|
|
|
MUN FAQ
From The Student RoomTSR Wiki > Life > Debating > TSR Model UN > MUN FAQ These Frequently Asked Questions will hopefully help you know how to go about joining and posting in the TSR MUN What goes on in the MUN?In the MUN (Model United Nations) we debate and discuss international affairs and attempt to copy the structure and activities of the UN. All members represent a member nation or a UN organisation by promoting its views and values in discussions and polls. Behaviour is governed by rules laid out in our charter. How does the TSR MUN differ from the real UN?The UN is made up of five administrative bodies; namely the General Assembly, the Security Council, the International Court of Justice, the Economic and Social Council and the Secretariat. The MUN only has a General Assembly and a Security Council, which reflects our size and simplicity. In the MUN most discussion takes place in the General Assembly including most of the resolutions. Resolutions concerning peacekeeping and international security are sent to the Security Council for further discussion and voting. P5 nations (UK, US, France, China, Russia) may apply the veto here. In the MUN Security Council we have two seats for non-permanent Security Council members. A non-perm member serves a two month term. In the UN, the Security Council has ten temporary seats lasting two years. The UN has many other affiliated bodies connected to it such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). These bodies provide a forum for separate and specified discussion and action. In the MUN, we allow members to represent such a body as part of the activity which takes place in the General Assembly. In the UN such activity would take place separately to the funtioning of the GA. What do IC and OOC mean?IC stands for 'in character'; OOC for 'out of character'. In any discussion that arises about how we structure and run the TSR MUN, members post OOC, voicing their own views rather than that of their nations. The MUN also has an off topic chat thread where members can talk about whatever they like OOC. For every other type of discussion in the MUN, members are required to remain IC. Failure to do so will result in any inappropriate posts being dumped in our spam bin Who represents which country?Here is a list of the countries and their representatives. Most representatives display the flag of their nation in their postbits, and state them in their signatures which can be seen attached to their first posts on any page. What do the UN Organisation representatives do? How is their role different to that of a nation?The MUN is too small for us to create separate subforums for UN organisations (UNOs) like the United Nations Human Rights Council, or the World Health Organisation. Instead some members choose to represent an organisation instead of a country. These representatives advocate the views and objectives of their bodies by starting threads to bring specific issues to the attention of nations, and sometimes by contributing to debate where relevant. The representatives must remain politically neutral. They may not vote in substantive polls (polls that determine a political issue), but may vote in any procedural poll same as any other MUN member (procedural polls determine how we run the TSR MUN) The UN Agencies Head Quarters is stickied here Where do I post? What are the different subforums for?The MUN consists of its GA (main forum) where the every day discussing of international affairs, administrative issues and voting takes place. This is the forum in which you post any new resolutions or raise any discussions. When resolutions have been voted on by the GA, they are either passed onto the Security Council, (which has its own subforum hidden to non SC members) or it gets moved to the Resolutions subforum which acts as an archive in which to store old resolutions for later reference. No further discussion takes place in this archive. Resolutions passed to the SC are disussed by P5 nations and then voted on in the SC Voting subforum, where all nations may view the outcome. Where do I start?When you join the MUN you will be assigned a mentor who is there to shadow you and give you advice or instruction until you find your feet. You only have to PM your mentor if you are unsure in any way. Even if you feel confident, we strongly urge you to read the charter before you make a start. There is a precedent for the format in which resolutions are written, how long polls may last, how long you wait before setting up a poll, and a few other things besides. Don't panic! We won't eat you if you make a mistake, but all the resources are there in the stickies in order to alleviate any potential confusion. As a new member you have the freedom to voice your nation's views in any discussion in the GA. You may also represent your nation's stance in any poll, and initiate new discussions. It is easy to find your nation's view; just put the name of the nation and the issue into Google. There is a news site sticky which provides links to many countries' national news sites. If you are battling to find your nation's stance, use your common sense and your broader experience of that nation's attitudes. How do I write a resolution?If you'd like to propose a resolution to the GA, have a look at the format of old resolutions in the archive, use the guidelines in the charter, or have a look at this resolution writing tool. It would also be a good idea to bounce it off of your mentor before starting. Its important to choose a topic that would be realistic for your country to voice. It is also important to choose something that would be relevant to the entire international community, rather than just your own nation's government. Don't feel obligated to pass any resolutions if there are no relevant topics to hand. You can make just as much contribution by raising general points for discussion and participating on those raised by others. Other useful linksNotesOriginally produced by Craghyrax | 
|
