Being a General Assembly MUNerin a Crisis Committee by İnci BAKIRLI

Being a General Assembly Muner in a Crisis Committee

            When you first start Mun they usually tell you that crisis is hard and you should start by doing GA committees. And that was what I did before discovering how great the crisis was. I still can’t choose one but people say if you do one of them enough the chances are you probably choose one. In my case, I suddenly started joining Turkish crisis committees after doing Harvard General Assembly committees for a while. Was I the same as a complete first-timer when I joined my first crisis? Or how did GA help to do crisis?

The Crowded General Assembly Committees

When I first started doing Model UN I was intimidated by the fact that there are that many delegates in the room and I did even learn the name of most delegates. But when I was in a committee with seven people in it, It was easier to debate and write directives or resolutions. Needless to say, It is more common to see a crisis committee with less than ten people than a General Assembly committee. In the end, I can say that crowded committees actually helped me to gain the courage to speak in front of a lot of people but still I’d prefer a less crowded one.

Understanding Diplomacy and How to Collaborate

Learning to improve the committee comes from learning to find solutions, form blocks and collaborate. And especially in some crisis committees, you need to understand how some UN bodies work or how can the committee can get help from another organization. So understanding some aspects of diplomacy in a General Assembly committee can be beneficial for you.

Learning the Procedure

The procedure; points, motions, caucuses can be confusing for a first-timer and I think that it can be made easier by learning it in a General Assembly Committee. And If you have a nice chair, you might really have fun while learning about them without the struggle. The procedure is sometimes released by conferences before the conference takes place. The chairs usually take those rules as a procedure. The procedure is usually the same in every conference but being careful and checking if they sent any new documents can help. Some crisis committees are a lot more formal than others which depends on the chair. You should be careful not to break any rules. Rules are some standards that munturkey.com and the conference have put for the delegates. Breaking the rules can cause you to get into a blacklist made by munturkey.com. Delegates in blacklists can be rejected from conferences easily and their chances to be a chairboard member is lowered.

            Staying in the Character

In General Assembly, delegates have to learn a lot about their countries in order to even be efficient in their committee. In a crisis, you will need that to represent a certain character which you can learn the preparation process in General Assembly. Characters are the roles a delegate is assigned to represent in the committee. For example, you can be a political candidate who is trying to win an election or someone who is in charge of the air force in a war.

             Writing the Important Documents

Documents are an essential part of crisis committees, press releases and directives are the main documents that a delegate has to write. Directives order direct action, press releases inform the public. Writing documents like resolutions, directives are a crucial part of conferences. Once my chair said directives should be like resolutions in a way that delegates should write everything that they are planning to do in a simple but effective way. You should clarify everything and leave no details because when a mistake in a GA can be fixed by your chairs advice the same mistake can make you lose the war in crisis.

When I mentioned they were similar, I have to mention that they are really different too. A directive orders immediate action, it sends troops, takes military action, orders assassination’s, makes secret plans… A General Assembly resolution usually does not do the same, it simply accepts that certain things must be done and doesn’t follow up if the countries don’t do what’s required after the resolution.

            The Importance of Debate

This is something that everyone can tell you, conferences will help you gain the confidence to speak in front of a lot of people. And you will have to do that all the time in General Assembly, but only sometimes in crisis because you will be writing directives. If you want to work on your public speaking, attending a committee that will require you to do so can be a great opportunity.

No matter which type of conference you join, remember that munturkey.com is always there to solve your problems regarding conferences. Make sure that you’re prepared and I am sure that you can get amazing awards in both types of committees!

İnci Bakırlı