Position Paper Guidelines

Position Paper Guidelines/Template/Sample

Why should you write a position paper? The position paper is intended to help you formulate your thoughts in regard to your country’s position on the assigned topic. This document will be an invaluable resource, helping prepare you to effectively argue your case at the UN What information should you include?

 Statement of Problem - What is your country's take on the topic or issue being addressed by the committee? What is the history of the topic/issue (highlighted – not extensive)? What does your country believe the causes of the topic/issue are?  Your Country's Stance on the Problem – Does your country recognize this issue/topic as being of importance? Is this topic directly relevant to your country? If so, how?  Past Attempts at Solutions – (In outline form) Basic: What action has been taken in the past (by your country or by others) to address this topic/issue? What action has been taken in the past by the UN or a UN agency? Have they been successful? Advanced: If not, suggest reasons as to why not. If nothing's been tried in the past, why not? Lack of funding? Lack of cooperation? Reference actual resolutions, initiatives, executive orders, reports, etc….  Proposed Solutions – (In outline form) Basic: What aspect(s) of the issue/topic should be addressed according to your country? Other things you might try to find out: Is there agreement from other countries? What do other countries propose, and do you agree? Why or why not? Is this a topic/issue that should be dealt with by individual countries, or should outside countries and the UN get involved? What about NGOs' (non-government organizations) involvement? If outside involvement is necessary, how much and how voluntary? Should new int'l policy be created? Should a separate committee be created? Is monitoring involved? What is the time- table for the solution? Advanced: When should the committee revisit the topic/issue, if ever? Will the Security Council need to be involved? What recommendations would you make to them? Who would enforce the new policy? What can be done to encourage countries to enforce this policy? What types of solutions are acceptable to your country? What types of solutions are not? What are possible ramifications of taking this action or taking some other action? Who’s to pay? Who’s to be responsible and manage this action? What format do I use for my position paper? Suggested template:

POSITION PAPER TEMPLATE:

*Topic *Country Name Attach Works Cited

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

COUNTRY’S POSITION:

JUSTIFICATION AND SUMMARY:

WORKS CITED

POSITION PAPER EXAMPLE:

Topic: Achieving World Literacy by the Year 2010

Country: Spain

Name (optional): Jonathon Doe

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Illiteracy is a problem that can no longer be ignored by the international community. The countries of the world must come together to solve this growing problem. Illiteracy is tied to many of the problems of today's society. On the economic side, illiteracy greatly reduces the productivity of the work force. Literacy is closely tied to political stability; countries with high illiteracy rates are more likely to tolerate repressive governments. Illiteracy is also linked to health care problems, environmental degradation, and population growth. Illiteracy among women is especially high, which leads to a lack of prenatal care and increased child birth rates. If the problem of illiteracy is not addressed soon it will continue to grow in exponential proportions.

SPAIN’S POSITION: In the past there have been too many separate organizations working independently of each other to solve this issue. If there is any hope of achieving world literacy by the year 2010 we must combine these groups. We propose the creation of a single United Nations committee to address the issue of illiteracy on a global level. We should combine the resources of all the other committees working on this issue into one central committee. This central committee’s duties would be as follows: A. To combine the financial resources of the numerous United Nations organizations working on this problem now, B. To create and distribute educational resources, C. To work with individual governments to create and manage individual literacy programs. We realize that literacy problems vary from region to region, the job of this committee is to address these issues on an individual basis, and to design a program that is appropriate for a single situation. These literacy problems could include mother tongue literacy, distribution of literacy materials, and functional literacy.

JUSTIFICATION AND SUMMARY: Spain retains this position because we are a Western European industrialized country. Spain also has a high literacy rate and 33% of Spain's population has completed upper secondary education. We cannot stress enough how important the issue of illiteracy is in today's societies. The countries of the world must work together to solve this growing problem.