IITBHU MODEL UN
CONFERENCE 2022
4-6 March
DELEGATE
HANDBOOK
RISE. SPEAK. RESOLVE.
FOREWORD
The IITBHU Model United Nations (IITBHU MUN), established in
2012, is an initiative of academic importance instituted by the
student fraternity at IIT (BHU).
The core rationale behind its inception was to make privy to the
delegates the geopolitical happenings on the global canvas and
actively help them conjure up and hone tools and skills that will
prove invaluable as they serve as global citizens in the future. The
ambit of their development would range from researching grave
social issues and suggesting implementable resolutions to
addressing such profound problems in the 21st Century.
With the walloping success of its past nine editions, IITBHU MUN
2022 welcomes all its councils for its historic 10th edition namely,
The All India Political Parties Meet (AIPPM), Disarmament and
International Security (DISEC), The Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC), Special Political and Decolonization Committee
(SPECPOL), The UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW),
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), The Crisis
Committee, and International Press (IP).
IITBHU MUN 2022 promises a deeply insightful discourse on
contentious topics of global importance filled with thrill and
resolve over the three days of the conference.
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RESEARCH
In any MUN Conference, research forms the bedrock of a delegate’s
job. The delegates get copious amounts of time to collate and
accumulate research material on the agendas, which are released
well in time for the conference.
The meticulousness and gamut of research shine through in the
conference and help you to provide factual support to your
arguments.
We recommend the following two divisions to conduct your
research in a consolidated and seamless manner.
KNOW YOUR COUNTRY
As a representative of your allocated nation or organization, it is
indispensable that you're well versed with your country’s positions
on matters of international concern. Additionally, you shall gather
the requisite information on crucial affairs such as the political
structure, foreign policy, economy, public policy, history, and
defense.
It is imperative that you critically analyze your country’s stand on
the agenda and work out through due diligence the outcome which
will be most favorable to you, keeping in mind the international
obligations and responsibilities.
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Furthermore, you should be aware of the foreign alliances and
treaties that your country is a signatory to, in order to map out your
approach for the conference.
KNOW THE AGENDA
A careful perusal of the Background Guides for the concerned
committees will bring you up to date with all the major happenings
pertinent to the agenda. It is of great importance, that the delegate
develops a notion through an in-depth study of the relevant events
outlined in your study guides.
After the end of this section, the delegate must have a good
understanding of the following questions.
Who: Which countries, religious groups, and organizations does
the issue affect? The key factors must be identified.
What: What is the issue at hand? What are the sources of
conflict?
What is in the pipeline to resolve the conflict?
Where: Is the issue confined to a certain geographical location
or is all-pervasive throughout the world?
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IITBHU MUN PROCEDURE
The proceedings of every committee at our conference take
place under the purvey of an Executive Board (commonly known
as EB). On any given day, the committee begins with a roll call,
which is followed by motions for deliberation.
The Committee functions through an interplay of three debate
formats, Speakers List, Moderated Caucus, and Unmoderated
Caucus until the draft resolutions are compiled and collated.
SPEAKERS LIST
The default debate format is Formal Debate or the General
Speakers List. In this, the delegates take the floor in an orderly
manner as decided by the EB. The delegates introduce motions,
resolutions, and amendments.
MODERATED CAUCUS
The Moderated Caucus is characterized by an engaging
deliberation on a specific sub-issue, which is highly contested
for a specified period of time.
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UNMODERATED CAUCUS
The Unmoderated Caucus is characterized by an informal
discussion amongst the delegates. The initial caucuses are
typically employed to find allies and practice lobbying and the
latter caucuses are used for discussing draft resolutions among
your caucus bloc (your group of allies).
FORMAL CAUCUS
In a Formal Caucus, resolutions are presented by respective
caucus blocs, which are followed by questions, and
amendments. It concludes with a vote on the approval of the
proposed resolution.
TIPS FOR EFFECTUAL CAUCUSING
Seek out delegates in your regional bloc: Be sure to
seek out allies, in tandem with the clauses and points that you’d
like to include in the final resolution.
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Provide ideas: It is very important to underscore and
outline your country’s position on a given topic and what you
aim to achieve.
Negotiate and Listen: Negotiating and listening form the
cornerstone of diplomacy. Listening enables you to gain
perspectives and viewpoints different from yours and that
enriches the deliberation. Under the rubric of negotiation, you
have to decide and contend with different ideas and reach a
conclusion that is acceptable to all parties.
Providing constructive criticism: Providing
constructive critique helps all the attendant parties come up
with more tenable ideas, which are more impactful and
implementable or to amend the existing ones.
Working Paper
A working paper is meant to emphasize the key points of a
discussion around the topics of delegation. It serves as a record
for the proceedings of the committee by penning abstract ideas
and key points into a compact and precise form.
A working paper doesn’t follow any format and the content is of
far greater importance. Delegates typically use the resolution
format for the working paper but other formats are also
acceptable!
It acts as the precursor to a draft resolution.
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Resolution
Resolutions serve as utile action items in the United Nations,
addressing the various issues, at least in part that affects the
global community.
Following the constructive debates and the informal discussions,
the Member States arrive at an agreement (codified as draft
resolution) on how to proceed with the agenda of the committee.
The Draft Resolution serves as an aggregation of all the key
recommendations detailed in, the committee. Draft resolutions
follow the appropriate resolution format, and after being presented
to the committee, they can be amended or adopted.
The approval of a draft resolution merits a certain number of
“Sponsors” and “Signatories”.
Sponsors are such member states who are actively involved in
drafting the document.
Signatories are member states who support the debate of the
resolution; they may not support all the viewpoints in the
document and have no obligation to support the passing of the
resolution.
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Resolution Making
Every delegate has to respect a particular format while drafting the
resolution. A standard resolution comprises a singular sentence
divided into two sections: the Preambulatory and the Operative
Clauses.
Preambulatory Clauses aim at detailing the reasons behind the
resolution, which may be backed by statistics or past UN
resolutions. They always commence with present participles. Some
phrases that typically feature in a Preambulatory Clause are
mentioned hereunder
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Operative Clauses delineate the course of action put forward by
the countries. They start with a verb. Some phrases to be used in
the Operative Clauses are shown below
While formulating and delineating the clauses, one must pay
careful attention to logical coherence and congruence. The clauses
should not be repetitive and must independently address the
different issues of the agenda. A clause should be a collective
notion of viewpoints and should be discreetly presented. One
should also adhere to all the rules of English Grammar and
punctuation.
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Resolution Format
The format of a draft resolution should be as follows:
Name of the committee, the topic, the sponsors, and the
signatories.
Skip a line after each clause.
Begin all clauses with the appropriate phrases (see above-
mentioned list).
End each Preambulatory clause with a comma.
End each operative clause with a semicolon.
End the final operative clause with a full stop.
Amendments
After the resolution has been formally introduced to the
committees, delegates can suggest amendments to add and/or
remove phrases or clauses from the Operative Clause section of
the resolution. Preambulatory clauses are not subject to alteration
except grammatical rectifications. The amendments are presented
before the committee and are approved prior to the voting
procedure. Amendments to amendments are highly discouraged.
There are two kinds of amendments:
Friendly: This type of amendment is employed to exemplify
specifics. Post the agreement of all original sponsors, the change is
incorporated into the resolution body as it is deemed friendly.
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Unfriendly: It is an alteration proposed by a member state is not
unanimously supported by all the sponsors. An unfriendly
amendment needs a formal submission of signatures of one-
fifth of the delegates present to the EB. Voting takes place for
all discordant amendments prior to the vote for the final
resolution in the order of submission. For their integration into
the resolution, the unfriendly amendments require two-thirds of
the vote.
General Terms
In order to perform effectually as a delegate, one must be
cognizant of the common terminology and some generic terms.
Quorum: The minimum number of delegates needed to be present
for a committee to meet.
Yield: This is when the delegate has time remaining at the end of
their speech and decides to give it up. Typically, yields are of the
following types:
Yield to the chair meaning you give up the rest of your time.
Yield to another delegate meaning you give up the rest of your
time to another delegate, or
Yield to Points of Information from other delegates, i.e.
questions in reference to your speech.
It can earn you Brownie Points!
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Point of Personal Privilege: It is used when the delegate cannot
continue in the committee due to personal discomfort. Examples
include permission to be excused for a short time, etc.
Point of Parliamentary Inquiry: It is employed when a delegate
cannot get the drift of the happenings of the committee. Typically
used for clarification if a delegate doesn’t understand a term or
whatever’s happening in the committee.
Point of Order: It is used when a candidate spots a mistake either
in the proper adherence to the rules of procedure or a factual
inaccuracy by the other delegates or the EB.
Right of Reply: A right to speak in response to a previous speaker's
comment, invoked when a delegate feels that the comments were
an insult to the national dignity or integrity of his country.
Motion: A specific action made by delegates to channel the debate
in a certain direction. The different types of motions are
enumerated below:
Motion for a Moderated Caucus: If there is a consensus in the
committee that a particular matter merits an in-depth
discussion, a motion to suspend the speakers’ list and start a
moderated caucus on that issue is raised. While raising the
motion, a delegate needs to specify the topic, duration, and
individual speaker’s speaking time for the caucus.
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Motion for the Suspension of Meeting: If the deliberation on a
certain topic is going on, a delegate may temporarily suspend the
meeting (for means like lunch). This can be done by raising a
motion for suspension delineating the time of suspension.
Motion to Extend Debate Time: It will be contingent on the chair’s
discretion and is a non-debatable motion. Another delegate needs
to “second” this motion. It may or may not be entertained
depending on the time constraints.
Motion for Adjournment of Meeting: It is raised to end the
committee session for the remainder of the conference. The motion
of adjournment means that all business of the Council is complete
and that the Council will not reconvene until the next annual
session.
In case the Procedural tacts and methodology seem intimidating
and overwhelming, don’t fret as you’ll receive tremendous counsel
and support from the EB and the Secretariat during the entire
conference. So, mark your calendars and lay the groundwork to
RISE. SPEAK. RESOLVE.
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