FAQ

1. How many delegates may represent a country?

Due to space constraints, only one delegate may represent a country.

2. Where is the conference held?

The conference will be held from Friday, April 13^th, 2018 to Sunday, April 15^th, 2018 at Baku-Oxford School. We will begin on Friday at 9:15 A.M sharp. Schools and all the participants are encouraged to arrive for registration by 9:00 A.M that morning, so that we may begin promptly.

3. When do we have to register?

Form I is due December 17^th, 2017.

Form II is due January 31^st, 2018.

All the participants wishing to apply to Student Officer Positions are welcome to do so by December 21^st, 2017. (www.bakuimun.com)

Cost is 100/150 (US dollars) per delegate local/foreign and 50 (US dollars) per advisor.

Both forms may be requested by contacting us at bakuimun@gmail.com.

4. Do we have to wear formal attire?

Yes, formal attire must be worn at all times during the conference.

5. What constitutes formal attire?

Formal, professional attire is absolutely required on all days – Friday through Sunday. No jeans or sneakers are permitted. Male delegates must wear either a blazer, tie, and dress pants, or a full suit. Female delegates must dress appropriately and professionally.  Visible cleavage and short skirts are not considered professional.

6. How can I be constantly kept up to date and provided with further details?

All the new details and updated information will be posted on

www.bakuimun.com

7. Does Baku IMUN provide its own note-passing stationery?

Yes, Baku IMUN does provide delegates with the note-passing stationery.

8. Does Baku IMUN provide meals?

Baku IMUN provides a full lunch and coffee/tea break snacks on 3 days of the conference including an official dinner in one of the most luxurious hotels of Baku for all delegations.

A hospitality room with coffee, tea, and snacks is provided for directors and other adults attending the conference.

9. What do I say in an opening statement?
   Please refer to “Delegate Handbook” section, which deals with a number of issues relevant to the conference preparation.

10. Will host school provide housing?

At this time, Baku IMUN is not considering offering housing arrangements for non-local students attending the conference. We can suggest a list of budget hotels close to the city center, which are also not far from the conference venue.

11. How can delegates travel around Baku?

Baku IMUN recommends using public transport (bus and metro). For additional information, you can contact us and we would be glad to give you recommendations on sightseeing tours.

Non-local schools will be provided with transport at no cost on their arrival and departure dates, to and from the conference venue, and transport to the Gala Dinner on the first day of the conference. Because Baku IMUN has a great experience with foreign schools and students, we always like to organize a tour of the city with a professional guide as well as visits to important historical sites of Azerbaijan. We will be able to provide you with tours and guides at discount prices.

12. Can delegates use laptops/electronic devices?

Baku IMUN will permit delegates to use laptops or tablets at all times for matters strictly related to the conference. Use of mobile phones will not be permitted. The inappropriate use of electronic devices may lead to the suspension of such privilege. For intra-delegate communication, delegates must use their official notepaper, which will be provided by Baku IMUN

13. Does the conference venue have Wi-Fi connection?

Baku-Oxford School will enable Wi-Fi connection for all the participants in all forums. If any concern arises, please refer to the Administrative Staff for guidance.

14. Will all delegations make an Opening Statement?

No, due to Baku IMUN procedure, Opening Statements (Opening Speeches) wil not be entertained during the conference. Delegates of all committees will have to make speeches throughout the debates in the moderated caucus (formal caucus), including the Security Council. We do not have a set time for the speeches but generally, Chairs entertain speeches of a maximum of 3 minutes. Only in Security Council, there might be a case when the Chair might ask the delegates to prepare three separate speeches on three different agenda issues and state them at the beginning of each debate or a general speech, which would highlight the main point of the three agenda issues, but that is highly doubted. Delegates in ALL Forums (Committees) will make speeches while debating on the resolutions (either for or against) or if there are people submitting amendments there will also be a set time of 5-10 minutes for speeches (either for or against) on the amendments and then the voting procedure will be conducted.

Consequently, delegates in the Security Council will also have to prepare speeches for the debates, but it is advised to prepare either three different speeches on the topics themselves and one general one on all three topics in case of the possibility that the Chair might ask so for it.

15. How can a delegate find clues to research issues or to draft a resolution?

We recommend delegates access our website and go to the resource center section under which there is a research reports section where student officers will post a research report to guide delegates on each issue. In addition, there are recommended sources for research section where delegates can access a list of recommended sites for research. To draft a resolution, we recommend delegates go to our “Delegate Handbook” and click on the resolution section where delegates can access documents related to resolutions. There, delegates can also access the THIMUN Guides which include not only information on resolution but on many MUN aspects. The delegates will be provided with Pre-ambulatory, Operative Clause phrases and sample resolutions, which will be included in Delegate Handbooks and distributed to them on the first day of the conference during the Registration process.

We recommend delegates pay close attention to proper formatting of resolutions and ensure proper punctuation use is followed. For example, parentheses are only used to write an acronym after the name of an organization such as the World Health Organization (WHO), a comma ends each perambulatory clause but a semi-colon ends each operative clause, while a colon introduces a list of items.  Remember, since delegates simulate the United Nations, resolutions must adhere to guidelines given and ensure proper usage of English.

16. Do you provide trainings for new delegates?

Baku-Oxford School, as in previous years, provides training sessions and gives basic guidelines for new local delegations. Contact us on bakuimun@gmail.com if you are interested and we will fix an appropriate time. Trainings are going to be conducted at the Baku-Oxford School building.

17. Will there be any additional charges for changes to Form Two Delegate List?

We do not plan to charge for changes to Form II delegate list but kindly ask participating schools to let the Baku IMUN team know of any changes ASAP, and at the latest by March 1, 2017.

18. What is the difference between the Opening Statement, the Position Paper, the Position Paper Outline and a Policy Statement?When should we provide position papers?

A Position Paper is just another name for a Policy Statement. A Policy Statement outline is the format of how the Position Paper/ Policy Statement should be written. Position Paper/ Policy statement consists of 3 sections:

Section A – in the first paragraph, delegates define the meaning and the definition of the issue by providing some background information on it and explaining why it occurs and define key terms of the topic,

Section B – in the second paragraph, delegates present their country’s position on the issue and how their country deals with it in case it is present there.

Section C – in the third paragraph, delegates provide possible solutions for the given issue. They can be paraphrased from real UN resolutions or relevant organizations which are working on the eradication of the issue or they can be originals.

These are not mandatory to be written, so it is all up to the delegates on whether to write them or not (Baku IMUN do not require participants to submit their Policy Statements/ Position Papers). Policy Statements/Position papers are generally of a great help to the delegates, since they can help to form delegates’ speeches during the formal caucus and in writing the resolutions. They also come in handy when it comes to writing the Operative Clauses of the resolutions.

19. What are the duties and role of the Committee’s President and Deputy President?

The Presidents and the Deputy Presidents (also known as Chairs) are responsible for controlling the debate and give directions to the delegates. They are the ones who are in charge of the committee. Chairs conduct the debate and help the delegates with writing their resolutions and adopting them. They do all the same things the “Chairs” do at MUN Conferences, it is just the terms (President and Deputy-President) which are different. The President and Deputy President are equal. However, the President has more power over the Deputy and has the authority to overrule his/her Deputy’s decision.

20. What are the debate types in Baku IMUN?

There are two types of debates in the procedure of Baku IMUN- moderated caucus (formal caucus) and unmoderated caucus (informal caucus/lobbying). The sessions start off from the unmoderated caucus (informal caucus/lobbying), where the delegates are free to move around the room and talk to each other. During lobbying, delegates from into a number of groups according to the Agenda Issue and craft a draft resolution. The lobbying session takes about 2-3 hours. Afterwards, the prepared resolutions are submitted to the chairs and checked for plagiarism. Next, the resolutions are sent to the Approval Panel, where they are checked for grammatical and punctual mistakes. When the resolutions have been checked by the Approval Panel, they are sent back to the Committee and the moderated caucus (formal caucus) commences. The main submitter of the resolution takes the floor, reads out the operative clauses, and delivers his/her speech on the resolution to encourage other delegates to vote for it. Then, the speaker has the chance to either answer points of information (questions), yield the floor to another delegate, or yield the floor back to the Chair. The time taken for one speaker does not influence the time for asking questions or the yielded time for the speech of another delegate.

21. Are there any ways delegates can respond to speeches made during “formal caucus”?

No, the right of reply is not in order due to the Baku IMUN procedures.

22. When will the chair reports be uploaded?

The Chair reports are going to be uploaded first weeks of March, so please keep visiting www.bakuimun.com for any updates on the conference.

23. Is the type of debate in the Security Council different from other Committees?

The procedure in the Security Council is the same as in other committees except for the fact that during Voting Procedures each clause in the resolutions is voted upon separately, whereas in other committees the resolutions are voted upon as a whole. The delegates in the Security Council are encouraged to prepare one speech for the start of the conference, which will consider all of the three topics because the Chair of the Security Council might require the delegates of the Security Council to deliver their speeches on either each of the 3 issues or one, which would tackle all 3 Agenda Issues.