Training Diplomacy

Simulating the committee talks of the United Nations and other international organizations involves not only solid background knowledge on the issues being discussed, but also certain level of familiarization with the debating style and its procedural aspects. Like in other MUNs, the debates at BRIMUN are structured by a set of rules and procedures. This ensures a coherent flow of ideas and gives all participants a fair chance to express themselves.

Throughout the five days of the conference, discussions at BRIMUN are distilled into seven committee sessions of two to four hours each. Though most sessions are held within committees in formal debate, some others take place in more special scenarios such as champagne receptions and even outdoors.

The Debate

Each committee depending on its nature will have an agenda composed of two to three committee topics. Delegates will normally spend their first session debating which of the topics would be discussed first and set the agenda of discussion. After a topic resolution is passed, the committee will then discuss the next topic in accordance to how the agenda was set. This is of course a very important phase as it is often the case that a committee will deal with a single topic throughout all days of the conference.

Debates within committees are formal and are done in accordance with our rules of procedure. A committee is normally composed of two structures: the delegates and the committee chairs. The delegates lead the discussion and ideally pursue a topic resolution. Heated discussions and conflicts of interests are prone to arise and therefore a regulating party is needed. The Committee Chair is then a body made up by two BRIMUN members who are responsible for monitoring and chairing the discussion accordingly. Further details about debating structures are reflected in our Rules of Procedure.

Resolutions

A topic resolution is an official document that reflects the accorded solutions to all issues that the committee topic underlines. Discussions usually focus on building the resolution and are shaped by the national interests of each of the delegates. When a resolution is achieved, the topic is considered to be "solved" and the debate moves towards the next topic of the agenda. Resolutions are approved by consensus depending on the committee context they are in. For instance, the Security Council do not only require an overall agreement between the subscribing nations, but also the approval of the five Permanent Members of the United Nations; for other committees, different rules apply.