The AMUN Chronicle

Staying in Your Lane: Understanding Purview

by Brianne Reeves, Under-Secretary-General for Research

AMUN’s educational goals are dependent on making our simulations closely resemble the actual United Nations as reasonably as possible. As a result, AMUN focuses on making sure our committees stay within purview. Purview is the lens through which each committee looks at an issue, and it also identifies the limitations of each committee. In the actual United Nations, each body has a mandate. That mandate focuses the way the body can talk about an issue because, simply put, international issues are too big to try and deal with in their entirety. As an example, the migrant crisis that has been affecting the Middle East, North Africa and Europe has many, many facets. Not only do Member States need to discuss the political instability leading to the crisis, but also the very practical day-to-day impact the crisis has on migrants and host countries. Rather than tasking one body with the overwhelmingly massive issue, GA First (disarmament and international security) can tackle the security aspect involved with massive population influxes and GA Third (social, cultural and humanitarian) can address the protection of migrant rights and the ways services are provided to those in crisis. Point being, at AMUN, we help our representatives also stay in these metaphorical lanes by reviewing your draft resolutions for purview. When your Rapporteur talks about purview, they are referring to the lens and limitations of your committee keeps. To help you understand your committee’s purview, you can refer to the Issues at AMUN handbook. Each committee’s purview is explained in the first paragraph of their page in the handbook, as well as in the Guidebook app under Simulation Central. For more questions, you should go talk to your Rapporteurs, who have had extensive training in committee purview. Purview can seem odd and nebulous, but is a vital part to learning how the United Nations works in the real world. So, do not be scared to ask; your educational experience benefits from working to understand and comply with purview.