Model UN Position Paper Template

A position paper is the one document nearly every conference requires before you speak a word in committee, and at most US conferences it follows the same three-part structure: what the problem is, where your country stands, and what you propose to do about it. This template holds that structure so you can focus on the substance.

The fill-in sheet below prints on one page. For a full walkthrough with a weak and a strong sample paper on the same topic, read How to Write a Model UN Position Paper.

Prints clean. Page chrome is stripped automatically.

Position paper planner

One page per topic. Draft here, then write it out in full sentences.

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Header block

Committee

Topic

Country

Delegate name and school

Section 1 · Topic background2-4 sentences. Prove you understand the problem, then stop.

The problem, in one sentence with one hard number

Key UN action so far (resolution, treaty, or program, by name)

Why it is still unsolved

Section 2 · Your country's positionThe section chairs read most closely.

Your country's core stance, in one sentence

Domestic action: a law, program, or policy with a date

International action: votes, treaties signed or refused, funding given

What your country needs from any solution (red lines)

Section 3 · Proposed solutionsTwo or three, each concrete enough to become an operative clause.

Proposal 1: what, run by whom, funded how

Proposal 2: what, run by whom, funded how

Likely allies for these proposals

Format spec and pre-submission checklist

Defaults for US conferences. The background guide always wins if it disagrees.

Length	One page per topic unless the conference says otherwise. Two topics, two pages.
Font and spacing	Times New Roman or a similar serif, 11 or 12 point, single spaced. Follow the background guide if it specifies.
Voice	Third person, in character: "Japan believes", never "I think".
Header block	Committee, topic, country, delegate name, school. Some conferences add flag or crest rules; check yours.
Citations	Not always required, but the strongest papers cite UN documents by symbol (for example resolution A/RES/70/1). Footnotes beat a bare source list.
Deadline	Usually one to two weeks before the conference, and often a hard condition for research awards.

Before you submit

Every section mentions your country by name, not "we" or "our nation" alone.
At least one UN document is cited by symbol or name, not "the UN has passed resolutions".
Each proposed solution names who runs it and where the money comes from.
Nothing in the paper contradicts your country’s actual voting record.
It fits on one page, and the file name follows the conference’s submission rules.

How to use this sheet

1
Fill the header and read the background guide first
Everything in your paper should respond to the questions the background guide actually asks. Chairs wrote that guide; they notice when you answer it.
2
Draft the three sections in order, one paragraph block each
Background shows you understand the problem, position proves your country has a record, solutions show what you will do in committee. Weight your effort toward the last two; the background section is where weak papers waste their page.
3
Make every claim specific to your country
A test that works: if another delegation could paste your sentence into their paper without edits, it is not doing any work. Replace it with a policy, a vote, a program, or a number.
4
Run the checklist, then cut to one page
Cut from the background section first. Chairs read dozens of these in one sitting; a tight page beats a full page and a half every time.

Next documents in the prep sequence: the country research worksheet feeds this paper, and the resolution template turns your solutions section into clauses once committee starts.