One of the most interesting parts of preparing for a Model UN conference for delegates; apart from choosing what to wear, is to cover some ground in research for the debates. Usually, one would find research draughty or even intimidating to begin with! But fear no more! For here are the tips to kick off your research for the conference!
To begin with, you may actually break down the agenda of the committee and type it in the google search engine to receive a very rudimentary picture of what you are dealing with. This usually helps first timers by massive amounts because it gives them a sense as to what they are dealing with. For example, SIMUN Chapter 2's committee of UNEP; the agenda was Review on the Paris climate agreement and its implications". So by breaking this agenda down, we arrive at key phrases which can be googled such as "Paris Climate agreement" and "Implications of Paris climate change agreement".
Knowing what to search is an important thing to keep in mind! Usually, while researching you can try to avoid wikipedia pages as they are not very credible and only contain gists of the information that you wish to search. What you can try search is for news articles, university publications, youtube videos and government documents! These sources are likely to help you cover more ground in gaining insight into the agenda. If all the above fails you, then you can open the wikipedia page and scroll down to the end where you can find links or cited webpages/books/articles that can provide you more intel.
You can split the research into the following categories:
- Causes and effects
- Factors that influence
- Where the problem is worsening
- Where the problem is being solved
- Possible solutions
- Advantages and disadvantages of possible solutions
Definitions are an important part of how you research and present yourself at the committee. Most of the time, delegates throw words related to the agenda but often do not know the real meaning of the 'key-term'. So the easiest thing to avoid this weird situation is by noting down the words you don't really understand while you are googling about the agenda, and ultimately create a set of notes that compile the definitions of the terms you found difficult while beginning.
Know how the country you have been assigned with plays a role in the conflict! At times, countries majorly influence a particular conflict and sometime maybe even fuelling one for benefits, but on the contrary many countries may have minimal or no role in influencing the conflict that is being discussed. If you find yourself being assigned with the country that has the major part in the discussion it is needless to say that you are likely to find many news articles and webpages providing different perspectives over the involvement of the country, which can be used to enrich your arguments during committee sessions. However, if you find yourself in the other end of the spectrum where your country has least amount of involvement, you may try to google how your country may be linked indirectly or more interestingly you may try to research more on the countries that are involved and can criticise/appreciate them during the committee.
The buddy of researching for a Model UN conference is the Background guide that delegates are provided with before the conference. More about the background guides are explored in - background guides
Although you may find a lot of different perspectives during your time in research, you would only find the content really helpful if it matches your "Foreign policy" that you must stick onto while representing the delegation of your assigned committee. You may find more on "Foreign policy" at - Foreign Policy
You can learn more on how to use your research in speeches that you will present at the conference at - using research for speeches