Personal Directive

In crisis-style Model UN committees, a personal directive (sometimes called an individual directive or private directive) is a written instruction submitted by a single delegate to the crisis staff (the "backroom"), describing an action they wish their character to take using assets under their personal control. Unlike a committee directive, which requires a vote and represents the collective will of the body, a personal directive is unilateral and usually confidential.

Personal directives are the primary tool by which delegates build individual power arcs in cabinet-style or historical crisis committees. Typical contents include:

• Deploying personal assets — troops, money, businesses, intelligence networks, or media outlets the character controls.
• Communications — sending letters, placing phone calls, or issuing public statements in the character's own name.
• Covert operations — espionage, sabotage, bribery, assassination attempts, or forming secret alliances with other delegates or external actors.
• Information requests — asking the backroom for facts the character would plausibly know.

Conventions vary by circuit. Most North American collegiate circuits (NCSC, WorldMUN, NAIMUN, HNMUN, ChoMUN) accept personal directives at any time during debate, submitted on paper or via a digital system, while the delegate continues participating in formal proceedings. The crisis staff evaluates each directive for plausibility, character resources, and narrative interest before deciding the in-world outcome, which is usually communicated through a crisis note back to the delegate or through a staff-delivered crisis update to the whole room.

Strong personal directives are specific, realistic about the character's actual capabilities, sequenced over multiple notes to build toward a larger goal, and integrated with the committee's public storyline. Vague or wildly out-of-character requests are typically denied or backfire. Personal directives are not used in General Assembly or ECOSOC-style committees, which operate only through public resolutions.