Developing Working Papers into Draft Resolutions in MUN

Most first-time delegates arrive at their first session with research notes and position papers but no idea how those notes become a formal resolution. The answer runs through a single intermediate document: the MUN working paper. A working paper is the bridge between the informal ideas you scribble during unmoderated caucus and the draft resolution your chair will eventually recognise for formal debate. Understanding how this transition works, and which procedural path your conference follows, is the difference between watching the room and controlling it.

The working paper is not a formal document. It does not require the full resolution format of italicised preambulatory clauses and underlined operative clauses with numbered action verbs. It can be handwritten on a hotel notepad, typed on a delegate's laptop, or assembled on a shared Google Doc during a lobbying session. Its job is to capture what your bloc agrees on and to put it in front of the dais so the committee has something concrete to debate.

Every major conference family uses working papers, but they differ on how a working paper becomes a draft resolution, who can submit one, and what happens after submission. The two dominant paths are the THIMUN lobbying model and the Harvard caucus model. Choosing the wrong strategy for your conference is a fast route to bloc isolation.

What Goes On The Page

A working paper needs a header: your committee name, the topic, and a list of sponsors. Sponsors are the delegations that wrote the paper and support it. Some conferences also request signatories, delegations that want to see the paper debated but do not necessarily endorse its content. A signatory is a delegation that signals willingness to debate without endorsing the text. THIMUN requires 2-4 sponsors before the chairs will accept a paper, according to its 2024 procedural guide. Harvard-style conferences, including HMUN and Yale MUN, set the minimum sponsor count at the dais's discretion, commonly 3-5 delegations. NMUN uses a similar threshold, 3-5 sponsors, set by the dais in the Delegate Preparation Guide.

Below the header, write your clauses. You do not have to follow full resolution formatting at this stage. Bullet-point ideas are acceptable. But if you write in clause structure from the start, using standard preambulatory starters like "Affirming" or "Deeply concerned" and operative starters like "Calls upon" or "Requests", your paper will need less rewriting when it becomes a draft resolution. The working paper is a negotiation tool, not a final product. Its lifespan runs from acceptance by the dais until it is merged into a draft resolution, withdrawn by sponsors, or rejected by committee.

Submission And Numbering

At THIMUN, you submit your working paper to the chairs or the approval panel. The chairs assign sequential numbers, WP 1, WP 2, as papers are accepted. At HMUN, you submit digitally to the dais, and the dais assigns numbers in the format "Working Paper 1.1" with a committee designation. At NMUN, you submit electronically or on paper per conference instruction, and the dais assigns a number such as "WP/Committee/1". The dais may reject a paper for irrelevance, offensive content, or failure to meet the sponsor threshold. Do not submit a paper your bloc cannot defend.

What Comes After Submission

Once accepted, the working paper is distributed to the committee. At THIMUN, conference staff photocopy the paper or distribute it digitally. At HMUN and NMUN, the dais distributes it through the conference platform or via printed copies. A sponsor introduces the paper, reads it aloud or summarises it. The chairs may allow questions from the committee after introduction. This is when the paper moves from a bloc's private document to the committee's common text, and it is the moment when other blocs see what you are proposing and decide whether to merge their papers with yours or compete against you.

THIMUN Procedure: Merge Or Lose

THIMUN runs a single-consensus model. The conference allocates a substantial portion of committee time to lobbying, formal sessions where delegates move between blocs to negotiate a single merged text. Chairs may direct sponsors of similar working papers to merge before the draft resolution stage. The goal is one document that the entire body can support. If two blocs refuse to merge, the committee may produce no output at all, because neither resolution passes a floor vote without the other bloc's support. The working paper becomes a draft resolution only after the committee debates, amends, and approves it through the approval panel. The threshold for adoption is a simple majority of votes cast, with abstentions excluded from the count.

Harvard Procedure: Compete And Defend

Harvard-style conferences, including HMUN, Yale MUN, Georgetown NAIMUN, MUNUC, and WorldMUN, allow multiple working papers to coexist and compete. Unmoderated caucus time is used to build blocs and draft papers, but there is no requirement to merge. The dais determines when a working paper has enough support to become a draft resolution and enter formal debate. During debate, the committee hears each draft resolution in turn. Delegates propose amendments. Friendly amendments accepted by all sponsors pass without a vote; unfriendly amendments require a simple majority. The amendment frequency per hour of debate is higher in Harvard-style because multiple resolutions create more contested text. The committee votes on each draft resolution separately. The adoption threshold is a simple majority, though some committees require a two-thirds majority on certain topics at the dais's instruction.

NMUN: A Middle Ground

NMUN, the university-level conference in New York, operates its own procedure variant. Like THIMUN, NMUN includes formal lobbying and encourages merger. Like Harvard-style, NMUN allows multiple draft resolutions to be debated and voted on. The dais assigns working paper numbers upon submission and draft resolution numbers upon approval. The committee votes by roll call, with yes, no, and abstain options, and the threshold is a simple majority of members present and voting. NMUN's Delegate Preparation Guide, updated annually, specifies approved lists of preambulatory and operative clause starters that delegates must use.

Feature	THIMUN	Harvard (HMUN)	NMUN
Working paper format	No mandatory format; handwritten or typed on plain paper	Typed; must follow conference-provided template	Typed on conference template; labelled "Working Paper"
Minimum sponsors	2–4 delegations, varies by committee size	3–5 delegations, set by dais	3–5 delegations, set by dais
Signatories at working paper stage	Required; indicate willingness to debate	Optional; distinct from sponsorship	Not required
Numbering	WP 1, WP 2, sequential by chairs	Working Paper 1.1, with committee designation	WP/Committee/1 or similar per year
Path to draft resolution	Debated, amended, approved by committee, then approval panel	Dais determines when support is sufficient	Debated, amended, approved by committee; dais assigns number
Amendment type	Friendly and unfriendly; both require vote	Friendly accepted without vote; unfriendly require simple majority	Friendly adopted by consensus; unfriendly require simple majority
Adoption threshold	Simple majority of votes cast; abstentions excluded	Simple majority; two-thirds on some topics per dais	Simple majority of members present and voting; abstentions excluded

The working paper sits between your position paper research and the formal draft resolution. It is less formal than a draft resolution but already shows clause structure. A typical working paper at THIMUN or HMUN includes a header with committee name, topic, and sponsor list, then a series of clauses or bullet points. Below is an example of how a non-proliferation topic might appear in working paper form.

Committee: Disarmament and International Security Committee
Topic: Preventing the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Sponsors: Germany, France, Japan, Brazil

Preambulatory clauses:
Affirming the inherent right of all states to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter,
Deeply concerned by the flow of illicit small arms across unsecured borders in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia,
Recalling the Arms Trade Treaty of 2013 and the Programme of Action on Small Arms,

Operative clauses:
1. Calls upon member states to implement a mandatory marking and tracing system for all manufactured small arms within three years,
2. Requests the establishment of a regional database under UNODA to track legal arms transfers and flag anomalies,
3. Urges the Security Council to impose sanctions on any state found to be exporting small arms to non-state actors,

This example follows the standard clause structure: each clause is a single sentence; preambulatory clauses end with a comma; operative clauses end with a semicolon, and the final operative clause ends with a full stop. The working paper does not need to use the full approved list of clause starters. Using "Affirming" and "Deeply concerned" is enough to signal structure. The committee-power limits behind these clauses are real: a draft resolution in a General Assembly committee cannot compel the Security Council to act; it can only "urge" or "recommend". A working paper that attempts to "demand" that the Security Council take binding action will be rejected by the dais for exceeding the committee's mandate.

Jurisdiction Mistakes That Get Papers Rejected

The most common failure in working paper drafting is writing clauses that sound like policy statements but violate committee jurisdiction. A working paper from a Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee that tries to mandate military action will be rejected. A working paper from the Security Council that imposes a binding resolution without the correct procedural vote threshold will not pass. The preambulatory clause starters and operative clause starters published by THIMUN, HMUN, and NMUN are not decoration. They are constraints. "Urges" is a request. "Demands" in a General Assembly committee is a power the committee does not have. Use the approved list from your conference's delegate guide.

The Single-Sponsor Trap

A second common failure is submitting a working paper with a single sponsor. The minimum sponsor threshold exists precisely to prevent one delegation from dominating the agenda. At HMUN, a single-sponsor paper will not be accepted. At THIMUN, it will be returned for additional sponsors. At NMUN, the dais will instruct you to find at least two more delegations before resubmitting. The working paper is a coalition document from the start. If you write a paper alone, you write a paper nobody will vote for.

What To Do In Your Next Committee

The single most practical action you can take: during the first unmoderated caucus, find three other delegations with overlapping positions and draft a single page of shared clauses before anyone else submits. That page is your working paper. Submit it before the end of the session, and you control the conversation for the rest of the committee.