1.

Roll Call
Roll Call is when the Chair calls each country to determine if they are present in
the room. This is done in alphabetical order. When you hear your country called,
you should answer “Present” or “Present and voting”.

“Present’' - You can abstain when voting on a draft resolution.

“Present and Voting” - You have to vote either “Yes” or “No” for every draft
resolution that is voted on.

Roll Call is done at the start of every committee session to make sure there is a
quorum. The quorum refers to how many Member States are needed for the Chair
to open debate. 1⁄3 of the committee members are needed to open the committee,
and a simple majority (1⁄2 +1) is needed to pass a draft resolution.

TIP - If you miss Roll Call, you can pass a note/message to the Chair when you arrive
to let the chair know if your country is present or present and voting.

2. Setting the Agenda

Setting the agenda is done when there is more than one topic in the study guide.
In such cases, the committee would need to determine which topic would be
discussed first. If there is only one topic in the study guide, the agenda-setting
phase is skipped and the committee will go directly into opening statements.

When there is more than one topic, 2/3 is needed to set the agenda. If 2/3 are not
reached, the committee can open a General Speaker's list for the delegates to
explain why one topic is preferable. After this, another vote should be taken. If
2/3 is still not reached, the chair can return to the speaker’s list and allow for
moderated and unmoderated caucuses until the 2⁄3 majority is reached. After the
The agenda has been set, a “Motion to open debate” should be offered and the
debate will officially start.

3. Powers
Executive Board (Chair/Vice Chair): Preside over the committee for the
entirety of the conference. They are the final authority in all matters directly
related to the committee.

Secretary General/Deputy Secretary General: He/she is the final authority on all

matters related to the committees or otherwise if unresolved by designated officials.

OC/Secretariat members - They will be present in the committees and

maintain links between the executive board and the delegates. They shall also
help the delegates as needed.

4. Debate
Formal Debate – General Speaker’s List
The formal debate of an MUN simulation is centred around the General Speakers
List (GSL).

How does the General Speaker’s list work?

The chair will ask if any delegates are interested in being added to the GSL.
Delegates show their interest by raising their placards.
Chair will recognize delegates by calling their country name, after which the
delegate is placed on the GSL.
If no delegates give their names to get on the list, the Chair may choose
delegates to be added to the GSL. The order of delegates on the speaker’s list is
not open to modification.
TIP - Get on the GSL as early as possible, even if you aren’t sure what to say.
There will likely be other speakers before you, and you will have additional time to
prepare before it is your turn to speak.

Speeches during the course of the GSL can be about anything in relation to the
topic. For example, at the beginning of the simulation, delegates often elaborate
on the ideas presented in their opening speech and address what other delegates
said in their speeches. Later on in the simulation, after the writing of draft
resolutions has started, speeches describe the bloc positions and policy proposals
to the rest of the committee. The GSL is the default state of a committee when the
debate is open, and when caucuses are concluded, the committee reverts back to
the GSL.

TIP - The default GSL speaker’s time is 90 seconds. If you want the speaker’s time to
be longer or shorter, you are one motion away.

5. GSL Rules
You can only be on the GSL once at a time. However, when you finish your speech,
you can get right back on the GSL. You can get back on the GSL by sending a
note/message to the Chair asking to get back on the list or waiting for the Chair to
ask if any delegates wish to be added to the GSL. There must always be a delegate
on the GSL at any given time. If the GSL has no one on it, it is considered that
there is nothing left to say and the committee automatically moves to the voting
procedure.

A) Yielding Time
During the GSL a delegate can yield their time to the chair, to another delegate or
to questions.
Yield time to the Chair – If you have 10 seconds or more left to your speech,
and decide not to yield time to another delegate or questions, your remaining
speech time should be yielded to the chair.

Yield time to another Delegate – If you have over 10 seconds, you can yield
your time to anyone. There is no double yield. If you yield your time to a
delegate who does up the remainder of the speakers’ time they must yield it to
the chair.

Yield time to Questions – Yielding to questions allows other delegates to ask

you a question (15 seconds each). The remaining speaker’s time is allocated to the
answer. You get to use the remainder of your time to answer it. You can answer
multiple questions during a ‘yield to question’.

B) Point of Information
After a GSL speech, other delegates can ask the previous speaker a question,
called a Point of Information (POI).
The delegate who finished speaking can choose whether to accept POIs.
A delegate can receive only one POI.
Point of Information (POI) Process:
-​ A delegate raises a POI after a speech
-​ The chair asks the delegate who finished speaking to accept POIs
-​ If yes - POI is accepted
-​ If no - Return to GSL
-​ The delegate who asked for the POI has 15 seconds to ask the POI
-​ The delegate answering gets 30 seconds to answer the POI
END of POI and Return to GSL.
6. Informal Debate (Moderated And Unmoderated Caucuses)
The informal debate includes all discussions outside of the General Speaker’s list.
This begins when the Chair decides to open the floor to motions (Motion =
proposal). The informal debate takes place when you pass a motion for a
Moderated Caucus, an Unmoderated Caucus or an extension of a previously
passed the caucus. Once a motion for a caucus is raised,

the Chair asks for seconds and objections. To enter an informal debate, you need
to offer a motion for the type of caucus you would like, and for how long you
would like the caucus to take place. When you motion for a moderated caucus,
you need to give a topic for the moderated caucus discussion. Caucuses cannot
exceed 20 minutes.

A) Which motion is voted on first?

Whichever motion is the most disruptive to the GSL gets voted on first.
Unmoderated caucuses disrupt the flow of debate more than moderated
caucuses. A longer caucus is voted on before a shorter one. Longer speaker time is
voted on before shorter.

B) Order of voting
Extension of a previous caucus
Unmoderated Caucus
Moderated caucus

C) Moderated Caucus
A moderated caucus is for delegates to discuss subtopics related to the main
topic. The committee topic is usually very broad, so moderated caucuses are used
to narrow the discussion and go into more detail on certain aspects.
TIP - Even if the topic suggested is phrased as the opposite of your country’s
position, you could support the motion: after all, it’s an opportunity to argue
AGAINST that position and in favour of your own!

Once a moderated caucus passes with a majority, the Chair chooses delegates to
speak one at a time. The moderated caucuses are less formal than the GSL.
Delegates who finish speaking sit down, and the next delegate speaks. There is no
yielding time or POIs during a moderated caucus.

D) Unmoderated Caucus
An unmoderated caucus, informally called unmod or lobbying time, is when
delegates get out of their seats, meet, form blocs, discuss ideas, negotiate, start
writing their working papers/draft resolutions and find support for their draft
resolutions. When the unmoderated caucus finishes, delegates return to their
seats. The Chair will then decide whether to open the floor to motions or return to
the GSL.

7. Working Papers & Draft Resolutions

Working papers, which turn into draft resolutions, are written during an
unmoderated caucus.

A) Working Papers
Informal documents containing policy proposals by one or more delegates.
Working Papers do not need to be formatted according to the United Nations
specification in the same way a draft resolution does. A working paper can be
submitted to the Chair to be put on a screen and discussed, either during an
unmoderated caucus or during a moderated caucus dedicated to discussing a
working paper.
TIP - A moderated caucus discussing your working paper/draft resolution ideas is a
great way to learn which delegates support your ideas!

B) Draft Resolutions
Draft resolutions are formal documents which contain your policy ideas, and
those of other delegates, written according to United Nations formatting rules. In
order to get a draft resolution approved by the Chairs, the content needs to be
sound, the formatting needs to be correct, and you need a minimum number of
supporters (10% of the delegates in the committee as Sponsors or Signatories).
The draft resolutions which are approved by the chair are the documents the
committee will vote on after the closure of the debate.

Sponsors – Delegates who wrote the resolution or played a key role in the
resolution (Minimum 1, Maximum 3)
Signatories – Delegates who support the draft resolution or want to see
the ideas discussed. (No limit on the number of Delegates listed as Signatories)

The Chair has to approve the text in the document for a draft resolution to be
introduced. After approval, the draft resolution will be given a number by the
chair and can then be addressed and discussed.

TIP -Sometimes the Chairs take time to review the draft resolution. In those cases, you
can bring up your policy ideas in moderated caucuses without officially referring to the
document. That way, the ideas are already familiar to other delegates by the time the
draft resolution is approved.

C) Amendments
After a draft resolution has been introduced, delegates are able to propose
changes to the draft resolution, called amendments. Amendments include adding
a new clause, striking out a clause or changing the text of an existing clause. To
submit an amendment to the Chair, you have to get at least 5% of the committee
to sign the amendment. Amendments are voted upon during the voting
procedure before the draft resolutions are voted on as a whole. Each amendment
is introduced and voted on separately.

D) Voting Procedure
The committee goes into voting procedure once the debate is closed. The
committee will be closed until the voting procedure is concluded or there is a
motion to reopen the debate.

Present can abstain from voting on the resolution.

Present & Voting can’t abstain from voting on the resolution.

These rules apply to voting on amendments and draft resolutions.

E) Order of the voting procedure

First, all of the amendments are voted on. After that, the floor is open to motions
which specifically deal with the draft resolutions.
Unfriendly amendments - Amendments that are not supported by at least one
sponsor of the draft resolution.
Friendly amendments - supported by all the sponsors and automatically
added to the draft resolution.
Only unfriendly amendments are voted on at this time.
F) Voting Procedure Motions
After all the amendments are voted on, the delegates can offer the following
motions in relation to the draft resolutions: -

Motion to reorder draft resolutions

When there is more than one draft resolution on the floor, a delegate can motion
to reorder the draft resolutions by proposing an order different from the default,
which is the order in which they were recognized by the Chair. If the motion
passes, the draft resolutions are voted upon in the new order.

Motion to vote roll call

Roll Call vote means each delegate says their vote out loud, instead of raising
placards and a majority being counted. Roll Call vote adds excitement to the
voting process.

TIP - If you don’t think you’ll have a majority for your draft resolution, you can
merge your document with another draft resolution. As long as your ideas don’t
oppose, combining your clauses (some of which might be similar) is a way to get
the majority you need!

8. Other Forms of Debate

Presidential Statement: A delegate during the course of the debate can make a
Presidential Statement. This allows the delegates to give a statement as the
President of the particular country they represent. This can be done anytime
during the debate once for 3 mins(max) by mentioning it to the chair via
note/message.

Challenge: A delegate can challenge a particular issue for a specified time

period, this may be over a particular sub-topic or country policy. This is one on
one debate. Both sides shall be given 30 seconds to make introductory
remarks and 2 minutes for debate. This can be raised similarly as a Moderated
Caucus.

Question Answer Session: This is when delegates need to ask questions to a

particular delegate. Any delegate may call for the same and a maximum of 15
questions can be asked by the committee to the delegate. For a question-answer
round to pass the permission of the Secretariat is required since IP members may
also participate

Joint Statement: Two or more countries can come together and make joint
announcements regarding their views on topic areas. The Chair can invalidate
the statement if it is not important in context to the agenda at hand.

9. Adjournment
After the draft resolution passes, you can motion to adjourn, which closes the
committee and conference as a whole.