A motion is how a delegate proposes to change what the committee is doing: move from the GSL into a caucus, close debate, bring a resolution to the floor. Anyone can raise one; the committee decides whether to adopt it, usually by simple majority.
Worth knowing up front: motions, seconding, and yielding don’t exist in the real UN General Assembly. They’re Model UN’s own parliamentary scaffolding, built to give a room full of students a fair, orderly way to run debate, not an attempt at UN authenticity for its own sake.
Motion to extend
Normally, this is only said before the opening speech starts to increase the allocated time for opening speeches (usually 1 minute). To lets say, 90 seconds or 75 seconds. This is useful when your opening speech is too long (hopefully it is since 1 minute is not enough to cover most topics) and is commonly used in most sessions.
Moderated caucus
Chair-controlled and structured. The GSL is suspended, and the chair calls on delegates one at a time, usually by raised placard, to speak briefly, often on a specific sub-topic named in the motion. A moderated caucus motion states both the total time and the per-speaker time (e.g. “10 minutes, 30 seconds per speaker”). The clock only runs while someone is actually speaking.
Unmoderated caucus
Informal and unstructured. Delegates leave their seats and negotiate freely for the motioned duration, with no chair-mediated turn-taking. The motion only needs a total time, not a topic. This is genuinely where most of the real work happens: bloc-building, negotiation, and the actual drafting of working papers. See caucusing for what this looks like in practice.
Closing or extending debate
A motion to close debate ends discussion on the current topic and moves the committee straight into voting. A motion to extend debate lengthens the current debate or speaking time instead of ending it. The vote threshold to close debate is one of the more conference-variable numbers. You’ll see both simple majority and two-thirds cited, so don’t assume either without checking your conference’s rules.
Introducing a draft resolution
Once a draft resolution has met its sponsor/signatory requirements (see working papers and resolutions), a delegate moves to introduce it, bringing it to the floor to be read and debated.
Withdrawing sponsorship
A sponsor can withdraw from a resolution at any time via a written motion to the dais. Useful if your delegation’s position shifts and you no longer want your name attached to it.
The “table” trap
If you hear “motion to table the resolution,” check which convention your conference uses before you assume you know what it means. In American usage, tabling sets a motion aside, and it kills momentum, sometimes permanently. In British/Commonwealth usage, tabling means the opposite: bringing it forward for consideration. Conferences run by either tradition exist, and the same phrase means opposite things.
When multiple motions are on the floor
Which motion the chair takes first when several are raised at once isn’t standardized. A common pattern is that the most disruptive motion gets voted on first. ( and unmoderated caucus > consultation of the whole > moderated caucus > GSL with GSL being the least disruptive and unmoderated caucus being the most disruptive. If there are multiple same motions the one with the longest time is considered the most disruptive of the same time ), but exact precedence rules genuinely differ by conference.
See the motion list for the full set of motions across conferences, with typical names and vote thresholds.
Next: Points