Workshop on Negotiating, Drafting and Adopting United Nations Resolutions
Resolutions constitute a fundamental outcome of meetings within the United Nations principal organs. The diplomat or representative in any multilateral posting must be able to manage the specialized nature and volume of work involved in such UN meetings, including the processes of drafting, negotiating and adopting resolutions.
This course is essentially about communication within the UN principal organs. It focuses on communication through written means as well as, to a lesser degree, how delegates conduct consultations in preparing resolutions. Meetings within the UN principal organs have a particular “culture”: the way people behave is strongly influenced by generally accepted rules, tradition and expectations. The same is true about the way delegates and other participants draft texts for consideration and adoption. As an individual, and as the representative of a sovereign State, the costs of ignoring or not knowing these rules, traditions and expectations are potentially high.
The main objectives of this workshop are to familiarize the participants with the structure and form of United Nations resolutions and decisions, to help them to improve their skills in the drafting of resolutions and to enable them to acquire a better knowledge of the rules and practices relating to the adoption of UN resolutions.
At the end of the course, participants should be able to:
• Draft the preamble and operative parts of a resolution;
• Explain the structure of UN resolutions and the functions specific to its constituent parts;
• Identify and describe the various phases and evolution of a resolution text before adoption, including consultations, drafting, and voting;
• Recognize the status and category of any UN document based on the numbering system.
The workshop will consist of three parts. The first one will be devoted to a presentation on the structure and drafting of resolutions and decisions; during the second part, the participants will be involved in practical drafting exercises. Please note that the participants will be asked to prepare home assignments that require a significant amount of preparation time. The last part will focus on decision making in the Security Council of the United Nations and on the steps leading to the adoption of resolutions.
This workshop is intended for members of the diplomatic community of Geneva, Vienna and Rome and delegates of Ministries of Foreign Affairs and other senior government officials and international civil servants.
UNITAR reserves the right to make a selection among candidates. The selected candidates are requested to regard their participation as a firm commitment and to attend the course in its entirety.
The workshop will take place at the International Environment House (IEH) in Conference Room (TBC); Châtelaine, Geneva.
The workshop will be conducted in English. The participants will be provided with a set of background material at the beginning of the course. Participants who have followed the workshop in its entirety will be awarded a course certificate.
The course participation fee is 1,200 USD. Diplomats from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and developing countries are eligible for a fee waiver as part of the CDT fellowship scheme. Please contact the Multilateral Diplomacy Programme for more details by e-mail at: diplomacy [at] unitar.org (diplomacy[at]unitar[dot]org) and by phone at: +41 22 917 87 16 . Registration will be closed as soon as the course is full and your place will be secured once your payment is confirmed.
Important: Upon course registration, the applicant accepts to make the full payment for the UNITAR course(s) immediately following receipt of the invoice and payment information. UNITAR reserves the right to rescind an applicant's enrollment at any time in case of non-receipt of payment. Payment is non-reimbursable but upon approval may be credited to another course.