Guide to Drafting an Amendment 11th – 17th July 2011
An amendment is a change made to an operative clause of a Draft Resolution after it has been submitted, approved by the chairs of the committee and introduced to the Council. Amendments can add, strike (delete) or change one or more operative clauses in a Draft Resolution. To be approved, an amendment must have the required number of sponsors, and must be submitted, in written form, to the chairs of the committee. Specific rules with regards to the submission of an amendment can be found in the Rules of Procedure for your council. An amendment needs to be clear and specify in detail the changes that i t wishes to make. It should mention the number of the operative clause that it moves to change or strike, and if the amendment moves to add a new clause, it should specifically mention where it wishes this new clause should be in the Draft Resolution. (e.g., Add … between operative clauses 2 and 3). Additionally, if the amendment moves to change an operative clause, it should clearly dictate the new version of that operative clause. Please note that grammatical/syntax errors do not need an amendment in order to be corrected. Grammatical, spelling or formatting errors on a draft resolution will be corrected at the discretion of the Chair. Sample Amendments To Add a New Clause
Amendment
Topic Area A: A new partnership for Sub-Saharan Africa in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals Sponsors: USA, UK, ..., Spain
Moves to add the following operative clause between the current operative clauses 2 and 3. The new clause will read as: “Emphasizes the need to promote a fair trading system between African countries and the West, and to strengthen the position of African countries in international economic organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO);”
Old clause number 3 will become 4 and so on.
To Strike an Existing Clause
Amendment
Topic Area A: A new partnership for Sub-Saharan Africa in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals Sponsors: USA, UK, ..., Spain
Moves to strike operative clause number 5 and re-number the remaining clauses accordingly.
To Change an Existing Clause Example 1
Amendment Topic Area A: A new partnership for Sub-Saharan Africa in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals Sponsors: USA, UK, ..., Spain Moves to add the following phrase at the end of operative clause 9: ‘the civil society and the private sector’ The operative clause should now read as: “Proclaims the importance of cooperation with non-governmental organizations, t h e civil society and the private sector;”
Example 2
Amendment Topic Area A: A new partnership for Sub-Saharan Africa in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals Sponsors: USA, UK, ..., Spain Moves to delete the following phrase from operative clause number 7: ‘in order to tackle government accountability of the Member States for the a t t a i n m e n t o f t h e Millennium Development Goals’ The operative clause should now read as: “Considers it necessary to amend t h e current NEPAD agreement;”