Position papers are MANDATORY for all delegates. To be eligible for awards, delegates must submit their position paper by the beginning of the first committee session at 1:30 PM BRT on August 14, 2026. No late submissions will be accepted.

To receive feedback on position papers, please submit your position papers by July 29 at 11:59 PM EST. Your chairs will return feedback as soon as possible. Resubmission of position papers is not required as feedback is intended to help you prepare better for the committee.

Position papers must be submitted as links to Google Docs with sharing permissions set to “Anyone with the link” is an EDITOR.

Purpose:

After spending countless hours on research and preparation, position papers are the best way to summarize your research, your position’s stance on the topic, and outline your goals for the committee. Position papers also provide your chairs with a preview of what opinions you will bring to committee and the breadth of your research.

Position papers should clearly outline your position’s stance on all topics and provide a framework for you to follow in committee. Well-written papers will both reference and analyze a delegate’s research. Often, delegates will use the ideas mentioned in their papers as the foundation for their speeches and clauses in working papers, draft resolutions, and directives.

Structure:

In the upper left-hand corner of the first page of your position paper, please include the following:

Committee: [your committee name]
Delegate Name: [your real-life name]
Position: [your position name]

Your position paper should be in 12-pt Times New Roman font with 1-inch margins on the page.

You should spend one page on each topic of your committee. Each topic should have distinct and separate sections but should be in the same document. Position papers missing a topic will be considered incomplete and will not be eligible for awards unless resubmitted by the deadline.

Content:

FOR GA/ECOSOCs: Your position paper should include three sections for each topic: Past/Current International Actions, Country Position, and Proposed Future Solutions. The international actions section should be the shortest and should offer a brief description of the importance of this topic and how it has been addressed by the world in the past. The second section should be longer and should describe how your country and similar nations view this type of problem within their national and foreign policy agenda. The largest and most substantive section should be the third, which should give an overview of your proposed solutions to the problem and how they align with your nation’s perspective.

A successful position paper will answer the following key questions, among others:

• What is the problem being presented? Why is it important, and who is being affected?

• What is the current situation of the issue? What are some challenges?

• What past actions have been undertaken by your position in response to this issue? Have these actions been effective? What impact have they had, if any?

• When it comes to your committee issue, what are your priorities and future goals?

• What plans, initiatives or solutions will you implement during committee in order to achieve your goals?

• Where do you stand in relation to other delegates? Are there opportunities for bloc formation and collaboration? Which delegates could potentially support your ideas, and which could oppose them?

FOR CRISIS/SPECIALIZED:Your position paper should include two sections for each topic: Proposed Solutions and Character Arc. The first section should give an overview of your position’s proposed solution to the topic. The second section should be larger and more substantive while giving an in-depth description of what role you see your position playing in committee and how you will go about achieving such a role.

A successful position paper will answer the following key questions, among others:

• How can you address the problems presented? What do you seek to focus on and why?

• What is the current situation and how is your position involved in it?

• How do you want to be viewed by the committee?

• What potential crisis updates and evolutions to the committee flow would you like to achieve?

• How do you anticipate using your portfolio powers (the powers reasonably available to your position)?

Citations:

Please cite any sources you use through MLA format with in-text citations rather than footnotes. You should include a bibliography at the end of the entire paper. Please note that the quality of your research is much more important than your quality of citations, so you will not be penalized for making errors in citations.

Research:

1. Begin by thoroughly reading through your topic guide and taking notes on your questions and how the topics discussed pertain to your position. Look through the “Questions To Consider” and “Resources” sections.

2. Do introductory research to familiarize yourself with your position and their perspective with respect to the topic.

3. Conduct thorough research about potential feasible solutions. Find both scholarly articles (if applicable) and common media to support your claims.

Examples:

A formatting guide for a position paper can be found here! Please note that you must replace all values with brackets []. Additionally, note that the first topic’s format follows the GA/ECOSOC style while the second topic’s format follows the crisis/specialized style. Ensure that you use the same style for both topics of your position paper.

Submission:

Position papers are due for feedback by July 29 at 11:59 PM EST. Position papers are due for final submission by the beginning of the first committee session on August 14 at 1:30 PM BRT.

Position papers can be submitted via this link and must be submitted as links to a Google Doc with sharing permission set to “Anyone with the link” is an EDITOR. Position papers will not be considered for awards if submitted in another format.

Questions:

Any questions about position papers for YMUNB can be directed to Suren Clark, Director-General of Committees, at dg.committees@ymunb.org!