Research

Good research is essential to success at any MUN conference, and although MUNCH is only a one-day conference it is important to be prepared. Since there is no lobbying, there is no time to discover what people will be talking about, and so no time for any last minute research at the conference.

Research can be divided into two distinct sections:

  1. Research about the country you are representing,
  2. Research about the issues you will be discussing.

Ideally your research will be in four to five sections depending one the number of issues you have in your committee. There will be a beginning section where you should put in all the information about the country that you are representing. This should be followed by a new section for each of your issues.

For instance if you are in the Human Rights Committee representing North Korea and your issues are Conditions in Prisons and the Rights of Prisoners, The Rights of Women and The Rights of Indigenous Peoples*. Then you would divide your research like this:

  1. Information on North Korea,
  2. Information on the Conditions in Prisons and the Rights of Prisoners,
  3. Information on the Rights of Women,
  4. Information on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

* Note: these are not the issues of the Human Rights Committee, they were ones I have come across at other conferences and are merely an example.

Information about the Country

Firstly you must know the very basics of your country; this includes its history, geographical location, government type, population, major religions and major exports. You must then try to find information about the country related to your issues. Remember this must be the country's official foreign policy statement, in some cases this is different to what is reported to actually exist.

To go back to my North Korea example, you must know that North Korea borders Russia, China and South Korea. It is a communist dictatorship, with areas of slight capitalism on the boarder with China; it has a population of 22.5 million and that its religions are Buddhism, Christianity, Chundo Kyo although autonomous religious activities now almost non-existent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom. It is also important to know that North Korea has virtually no exports and almost no access to the free market, however on the boarders with China the markets are allowed to trade small items with the Chinese.

In relation to its history all it's recent wars and conflicts should be known and its friends and enemies established. You must also link your research to you issues. For instance North Korea officially does not have prisons, they are called corrective teaching institutes, and so it has no political prisoners therefore it would be for good conditions of prisons and all rights of prisoners put forward. This would not affect the country's policies and will make it look nicer to the other states of the UN.

The research about the countries should feature some interesting and unusual facts, some people who will attend MUNCH will have heard the countries official statement and know its facts from other conferences, some of the delegates may have already represented your country, which means that interesting information is always welcomed.

Information about the Issues

Here is where the detail starts to begin. You must know as much about your issues as possible. However it is always better to have a general knowledge about each issue than to know everything about one issue and nothing about the rest.

Important things to know here are, treaties surrounding the topics, the different groups surrounding the issues and other country's policies. You should also know important recent news items about the issues. For instance, being in a Human Rights committee, you should definitely know the "Declaration of Basic Human Rights" on the issue of Conditions in Prisons and the Rights of Prisoners, you should know about the recent trouble with Guantanamo bay prison. All these things should help you to form your arguments well and most importantly understanding what other people are saying. It is extremely embarrassing to have to ask what a treaty or organisation is especially if everyone else knows it, however if you really don't understand then you should ask as it is likely that know one else know what this thing is either.

The UN

Finally you should know as much as you can about the UN, this does not need to be extremely hard research but it is advisable to have a general knowledge about the organisation that your are modelling. The UN's website also has statements by all the countries, except North Korea, about there feelings on a great many policies, and also general statements about the country.

The Website also has all the resolutions passed in the General Assembly. These are important to take a look at as they will often give you ideas on what to write for amendments. They will also tell you the sorts of things that other countries will be saying, and maybe give you a slight edge over the competition, which I'm sure you'll all agree is a good thing.

Where to find all this

Now, I'm sure a lot of you first timers are asking "Where on earth do we find all this information? It looks like loads!" And yes it does look like loads at first, however if you work through it methodically you can get everything you need to know.

First of all, if you know anyone who has been to MUNCH or any MUN conference before, go and introduce yourself, they will hopefully help you if you get stuck, however don't rely entirely on them. Next the easiest place to gain a basic knowledge of the issues and how they stand today is the News. Newspapers and News on the radio and TV are your friend, especially if you are discussing a heated topic. It can also help you to understand other country's foreign policies. Whilst I'm sure you have all made up your mid about the USA, even if it's only George Bush is a moron, the news papers reporting of the US' tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan, clearly show there aggressive foreign policy. If you now look at other countries and their reactions to world events you may start to decide what their foreign policies are like.

However by far the greatest place to find information is the Internet. You are currently reading on the world's greatest Library and it is important to use it to its full advantage. In my experience, 90% of the research I've done has come from the Internet. Here at Cheadle Hulme we recommend BBC Online as an extremely important tool in finding information. Piers and I also like the extremely useful CIA World Handbook, especially for information on countries. The UN website is also one of the strongest tools you have for research on Resolutions and the UN itself. There are also many sections of the UN's website, which are useful, I for instance have used the UN Office for Disarmament's website in the past and found it was very useful. I also personally recommend Google UK search engine, I use nothing else for searching, and the UK version allows for much more accurate searching.

I hope all this will help you to find everything you want to know or at least get you started. I hope that with these tips I can pass along some of the things I use and continue to pass on some of the things I have been told. If you aren't new and just wanted to see what we wrote, then remember it is important to be nice to any new comers in your school, especially if they are in your delegation. We were all new once.

Chris Emmerson

Links

  • UN Website - The UN website. You can find information on UN bodies, real UN resolutions, info on many topics and so much more.
  • CIA World Factbook - This is probably the best site ever for general info on your country.
  • The BBC - BBC very useful website for general news research.
  • Amnesty International - good for Human Rights research.