Intergovernmental Negotiations And Decision Making At The - NGLS

34 Negotiations and Decision Making at the United Nations• Hold Off Until the End: The most difficult passages are always finishedlast. At this point, everyone will have a sense of the compromiseseveryone else has made, and will be able to assess how much roomthere is to manoeuvre on the stickiest points.• Leave the Room: Delegates who may not want to speak or vote forthe record may simply decide to go out for a break.Who Sits on Delegations?Most Member States maintain permanent missions to the UnitedNations in New York (and in some cases to the United Nations inGeneva, Nairobi and Vienna as well). These missions are staffed yearround with diplomats who attend to routine and ongoing processesand debates. Since the UN is viewed by most governments as the keyinternational arena to express their foreign policy goals, diplomatsoften come from the Foreign Ministry.For special conferences or other events, diplomats and governmentofficials may come in from capitals. These delegations usually compriseone or two top government officials, up to the Head of State orGovernment; senior ministry representatives; technical experts; representativesfrom the mission or embassy where the meeting is beingheld; and sometimes NGOs and members of the private sector,although this is not obligatory.High-level officials, such as Heads of State, generally do not participatedirectly in negotiations. They are more likely to be found inclosed bilateral or small high-level meetings or delivering plenaryspeeches that outline their government’s position on an issue.