[Please Read!] Clarifying Crisis Procedure + Tech Protocols

Hi everyone!

We only have four more days until BMUN!!!

Since BMUN is so close now, the chairs put together this mini-crisis rundown to help you all prepare for committee this upcoming weekend! Please read it in its entirety so that you are ready for committee.

What is a "crisis committee"?

Crisis committees are committees set in a certain time period, emulating different members of a small organization (ie. board of directors, senators, military members, etc).

The main difference between a crisis committee and a general assembly committee is the pacing. In this committee, there will be about 20 delegates working to solve multiple "crises" that are brought up in relation to the topic, ranging from protecting refugees from an attack to responding to a drought that has left civilians without water. Instead of representing countries, each delegate plays a different character with a direct influence on the outcome of each event.

When committee starts, unlike in general assembly, there is no speaker's list. Crisis operates in a perpetual moderated caucus, in which delegates have a set speaking time but no set topic. This is what the committee would default to if no motions pass.

Our perpetuated moderated caucus will follow a round robin method, where everyone gets a turn to speak in alphabetical order; we will continue doing this over and over, and you may request to be removed from a particular cycle or cycles of round robin. For the default perpetual moderated caucus, you will have one minute to speak by default. This time is amenable.

Other than that, committee will still follow parliamentary procedure and go into moderated and unmoderated caucuses when the chair opens the floor to points and motions. 

Directives and other Crisis Notes

Instead of resolutions, crisis committees pass directives. There are two types of directives:

1. Committee directives are similar to resolutions, requiring signatories and sponsors, and are voted on by the whole committee. However, no pre-ambulatory clauses are required. They are often shorter with one to four operative clauses but can be longer depending on what the committee is trying to accomplish. These directives take action unlike general assembly committees when you are making suggestions.

A typical committee directive format looks like: 

Directive Title

Sponsors: Entity 1, Entity 2

Signatories: Entity 3, Entity 4, Entity 5

Recommends operative 1;

Moves to operative 2;

Decides operative 3.

Our committee will not be super strict on the number of sponsors and signatories needed to entertain a committee directive; thus, for the size of our committee right now, we will say that you must have at least two sponsors and three signatories.

2. Personal directives are given directly to the dais without the committee's vote. Only you will see your personal directives. Here, you can use any personal powers, such as directing armies or sending spies to gather information. These can be formatted in any way but it's best to make it clear what exactly you want to accomplish and why. Be specific.

You can also work with 2-3 others to write a joint personal directive to combine personal powers to accomplish something as a group. These are formatted and submitted in the same manner as a personal directive.

In addition to directives, you also have two other types of crisis notes.

3. Communiques and press releases are other types of crisis notes. Communiques allow you to communicate with someone not in the room -- perhaps you would like to communicate with Omar al-Bashir? Press releases allow you to make an announcement to the entire committee. Both committee and personal directives will steer the outcome of the crisis.

The Crisis Arc

The backroom, composed of our dais, will be working to move committee forward in a fun and realistic fashion.

To be successful in a crisis committee, be sure you are well researched and ready to adapt your plans to whatever crises come your way. Committee could take some of the most unexpected turns!

For more information on MUN or crisis procedure visit: learn.bmun.org

How Submitting Crisis Notes and Receiving Responses will Work

For the Darfur crisis committee, we will be following our custom crisis technology guidelines. The dais decided upon these guidelines based on several virtual trials. We know that the virtual format of a crisis committee is not ideal, but we're going to make the best of it!

• To submit crisis notes: Fill out a pre-made Google Form that we will send out and pin for you when conference comes.
• To receive responses to crisis notes: Please use your Huxley portal and go to the messaging function.

To be clear, DO NOT submit crisis notes on Huxley, or we will not respond to them. ONLY SUBMIT crisis notes through the Google Form, and ONLY RECEIVE crisis note responses through Huxley.

This will be our standard protocol for now, and we will adjust if we decide as a committee that this protocol is not efficient, or if navigating the technology of this all is hindering your ability to use crisis committee as an effective learning tool.

Other Tips, Rules and Guidelines to Remember

• Do not spam the dais with personal crisis directives. You may only submit another PERSONAL directive if you have already received a response for a previous personal directive you have submitted. This rule does not apply to other crisis notes such as committee directives, joint personal directives, communiques, and press releases.
• Do be respectful of the victims of genocide in Darfur; please do not make light of their hardship and loss.
• Do strike a balance between being flexible with your character and making your portfolio powers your own, and forwarding realistic action items. Keep in mind that solutions that are specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-specific are more likely to pass and directly affect the course of committee.
• Do review the topic synopsis and any other research that you have done before conference. Because we are a historical committee, we highly encourage you to leverage previous history and past outcomes, either failures or successes, in order to guide you throughout debate.
• Do get familiar with your character, lean into characterization, and be creative!
• Do feel free to approach the dais and ask us for feedback throughout the conference. We would so love to meet each and every one of you!

Let us know if you have any more questions about crisis procedure by emailing us at darfurbmunlxix@bmun.org. We're so excited to see you all soon!