In Model UN, a draft resolution paragraph is the basic structural unit of a draft resolution—the document a committee debates, amends, and ultimately votes on. Each paragraph expresses one discrete idea and begins with a specific opening word or phrase (an "introductory phrase") that signals its function.
There are two types:
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Preambulatory paragraphs establish context, justification, and precedent. They are italicized, unnumbered, and end with a comma. Typical openers include Recalling, Reaffirming, Noting with concern, Bearing in mind, Recognizing, and Deeply disturbed. They often cite prior UN resolutions, treaties, reports of the Secretary-General, or factual conditions on the ground. Preambulatory clauses do not authorize action; they frame why action is needed.
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Operative paragraphs contain the committee's proposed actions, requests, or recommendations. They are numbered sequentially, italicized in their opening verb, and end with a semicolon (the final operative ends with a period). Typical openers include Calls upon, Urges, Requests, Decides, Encourages, Condemns, and Authorizes. The strength of the verb signals the binding character: in real UN practice, only the Security Council can use Decides in a Chapter VII enforcement sense; the General Assembly is largely limited to recommendatory verbs like Recommends or Calls upon.
Operative paragraphs may contain sub-clauses (a, b, c…) and sub-sub-clauses (i, ii, iii…) to group related actions. Each paragraph is independently amendable—delegates can strike, add, or modify individual clauses without rewriting the entire resolution. This modularity is why amendment procedure in MUN typically targets paragraphs rather than whole documents.
Formatting conventions follow the UN's own drafting style as reflected in published General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, though individual MUN conferences (NMUN, WorldMUN, Harvard MUN, THIMUN) publish their own rules of procedure that may vary slightly on punctuation, numbering, and permissible verbs.
Example
In a 2023 NMUN simulation of the Human Rights Council, the bloc led by the delegation of Norway inserted an operative paragraph reading "*Urges* all Member States to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture;" as the third clause of their draft resolution.
Frequently asked questions
Preambulatory paragraphs explain context and cite precedent; they are unnumbered and end with commas. Operative paragraphs propose specific actions; they are numbered and end with semicolons (the last one with a period).
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