Position Paper Topics

General Assembly 1

International Maritime Law – Piracy

Focus Question: The growing problem of piracy has

severe implications in politics, economics, and

international security. What actions should the UN

take to appropriately deal with this concern,

especially when concerning nations that are unable or

unwilling to fight this piracy themselves? Does the

better solution lie in direct confrontation or in

addressing the underlying causes of the problem?

General Assembly 2

Sovereignty and U.N. Intervention

Focus Question: To what extent can the United

Nations require compliance to established U.N.

protocols or resolutions from sovereign nations? To

what extent do countries have rights of sovereignty

over their own natural resources? How can the UN

support state rights to sovereignty over natural

resources and to what extent should it do so?

Committees 1A, 1B, 1C, – Global Security

Ethnic and Religious Conflict

Focus Question: What are some major current issues

regarding ethnic and religious conflict and what kind

of a threat do the conflicts pose to other nations? How

and when should the UN intervene to help address

these conflicts and does the U.N. have a right to

intervene at all?

Terrorism

Focus Question: What measures should the U.N. take

in order to reduce or eliminate terrorism growing in

developing nations? To what extent can pre-emptive

actions be utilized to suppress terrorism?

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Focus Question: How, when, and to what extent

should the U.N. intervene with countries that refuse to

follow or violate international weapons protocol?

Illicit Arms Trading

Focus Question: How can or should the U.N. intervene

to stop the illicit trade of weapons? Should the UN be

involved with the enforcement of trade regulations of

weapons?

Committees 2A, 2B, and 2C – Global Economics

Oil Supermajors and Multinational Corporations

Focus Question: How should the U.N. address the

influence of multinational corporations, especially oil

supermajors, on developed and developing nations?

The implications as to how this would affect stateowned oil companies should also be considered.

Free Trade

Focus Question: Should the U.N. promote and aid in

free trade or should it support current policies that

often lean towards protectionism? What should the

U.N.’s role be in trade negotiations? Keep in mind the

benefits or drawbacks of free or regulated trade in

your specific country.

Green Business

Focus Question: Considering the new ‘green’

movement and the new business opportunities in this

industry, should the U.N. play a role in regulating this

new industry? Should the U.N. provide economic

benefits for nations and businesses that are more

environmentally friendly than others?

What should the U.N.’s role be in the drafting and signing of protocols and environmental agreements?

Developing Nation Economies

Focus Question: To what extent should the U.N. assist

and stabilize the economies of developing nations?

Should the U.N. create a global economic safety net?

How? When should the U.N. cease providing aid and

allow nations to continue at their own growth rate?

Committees 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D – Human Rights

Access to Information

Focus Question: Considering forms of media such as

newspapers, the internet, and publications in general,

under what circumstances, if ever, is it the U.N.'s duty

to intervene in issues of government regulation of

information?

Human Trafficking

Focus Question: What should the U.N. do to

discourage and prevent human trafficking?

Furthermore, what should the U.N. do regarding

governments that allow or ignore human trafficking

within their jurisdiction? Consider the treatment of

refugees in areas of strife.

Rights of Women and Children

Focus Question: How can the U.N. advocate for and

enforce the rights of women and children in areas

where local practices and attitudes cause inequality,

discrimination and abuse of women and children? How

can the U.N. avoid contradicting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through its efforts while respecting societal norms?

Access to Medical Assistance

Focus Question: How can the U.N. provide medical

assistance to nations that are hostile towards foreign

involvement?

Committees 4A, 4B – Environmental

Climate Change

Focus Question: What should the U.N. do to better

address issues of climate change, in light of the 2010

United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-15)?

What should the U.N.’s role be in the drafting and

signing of protocols and environmental agreements?

Energy Policy

Focus Question: Concerning the growing need for

long-term sources of renewable energy, how can

developed member-nations assist in the research and

development of energy through nuclear fission and

fusion? How can these developed member-nations

assist in the development of basic renewable energy

sources (wind, solar power, etc.) in developing

countries?

Note: *A major nuclear fusion program to consider is

ITER

Biodiversity

Focus Question: How can the United Nations protect

global biodiversity? In what ways can the U.N. promote preservation of natural species in response to industrialization

Food Security

Focus Question: What should the U.N. do to address

the inefficiencies in food production and distribution?

Should the U.N. encourage the production of GMOs

(Genetically Modified Organisms) and if not, what

stance should they take?

Research Focus Points:

Cropland allocation

Technologies used in producing food

Committees 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D – Health and Human Services

Resource Scarcity

Focus Question: What actions should the U.N. take in

order to more effectively and efficiently distribute aid

in the form of food and water to lower-income nations

that are affected by extreme hunger? Keeping in mind

recent events, what should the U.N. do to establish a

safe drinking water sources in areas of recent

disasters, previous warfare, arid lands, and

contaminated water?

Natural Disaster Relief

Focus Question: How should the U.N. encourage

bordering or prosperous nations to aid victims of

natural disasters? Furthermore, should it be required

for a nation to repay debts incurred in the form of aid

or relief from another country?

Diseases of Poverty

Focus Question: In what ways should the U.N. attempt

to combat and contain epidemics that are the result of

poverty such as HIV/AIDS and malaria and eradicate

curable diseases such as polio and rabies in

developing nations?

Refugee Camp Assistance

Focus Question: To what extent should the U.N. assist

the infrastructure of refugee camps in rural and

remote areas? Keep in mind of the access to food,

water, and sanitation concerns.

If you would like to see the official Oregon MUN page you can go to: http://www.oregonmun.org/a11top.pdf