How to write a Position Paper Purpose

The Position Paper’s purpose is to organize a delegate’s position in order to present the country’s point of view to the forum. In MUNAPS, each delegation presents their Position Paper and can answer questions about it. Remember to support your statements with statistics, facts, and quotes. Delegates are the representatives of a country, so personal pronouns such as “I”, “me”, “you”, etc must be avoided. Instead words such as “we”, “us”, “my country”, and/or the country's name must be used.

Description A Position Paper is a three paragraph essay in which the

delegate explains the history or basic facts of the debated topic, states their country's opinion about it, and explains the country's proposed solutions. A Position Paper is required for each of the two topics in your committee. It must be written from the country’s point of view rather than a delegate’s own personal convictions.

Writing

Having understood this, the Position Paper must be written in a specific format. First, it must mention the problem the Committee is discussing and express all facts about it. It must then state the country’s problem, past actions made by the country, even if they failed or are still ongoing. Afterwards, the Position Paper shall state the possible solution the country/delegation declares so the problem ceases or decreases. Position Papers should be three fourths of a page, in some cases a little longer; single spaced, font size 12. A one inch margin should be established. It should include 3 paragraphs, it’s contents are explained below.

Parts of the Position Paper

(1) Heading – The heading of the Position Paper must state the topic, the Committee, the delegation/country that is being represented, the delegate’s name who represents the country, and the institution or school the delegate attends.

(2) Opening – The opening informs about all background information on the topic being dealt with and that will be debated. It states actions taken by the Committee and should not focus on the delegation represented. The paragraph should be neutral and should not present opinions.

(3) Body: Country’s position – The body of the Position Paper should include the country’s point of view on the topic, how the country has been affected by the topic, and how it attempts to solve the issue.

(4) Country’s solution – The solutions a country states must be available to the Committee. The union of tentative solutions from various delegates may become part of the solutions stated in the Committee’s Resolution Paper. Remember to be open to other solutions or the union of many.

Please find a sample position paper below….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Committee : World Health Organization (WHO) Topic: Strengthening health systems in the Middle East and North Africa Country : United Arab Emirates Delegate : Sam Smith School: American Institute of Monterrey Fellow Delegates and Honorable Chair,

The Middle East and North Africa countries (MENA) have health systems that are disorganized and inadequate. This alarming problem is mainly caused by a chain reaction. This region has been suffering ongoing wars which causes governments to decrease the percentage of income they spend in health care systems because they use it for military purposes. In addition, bombing and air strikes have destroyed many hospitals in these countries causing many people, even with curable diseases, to die since there aren't sufficient doctors to attend them. Other problems in this region are the imbalance of supply and demand, and the rising health care costs because of population growth. Currently the IDF stated that about one in ten adults in these countries have diabetes, and these numbers are expected to rise. The World Health Organization is currently working on a framework to accelerate implementation of risk-informed health systems. 

The United Arab Emirates has come a long way in terms of healthcare since its independence from Britain. It started of with 7 hospitals in 1970 and now has over 70. Health strategies in the UAE are targeted on its citizens, that are considered the nation's main focus of all development; because of this, it has a health service funded by the government. In Dubai, it is mandatory to get health insurance and employers who haven't purchased insurance for their employees and dependents have to pay heavy fines. 95,000 nationals have been covered by SAADA, a health insurance program for the citizens in the Emirate of Dubai with the purpose of providing coverage for citizens who don't benefit from any government program. The country is aiming to become a medical hub and is already working to achieve this; since it would benefit the region tremendously. A medical hub would offer highly skilled jobs that would attract worldwide scientists and doctors who could practice healing science. That would motivate research in the country, establishing UAE higher in rank in healthcare. With all of this medical tourism going on, my delegation would need to increase the number of nurses, doctors, hospitals, and beds. As a result, UAE is already planning on opening 5 new nursing schools.

My delegation proposes the following solutions. To start off, many of these countries in the Middle East and Africa, lack appropriate and prepared doctors to attend. Because of this my delegation proposes to have a kind of social service for people studying to become doctors or nurses. These people would have to spend a specific time in their country or a neighboring country working in clinics or hospitals. When they finish this service they would be given their diploma to practice medicine. In addition, college students studying in this field from whichever part of the world could be sent as volunteers to these struggling regions. This would give students practice in their career and they would be helping countries with weak healthcare systems. Another solution is to target technology improvements. Mobile phones are extremely common and can be used for long distance diagnosis and for patients to be able to call doctors if they have a health issue. Phones could also remind people when it's time to take their medicines. My delegation is open to further solutions.