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Preparing for Zour Girst MUN ConfFrence
Preparation is a critical part of any Model UN conference- you need to come prepared so you can
deliver informed speeches, make strong arguments while negotiating, and write innovative and realistic
resolutions on your committee topics. Preparation and research needs to focus on both your country
and your topics, and it can add up to a lot of information that theres no way for you to memorize!
Heres a sample conference preparation timeline:
Before the Conference
6 weeks before
Print off and read the Background Guide for your
committee. This is provided by the conference and can usually
be found online.
5 weeks before
Put your Background Guide into a binder to hold all your
information. This is called a Research Binder. Start filling it with
information you find researching your country and topic.
4 weeks before
Complete a Country Profile, researching your assigned country.
2-3 weeks before
1 week before
Research your topic- specifically the Topic Background, Past
International Action, Country Policy, and Possible Solutions
Write an Opening Speech and practice it before the
conference!
Researching your Country Profile
Physical Geography
Culture
What is your countrys official name?
What is your countrys population?
What region of the world is your country located in?
What is your countrys ethnic composition?
How big is your country? (square miles)
What is your countrys official language? What other
languages are spoken?
Who are your countrys neighbors?
How would you describe your countrys physical
features and climate?
What is your countrys capital? What are some
of the major cities?
How would you describe the quality of life in your
country?
Politics & Goverment
Economy
When was your country founded?
What is your countrys total Gross Domestic Product?
What type of government does your country have?
What are some of your countrys natural resources?
Who are some of your countrys leaders?
What is your countrys currency?
How many people serve in your countrys military?
What are your countrys major imports and exports?
Who are your countrys allies? Enemies?
What are your countrys biggest trading partners?
Copyright Best Delegate LLC 201
Your first step in assembling your research binder should be your country profile- a research packet
about what country youre going to represent! While you may not need to know what your 8th biggest
export is, its critical to have a decent understanding of your country if you want to represent them in
debate. 4FFBCPWFGPSBMJTUPGHVJEJOHRVFTUJPOTUPSFTFBSDIGPSZPVSDPVOUSZQSPGJMF
There are many resources to help your research your country. While many resources may be provided
by the countries themselves, there are also several credible databases that share information about
countries visit the Best Delegate Country Profile and Policy Map to check them out!
Researching Topic Background
After researching your country, you should begin
looking into the topic that youre going to be discussing.
Its important to have a good base of understanding
about your topic before you dive in and try to decipher
how your country feels about that topic. There are
numerous resources on UN websites and across the
internet about your topic- even Wikipedia is a good
place to start, so you can use their sources at the
bottom to find more information about your topic. You
should have a strong historical understanding of your
topic, as well as the causes and impacts of the issue
youre discussing so that you can come prepared to
committee on the first day of the conference.
Researching Past International Action and Country Policy
To understand how to represent your country at the UN, you need to know two things- what the
international community has already done about the topic, and what your country wants to do about
it. To find Past International Action, you can try looking through news sources, but you can also read
past UN reports and resolutions on the issue. The UN Official Documentation Services can help you
determine what the UN has done about the topic already. A similar solution can be found for your
countrys policy on the issue- by looking at the websites of your countrys government, foreign ministry,
or UN mission, you can find statements and actions related to the topic youre discussing.
Researching Solutions
While researching UN and government websites can be helpful to learn about what the UN has done
about your topic in the past, they may not be as helpful as youd like for finding new solutions to these
issues youre researching! However, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) can be great resources
to find solutions to the topic youre researching. Also, Think Tanks and University Researchers may have
published ideas on how the issue can be fixed, and looking through their ideas can be great ways to
brainstorm ideas on how to take these issues. The most important thing for finding solutions to these
problems, however, is your creativity! Think of ways the UN and Member States could work together to
combat this issue in realistic ways, and plan how these solutions would work in your words!
Copyright Best Delegate LLC 201
