Paper Requirements:

Length must not exceed two pages; any position papers over two pages will have only the first two pages
considered.
• Margins: 1 inch the whole paper.
• Font: Arial, 10 pt.
• Justify the text of your paragraphs so both the right and left sides have straight edges.
• Centered on the first line of the first page, type Delegation from Member State/Observer Name.
• Centered on the second line of the first page, type Position Paper for the [Committee].
• Do not include the name of your university or sponsoring organization anywhere in the position
paper.

Example header on the first page:

• Include a short introductory paragraph at the beginning of your position paper that introduces the topics
on your committee’s agenda and your Member State’s or Observer’s commitment to addressing these
topics. (See the example position papers at the end of this guide for an illustration of the introductory
paragraph.)
• For the remainder of the paper, address the topics before your committee in the order in which they
appear within your Committee Background Guide. Label each topic, with the name of the topic bolded
and centered.

Example topic title:

• For each topic, address the global/regional context of the topic (including relevant statistics and
information); what the international/regional community and your Member State or Observer have
previously done to address the topic; and provide both broad and specific actions that your committee
and the international community can take to address the topic going forward (while also acting in line with
your Member State’s or Observer’s positions and policies).
• Avoid the use of national symbols (flags, headers, etc.), which are inappropriate for PWAY position
papers.
• Submit your position paper in PDF format. The filename should follow the naming convention of
committee name and your assignment (example: GA1_Cuba).

Introduction:
Within the introduction of your position paper, you will provide a very simple overall introduction to the
topics that your committee is discussing and your Member State’s or Observer’s interest in discussing
those topics at the upcoming conference. This introduction needs to be only 2-3 sentences long. In this
introduction, tell us 1) the topics that your committee is discussing and 2) your Member State’s or
Observer’s feelings on discussing these topics and participating in the committee’s work at the
conference.

Example:
The following topics are before the General Assembly Second Committee: Promoting Access to
Renewable and Sustainable Energy for Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development; Financing for
Development; and World Commodity Trends and Prospects. Lao People’s Democratic Republic believes
that these topics have significance within the international community and looks forward to discussing
them at the upcoming meeting of the Second Committee.

Following your position paper’s introduction, the remainder of your position paper will discuss the topics
on your committee’s agenda in the order that they are presented in your committee’s Background Guide.
At the beginning of each topic, you will list the full title of the topic as found in the Background Guide,
bolded and centered. Following this, you will address the topic, looking to give context on the topic (why it
is important to discuss), what the international community and your specific Member State or Observer
have done to address the topic, and what your Member State or Observer proposes to do in addressing
the topic going forward.

As you write your position paper, consider using multiple paragraphs within each topic. This allows you to
provide information in an easy-to-read, well-organized format. For example, you could have three
paragraphs for each topic: the first paragraph for each topic establishing the context and importance of
the topic, the second paragraph for each topic discussing what the international community and your
Member State or Observer have done on your topic, and the third paragraph for each topic giving specific
recommendations in addressing the topic going forward. When using multiple paragraphs within a topic,
there is no need to indent the beginning of each paragraph. Leave a blank line between paragraphs. At
the beginning of each topic, you can briefly set the stage for that topic and tell us what the current global
situation is in relation to your topic. What is the “problem” in relation to the topic that needs to be
addressed? What is the current state of this topic globally, regionally, and/or locally? Consider providing
statistics on the topic, listing some of the real issues that global citizens face in relation to the topic, and
telling the reader why it is important to address it. This will help your reader understand why the topic is
significant and will provide good context for the rest of your discussion on it.

Example:
Within the global population, a majority of the 1 billion individuals living in extreme poverty are women.
Women often have unequal access to employment – in 2013, 72% of men were employed, compared to
47.1% of women – and women are paid 60% to 75% of what men are paid, although women in
developing countries often work longer hours and in more vulnerable jobs than men. In addition, women
are more likely to engage in informal and unpaid care positions. Conversely, the further involvement of
women in the labor force not only improves the economic situations of women, but also the individual
economies of Member States and the global economy as a whole. Accordingly, while much has been
done to increase the participation of women in the labor force in recent years, it is important to continue to
address equal and equitable access to employment for women to promote economic development and
further improve the status of women worldwide.

Once you’ve established the importance of each topic, then tell us about the international and national
precedents in relation to each topic. In Model UN, “precedents” constitute what has been done before to
discuss a topic. How has the international community addressed this topic thus far? What are key
international documents, conferences, conventions, resolutions, treaties, etc. that the UN, regional
organizations, and/or your committee have created on the topic, and what are key efforts previously
undertaken to address this topic internationally? In addition, what has your Member State or Observer
done to address this topic? You can provide specific examples of programs, documents, laws, civil
society and NGO work, and other efforts that your specific Member State or Observer has made in
relation to this issue.

Example:
As noted by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) during its recent session, Member States and
the United Nations (UN) have looked to improve gender equality and address poverty in recent years,
including during the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, the UN Millennium Summit in
New York in 2000, and the post-2015 development agenda planning process that culminated in the
adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. Furthermore, at its recent
60th session in 2016, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) discussed the topic of “Women’s
empowerment and its link to sustainable development;” Mexico participated in these discussions.
Nationally, in 2002, Mexico hosted the UN International Conference on Financing for Development and
continues to affirm its support of the financial strategies within the Monterrey Consensus. Mexico has
implemented many social and governmental programs to address gender equality and poverty reduction.
One example of Mexico’s successful financial strategies for empowering women citizens, microcredit
loans, was first discussed at the International Women’s Congress held in Mexico City in 1975; within the
last decade, the government has supplied 1.3 million microcredit loans, allowing Mexico to address SDG
1 on eradicating poverty.

While each aspect of your position paper is important, proposing solutions to the topic is perhaps the
most significant, as it allows you to show that your delegation has researched the topics and can offer
thoughtful and creative solutions to address the topic going forward. Prior to the conference, this will also
allow your fellow delegates, as well as your Committee Director and Assistant Director, to preview some
of the ideas that you have for talking about the topic and what you may be interested in accomplishing
during the conference.

In this section of your topic, the solutions that you propose can be both general and specific. Some
solutions may be more general to encourage overall directions where additional action can occur in line
with your Member State’s or Observer’s positions and/or to point out larger areas that need to be further
addressed. In many solutions, however, look to provide specific details by describing the who, what,
where, when, and why to make it something that could feasibly be put into action. You can look at what
has been successful in your own Member State or region, or in another Member State or region, and use
those ideas to spark thoughts on solutions to propose going forward. You don’t have to give us every
single detail at this point – you will flesh things out more fully in writing your working papers with fellow
delegations at the conference! However, look to give specific details that help your Committee Staff and
fellow delegates understand your ideas, what you would like to happen, and how your creative ideas will
solve potential issues and address the topic going forward.

As you propose solutions, focus on solutions within the committee’s mandate which are also realistic for
the committee to carry out in the near future. The mandate specifies what your committee has the power
to do and not do, whom it can tell what to do and whom it cannot, what it can discuss, and in what ways it
can work. For example, a subsidiary body of ECOSOC could not tell ECOSOC to form a new committee,
but it would be able to suggest that ECOSOC consider action; similarly, the Economic Commission for
Latin America and the Caribbean could not tell the Security Council to write a report on the topic of peace
and security in the Middle East and North Africa, but it would instead work within its own mandate to
discuss topics related to economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. You can find your
committee’s mandate in its founding documents and/or on its website. As you propose solutions, also
check to make sure they are in line with your Member State’s or Observer’s policies (as much as you are
able to determine).

When proposing solutions, also consider where there are existing entities that you can work with rather
than creating a new committee or organization for each recommendation – whenever creating something
new, you have to consider how it will be created, who will oversee it, how it will be financed, etc. Through
research, you can often find an existing committee or organization that you can propose to work with for
your new campaign, fund, and so on, rather than creating a new entity.

Example:
The United Kingdom believes that crisis prevention and recovery situations must include gender equality
and the participation of women to be fully effective in addressing conflict. The United Kingdom urges
Member States to continue aid during times of conflict and to specifically provide aid that will directly help
by financing gender equality in areas of conflict. Member States should work together with non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) to explicitly address the conditions of women in conflict; this should
be done at the regional, national, and local levels. Member States who have committed to providing
international development assistance, such as Official Development Assistance (ODA), should remain
committed to providing aid, and Member States should support the efforts of UN entities such as UN
Women in order to assure that the assistance given appropriately addresses empowerment and gender
equality. In addition, the United Kingdom supports the creation of an UN Programme on Financing for
Gender Equality. During Times of Conflict. This program will focus on financing opportunities for women
in order to increase empowerment and will be facilitated through existing UN Women efforts. Women’s
participation in the settling of national and international conflict directly decreases the occurrences and
effects of conflict, and the United Kingdom believes that gender-specific financing that explicitly offers aid
for the empowerment of women will advance gender equality and ultimately increase Member States’
abilities to address conflict.
Example of a Position Paper

Delegation from the Republic of Poland

The topics before the Human Rights Council (HRC) are Access to Safe Drinking Water as a Fundamental
Human Right and Preventing Discrimination and Violence Against Persons with Disabilities. The Republic
of Poland recognizes the need for strong international cooperation to monitor and implement access to vital
human rights, and it looks forward to discussing these topics at the upcoming conference.

1. Access to Safe Drinking Water as a Fundamental Human Right

According to the United Nations (UN) World Health Organization (WHO), over 1 billion people throughout
the world lack access to clean drinking water. WHO and the UN Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) Joint
Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation has stated that the water that 1.8 billion
people drink exhibits fecal contamination. The deprivation of the fundamental right to safe drinking water
particularly afflicts the most marginalized members of global society, including women, displaced persons,
persons with disabilities, the impoverished, and children. Those without access to safe drinking water often
also suffer from economic and social disadvantages, including medical conditions, lack of access to
education, and lack of employment. The Republic of Poland is dedicated to aiding Member States and to
improving infrastructure for the promotion and protection of the right to safe drinking water.

Access to safe drinking water as a basic human right has been discussed extensively on the international
level. While the foundational Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948 does not explicitly
discuss water, it established “the right to life, liberty and security of persons” and the right to “a standard of
living adequate for the health and well-being” of individuals. In 1977, the Mar del Plata Action Plan from the
UN Water Conference held in Argentina first recognized water as a human right. In 2010, the UN General
Assembly (GA) acknowledged the human right to water in resolution 64/292, which also discussed the
connection between access to safe drinking water and the achievement of all other human rights. The
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation. Poland supports
HRC resolution 15/9, which stressed the importance of Member State support of human rights programs
pertaining to access to safe drinking water. Poland also applauds the adoption of HRC resolution 18/1,
which called for transparency, diligent analysis, and prioritized action for populations most in need. Poland
upholds the continued work of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and
sanitation, as well as the UN Inter-Agency Mechanism on all Freshwater Related Issues, Including
Sanitation (UN-Water). Regionally, the European Union (EU) has emphasized that effective water
management is important for all EU countries. Nationally, Poland is proud of the work within its own borders
and throughout the world by its government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Poland is a
country considered to have less available in-country water resources than many other European countries;
however, 99% of urban citizens and nearly 97% of rural citizens have access to an improved drinking water
source. In Poland, a minister has been appointed to consider issues related to water management, and in
June 2015, Poland hosted a National Water Forum to discuss access to water in Poland, which encouraged
the sharing of ideas through public consultations towards updated Water Management Plans. At the UN
Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015, Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, emphasized
the continued need of the international community to address access to water.

Poland stresses the need for Member States to lead and coordinate efforts to help developing countries.
As such, Poland recommends the international implementation of measures proposed by the Special
Rapporteur. These proposals would require legislative and social changes within individual Member States
and should contain legal consequences for discriminatory practices in water distribution and access in
regards to a person’s ethnicity, nationality, gender, or social status. Other considerations should include
support such as food aid, medical assistance, and access to water sources. Furthermore, additional
changes should include increased support by NGOs, national governments, and the international
community for community infrastructures such as plumbing fixtures and water connections. It is important
that voluntary financial support is made available to assist Member States in improving drinking water
infrastructure in order to ensure that all have access to it. As such practices are implemented, more
communities will obtain a higher standard of living through access to safe drinking water, and the human
rights of global citizens can be more fully realized.

2. Preventing Discrimination and Violence against Persons with Disabilities

Approximately 1 billion people have a disability, and 80% of persons with disabilities are from developing
countries. Despite the UN’s efforts for more than 60 years to improve the lives of persons with disabilities,
many still face violence, discrimination, social exclusion, increased poverty, and a myriad of other human
rights concerns. One in five women has a disability, and women can experience discrimination due to both
their gender and their disability and are often more affected by gender-based violence (GBV) and conflict
situations. Adults and children with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience violence. Poland
is deeply concerned and hopes that all efforts can be taken to prevent discrimination and violence against
persons with disabilities.

There are many important international documents related to the topic of preventing discrimination and
violence against persons with disabilities, including the 1975 Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons,
the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the 1989
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(CRPD). Since 1992, the UN has celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3
December of each year. In addition, the SDGs explicitly mention disability 11 times, including in SDGs 4,
8, 10, 11, and 17; Poland agrees with the statement of the Secretariat for the CRPD, UN Enable, that the
SDGs hold “a deep promise for persons with disabilities.” The HRC has engaged in important efforts to
address specific issues related to discrimination against persons with disabilities, including HRC resolution
19/11, which discusses the utilization of aid in ensuring that persons with disabilities are directly benefited,
and HRC resolution 19/36, which reaffirms the right of persons with disabilities to participate in political
processes. Poland has actively supported individuals with disabilities. Within Poland, a Government
Plenipotentiary for Disabled Persons was appointed to supervise the Vocational and Social Rehabilitation
and Employment of Disabled Persons program. In 1997, Poland adopted a Charter of Rights for Persons
with Disabilities. Poland continues to ensure that national legislation drafted since CRPD is in direct
accordance with the framework established, including through the protection and promotion of the human
rights of persons with disabilities. Poland has also established an Expert Committee on People with
Disabilities, which monitors and promotes the exercise of rights of persons with disabilities.

To combat discrimination and violence against persons with disabilities, the Republic of Poland proposes
change on local, national, and international levels. Poland recommends the formulation of international
policies that will further promote the human rights of persons with disabilities. Through international
standards, the global community can better protect the rights of these persons without distinction regarding
state of origin or economic status. Poland recommends that educational institutions provide access to
learning tools that will enhance the experience of children with disabilities in school and more fully enable
children with disabilities to attend school. This will help prevent victimization and discrimination through
improved opportunities to gain academic and vocational skills. Furthermore, Poland urges each Member
State to adopt a national strategy or action plan that will secure the rights of people with disabilities. Such
action plans could include a focus on promoting independent living, supporting families with children who
have disabilities, and making support available for persons with disabilities so they can actively participate
in the work of their communities. Member States should also include disability in policies and funding and
ensure that persons with disabilities, including women, can engage in decision-making on local, national,
and regional levels. Through established national visions and objectives, Member States can guide general
attitudes towards non-violence and equality. It is important that Member States work together with civil
society, such as with NGOs, in addressing the needs of persons with disabilities. Finally, Poland
emphasizes that Member States and the international community must actively include persons with
disabilities within efforts to meet the SDGs so that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is realized
for all members of the global community. The Republic of Poland recognizes the important opportunity to
empower persons with disabilities through international efforts, and it believes that increased efforts will
further prevent discrimination and violence against persons with disabilities worldwide.