Just a reminder that position papers are due by February 5th in order for your delegation to be considered for the Best Position Paper Award (or February 12th for any other committee awards)!
The grading rubric and guides to writing position papers can be found at http://www.bmun.org/position-papers/ but here is a general overview!
Points Breakdown
Your position paper will be graded based on five criteria:
- Past and Current International Action (15%)
- Here you will discuss any prior actions taken by the international community to address the issues at hand, such as any UN resolutions, NGO actions, and so on. Although some of this information can be found in the topic synopsis, it is best to use other sources and for you to dive more in depth into specific solutions.
- TIP: If you are referencing a UN resolution, it helps to provide a brief overview of the resolution rather than simply listing the resolution number!
- Country's Position (25%)
- This section will pertain to your own country's stance and position towards the issue as well as any events that were experienced by your own country. Here, talk about your country's attitudes towards the issue and any action steps they have taken domestically and abroad to address the issue. This can include any treaties they have ratified, domestic policies, or statements of support.
- TIP: If your country has not had any experience with these issues, then it may help to look at why (for example, if your country has not experienced a refugee crisis and thus does not need to evaluate the economic impacts, explain how they are able to justify not taking in any asylum seekers)
- Proposed Solutions (30%)
- The most difficult and daunting part of the position paper, here we look at your proposed solutions so that you can be grounded in your stance during conference and be well guided when debating. Make sure that all of your proposed solutions follow country policies and that they are "SMART": Specific, Measureable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound
- Questions to Consider (20%)
- Although each topic synopsis has around five questions to consider, you only need to answer two questions. These questions are meant for you to think more about your country's stance and also to inspire more research. However, make sure you are still staying on your country's policy stances, and not answering the questions based on your own opinions.
- Chair's Discretion (10%)
- Finally, this last part is geared towards the overall quality of your work, including spelling, grammar, and flow.
- TIP: Make sure your works cited list is well formatted. Although some online generators do a great job, make sure you check over the formatting because they often make easily avoidable errors!
Good luck with your position papers and feel free to contact me if you have any questions at sguo@bmun.org.
Looking forward to reading them on February 5th!
Sherry Guo
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