Global Citizens Model United Nations 2018

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Global Citizens Model United Nations 2018

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Global Citizens Model United Nations 2018

Contents
Elements of History of the United Nations .................................................................................. 4
The Structure of the United Nations ............................................................................................ 6
The Structure of GCMUN ............................................................................................................ 8
Conference Information ........................................................................................................... 10
Code of Conduct .............................................................................................................................. 11
Dress Code Policy ............................................................................................................................. 11
Awards Policy ......................................................................................................................... 12
Pre-Written Material Policy ...................................................................................................... 13
Plagiarism Policy .................................................................................................................... 13
Conference Preparation ........................................................................................................... 14
Procedural and Substantive Preparation .................................................................................. 14
Procedural ....................................................................................................................................... 14
Substantive ...................................................................................................................................... 14
Useful Resources ..................................................................................................................... 15
Position Papers ....................................................................................................................... 15
Guidelines........................................................................................................................................ 16
Flow of Debate ........................................................................................................................ 16
Committee Sessions ......................................................................................................................... 16
Working Papers ............................................................................................................................... 20
Resolutions ...................................................................................................................................... 20
Amendments ................................................................................................................................... 20
Voting Procedures............................................................................................................................ 21
RULES OF PROCEDURE ............................................................................................................ 22

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Global Citizens Model United Nations 2018

Elements of History of the United Nations

The League of Nations, precursor to the United Nation, was the first “international” organization
established under the Treaty of Versailles (1919) that was meant to provide a forum to its 25 countries
to handle international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Unfortunately, the League of Nations
had its weaknesses covering a key aspect of the its functionalities such as voting procedures, small
membership, the absence of key countries and the absence of an army force. Its failure was brought to
the world’s attention with the dramatic outbreak of the II World War, whose dramatic events brought
world leaders to start working on a completely new and truly international organization.

It took world leaders almost 5 years to reach the milestone represented by the foundation of the United
Nations (UN). Its historic upbringing can be summarized in 7 major events:

1) June, 12 1941: The Declaration of St. James’ Palace (London);

2) August, 14 1941: The Atlantic Charter (somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean);
3) January, 1 1942: The Declaration of the United Nations;
4) October 30, 1943: Moscow Conference;
5) September 21 / October 7, 1944: Dumbarton Oaks Hotel (Washington DC);
6) February 4 – 11, 1945: Conference of Yalta (Crimea Region, Russia);
7) June, 26, 1945: San Francisco Conference.

Each one of these steps was fundamental for the establishing of the United Nations and saw its conclusion
with the signing of the United Nations’ Charter by 50 nations on June 26, 1945.

Unfortunately, the United Nations turned out not to be the conflict-avoiding force that all nations had
hoped, since the world continued to see large and small conflicts. The United Nations, though, brought a
great revolutionary force in its contributions to a global political culture that demands respect between
nations, discourages conflict and advocates for the peaceful resolution of the conflicts that it cannot
prevent.

The passing of the years has helped build a better, more effective organization with multiple resources
and with an ever-expanding area of interests and debate. Even its membership has seen a dramatic
increase brining its number to 193 members, last entry represented by the now officially-recognized state
of Palestine.

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The Founding Principles of the United Nations have remained untouched and have quickly become pillars
of international cooperation:

1. Sovereign Equality of all its Members;

2. All Members shall fulfill in good faith the obligation assumed by them in accordance with the
present charter;

3. All members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that
international peace and security and justice are not endangered; 


4. All members shall refrain from the threat or use of force against other members;


5. Prohibition to intervene in matters within the domestic jurisdiction of the states; 


6. All members shall assist the organizations in any direction it takes in accordance with the present
charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the un is taking
preventive or enforcement action.

The Purposes of the United Nations

1. To maintain international peace and security; 


2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and
self-determination of peoples;

3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social,

cultural or humanitarian character and to promote respect for human rights;

4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.


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The Structure of the United Nations

The United Nations is headquartered in New York and is composed of six organs: The General Assembly,
the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice,
and the Trusteeship Council.

General Assembly (GA)

The center of the United Nations is the General Assembly which also sees participation of the full
membership of the 193 members. It is comprised of seven main committees and various subsidiary and
related bodies. It functions primarily as a forum for discussing general issues such as international peace
and security and international collaboration in economic, social, cultural, educational, and health elds. The
GA is also able to establish committees and other bodies to study and report on specific issues. Although
the decisions of the GA have no binding legal force upon member-states, they do carry the weight of the
moral authority of the world community.

Security Council (SC)

The Security Council has primary responsibility, under the UN Charter, for the maintenance of
international peace and security. Contrary to other UN bodies, its resolutions are legally binding, meaning
that every member must uphold them. It is made up of 15 members, 5 of which permanent (United Sates,
China, United Kingdom, France and Russian Federation), and 10 on a 2-year rotation. The 5 permanent
members also have veto powers on all votations, even a single “no” from one of the 5 results in the failing
of the resolutions.

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is of the six main organs of the United Nations established
by the
UN Charter in 1946. It is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and
recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for the implementation of
approved international development goals. One of its main characteristic is the handling of the many
Specialized Agencies of the United Nations. It has a membership of 54 states.

Secretariat
The Secretariat is organized along departmental lines, with each department or office having a distinct
area of action and responsibility. Offices and departments coordinate with each other to ensure cohesion
as they carry out the day-to-day work of the organization in offices and duty stations around the world.
At the head of the United Nations Secretariat is the Secretary-General. The Secretariat is also in charge
of the logistics of peacekeeping operations.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
The Court is composed of 15 judges, elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations
General Assembly and the Security Council. The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international
law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to
it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies. Once a State accepted that a question

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is submitted to the Court, it will be bound by its decision.

The Trusteeship Council

The Charter established the Trusteeship Council as one of the main organs of the United Nations and
assigned to it the task of supervising the administration of Trust Territories placed under the Trusteeship
System. Its goals were to promote the advancement of the inhabitants of Trust Territories and their
progressive development towards self-government or independence. The aims of the Trusteeship System
have been fulfilled to such an extent that all Trust Territories have attained self-government or
independence, either as separate States or by joining neighboring independent countries.
The Trusteeship Council dropped its obligation to meet annually in 1994 when the last trust territory, Palau,
gained independence.

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The Structure of GCMUN

The Global Citizens Model United Nation (GCMUN) is an intense 3-day high school conference that will
be held in New York City from the 22nd to the 24th of February 2018. At GCMUN, delegates will have
the opportunity to live and breathe the life of an ambassador. During the simulation, its participants will
spend at least one full day at the United Nations Headquarters.

Model United Nations around the world are well-known for their huge educational value, and GCMUN
will be no different. Students will engage in highly stimulating debates on world-class issues directly
selected from the United Nations Agenda.

Teamwork is of key importance both for the drafting of official-looking United Nations documents and for
the debating. The value of the individual will be as equally stressed when students are prepared to take
up on their role as delegates, researching like real scholars, helped and encouraged by the highly
formative Background Guides, that will kindle the students’ interest in deepening their knowledge on the
various matters. Due to the high consideration GCMUN holds for education and for the preparation of the
students, the staff will be composed of graduates and undergraduates from the world’s most prestigious
universities, all supported by a wide experience in MUNs conferences.

Secretariat
Our conference, inspired by the United Nations, and is run by a Secretariat made up of only graduates
and undergraduates of the world’s most prestigious universities.

Secretary-General
The Secretary-General is the head of the conference, responsible for the well-being of all logistic
procedures linked to the simulation.

The Directors
The Director is the substantive expert on the issues to be discussed in committee. At GCMUN, each Director
chooses his or her committee’s topic areas and is responsible for overseeing committee proceedings and
ensuring that all aspects of the topic area have been addressed.

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The Assistant Directors

The Assistant Directors are additional dais members who help guide committee sessions. Their job is to aid
the Director by answering delegates’ questions, monitoring blocs during caucuses, providing feedback on
delegate ideas, and keeping track of the Speakers’ List, motions, votes and other procedural elements.
Assistant Directors serve as the primary liaisons between delegates and committee Directors. If delegates
have either substantive or procedural questions or concerns during committee, they should not hesitate to
ask Assistant Directors for guidance.

Delegations
We at the Global Citizens Model United Nations we have reflected long and hard on which kind of
delegation format to pick, eventually we all agreed to only have Single Delegations at our conference.
This results in each delegate being given one country and one committee. Our idea behind this approach
heavily relies on the stressing of group work, not limited at the comfort of each delegate’s MUN club, but
greatly focused on committee sessions. We also believe this standard will push even further the educational
value and gain linked to the participation to GCMUN and will bring school delegation to share knowledge,
as students might exchange facts and data between each other given their countries’ different approach
on the issues. All of this will result in delegates having the possibility to shine individually and see an
immediate reckognition of efforts made during the preparation process.

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Conference Information
Tentative Schedule
Please note that this is a tentative schedule designed to give delegates and faculty advisors an idea of
what to expect at GCMUN. All times and dates listed here are subject to change. A more detailed schedule
will be published in the Delegate Handbook, which will be sent via email in January and handed out to
delegates and faculty advisors at the start of the conference.

Wednesday, February 21
@ Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel
4pm – 8pm: Registration
Thursday, February 22
@ Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel
7am – 9.30am: Late Registration
10am – 2pm: Session I
2pm – 3pm: Lunch Break
3pm – 7pm: Session II

Friday, February 23
@ Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel
10am – 2pm: Session III
2pm – 3pm: Lunch Break
3pm – 7pm: Session IV
8.30pm – 12am: Delegate Dance

Saturday, February 24
@ United Nations Headquarters
10am – 1pm: Session V
1pm – 2pm: Lunch Break
2pm – 6pm: Plenary Session and Closing Ceremony.

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Code of Conduct
During GCMUN, we will be sharing the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel with other guests. For this
reason, it is required by all delegates to ensure the maximum level of decorum possible in the travelling
from rooms to conference rooms. To ensure a quiet environment for all hotel guests no movement is
permitted in the hallways after 11pm, even to accept food deliveries. Delegate curfews are designed to
provide all hotel patrons, including GCMUN participants, with a quiet environment at night. Faculty
advisors are asked to assist in the enforcement of curfews by performing room checks nightly.

Dress Code Policy

As a standard procedure of all Model United Nations conference, we at GCMUN strive for professionalism
in all aspects of the conference. Delegates are expected to adhere to a strict dress code during all
committee sessions and conference events. The only accepted dress code is the western business attire
(wba), although national attire and religious attire are also permitted. WBA consists in:

1) Men must wear a suit or a jacket and dress pants (no jeans or cargo pants) with a dress shirt and
tie. Socks and dress shoes must be worn. No hats or caps will be allowed. 

2) Women must wear a dress, suit, dress slacks (no jeans) or skirt of appropriate length with a blouse
or sweater. Dress shoes must be worn; we heavily discourage high heels. No hats or caps will be
allowed. 


It goes without saying that we ask that delegates, faculty advisors and parent chaperones to exercise
good sense when interpreting the dress code. When casual attire is permitted, basic rules of propriety
will still apply.

Delegates who are dressed inappropriately for any event may be asked to return to their rooms to change
into a more appropriate attire.

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Awards Policy
While we strongly believe in the participation non-finalized to the reception of awards, but strongly based
on motivation and passion for the world of model united nations, international relations and cooperation.
We at GCMUN do understand the excitement and importance conference awards have in delegate’s
mind, for these reasons we have developed three kinds of awards, honoring different capabilities and
both excellence in both individuality and teamwork:

1. Individual Awards: Each committee will have a set number of “honorable mentions” to assign to the
delegates in the committee who have truly understood and absorbed Model United Nations and
international relations principles, have shown passion for the topic in agenda and have altogether
made a difference in the committee.
2. Delegation Awards: They are assigned one the basis of the reception of Individual Awards. Simple
arithmetic will be used to assign this awards to the delegations that have chorally showed the best
results in each one of our committees.
3. Position Paper Awards: Bearing in mind the extensive work that delegate go through while writing
their position paper, we have decided to award outstanding papers. There will be:
a. Individual Position Paper Awards: assigned directly inside the committee from the Directors
and Assistant Director, to the best position papers for that singular committee;
b. Delegation or School Position Paper Awards: Given to the delegation/school whose students
received most individual Position Papers awards, to better recognize team work and effort
between Faculty Advisors and Students.

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Pre-Written Material Policy

Our idea behind GCMUN focuses heavily on the underling of individuality, but directed towards a
developing or shaping of team working, knowledge-sharing, problem-solving and creativity skills or
abilities. Each one of these points will be vain if even a single student happened to work individually on
a working paper or draft resolution prior to the beginning of committee sessions. All writing is required to
happen jointly during committee sessions, after a fair amount of time has been involved in the creation of
basic common principles for a better understanding key points needing to be addressed in a final draft
resolution. We strive to enable students to work together and learn the skills of leadership, communication
and compromise which pre-written documents immediately strike. Committee staffers have been
thoroughly instructed to not accept documents that evidently could not have been written during the
conference. Delegates, who, for whatever reason will be discovered to rely on pre-written material will
be subject to disciplinary action up to notification to faculty advisor, exclusion from any kind of awards
both individual and delegation/school ones and disqualification from future GCMUN conferences. All
documents will be carefully read from the dais, but any suspicions regarding pre-written material must
be brought to the attention of the Director or Assistant Directors.

Plagiarism Policy
A focus point of a delegate’s preparation is extensive research that needs to be understood, studied and
made their own. Only through this process delegates will be able to freely and comfortably use their
acquired knowledge in debate.

For this reason, all materials submitted to the conference or one of its staffers are required to be original,
or in other words, the delegate’ own work. All documents submitted to the conference, with a specific focus
on Position Paper will be vetted for plagiarism. Should staffers find any proof of plagiarism the delegate
will be subject to disciplinary action up to notification to faculty advisor, exclusion from any kind of awards
both individual and delegation/school ones and disqualification from future GCMUN conferences.

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Conference Preparation
Procedural and Substantive Preparation
Delegates, in order to proper prepare for the Global Citizens Model United Nations, should follow these
two study paths: Procedural and Substantive.

Procedural
Procedural preparation deals with the basic concepts and principles of the conference such as but not
limited to a deep understanding of rules of procedures, main difference between motions and the correct
formatting of each document (position paper, draft resolution etc.). This constitutes the basic baggage of
knowledge every delegate should have to feasibly participate to a Model United Nation conference.
Understanding the rules of procedures is the main part of this preparation, since they regulate the debate,
they are of fundamental importance for delegate for deciding the best actions for a specific time or
session. Mock sessions during club meeting, especially with the aid of their faculty advisor or sponsor, have
proven to be extremely useful.

Substantive
Once all procedural aspects have been dealt with and there is a certain level of comfortability with every
procedural aspect of the conference, delegates may move on to the studying of their committee and
background guides, then start conducting extensive research of their topics. As it will immediately evident
our Background Guides are dramatically different from other conferences’, as they present unedited
extracts from the most prestigious’ and authorative sources available. This means that while delegates will
perhaps find an initial added difficulty, they will immediately develop deep analysis and critical-thinking
abilities, greatly helping them in their further researches.
It is undoubted how fundamental it is that delegates need to have completely clear what is their assigned
country’s stance on the topic in agenda. Once they have found and developed a feasible idea on their
countries’ policies and views they have the powers to comfortably navigate the debate with little to no
insecurities: suggesting possible resolutions on the problem, getting to the bottom of the topic and letting
their creativity run (almost) free while obviously remaining well anchored to reality.

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Useful Resources
All materials provided by GCMUN are not meant to the the sole source of delegate’s preparation, instead
they provide and are intended as a starting point inspiring delegates to ask themselves question regarding
the topic. The best prepared delegates are those whose preparation is based on given materials, but
further develops into extensive research assisted by questions at the end of our background guides and
personal curiosity. Here you will find a list of useful resources to further your research:

1. United Nations Chronicle: a magazine which gives you general information on the proceedings of the UN.
Look out for possible reports regarding your topic area, as you might find precious information on how
your country positioned itself on that matter.

2. Yearbook of the United Nations: The Yearbook is a good starting point for your research. The Yearbook
will provide you with general information on what has been done on your topic during any year. It also
provides very helpful references to previous articles and resolutions. 


3. UN Document Index: This index provides an extensive overlook on each body’s work at the United Nations,
together with resolutions, topics summaries, history facts.

4. UN Resolutions: All resolution adopted at the United Nations are archived and can be freely consulted
online. Remember to always double check the most recent records as the archive goes back to 1946. It is
a good resource as resolution voting records will indicated where your country and other stood on a specific
issue.

5. Other UN Sources: Depending on the topic, there might be additional UN sources. We suggest checking
directly in your committee webpage for books or reports.

6. Other Non-UN Sources: Investigate your school and local libraries. Check out journals, periodicals, and
newspapers for more current sources. Do not forget to ask the librarians for assistance!

7. People: Experts such as librarians, fellow delegates, faculty advisors and even your parent can help you
greatly in your research.

8. Embassies and Consular Offices: This could be a very interesting way of finding information for your country.
Permanent Missions at the United Nations all have email addresses available here. Do not hesitate to
contact them but be aware of always being respectful (remember to format your email in the proper way)
and remember that “real” delegates might be too busy to answer.

Position Papers
A fundamental part of the training consists in the writing of the position paper, which is where delegate

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sum up the entirety of their research in a document which has the purpose of making immediately clear
their countries’ position on the topic in agenda. While they might require a bit of work, Position Papers
can help delegate absorb key points of their research.
Position Paper cannot be a re-elaboration of your background guide, but should essentially be made up
of new information directly found by the delegates that are entirely focused on the problem and written
solely from their country’s perspective. The focal point of the paper is to immediately give a simple and
clear view on how a country wants to act regarding the issues in agenda.

Your position paper can be break down in paragraphs, though this is not required nor expected. Some
suggested paragraphs are:
1) Introduction;
2) History (related to the topic);
3) Current Status (related to the topic);
4) Actions Undertaken on the Topic (generally by the UN, more specifically by your country);
5) Proposed Actions and Solutions (your countries', on the topic);
6) Conclusion.
Guidelines
Position Papers need to be written in Times New Roman, 12 pt. and double spaced. It is required that
delegates write a minimum of 2 pages and a maximum of 4, excluding bibliography, which is mandatory.
Once the Position Paper has been finalized, it must be saved as a Microsoft Office Word document or
more technically with this extension: .docx

Position Papers are due on February 1 and are to be sent to positionpapers@gcmun.org.

School/Delegation position papers need to be zipped in a single file, in which there will be as many
folders as committees assigned.
1) The zipped file needs to be titled: School/Delegation Name.
2) Position Paper files need to be titled: NameofDelegation_Country.
3) Email Subject must be: GCMUN Position Paper – Name of Delegation.

Given the proximity of the conference and the Position Paper deadline there will be no extentions.

Flow of Debate
Committee Sessions
Committee session are governed by GCMUN rules of procedures, which you will be able to find attached
at the end of this guide. Commonly, committee sessions differ between formal debate (Speaker’s List) and
caucuses (informal debate).

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Formal debate, known solely under the form of the Speaker’s List, is the most useful form of debating in
the first stages of the committee sessions as it will allow delegates to have relatively long speeches for a
fair representation of the country’s view and opinions on the topic in agenda. Given the formality of the
Speaker’s List, It can become quite long with speakers waiting an hour or more to be able to address the
membership of the committee.

Remedy to the slowness of the Speaker’s List is represented by caucuses which are formally known as
“suspension of the formal meeting”. There are two caucuses, the moderated caucus, which retains some of
the formality of the Speaker’s List but dramatically reduces speaking time and needs a specific thematic
area to discuss, resulting in a very intense and productive form of debating. On the other hand, the
unmoderated caucus represents the complete suspension of all formalities, members (or delegates) will be
able to stand up and roam freely the committee room to have private talks with other members. It is the
most active form of debating where most of the delegates will have the possibility to work first-hand on
working papers writing.

Caucuses are intended as “suspensions of the formal meeting” which means their length must be stated in
their proposal motion.

Speech Preparation and the Art of Public Speaking

During the conference, you will be required to hold speeches in front of an audience, while this might seem
frightening at first, you will quickly get comfortable with the idea or at least greatly improve your
communications and public speaking skills.

The Speaker’s List is the most comfortable way of debating to hold a speech as you will have more
speaking time and every member will be able to recognize the delegate and focus on the speech as it
will be held from the podium.

Do not be afraid to sign yourself in the Speaker’s List, it is very important that you do so as quickly as the
committee sessions starts, otherwise you might have to wait a great deal of time to see your turn. Always
remember that you can speak as many times as you want in the Speaker’s List, but you can only be listed
once at any given time. Remember to always add yourself to the list once you have spoken and do not
worry too much about what you will say next. Given the length of the formal debate, you will probably
have more aspects to tackle in a speech as matters under discussion change as committee time goes by. If
you have speaking time left always remember that you can take advantage of yields.

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We at GCMUN, believe that speech preparation is very important for the well-being of the conference,
we suggest all delegates prepare 3 contrasting speeches, with one of them being a “presentation” one,
where a delegate introduces him/herself to the committee as a representative of that specific country and
gives a general idea of his/her country view on the topic in agenda.

While we do suggest speech writing, it is not required nor expected and you are free to use different
methods such as writing down a couple or more key concept that will help you steer your speech touching
aspects you deem important, or completely improvise based on the current events of the debate. We do
not recommend writing speeches for moderated caucuses as it will be unpractical to follow them given the
short Speaking Time.

It is always important to pay attention to other delegates when they speak, as you might find points of
contact with your country’s views that might result in future alliances for working papers writing. It is also
useful to refer to previous speeches whether yours or other delegates’. Given you will be speaking in front
of an audience, remember to keep your speech simple and very intense, as articulate or more complex
speeches might not get to the core of the audience.

You have a wide range of choices for the substantive content of your speech. You can introduce new ideas,
elaborate on old ones, support and defend allies’ positions, attack opposing positions, or do any
combination of the above. Keep in mind, however, that the content of your speech should be a balance
between what you want to say and what the committee is currently discussing.

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Remember to “perform” your speeches: we are talking about public speaking and we would never want
to appear boring to the membership of the committee! Showing passion and dedication sure helps in
conveying information to the entirety of the membership. A very useful tip when giving a speech is to
always keep some sort of eye contact, even if you are simply reading out your speech try to grab 4-5
words and enunciate them while looking at the delegate’s eyes. They will feel as you are speaking directly
to them and follow your speech with much more interest.

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Working Papers
Working papers are first step towards a resolution. They echo the result of the debate whether of the
Speaker’s List or of the Moderated Caucus. A working paper is only the very first draft of what will
represent the final draft resolution and is nothing more than the name itself suggests: a piece of paper
where a group of delegates, jot down some rough ideas on how they think it is more feasible to address
the issues in agenda. It is very important that the debate does not get chained to the very first, perhaps,
rough ideas of the delegates and that they are open to question their ideas if new, better and/or more
practical and effective ones are presented to the committees. A good debate is carried out with a humble,
objective and critical thinking which always results in better, more comprehensive resolutions with a strong
consensus built more often than not with the ability of knowing how, what, when and where to compromise.
Always bear in mind that the working paper does not represent the final document, which is instead
represented by the Draft Resolution that needs to adhere to precise layout standards checked directly by
the Director of the committee at the time of the submitting of the paper.

Resolutions1
The Draft Resolution represents the outcome of the debate or better, the attempt of tackling each aspect
of the issue in agenda. It is a comprehensive and formal document that represents the interest of the
collective group community. It is mportant to note that once a working paper has been accepted by the
Director and has become a Draft Resolution, any changes needs to be submitted through Amendments,
which must be voted on by the membership. A resolution is a document that needs attention and must
adhere to strict formatting rules. It is always important to remember that a resolution is made up of three
main parts:

1) Basic Layout: Consisting in the name of the committee, topic and sponsors and signatories
2) Preambulatory Clauses: sentences that introduce the resolution, the topic and that might further specify in
which grounds the resolution act. They can cite appropriate sections of the UN Charter, reference treaties
or official UN documents and they could also contain statements by important personalities. Preambulatory
Clauses represent a formality and shall not include the proposed actions on how to tackle the issue in
agenda.
3) Operative Clauses: they represent the “real” outcome of the debate, more specifically all actions the
committee, or the sponsors of the resolution, wants to attain to tackle and perhaps resolve the issue in
agenda.
Amendments
At GCMUN all amendments are considered unfriendly which means they must go through voting procedures
and be approved by not just the sponsors of a resolution but by the majority of the membership through
voting. Only operative clauses can be amended.

1 For more specification of each parts’ requirements please consult the appropriate section of the Rules of Procedures.

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Amendments can change the wording of a clause, slightly change punctuation, add and/or strike a clause.
In the event a resolution has been amended, amendments will be voted on first and then the resolution as
a whole.

For more specification on amendments please consult the appropriate section of the Rules of Procedures.

Voting Procedures
Once debate has finished, the appropriate motion will let the committee move to voting procedures. Once
the committee is in voting procedures, door rooms will be shut and no one will be allowed to enter or
leave the room. A resolution passes with a simple majority rule (50% + 1).

A roll call will be called in order to ensure there is a quorum for the voting procedures to start. Delegates
may vote with a “Yes”, “No”, or “Abstention”, the latter only if they did not state “Present and Voting”
during the roll call.

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RULES OF PROCEDURE
Rule 1
Delegation:
A delegation is made up of a single representative in all committees.

Rule 2
Invitation to Silent Prayer or Meditation
Immediately after the opening of the meeting a of each session of the committee. A member might move
for a Silent Prayer or Meditation to observe a moment of silence for a determinate happening in the
world. It will be given at the Chairman’s discretion.

Rule 3
Quorum
The Chairman may declare a meeting open and permit the debate to proceed when at least one third of
the members of the General Assembly are present. The presence of the majority of the members shall be
required for any decision to be taken.

Rule 4
Roll Call
Before the start of the session and in order to have a precise overlook on the exact membership of the
committee, the Chairman will run a Roll Call to which members shall reply “Present” or “Present and
Voting”.

Rule 5
“Present or Present and Voting”
A member simply stating their physical presence in the committee room shall answer “Present” by show of
placard, while “Present and Voting” indicates a binding declaration of vote resulting in the loss of the
capacity of abstention in substantive votes.

Rule 6
Speeches
No representative may address the committee without having previously obtained the permission of the
Chairman. The Chairman shall call upon speakers in the order in which they signify their desire to speak.
The Chairman may call a speaker to order if his remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion.
Rule 7
Speaker’s List
The formal debate at the United Nations is carried through the speakers list, which is de facto the only
form of debate contemplated at the United Nations. Following the Roll Call and the reaching of a
reasonable quorum, the Chairman will express the need of a motion to open the Speaker’s List. Shall the
motion pass, countries that wish to address the body and consequently be added to the list should raise
their placards. The Speaker’s List will always be open to consultation by all members as it will be projected
on a screen. Member shall speak an illimited number of times, but must not be present at the same time in
the Speaker’s List.

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Rule 8
Yields
A member may yield his or her remaining time to:
1. the Chairman: leftover time will be cancelled and next speaker will be called;
2. Questions: time will be left on the floor for members to ask questions, only answering time will be
counted. Should no question arise, time will automatically be yielded to the Chairman;
3. Another Member: this member will be allowed to address the membership but may not yield any
additional time.

Rule 9
Speaking Time
The Chairman may limit the time to be allowed to each speaker and the number of times each
representative may speak on any question. When the debate is limited and a representative exceeds his
allotted time, the Chairman shall call him to order without delay. Speaking time is decided by the member
who moves for the opening of the Speaker’s List and might be changed anytime by another member
accordingly to the Chairman provisions.

Rule 10
Closing of list of speakers
During the course of a debate, any member may move for the closure of the Speaker’s List. This motion
requires 2/3 majority and should it pass will bring the committee directly into voting procedures or to the
tabling of the topics.

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Rule 11
Adjournment of debate
During the discussion of any matter, a representative may move the adjournment of the debate on the
item under discussion. In addition to the proposer of the motion, two representatives may speak in favor
of, and two against, the motion, after which the motion shall be immediately put to the vote. The Chairman
may limit the time to be allowed to speakers under this rule.

Rule 12
Closure of debate
A representative may at any time move the closure of the debate on the item under discussion, whether
or not any other representative has signified his wish to speak. Permission to speak on the closure of the
debate shall be accorded only to two speakers opposing the closure, after which the motion shall be
immediately put to the vote. If the committee is in favor of the closure, the Chairman shall declare the
closure of the debate, following which the committee will move into voting procedures. The Chairman may
limit the time to be allowed to speakers under this rule.

Rule 13
Suspension or adjournment of the meeting
During the discussion of any matter, a representative may move the suspension or the
adjournment of the meeting. Such motions shall not be debated but shall be immediately
put to the vote.

Rule 14
Recess of the Meeting (further specify difference of caucuses)
During the discussion of any matter, a Member may move to recess the meeting. Such a motion shall include
the proposed length of such recess and shall not be debated but immediately shall be put to the vote.

This motion might bring the membership to a different kind of debate formally known as caucus. The
moderated caucus needs a specific purpose and has similar procedures as of those of the Speaker’s List.
It is characterized by shorter speaking time and less formality. The unmoderated caucuses completely
suspend the formal meeting, leaving freedom to the membership of the committee to stand up and directly
talk to their fellow delegates. The latter is ideal for the writing of working papers.

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Rule 15
Order of procedural motions
The motions indicated below shall have precedence in the following order over all other resolutions or
motions before the meeting:
(a) To suspend the meeting;
(b) To adjourn the meeting;
(c) To adjourn the debate on the item under discussion;
(d) To close the debate on the item under discussion.

Rule 16
Points of order
During the discussion of any matter, a representative may rise to a point of order, and the point of order
shall be immediately decided by the Chair in accordance with the rules of procedure. A representative
rising to a point of order may not speak on the substance of the matter under discussion. A Point of order
is used when a member notices a mishandling of the rules of procedure. A Member may interrupt a
speaker.

Rule 17
Point of Parliamentary Inquiry

A Member may rise to a point of parliamentary inquiry when uncertain of the procedural setting of the
committee. A Member may not interrupt a speaker on a point of parliamentary inquiry.

Rule 18
Point of Personal Privilege
A Member may rise to a point of personal privilege in order to bring to the attention of the Chairman
some physical discomfort which is disrupting the proper functioning of the committee. A point of personal
privilege may interrupt a speaker.

Rule 19
Appeal
A representative may appeal against the ruling of the Chair. The appeal shall be immediately put to the
vote, and the Chair’s ruling shall stand unless overruled by a majority of the members present and voting.
Voting “no” results in the upholding of the Chair’s ruling, “yes” equals to subverting it.

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Rule 20
Voting rights
Each member of the committee shall have one vote.

Rule 21
Two-thirds majority or Simple Majority
Decisions of the committee on important matters shall be made by a two-thirds majority of the members.
It is the Chairman’s duty to notice the membership on which majority rule applies. Simple Majority is more
often used.

Rule 22
Resolutions and amendments
Resolutions and amendments shall normally be submitted in writing to the Chairman, who shall circulate
copies to the delegations. As a general rule, no resolution shall be discussed or put to the vote at any
meeting of the General Assembly unless copies of it have been circulated to all delegations not later than
the day preceding the meeting. The Chairman may, however, permit the discussion and consideration of
amendments, or of motions as to procedure, even though such amendments and motions have not been
circulated or have only been circulated the same day.

Rule 23
Sponsors
Members who took active part in the writing part of the entirety of a resolution are considered as sponsors.
A resolution shall not have a fixed number of sponsors. A Sponsor might also be a Signatory of another
resolution but not his or her own.

Rule 24
Signatories
A resolution to be considered valid and accepted by the chair, it needs to have 1/5 (or 20%) of signatures
from the membership of the committee. Members that are interested in a resolution or simply want a fair
debate of it are known as signatories. A signatory shall never be asked to uphold its signature in support
of a resolution. Amendments shall only require 1/10 (or 10%) of signatures from the membership of the
committee.

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Rule 25
Resolution Layout
A resolution to be considered valid and approved by the Chairman should adhere to strict layouts
standards. The basic layout is made up of the committee name, topic name and the complete list of
sponsors and signatories. Preambulatory clauses and Operative clauses should follow in the order of this
writing. Preambulatory clause needs to start with a verb in the -ing form or a past participle and end with
a comma, a semi-colon is needed at the end of the last preambulatory clause. Operative clauses are
logically numbered and needs to start with a verb in third person singular and shall end with a semi-colon,
a period is needed at the last end of the last operative clause.

Rule 26
Preambulatory Clauses
Preambulatory Clauses serve as an introduction to the resolution, they further specify the grounds in which
the resolution acts, focusing on one or more sub-topics. They might cite relevant documents or statements
of highly important or informed figures.

Rule 27
Operative Clauses
Operative Clauses represent the body of the resolution and the outcome of the debate, they show
proposed actions and solutions on the topic. Each Operative clause calls for a specific action.

Rule 28
Withdrawal
A resolution may be withdrawn by its sponsors at any time before voting on it has commenced, provided
that the motion has not been amended. A motion thus withdrawn may be reintroduced by any of the
sponsors through a Reconsideration.

Rule 29
Method of voting
The committee shall normally vote by show of placards, but any representative may request a roll-call
vote. The roll-call shall be taken in the English alphabetical order of the names of the members, beginning
with the member whose name is drawn by lot by the Chairman. The name of each member shall be called
in any roll-call, and one of its representatives shall reply "yes", "no" or "abstention". The result of the
voting shall be inserted in the record in the English alphabetical order of the names of the members.

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Rule 30
Conduct during voting
After the Chairman has announced the beginning of voting, no representative shall interrupt the voting
except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting. The Chairman may permit
members to explain their votes, either before or after the voting, except when the vote is taken by show
of placards. The Chairman may limit the time to be allowed for such explanations. The Chairman shall not
permit the proposer of a resolution or of an amendment to explain his vote on his own resolution or
amendment.

Rule 31
Division of resolutions and amendments
A representative may move that parts of a resolution or of an amendment should be voted on separately.
If objection is made to the request for division, the motion for division shall be voted upon. Permission to
speak on the motion for division shall be given only to two speakers in favor and two speakers against. If
the motion for division is carried, those parts of the resolution or of the amendment which are approved
shall then be put to the vote as a whole. If all operative parts of the resolution or of the amendment have
been rejected, the resolution or the amendment shall be considered to have been rejected.

Rule 32
Voting on amendments
When an amendment is moved to a resolution, the amendment shall be voted on first. When two or more
amendments are moved to a resolution, the committee shall first vote on the amendment furthest removed
in substance from the original resolution (most disruptive) and then on the amendment next furthest
removed therefrom (least disruptive), and so on until all the amendments have been put to the vote. Where,
however, the adoption of one amendment necessarily implies the rejection of another amendment, the
latter amendment shall not be put to the vote. If one or more amendments are adopted, the amended
resolution shall then be voted upon. A motion is considered an amendment to a resolution if it merely adds
to, deletes from or revises part of the resolution.

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Rule 33
Voting on resolutions
If two or more resolutions relate to the same question, the committee shall vote on the resolutions in the
order in which they have been submitted.

Rule 34
Draw
If a vote is equally divided the resolution shall be regarded as rejected.

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