The lobbying process is an
informal, but nevertheless complicated, activity that takes up
much of the conference time both officially and unofficially. Many students are unaware of the significance of this process in the work of
both the committee and the General Assembly until they
experience the direct results of lobbying efforts during the
formal debates.
THE PURPOSE OF LOBBYING
Delegates who do not share
in such an experience cannot expect to achieve their own
objectives. Interest groups within a committee should develop resolutions that represent their common policy interests, representing
a solution that is beneficial to all of the members of
the group or organization. Members of these groups
should be able to speak on the special terms contained in the resolution, on the background to the issue, and on the reasons for the
operative clauses. Lobbying brings into play several
major forms of diplomacy for the purpose of communicating and
coordinating policies on a particular issue or set of issues. These
forms will vary according to the relationships and interrelationships of the parties involved in communication and coordination. Students who
are familiar with these forms become more aware of the
significance and depth of the relationships which they
enter into during the conference.
Many opportunities are
available to individual nations not directly involved in issues or
contentious resolution items. For example, small neutral states might be able to offer recommendations to larger states at odds over economic
or environmental policies, or states mutually
acceptable to both sides might be able to offer recommendations to nations in
dispute.