Resolution: Overview

RESOLUTIONS:

A resolution is a formal statement of opinion or recommendation to be presented to the appropriate organ of the MUN for adoption. Armed with full understanding of its country’s stand on an issue, a delegation can draft a suitable resolution on the issue. A resolution must be directly concerned with the agenda item and must accurately represent the position and national policy of its author and sponsors. Resolutions are the basic decisions or statements of the constituent unit of the United Nations.

While drafted by individual states or groups thereof, they declare the official policy for the particular organ or body. While resolutions have a standard format, they may serve different purposes. Most resolutions state or reaffirm Assembly policy on a particular item. Some resolutions include an entire treaty, declarations, requests, or suggestions to other UM bodies, or specific funds and programs. They may condemn the actions of a state, urge collective action, and, in case of the Security Council, require compulsory compliance.

If the proper format is followed, resolutions are fairly easy to construct. Each resolution is experienced in a single sentence. The subject of the sentence is the organ making the statement such as the General Assembly, Security Council and ECOSOC. The Main Committees, as subsidiary units of the General Assembly, us the General Assembly as the subject of their resolutions. The remainder of the resolution can be divided into two parts: preambular and operative.

The preambular phrases are the justifications for action. They denote charter authorization for action, past resolution precedents, and statements about the particular problem. They are similar to the given in a logical proof. All actions taken in the resolution should be deducted from or supported by the preambular phrases.

The policy portion of the resolution is composed of operative paragraphs. Each of these starts with a verb. Taken as a whole, the operatives should deal thoroughly with one complete idea and should be arranged in logical progression. They should not be a collection of unrelated thoughts or statements on a broad topic. In doing so, more states can become involved in the resolution process, the quality of the resolutions will improve, and overall treatment of a topic will be more detailed.

Delegates are urged to draft a resolution on each of the other agenda items before conference. All drafts should reflect the positions and ideal outcomes desired by the countries represented. In the conference however, it is stressed that these resolutions should not be expected to be submitted to Substantive Officers in their draft form or unchanged at conference. They should rather be seen as starting points for discussion and negotiation with other countries during caucus sessions. It is expected that delegates, while striving to role play their countries accurately, should strive to combine the best parts or several draft resolutions.

The result should be the creation of a more comprehensive resolution on which there is greater consensus. These are the fuller and more widely considered resolutions which should be submitted to the Substantive Officers.