖ Justify the text for your paragraphs so
❖ Conventions and resolutions that your the left and right margins both have
country has signed or ratified; straight edges;
❖ UN actions that your country supported ❖ Sources must be cited in MLA format
or opposed; (8th edition)
❖ What your country believes should be
done to address the issue;
❖ What your country would like to
accomplish in the committee's resolution
❖ How the positions of other countries affect
your country's position.

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Maroc Model United Nations Delegate Guide 3
 Position Paper Example

Forum: Security Council

Question of Development of a Sustainable Egyptian Government
Submitted by Republic of Azerbaijan

Model United Nations

Security Council: Egypt's Sustainable Government

1. Introduce the Topic:

The Republic of Azerbaijan is a democratic nation that encourages Egypt to follow this
form of government. The Egyptian conflict to establish democracy in the North African
country has been going on since 2011 and is a direct cause of the Arab Spring which caused
similar chaos in Tunisia, Libya, and Syria. Mohammed Morsi who served as the fifth president
and the first democratically elected president of Egypt from June 30, 2012 to July 3, 2013 is
now on trial due to the fact that he is accused of the murder of protesters on June 30, 2013.
However, not only is he on trial, but Morsi was wrongly removed from the presidency by the
military which does not abide by the rules of democracy. Because of the Republic of
Azerbaijan's strong beliefs in democracy, this delegation would like to state that without
Morsi being proven guilty of the crimes he is accused of committing, he must remain
president until his five year term is over because Egypt will not be able to become a republic
if every unwanted president is imprisoned. Not completing the five year term would be a
failure of the system and a set back for democracy.

2. Past resolutions and UN Actions

In the United Nations, no resolution have passed concerning the Egyptian conflict. The
last resolution number 1372 that passed dates from 28 September 2001 concerning the
assassination attempt of President Hosni Mubarak. However, other organizations such as the
European Parliament and the United States Senate have passed some resolutions in the past
year. On 12 September 2013, the European Parliament voted on a non-legislative draft
resolution regarding the ongoing dispute. The resolution number 2310 demands that " all acts
of violence half immediately" and also stresses the need for complete investigations on all the
killing that occurred during the turmoil. Meanwhile, the United States senate passed a
resolution supporting Egyptians which was put forward by John MacCain and John Kerry.
The resolution "ensures that the United States assistance to the Egyptian Government,
military, and people will advance the goal of ensuring the respect for the universal rights of

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Maroc Model United Nations Delegate Guide 4
 the Egyptian people" . The Republic of Azerbaijan will address the issue to its full extent and
will work towards finding a solution to ensure democracy in Egypt.

3. Country's Position:

The Republic of Azerbaijan does not fully support the presence of the Muslim
Brotherhood in the Egyptian Government. Even though this delegation understands that the
political party was democratically elected, it is preferable to keep religious beliefs out of the
government. The Muslim Brotherhood is a political party that enforces Islam in the
country' laws. The country is currently divided between the President Morsi's supporters
and its Islamist allies and the opposition which includes moderate Muslims, and other
religious faiths such as Christians and Liberals. However, the Republic of Azerbaijan respects
the democratic reason why Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood became the leaders of Egypt.

4.Conclusion and Country's Actions toward the Issue:

The Republic of Azerbaijan fully supports the new draft constitution that is currently
being outlined by the military. The new constitution encourages democracy in the nation as
long as the military can intervene if needed. Turkey, a strong ally of the Republic of
Azerbaijan, also holds similar regulations in its constitution which was drafted back in 1982.
This delegation promotes this type of system in Egypt since Turkey is clear example of a strong
and democratic nation. However, some of the criticism is based on the fact that having the
military control the president is not a clear form of democracy, nevertheless, no country can
rise from a dictatorship to a full democracy without passing through some supervised
conditions.

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Maroc Model United Nations Delegate Guide 5
 Tips for writing a Position
Paper

• Formal: MUNs are formal events, and it is important that all communication be
carried out in a formal manner, which obviously requires formal language

• Simple: In order to communicate effectively, it is important that uncomplicated

language is used and woolly sentence structure be avoided

• Well argued: It is not enough to name actions taken by your country. Most
importantly, you need to justify them

• Structured: Try to deal with each issue in a new paragraph. Check if the organisation
makes sense and that the content follows through. Practicing the position papers as a
speech helps a lot

• Concise: As most of you will be using the position papers for opening speeches, it is
important that the document be concise, effective and interesting

• Suggesting solutions: The best position papers provide a basis for Working Papers
and Draft Resolutions

• Statistics: Well-cited statistics are important and most effective for backing up a
country’s stance.

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Maroc Model United Nations Delegate Guide 6



Joins US!

Communication Director
Leadership Maria Naim
[email protected]

Deputy Secretary General

Questions Badr Squali
[email protected]

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Maroc Model United Nations Delegate Guide 7
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Maroc Model United Nations Delegate Guide 8