What and how you research can make or break your success as a delegate. Whether you are taking measures to protect religious diversity in GA 3, or dissecting the situation in the Gaza strip with the Security Council, researching smarter—not harder, is an essential skill to have, one that has the capacity to take your diplomatic prowess to heights you’ve never reached before.
Here are our top tips:
1. Use Artificial Intelligence—As a Search Engine!
Disclaimer: Do act within the scope of your school’s rules, and take special care in determining when and how A.I should be used, and distinguishing the legitimacy of A.I-generated results, if you have received approval to use it at all.
Despite the drawbacks you would face by using artificial intelligence as your primary source of research (something all delegates should avoid as it breaches ethical codes), knowing how to use A.I in a strategic and appropriate manner, has the power to expand the scope of your research, and add layers of nuance to the solutions you are able to provide to the committee. Perplexity is an example of an A.I search engine that could help you maximise your research! This platform does not merely answer your prompts, but cites the sources it derived answers from. It also generates follow-up questions in accordance to the initial prompt you sent, helping you discover loopholes you never knew existed, deepening the nuance of your knowledge, and the resolutions you make of it.
2. Take the Given Resources Seriously!
Always refer back to the study guide that has been given to you by your Chair. You’ve probably realised by now that it contains the chair’s expectations and the agenda to be followed. So, by truly understanding the facets of the report, you’ll already be one step ahead toward the goal.
3. Not Underestimate the UN Website!
Future solutions lie in existing solutions! Though this might not apply to everything, in terms of creating proposals and resolutions, try the UN website to reference previously passed resolutions relevant to your committee’s agenda. There, you will find analytical reports on the feasibility of said solutions— something to consider when developing your own. This will crystallize its legitimacy in contributing to the issue at hand.
4. Check For Expiration Dates!
The same way you should not drink milk that should have been drunk last week, find resources that were published in a relevant context. In other words, because you’ll be discussing solutions that must be applicable to the future, make sure that the sources you use are appropriately dated. Try to find statistics and facts from recent publications through sources such as, but not limited to news outlets and academic studies! Just make sure that your resolutions are not supported by expired data.
5. Seek To Understand, Not To Memorise!
Photographic memory. Wouldn’t that be nice? Alas, only a select few have the advantage. But, if there truly are important numbers to retain, make sure to note them down ahead of time, and understand their significance. Adding statistics to your speech will turn opinion into fact: helping you present yourself as the rational, problem-solver delegate that you are.
6. Fill In the Gaps.
Remember, the problem is never as simple as you might think, and the solution is never as straightforward as it may seem. Take climate change, for example; reducing carbon emissions by switching to renewable energy may seem painless. However, this mere “switch” is not so simple for developing countries whose economies depend on the fossil fuels market to sustain themselves.
The key, then, would be to dissect the problem: Identify the factors enabling the problem to continue, make it a goal to find strategic solutions aimed at mitigating each of these individual harms, and ensure that these strategies collectively increase the sustainability of the proposed resolution for the long term. A solution is only as good as how long it can continue solving the problem. Otherwise, it might as well have never happened.
Behind every brilliant idea is a well-researched delegate. But in the same way a resolution is only as good as how long it can last; the quality of your ideas can only be measured by how well you can communicate them.
Read Part 3 of the series for tips on how to set yourself, and your ideas apart!
