incorporated amendment

In Model UN procedure, an incorporated amendment (sometimes called a "friendly amendment" in older or less formal rulesets) is a change to a draft resolution that has been accepted by all sponsors of that draft and therefore folded directly into the operative or preambulatory text without a separate vote.

The mechanics vary by conference, but the general pattern is consistent:

• A delegate drafts proposed language (adding, striking, or modifying a clause).
• The amendment is circulated to every sponsor listed on the draft resolution.
• If every sponsor signs on, the dais reviews it for procedural validity and incorporates the new language into the working draft.
• No floor debate or vote occurs on the amendment itself; it simply becomes part of the resolution before voting procedure.

This contrasts with an unfriendly amendment (or "amendment by vote"), which lacks unanimous sponsor consent and must be debated and voted on by the full committee under the conference's amendment procedure.

A few practical points delegates should keep in mind:

• Many large circuits — including NMUN, WorldMUN, and most THIMUN-style conferences — have moved away from the term "friendly amendment" entirely, on the reasoning that all amendments are procedurally neutral and the sponsors' agreement is what matters. NMUN's Rules of Procedure, for example, generally require any amendment to be voted on by the body once introduced, regardless of sponsor consent.
• Harvard-style and many North American collegiate conferences retain the incorporated/friendly mechanism to speed up bloc negotiation.
• Incorporated amendments can usually only be submitted before voting procedure begins. Once the committee moves into voting, the draft is frozen.
• The chair retains discretion to reject an amendment that is dilatory, out of the committee's mandate, or substantively rewrites the resolution.

Strategically, incorporated amendments are the primary tool for merging blocs late in a committee session: a smaller bloc may agree to drop its competing draft in exchange for having its key clauses incorporated into the dominant draft.