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The Operative Clauses follow directly after the Preamble. The purpose of these is to define what your country thinks should be done about the issue that is being discussed.

Operative clauses are the second major part of the resolution, on which the debate is focused. The operative clauses ask for the action needed to solve the issue. Each clause addresses a certain aspect of the issue; therefore one clause should not call for a variety of measures but stay focused on one particular aspect. When writing operative clauses, you should make sure to stay concrete and rational. The final clause is usually a sort of conclusion, reserved for expressing hope that countries will cooperate on the issue, although this is not mandatory.

Operative clauses are numbered, must start with a verb in the third person present tense (e.g. declares, stresses), and end with a semi-colon ( ; ). The last operative clause ends with a full stop ( . ).

The clauses are also separated by a blank line and are placed a bit further from the margin than the perambulatory clauses.

Making a good operative clause[]

It is important not to be too direct with your ideas. Writing "All harmful drugs should be banned" in an Operative Clause may not go down so well as a solution to Drug Trafficking problems. First of all, many states already have banned harmful drugs, and yet the drugs are still slipping through their customs officials and still being sold on their streets. Secondly, if it were as easy as the simple blanket measure of "banning drugs" wouldn't that have been tried before?

If your country does truly want narcotics to be absolutely and totally outlawed world wide, you should ask yourself, "How am I going to convince the other states do adopt these measures?" If you wish for legal or illegal drug sales to stop entirely, you should ask yourself, "How am I going to convince the people who buy and sell drugs not to?" or maybe more importantly, "What are these people going to do after they stop dealing in drugs?"

You should also try to avoid trying to fit too much into a single Operative Clause. Each clause deals with a single idea and as such anything else that you write will detract from this idea.

How do I make sure that my proposals are followed?[]

Your resolution may be deemed "too weak" by your fellow delegates if you do not have any methods of guaranteeing that member states and their citizens will do what you suggest. There are four things that you can do to try and get your message across.

Permit[]

Allowing and actively promoting a new activity may be a solution that encourages states and citizens to change their ways of life significantly to accomplish your goals. For example, the Netherlands are famously tolerant of drug use, and have recorded a lower proportion of drug-related deaths than the EU average, and a significant reduction in drug-related crime.

Reward[]

Incentives can help sweeten a deal and convince other people that signing up for whatever you have planned is a good idea. They might react kindly to incentives of any kind, be they financial, the promise of technological advancement, the building of infastructure or the loaning of personnel.

Punish[]

You could consider cutting off trade with states, or fining them monstrous amounts of money. Economic sanctions often work very well, although you should consider the impact upon any innocents within a state if you plan to damage that state's economic viability. Also consider the countries on whom this would have no effect.

Ban[]

The outright ban of undesirable practices can be a very effective way of getting a point across and making sure things happen quickly. Many countries might have already banned the particular practice (for example: slavery) within their own jurisdiction, so will be keen to support you. However, some countries continue to take part in banned practices despite worldwide UN bans, so without significant support, an outright ban may not have the desired effect.

How can I keep my proposals to the point?[]

Resoltuions may have a better chance of being accepted by committees and fellow delegates if they are more succinct in their ideas. Your clauses do not need to be essays. Remember that you also have the chance to speak about your resolution, so you do not need to write down all of your thoughts.

An example of an operative clause:

"2. Urges nations to institue a penalty for citizens who use mobile phones when driving, this will mean that there will be fewer accidents,"

The second half of the clause is worthless. It is actually a second clause in its own right, and should perhaps belong in the Preambulatory Clauses. Saying "this will mean that there will be fewer accidents," or anything similar is not required in order to achieve your goals, so it should be left out. If you believe that your clause does not explain why it is there, or if you feel that the committee will not know what you are trying to say, you have the chance to mention that fining drivers for mobile phone use "...will mean that there will be fewer accidents," during Lobbying or when you are speaking about your resolution.

Operative Phrases[]

Operative Clauses have to start with a certain word or certain words, a non-exhaustive list of which can be found in the following link:

Operative Phrases

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