RESOURCES
POSITION PAPER
Essentially, Position Papers are a statement of your delegation's position on a certain matter. They help you sistematize and organize your knowledge regarding the topic, besides showing the chairs that you did your research correctly.
STRUCTURE
There is a standard format for MUN Position Papers, which consists of a header and three paragraphs.
Header: this is a synthesis of all the information about you and your delegation. It should contain the committee your country is in, the topic being discussed, your delegation, the school you go to and your name. Using bold font in this section is recommended.
Paragraph I: here, the history and background of the topic should be explained. This should not simply be a repetition of the background, but a review of the topic from the perspective of your nation.
Paragraph II: this is where you should explore the relation between your nation and the topic being discussed. Here, highlight what your country believes is important regarding the issue and try to include past actions and solutions it has taken on the matter. It would also be interesting to mention past UN resolutions your nation has adopted or signed on the same issue before.
Paragraph III: for this last paragraph, possible solutions your nation would like to see being discussed in committee should be highlighted. Here is the place to try and be innovative, and come up with ideas that haven't been considered yet but could solve the issue while still being advantageous to your nation.
FORMAT
SMUN Position Papers follow a simple format. The font must be Times New Roman in size 12, no coat of arms in the heading is required, spacing is 1.15 and it should not exceed the one page limit.
Bellow you can find a sample Position Paper, which illustrates better what was explained above.
EU-LAC Foundation
Topic C: Discussing the Legalization of Marijuana and its Economic and Social Impacts to Countries with Different Cultural Backgrounds
Federal Republic of Germany
Swiss School of Curitiba
Angela Machado and Enzo Castagna
From the second half of the 20th century onwards, the international community has been involved in a heated debate on how cannabis should be dealt with. At the present time, there is an great divergence amongst nations regarding marijuana legislation and control: while some see its possession, trade and manufacturing as a crime worthy of capital punishment, others have fully legalized the drug in their respective territories - in addition, there are countries, such as Germany and most of Europe, which have permitted cannabis for medicinal purposes. Because of this difference between constitutions, it's challenging to reach a worldwide consensus concerning drug policy. Legalization of marijuana brings along several implications, especially in economic and social spheres of a society; as it has been observed in places that have allowed a controlled cannabis market, taxes collection have increased significantly and numerous job opportunities have been created. However, it must be kept in mind that the abuse of the substance could lead to neurological and learning impairments, as well as psychological and physical disorders, such as schizophrenia and pulmonary issues.
The current German policy towards the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes is considered to be one of the most progressive ones in the world: a law that entered into force in March 2017 has established a government regulamented plan for the prescription and production of marijuana, putting its cultivation and distribution entirely under the control of the State instead of foreign companies. With this new legislation, the costs of cannabis-based therapeutic products are covered by public health insurance, and can be obtained at pharmacies under medical prescription for roughly 30 ailments, varying from chronic pain to epilepsy. This innovation in the constitution has helped in consolidating Germany's spot as Europe's largest cannabis market, with values reaching up to $11.9 billion and thousands of new job opportunities being offered; additionally, it has facilitated the process of obtention of medicaments by the general public. In German territory, possession of small amounts for personal use is decriminalized, yet the government has declared that this law should not be seen as an opening to the full legalization of recreational marijuana, having in mind the negative consequences its abuse may cause.
This delegation acknowledges the difficulty of standardizing cannabis policy around the globe due to the varying cultural, social, political and economical aspects of each nation - yet, it supposes it's possible to establish widespread consent regarding how the substance could be handled in vision of recent observations. Taking into consideration the scientifically proven therapeutic properties of marijuana, it would be sensate for the UN to review the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) and remove the substance from a Schedule IV drug and keep it solely as part of Schedule I, thus facilitating its use in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, Germany believes that nations can profit greatly from the cannabis market, and therefore encourages the creation of an international body to overlook production and trade of the substance, as well as controlling the distribution of the drug under strict regulations, in order to avoid misuse and exploitation. Finally, this delegation is certain that with the collaboration of the international community a global regulamentation of marijuana can be achieved with the minimum negative impacts on the economy and society of each individual nation.