1. Organising a delegation for a conference Chris whitehouse
LIMUN Masterclass
Organising a delegation for a conference
Chris whitehouse

2. Aims of Conference Preparation
Preparation for a conference should ensure that all delegates are familiar with:
The Rules of Procedure
Their committee and topic
Their country position
All delegates are expected to produce and submit a Position Paper well before the conference begins, and is usually a prerequisite for consideration for awards.
This is a short document that concisely outlines the position a country will take in the upcoming committee session. This is primarily an exercise for the delegates themselves, to force them to properly research and understand the topic.
The committee directors will read through all of them prior to the conference. They will also be bear them in mind when evaluating whether delegates have been successful in committee.

3. The Position Paper Structure
For a committee with two possible topics, a position paper should be 1-2 pages of typed A4 total. Thus for LIMUN:HS, we’d expect half that. Remember that chairs have to read all of them, so keep it concise!
A position paper should answer the following questions:
How does this issue affect my country?
What (if any) policies has my country adopted on this question? Be specific.
What specifically does my country want from any eventual resolution?
There is no need to recap the entirety of the topic in an introduction; your chairs wrote the guide, they know it already. Similarly, don’t write a long-winded description of your country’s history/politics. Jump straight to how the issue is affecting your country.

4. Researching for a Position Paper
When researching for a position, search for statements made by the government/diplomats of your nation, and any articles analysing the policy of your government. Diplomatic statements are particularly useful for describing what specifically your government hopes to see in the final resolution.
If your government has passed legislation or proposed/signed treaties, these should come up in searches. Be sure to explicitly reference them in your position paper.
If the delegate has been allocated a country at the centre of the topic, it should be easy to find research material. For example, there will be plenty written about Russia’s foreign policy positions in Syria.

5. What about Minor Nations?
For topics and committees that are more geopolitical in nature, some delegates find it difficult to formulate a position for minor nations not at the centre of a given issue.
However, by asking yourself questions about your nation, it is often possible to extrapolate a workable position:
Is my country developed or undeveloped? What are its primary industries?
What does my country’s political system look like? Are we democratic?
Does my country belong to any regional blocs? If so, do we tend to support the bloc’s line?
Which countries are we most friendly with?
Remember: though being a minor can seem a disadvantage, it also makes you more flexible. Such nations can play the role of intermediary, or form a bloc with other more neutral states to influence the final settlement. Delegates with a keen interest in designing policy (rather than the politics) can suggest policies to tackle the issue.

6. What does Singapore want?
You are allocated the nation of Singapore. There are two possible topics:
The South China Sea dispute.
Peace and stability in the Central African Republic.
Topic A is of great relevance to Singapore, while Topic B is less so. But we need to develop a position on both. What do we know about Singapore?
Singapore is a wealthy nation, extremely reliant on trade.
It is a very small nation, with a relatively small population.
It is a member of the ASEAN regional body.
It also has strong economic and cultural ties to China.
It has no claims in the South China Sea.
It has a defence partnership with the United States and hosts a US Naval Base.
It has contributed to UN efforts before.

7. What does this tell us?
Singapore’s size, close ties with the major powers in the region, dependence on trade, and lack of territorial claims, all lead it to seek a stable status quo in the region.
These factors also mean it must maintain a careful diplomatic balancing act.
Backed up with official statements/actions. When a Chinese state paper accused Singapore of taking the Philippine position, Singapore’s ambassador issued a strong, official denial.
On the other hand, smaller nations like Singapore are more dependent on effective regional blocs. Thus it has called for the ASEAN bloc to be more united in its decision making.
Singapore doesn’t gain from a situation where one of its partners (China) runs roughshod over another (ASEAN). Such a scenario would threaten Singapore’s ability to effectively balance China, America and ASEAN.

8. What about Africa?
Singapore obviously has no direct strategic interests in the Central African Republic.
However, it has a track record of offering some support to UN efforts. As a small, wealthy nation, such support will be specialist. The Singaporean MoD has made statements emphasising this specialist role.
Beyond this, it is up to the delegate to be flexible and develop policy as they go.
For this sort of topic, there won’t be major power rivalries that affect the debate, so the lack of a clear political agenda isn’t a disadvantage.

9. Questions?