RESOLUTIONS GUIDELINES

With contributions by Raja Atik

What Is A Resolution?
A resolution is a formal proposal to the United Nations (UN), which can be presented to the UN
council, a committee, or a commission. A resolution is one long sentence that is divided up by
clauses and sub clauses. This resolution should not express your personal opinion, but the position
of all the nations who contributed to writing this resolution.

How To Write A Resolution?

A resolution consists of a heading and two different bodies, the perambulatory clauses and the
operative clauses. The language of a UN resolution is very formal, diplomatic and somewhat
legalistic.
What is the preamble?
The preamble is the introduction of the resolution. It contains the background and the
argumentation to the issue you have chosen.
Main points to remember for preambulatory clauses:
Describe the problem, and explain the purpose of the issue.
State facts that enlighten the reader about the issues that are significant when dealing with the
issue at hand such as previous attempts to solve the issue and if they succeeded or failed.
Mention any organizations that are relevant to the topic.
Preambulatory clauses always in with a comma. (,)
You will need to begin the preambulatory clauses with a present or a past participle or an
adjective. See the following list:

Acknowledging
Affirming
Alarmed by
Approving
Aware of
Believing
Bearing in mind
Confident
Congratulating
Contemplating
Convinced
Declaring
Deeply concerned
Deeply conscious
Deeply convinced
Deeply disturbed
Deeply regretting
Deploring
Desiring
Emphasizing

Pre Ambulatory Phrases

Expecting
Expressing its appreciation
Expressing its satisfaction
Fulfilling
Fully alarmed
Fully aware
Fully believing
Further deploring
Further recalling
Guided by
Having adopted
Having considered
Having considered further
Having devoted attention
Having examined
Having heard
Having received
Having studied
Keeping in mind
Noting further

-9 -

Noting with appreciation

Noting with approval
Noting with deep concern
Noting with regret
Noting with satisfaction
Observing
Reaffirming
Realizing
Recalling
Recognizing
Referring
Reminding
Seeking
Taking into account
Taking into consideration
Taking note
Viewing with appreciation
Welcoming

RESOLUTIONS GUIDELINES continued

What are the operative clauses?
The operative clauses contain the policy statements of the body making the resolution.
The clauses should be clear and unambiguous. They present by order of importance what the
UN should do or what attitude it should adopt.
Main points to remember for operative clauses:
State a wide range of specific measures to implement that effectively deal with the issue.
Clauses must be numbered and end with a semi colon. (;)
You have to begin the operative clauses with verbs in the third person singular of the present
tense. See the following list

Accepts
Affirms
Approves
Asks
Calls for
Calls upon
Congratulates
Confirms
Declares accordingly
Designates
Encourages

Authorizes
Condemns
Decides

Operative Phrases
Endorses
Expresses its appreciation
Expresses its hope
Further invites
Further proclaims
Further requests
Further resolves
Hopes
Invites
Proclaims
Proposes

Recommends
Regrets
Requests
Resolves
Seeks
Strongly affirms
Strongly urges
Suggests
Supports
Trusts
Transmits
Urges

Additional Operative Phrases Reserved for the Security Council

Demands
Imposes
Deplores
Strongly condemn(s)
Deploys

- 10 -

RESOLUTIONS GUIDELINES continued

Preambulatory clauses are clauses used to clarify the topic through statistics
and the history of the issue.
Describe the problem being addressed in the resolution.
Explain the main purpose of the resolution and why the issue is important.
State various facts that explain the topic.
Explains certain accomplishments and failures of previous actions that have
been implemented to deal with the issue.
Inform the readers about what has been done to tackle the issue.
Refer to organizations that are mentioned in the Operative clauses and the
actions they have taken.
Preambulatory clauses always end with a comma.

Operative clauses are clauses that recommend actions to be taken in order to

deal with the issue.
State the actions that shall be implemented if the resolution passes.
Suggest a handful of ways on how to effectively tackle and solve the issue.
Should be specific, convincing, and NOT vague.
Clauses begin with present tense, action verbs which are generally stronger than
words used in the preambles.
Clauses are to be numbered.

Resolution Checklist
Does the resolution relate to the topic?
Is the solution presented relevant and realistic?
Are there enough signatories on for the resolution?
Is the basic format of the resolution met?
Is the resolution longer that one page?
Are the preambs accurate?
Are the ops specific and non-biased?
Maintain National Sovereignty
Feasible
Not Redundant

- 11 -

RESOLUTIONS GUIDELINES continued

How To Present A Resolution

Heading

FORUM: Disarmament Commission

MAIN SUBMITTER: Angola
QUESTION OF: Confidence Building Measures in Space Related Activities

Preamb

Fully aware that the acceleration of space exploration is dependent on international

cooperation and flawless safety conduct,

Clauses
Bearing in mind that space agencies today typically rely on military patronage,

Expressing its satisfaction that space exploration has been conducted by many different
nations of the Earth for more than 50 years without incidences of conflict,

Operative

1.

Expresses its hope that states with space programs continue to stand against the
proliferation of weapons in space by supporting treaties such as the Outer Space
Treaty and the Moon Treaty;

2.

Urges the space agencies of the world to invest in confidence building measures
between themselves such as:
a) the sharing of information relevant to the safety of space travel, including:
i. the mission launch schedules both immediate and long term,
ii. the locations of space debris that may impact a space mission,
b) the sharing of space technology and knowledge with a nature of goodwill
with new and startup space programs interested in peaceful space
exploration;

3.

Seeks to eliminate the threat posed to the International Space Station and its workers
from artificial space debris through:
a) encouraging entities operating satellites to maintain a minimum safety
distance as approved by the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
from other satellites operating in the same orbit,
b) decommissioning the nonoperational satellites through either the:
i. utilization of a retrieval vessel, or
ii. reprogramming of the satellite into a steep reentry vector for safe
burn up over a large body of unpopulated water, such as the Pacific
Ocean,
c) requests that the orbit pathway used by the International Space Station be
exclusively reserved for it and related space vehicles;

4.

Declares accordingly that future space discoveries and technological innovations will
require continued revisiting to this issue;

5.

Hopes all nations will support the continued confidence building measures of the
UNOOSA.

Clauses

- 12 -

MUNResolutionRubric

FORMAT:(10Points)________
Spacingcorrect(betweenlinesandclauses)
Numberingcorrect
Indentations/Underliningcorrect
Punctuationcorrect

PREAMBULATORYCLAUSES:(30Points)________
Research/Data:(20Points)________
Provideshistoricalbackgroundonthetopic
Sufficientspecificfacts/datatosupporttheresolution
Referencestopastresolutions(iftheyexist)
Referencestootherdocuments,NGOs,UNAgencies,nonUNregionalorganizations(i.e.government
ministries/departments)
Clarity/Cohesiveness:(10Points)________
One(andonlyone)ideaineachclause
Clearandpersuasivedictionandsyntax
Discernableordertotheclauses(i.e.generaltospecific,leasttomostimportant,chronological,etc.)
Cohesive/alltiestogether
Noirrelevantinformation

OPERATIVECLAUSES:(50Points)________
AchievesDomestic,Caucus,and/orGlobalGoals:(15Points)________
Resolutionreflectscountrysposition
Showsanunderstandingofthedynamicsoftheconflict(isitoverlyinsensitivetoothernations?)
Solutionismultilateral(doesitinvolvethecooperationofvariousnations?)
Takesintoaccountothernationsviewpoints
Showsanattemptatcompromise
EffectiveSolutiontotheProblem:(25Points)________
OperativeclausesrefertoappropriateUNorganizationsinordertosolvetheproblem
Planisfeasible
Planiscreative
Planislogical
Planisdetailed
Clarity/Cohesiveness:(10Points)________
One(andonlyone)ideaineachclause
Clearandpersuasivedictionandsyntax
Discernableordertotheclauses(i.e.generaltospecific,leasttomostimportant,chronological,etc.)
Cohesive/alltiestogether
Noirrelevantinformation

GRAMMAR:(10Points)________
Preambulatoryphrasesappropriate
Operativephrasesappropriate
Wordchoiceappropriate
Grammaticallycorrect

-13