Conference Committees
The General Assembly (GA) of the Winthrop Model UN runs very much
like the General Assembly of the United Nations, which is
comprised of 192 Member States.
The GA is the main body that debates policies and
discusses issues that affect all Member States.
Winthrop’s GA will consist of all states listed on the
Country Preference Form that have a college delegate, with the
exception of single delegate coutnries of the Special
Committee-- Qatar, Yemen and Algeria.
The Legal Committee at Winthrop’s Model UN Conference runs
much like the General Assembly.
There will be set resolutions, written by high school
delegates, to discuss and a straw poll vote will decide which
one to talk about first.
Each resolution will be discussed until it is voted on
or tabled. In the
United Nations, the Legal Committee, known as the “Sixth
Committee” or GA-6, focuses on aspects of the law at the
international level, international terrorism, the
administration of justice, and the protection of peacekeepers
and diplomats abroad.
Legal Committee
Resolutions
Sometimes called “SocHum,” the Social
and Humanitarian Committee is the Third Committee of the UN
General Assembly.
This body focuses on social problems, humanitarian aid, and
human rights issues with help from the Human Rights Council.
Issues under the realm of GA-3 are indigenous rights,
elimination of racism and discrimination, rights of women,
rights of children, refugees, and prisoners of war.
A very useful resource for this committee would be The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Social and
Humanitarian Committee Resolutions
Winthrop MUN’s “PolSec,” is modeled after a combination of the
United Nations’ General Assembly
First
and
Fourth Committees.
These committees deal with subjects pertaining to
decolonization, peacekeeping troops, nuclear weapons,
disarmament, and matters of war.
This committee is essential in keeping
international peace and security.
Political and
Security Committee Resolutions
Often considered the strong hand of the UN, the Security
Council consists of 15 Member States, five of which are
Permanent Members and 10 non-permanent members who serve
two-year terms on the Council.
Each Council member has one vote; but if a Permanent
Member (China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US) votes “no,”
they invoke the “power of veto.”
“Veto power” is given only to the Permanent Members
(P-5) and just one can strike down any resolution to be
passed, even if all other Council Members vote “yes.”
The Security Council at Winthrop actually writes resolutions,
rather than debates pre-written resolutions.
This body is given the duty to determine threats
against and maintain the peace, recommend action, use military
force against aggressors; the Security Council (“SecCo”) is
the only UN body
allowed to take punitive action against a Member State.
More details about the workings of the Security Council
are available on the Delegates page.
Special Committee
Every year, Winthrop MUN has a Special Committee that
corresponds with the conference theme.
In the past, the Special Committee has been the Human
Rights Council, Millennium Development Goals Council, and the
African Union.
We are pleased to present this year’s Special Committee:
The Arab League.
The Arab League at Winthrop actually writes resolutions,
rather than debates pre-written resolutions. This
body is given the duty to determine problems and threats
against the aligned Arab nations and maintain stability and
peace in the region. The Arab League will function like the
Security Council in that the delegates will choose what they
want to focus and debate on. The council is an open floor for
all issues in the Arab World, but a main focus should be the
recent Arab Spring and the issues that the region faces.
If you have any question or problems in preparing for the Arab
League please feel free to e-mail us at anytime or call during
the assigned office hours or leave a message.