GHAMUN DELEGATE

HANDBOOK
COMPILED AND EDITED BY: BENI KASE, ADETOLA SAIZONOU, SHREYA MOUDGIL

MODEL UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE AT GREEN HILLS ACADEMY, KIGALI

TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is GHAMUN?...................................................................................1
Role of a Delegate…………………………………………………………...2
Opening Speech…………………………………………………………..…3
Parliamentary Procedures
MUN Vocabulary……………………………………………………4
Flow of Debate……………………………………………………...5
Motions…………………………………………………………….….6
Points…………………………………………………………………..7
Voting Procedures……………………………………………….…8
Yielding………………………………………………………………..9
Amendments………………………………………………………10

Resolution……………………………………………………………………..11
Position Paper………………………………………………………………..12
Attire……………………………………………………………………….…..13
Useful tips……………………………………………………………………..14

What is GHAMUN?

Model United Nations, is an academic simulation of the United Nations. It serves the aims of
educating participants about current events, equip them with skills in international relations, public
speaking and diplomacy. The concept of GHAMUN is to have students actively participate in a simulated
United Nations conference dealing with real life agendas that this world now faces. The primary focus of
this conference is to make sure all delegates participate and expose delegates to a wider range of
international issues that affect every individuals’ way of living. This is to develop the art of peaceful
negotiation among potential national and international leader among students. The reason behind the
MUN’s, and to a further extent, the UN’s existence is to bring potential leaders to power to solve
international and national problems through vigorous discussions and debates to bring potential drawing
board ideas to real life. According to the Chapter I, Article 1 of the Charter, the main purpose of the UN is
to:
1. To maintain international peace and security;

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 2. To develop friendly relations among Nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-
determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
3. To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of economic, social, cultural or
humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental
freedoms for all without distinctions as to race, sex, language and religion;
4. To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
As a member of MUN, delegates are expected to carry out extensive research on their specific area of
focus or issue assigned in accordance to the country given. Thus the delegates are required to look at a
particular problem through the perspective of the given country. The topics to be debated upon come from
the most controversial, heated, current or urgent problems that the international community is faced with.
Thus delegates learn how the international community operates but also become more aware of the world
around them and its possible future.

This year’s GHAMUN 2019, under the theme “The Role of the Youth in
Sustainable Development”, delegates will be divided into 6 committees. The
Security Council, General Assembly 2, Human Rights Council, SDG 4 Education, SDG 12 Responsible
Consumption and production and SDG 13 Environmental/Climate Action.

This GHAMUN will benefit Students in so many ways from enjoying this interactive learning
experience that not only involves young people in the study and discussion of global issues but also encourages
the development of skills useful throughout their lives:

❖ Research
❖ Writing
❖ Public speaking
❖ Problem solving
❖ Consensus building
❖ Conflict resolution
❖ Compromise and cooperation
·
Model UN has become so popular over the course of few years that the contribution to this activity
over several decades has increased rapidly that and today upwards of 200,000 high school and
college/university students participate in a Model UN each year. This also includes this particular
conference of GHAMUN. All of this shows that the upcoming future is bright since conferences such as
GHAMUN offers the youth with potential to portray it and make their voice or ideas heard.

Role of a Delegate

The role of a delegate is to act as their assigned delegation’s representative in that part of the United
Nations System (such as being the delegate of Spain in the Security Council). The role of the delegate is
to debate the topics of their committee, and to better the situation by the means of writing resolutions,
explaining their delegation’s position, or by helping debates by writing amendments to amend a resolution
that is being debated.

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Opening Speech

The Opening Speech is a speech given by the delegate at an MUN Conference during the opening
ceremony. The delegate stresses the importance of international cooperation, and also states their country
role in helping to endorse that the theme of the conference works. Finally, the delegate includes their
country policies in general and that they would hope that at the conference, fruitful and productive debate
would be made. The speech should start with “Honorable chairs, esteemed delegates and distinguished
member”. Then the delegate should discuss their position on the issue in discussion

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES
MUN Vocabulary

WORD MEANING
Abstain When debate time elapses, delegates are to vote on the resolution or an amendment.
Delegates who wish to abstain are those who do not support the resolution or clause
and also do not oppose it.
Adjourn When the debate session adjourns, it means that session time has ended. The chair
announces to delegates that the committee will be adjourned, either for a break,
lunch or for the day.
Agenda The agenda is the order in which resolutions, breaks and other events will occur in.
It is the committee’s schedule.
Amendment An amendment is a change (addition, removal or adjustment) to a clause or a
resolution. It is submitted by delegates during debate and is debated upon and then
voted on.
Binding For a resolution to be binding, it means that the resolution has the power to be
forced into action in member states.
Bloc A bloc is a group of member states who share similar views, or are of the same
culture/ political policy/ language/ trade group/ geographical region etc.

Caucus During a caucus, delegates may informally discuss a topic between themselves and
lobby ideas on the current issue at hand and try to think of.

Chair A chair is one of those in charge of a specific committee

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 Delegate A Delegate is someone who assumes the role of a representative of a nation or an
organization in a specific committee.
Debate The Debate is where delegates exchange their delegations’ opinions on an issue and
try to re-solve that issue by resolutions.
Floor The Floor is a metaphorical area, which delegates can obtain to be able to speak on
a resolution or clause.
Flow of Debate This is the debate process at MUN conferences.

In Order allowed
Moderated A Moderated Caucus is where delegates may exchange ideas in the form of a
Caucus break, but with one of the chairs present to moderate the discussion

Motions A motion is a request made by a delegate, which is requested to do something, such

as moving into voting procedures or to extend debate time.

Objection This is used when a delegate is against a motion

Placard A placard is the sign paper the delegates hold up to be recognized by the chair to
speak or to make a point of information. Every delegate has their own placard with
the delegation written across it.
Point A Point is a question raised by the delegate pertaining to the resolution or to the
committee. They can be raised to the chair or to delegates who have the floor

Position During debate, delegates have a position. Their position is their standing on a
resolution or a clause, which reflects their delegation’s views.

Right to Reply The Right of Reply is where delegates may re- ply to a speaker’s comment. It is
requested by a delegate to the chairs when a delegate has been insulted, or was
mentioned on a delegate’s speech and wishes to answer the delegate back on what
they said about them.

Yield To give (e.g. to yield the floor to the chair)

Motions
General procedure: If the motion is seconded at least twice and there are no objections, it passes. The first
delegate to object the motions, which fail if objected must take the floor and explain his decision.

MOTIONS DECRIPTION DECISION

Motion to move into open Voted upon, if objected Simple majority required
debate

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 Motion to move into time Fails, if objected
against
amendment/resolution
Motion to move directly into Fails, if objected
voting procedure
Motion to extend/limit debate If objected, the chair will decide Discretion of the chair
time whether its beneficial for the flow of
debate to pass or fail this motion

Motion to vote by roll call If objected, the chair will decide Discretion of the chair
whether its beneficial for the flow of
debate to pass or fail this motion

Motion to move into Voted upon, if objected. Simple majority required

unmoderated caucus
Motion to split the house Voted upon, if objected. If passed, ⅔ majority required
delegates are not allowed to abstain

Points
General procedure: Points may not to interrupt the speaker, but for the Points of Personal
Privilege. Points are not be voted upon.
DESCRIPTION DECISION
Point of Personal Privilege To draw the attention of the
chair regarding an urgent matter
of personal discomfort, safety or
wellbeing of the delegate. May
interrupt the speaker in case of
emergency

Point of Information To address a question to the Discretion of the Chair

speaker referring to his/her
speech. Must be stated as a
question. A brief introductory
statement

Point of Order To draw attention of the chair if

the rules of procedure were
disregarded of inappropriately
applied

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 Point of Parliamentary Inquiry To inquire information
relating the rules and procedure

Yielding
Delegates can only yield once consecutively. One delegate cannot take the floor, speak, and yield to
another and have them yield to a third delegate, as it restricts the house from hearing a varied range of
delegates, who might not share the same views on that resolution and topic. Therefore, it will be allowed to
yield, however, chairs can call it “out of order” after which, delegates must then yield the floor back to the
chair.

Flow of Debate

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Voting Procedures

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Amendments

ACTIONS TAKEN DURING

Send in Amendments The whole of the un-moderated caucus
AMENDMENT PROCESS

Delegates raise their placards; wishing to Delegates debating session for a duration of 30
speak minutes
Chairs read out amendments to the council During 10 minute break between
Resolution Debating session and
Ammendment’s Debating session
Amendment is read and noted by the council During 10 minute break between
Resolution Debating session and
Ammendment’s Debating session
Time Lapse is set for the amendment. Amendment debate session; time for each side
may vary upon each council.
NB: Normal Debate style maintained Standard duration shall be:
-5 minutes for and;
-5 minutes against
After time elapses for the amendment, After Amendment debate
voting procedures take place.

If passed the amendment amends

the resolution .

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 Process from beginning of For 10 minutes after delegate speaking time
Amendment debate restart till all
amendments have been reviewed.

Resolution
A resolution, like any other official document that a government drafts serves the purpose of
proposing solutions that are meant to tackle the issues that the respective country deems a concern to
themselves. The same concept is applied in UN and MUN, where a bloc (a group of member states that
have common interests. The resolution is presented by the main submitter, which is generally the largest
contributor to the resolution and/or the most involved in the issue–out of the merging group. Resolutions
are not written by one member state, but are a combined effort between different member states that have
taken interest in that specific issue. Although a Main Submitter could contribute the most, that’s not to say
that no one else can contribute, as every delegate has an equal opinion. Resolutions, which are successful,
are ones that can appeal to the majority of the parties (states) involved and doesn’t contradict. By giving
solutions to both sides, which are just, and doesn’t punish one side completely, or favor the other side
completely are more likely to pass as they can appeal to more member states in the house. Resolutions,
which only touch on the factors involved in the issue, are generally vague and less likely to pass, however,
those that aim to resolve many or most of the factors involved are more likely to pass as they offer
incentives to the various problems, which contribute to the issue. Resolutions have 3 main components
which are:

• Heading
The Heading is a mandatory part of resolutions. Though they don’t contribute to the content
of a resolution, they address the committee; state the issue being resolved, the submitter of
the resolution, and those who’ve co-submitted the resolution (signatories)
• Preambulatory Clauses
The preamble of a draft resolution states the reasons for which the committee is addressing
the topic and highlights past international action on the issue. Each clause begins with a
present participle (called a Preambulatory phrase) and ends with a comma.
• Operative Clauses
Operative clauses offer solutions to issues addressed earlier in a resolution through the Pre-
ambulatory section. These clauses are action oriented and should include both an underlined verb
at the beginning of your sentence followed by the proposed solution.

Heading

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 • Begin with “Forum” indicating the committee·
• Continue with “Submitted by” to indicate who is the main contributor/main speaker of the
Resolution·
• Follow this by “Co-Submitted by” to illustrate those who’ve signed on (signatories) to the
Resolution·
• Use the full official name of the delegations (one gets delegates to sign on during the
Lobbying
• Stage1) Address the Committee (in Upper Case), following this, comes the Preambulatory
clauses

Preambulatory clauses

• All Preambulatory clauses must end in commas (,)

Operative Clauses
• All acronyms must be fully written out before appearing in the abbreviated form, you only
need to write them out once, and then refer to the abbreviated form for the rest of the
resolution
• All Operative clauses must be underlined and be numbered
• Sub Clauses must be lettered ( a), b), c), d)...)
• Sub-sub Clauses must be in Roman Numerals ( i), ii), iii), iv)...)
• If a sub clause does not end the clause, their ending punctuation must be a comma (,)
• If sub-sub clauses does not end the clause, their ending punctuation must be a comma (,)
• All Operative clauses must end in semi-colons (;)
• Leave a line between ever clause
• No Clause-Opening words should be repeated in the resolution, if you need to reuse it, either
use a similar word to it, or add “Further” before it like in “Further Requests” or add
“Strongly” like “Strongly Requests”
• All acronyms must be fully written out before appearing in the abbreviated form, you only
need to write them out once, and then refer to the abbreviated form for the rest of the
resolution.

In the Preambulatory Clauses PLEASE DO:

• State strong and recent facts about the issue
• Use statistics where applicable
• Mention the past situation and current situation
• Recall any passed resolutions by the UN on the issue
• Relate any other organizations involved in the situation State relevant organizations’ efforts
in the situation

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 • If applicable, use developing countries/LEDCs or developed countries/ MEDCs In the
Operative Clauses PLEASE DO:
• Use “Third World countries”/ “poor countries” or “First World countries”/ “rich countries”
• Aim to fi and solutions, which solve the smaller problems that contribute to the issue
Elaborate on the solutions in your operative clauses (sub clauses and subsub clauses) Make
use of any UN organizations or create ones to help the issue
• Emphasize cooperation between governments and relevant UN organizations

• Explain different methods of approaching the same problem through clauses In the
Operative Clauses PLEASE DON’T:
• Break the sovereignty a government has over its land ·
• Mention specific sources and specific (numbers) amount of funding
• Be vague with your solutions, or simply state a way of solving something without explaining
ways of approaching the same problems through clauses

All Clauses PLEASE DON’T:

• Create unrealistic solutions to the issue, which are vague solutions/ not possible to be put
into force

• PLAGIARISE: As Plagiarism isn’t at all tolerated at MUN conferences, even if one is

trying to get ideas from resolutions. One can only use similar ideas, and rewrite them as
one’s own, not use that particular clause/ resolution. At MUN conferences, plagiarism is
dealt with strongly and often results in one being removed from the conference, and
problems between ones school/delegation and the conference management.

Useful Preambulatory Clause Starters

Acknowledging Believing Deeply conscious
Affirming Confident Deeply convinced
Alarmed by Congratulating Deeply disturbed
Contemplating
Approving Deeply regretting
Convinced
Aware of Desiring
Declaring
Bearing in mind Emphasizing
Deeply concerned

Expecting Having examined Reaffirming

Expressing its satisfaction Having heard Realizing
Fulfilling Having received Recalling
Fully alarmed Having studied Recognizing

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Fully aware Keeping in mind Referring
Fully believing Noting with appreciation Seeking
Further deploring Noting with regret Taking into account
Further recalling Noting with satisfaction Taking into consideration
Guided by Noting further Taking note
Having adopted Noting with approval Welcoming
Having considered Observing

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 Useful Operative Clause Starter
Accepts Accordingly Further Invites
Affirms Demands Further Proclaims
Approves Deplores Further Reminds
Asks Designates Further Recommends
Authorizes Draws the Attention Further Requests
Calls for Emphasizes Further Resolves
Calls upon Encourages Has Resolved
Condemns Endorses Hopes
Confirms Expresses its Invites
Appreciation
Congratulates Notes
Expresses its Hope
Considers Proclaims
Further Asks
Decides Reaffirms
Further Calls for
Declares Recommends

Position Paper
A position paper is a document describing a topic, your country’s position, and possible solutions.
It is important to write a position paper for each of your topics because it will help you gain insight on the
issue and prepare you for the MUN conference. Writing a good position paper not only requires research
skills, but also involves the ability to critically analyze the information you gather through your research.
The PReP Formula is a great format for delegates to get a start on how their position paper should
look like. PReP stands for Position, Relation, extra & Proposal, which are the essential parts of every
position paper. PReP will help you remember the formula.
Position – Your view / interpretation of the issue being discussed. (Paragraph 1) Relation – Your
connection to the topic being discussed. (Paragraph 2) extra – The optional 4th paragraph which can
contain extra information your feel is critical to your case, but doesn’t naturally fit into one of the other
three paragraphs. This paragraph still comes before the one containing your policies.
Proposal – The practical policies you would want to see in the resolution. (Paragraph 3)

Green Hills Academy Model United Nations Conference, Kigali

June 8th, 2019

1. Read & Reference Your Committee’s Chair Report
The chair report that is submitted from the Head Chair is the key to a good position paper. The report is
there for the delegate to have a stronger understanding and deeper knowledge on the topic.
2. Find Your Position
Once you read the guide and understand the issues, figure out how your country relates to the topic. This
will eventually turn into your second ‘relation’ paragraph. You can also search for past resolutions in the
UN as well as other sources.
3. Choose What is Most Important
You will find a lot of data when researching your country and the topic. Filtering through it and choosing
what is important and relevant is part of the challenge of writing a good Position Paper. To show your
most important ideas in the limited space you have, you should aim to show the facts that are the
strongest and most relevant to your case. For this reason, try to avoid writing the obvious in your Position
Paper and avoid being off clash.
The right mix of research, and strategic writing, should give the reader the feeling that your Position
Paper had much more relevant content then you were able to fit into the paper. You want to show that,
while the most relevant of your research is there, it is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your
knowledge.
4. Create Solutions
The third paragraph, where you write your policy, is the section where you can get creative. Yes, make
sure any solution you come up with is viable and based on research, but don’t be afraid to be bold. You
are not married to the policies you write in the Position Paper and a chair will understand if you need to
deviate for the sake of compromise in the committee

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Green Hills Academy Model United Nations Conference, Kigali

June 8th, 2019

Attire
Formal attire is an important factor of MUN. When you look serious you will be taken serious. For the
GHAMUN, our standards of attire should be met accordingly. Males should have their suit coat on
whenever delivering a speech. As well as having black or brown leathered shoes strictly. Females should
wear dresses at an appropriate height; below the knees.

Males
Suits- A suit always looks professional. Be sure to keep suits clean and wrinkle free.
Tops- No t-shirts. A collared/button-down shirt is appropriate and do not forget a tie!
Bottoms- No jeans or shorts. Slacks, preferable in dark color, are appropriate.
Shoes- No sneakers or open-toe sandals. Strictly black or brown leathered shoes Hair- Keep hair clean
and out of your face for a professional look. Keep hair clean and out of your face a professional look.

Females
Suits- A suit always looks professional. Be sure to keep suits clean and wrinkle free. Tops- No t-shirts or
see-through tops. A blouse, sweater, or button-down shirt of any kind is appropriate. Dresses are also
appropriate as long as they are not revealing and adequate in length (follow the rules below for skirt
length).
Bottoms- No jeans, shorts or miniskirts. Slacks and suit-pants are acceptable. Skirts must be worn with
pantyhose/stockings and should not be more than two inches above the knee. Bottoms should have a
subtle pattern; avoid loud designs.
Shoes- No sneakers or open toe sandals. Remember: high-heeled shoes may look pretty, but they can also
be very uncomfortable, so use your discretion.
Hair- Keep hair clean and out of your face for a professional look. Keep hair clean and out of your face a
professional look.

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