Many conferences ask delegates to submit a position paper before they arrive. It is tempting to treat it as a summary of everything you have read. The strongest papers do something more useful: they commit to a position and show the reasoning behind it.
Start with the problem, briefly
Your chair already knows the topic. One or two paragraphs that define the problem precisely — its scale, who it affects, why it is hard — are worth more than pages of history.
Show what has been tried
Identify the treaties, resolutions and programs that already address the issue, and say what they achieved and where they fell short. This is where the UN Digital Library (opens in a new tab) earns its place in your browser bookmarks.
Speak as your country
Explain your delegation’s actual policy, using its own statements and voting record where you can find them. A delegate representing a country whose views differ from their own is doing exactly what Model UN asks of them.
The best position papers commit to a position — and make clear what the delegation would be willing to trade for it.
Propose, specifically
End with two or three concrete proposals your delegation would support in a resolution. Specific mechanisms — who pays, who monitors, by when — give you something to negotiate with once committee begins.
Our position paper template sets out this structure with prompts for each section.
