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Award Criteria

Awards will be given to delegates that exemplify the spirit of MGDMUN. Award winners
succeed in communicating their objectives, promoting a policy of co-existence, seeking a
consensus, upholding a pragmatic approach, constructing feasible solutions, and representing
the policy of their country accurately, yet not restraining the functioning of the committee.

Position Paper Awards

Each delegate is expected to submit a position paper which should concisely set out the
position of the state or other entity you represent.
Chairs will judiciously review and assess the position papers and indicate recommendations
and the Secretariat will subsequently make a decision. The deadline for submission of
position papers is 25th September, 2015.
Please note that to be eligible for an award, delegates must submit a position paper.

Individual Committee Awards

At MGDMUN, we will be following the United Nations Information Centre [UNIC] guidelines
for honoring the delegates with awards.
The recipients of these awards will be chosen by the Secretariat member who chaired
the delegate’s committee, in an unbiased and objective spirit, and approved directly by
the Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General.

Committee awards in all the committees consist of, in ascending order:

  Honourable Mention 
  High Commendation 

 Best Delegate 

One each, except for Disarmament and International Security Committee which will have
2 Honourable Mentions.

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Here at MGDMUN, no restrictions bind the Executive Board to a limited number of awards and
whenever deemed suitable Executive Board enjoys the liberty to reward delegates who are
well-researched and well-spoken, at their discretion. MGDMUN gives out awards in each
committee to delegates who demonstrate leadership abilities and brilliant contribution in
reaching a common feasible solution to the problem.

The parameters on which a delegate will be evaluated, that is the criteria that will be

followed for giving of awards at MGDMUN are given below:
 Foreign Policy Accuracy 

 
Substantive Knowledge and Contribution to Consensus-Building
 
Negotiation Skills
 
Rhetorical Skills
 
Writing Skills
 
Use of Procedure

Debating Skills

Foreign Policy Accuracy

The primary role of a delegate is to ensure that international consultations, negotiations,
treaties, resolutions and statements adequately reflect their country’s priorities and
interests. At the same time, they must build and maintain healthy relationships with the
representatives of other countries as befits diplomats. Thus good delegates must show a
strong grasp of their country’s policies, including political, economic and trade, and
ideological considerations. Diplomatic behavior and foreign policy accuracy also
includes a delegate’s demeanor and demonstration of cooperative qualities, since
disrespecting a fellow delegate is tantamount to one country disrespecting another, which
is unacceptable.

Substantive Knowledge and Contribution to Consensus-building

A winning delegate must demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the topic that is used to
inform and advance debate and work towards achieving the goals of the committee. They
must also propose creative and feasible solutions, with well-developed strategies for
implementation, including operations and funding. These solutions should be inclusive
not divisive, and accommodate concerns from different sections and blocs of the
committee.

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Negotiation Skills

A diplomat must use all the resources at their disposal to protect their country’s interest
while furthering cordial relations with strategic partners and the international community
at large. It is crucial that the delegates who work towards resolving differences between
groups or major players, such as by orchestrating a merger or by mediating negotiations,
be recognized. They must demonstrate the skill of finding a middle ground to achieve
solutions that are acceptable to all parties, and that constitute a definite improvement on
the current situation. They must be able to extract and exchange concessions from and
with other delegations while maintaining an atmosphere of cooperation and teamwork.
The mark of a delegate with good leadership and negotiation skills is inclusiveness and
the ability to draw out and encourage other people’s diverse viewpoints and skills to
creatively solve problems.

Rhetorical Skills

In order to successfully represent their country’s interests, a delegate must have strong
communication skills that allow them to convey shades of meaning, understand what is
said and not said, and be able to persuade their peers of the validity of their arguments, to
bring them together despite their differences. While delegates should in no way be
penalized for their grasp over the language of the committee, they must be encouraged to
be able to express themselves with a certain level of fluency and comfort.

Writing Skills

This parameter of judgment would will include four major aspects: resolution,
amendments, directives and working papers. Writing paperwork is a tricky task to
accomplish - it requires an excellent command over the language to attain the proper
structure and grammar, while also demanding a methodical and orderly mind to realize
the paper’s aims with skill and context. Perhaps most important however is that the exact
wording and syntax used in the text can make a great deal of difference to the meaning of
the resolution and its acceptability to different states.
Since all UN resolutions, except those by the Security Council under chapter VII of the
UN Charter, are legally non-binding, the choice of words is almost like a code to indicate
the wishes and temperament of the international community. It is important to recognize
this to acknowledge that writing resolutions or amendments can be a significant site for

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demonstration of negotiation skills, since it requires achieving a compromise on the final
text that will represent the committee and be documented in historical records.

Use of Procedure

Delegates must be well-aware of procedure and able to use procedural points to their
advantage while in sessions. It is not, however, necessary to memorize the rulebook and
quote it at will – delegates must simply demonstrate a working knowledge of procedure that
does not disrupt the smooth flow of debate. This includes apt use of communiqués and chits.

Debating Skills

During committee sessions delegates will be expected to use various skills including public
speaking and group discussion to put forth their ideas opinions. Debating facilitates a free flow
of ideas and discussion, thus success in committee is highly dependent on a delegate's oratory
skill. Enthusiasm and zeal in debating is important as well.

The amount of speaking will not act as a guiding factor in the Executive board and
Secretariat’s judgments as substantive content will be considered more supreme rather than
repeated or irrational ideas and opinions. Similarly, sponsoring resolutions per se does not
warrant an award.

Best Delegation Award

There will be one award for the best delegation attending MGDMUN 2015. This honor
will be awarded to the delegation that collectively impressed chairs and Secretariat the
most in terms of debating skills and country position enactment.

Following marking scheme will be used for selection of the Best Delegation:

 Best Delegate: 30 points

 High Commendation: 20 points 


 Honorable mention: 10 points 

Questions regarding the award policy of MGDMUN can be directed to the Secretary
General Diksha Goel and the Deputy Secretary General Manisha Bhau.

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