New York, 3 August 2007 – The General Assembly yesterday adopted by consensus a Resolution on “Revitalization of the role and authority of the General Assembly and strengthening its performance” (Resolution 61/292). No discussion took place beforehand, and the only statements following its adoption were those of co-facilitator Daniele Bodini of San Marino and the President of the Assembly, Haya Rashed Al Khalifa.

The Resolution formally establishes an ad hoc working group on GA revitalization, at the 62nd session of the GA. Its role will be to “evaluate and assess the status of implementation of relevant resolutions, to identify ways to further enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the General Assembly, inter alia, by building on previous resolutions, and to submit a report thereupon to the General Assembly.”

Before action was taken on the draft Resolution yesterday, a representative of the UN Secretariat stated that the Working Group would not require any additional Conference Servicing resources, as its meetings would never be scheduled at the same time as meetings of the Assembly itself or of any other committee.

The Resolution stresses the importance of implementing existing Resolutions on revitalization of the General Assembly. It also asks the UN Secretary-General to submit an annual report to assist the Member States in monitoring and ensuring the Resolutions’ implementation. It specifies five Resolutions (58/126, 58/316, 59/313, 60/286, and the Resolution adopted yesterday), which the Secretary-General’s report should address in terms of their implementation to date. Yesterdays’ Resolution also specifically “reaffirms” 14 Resolutions adopted between December 1991 and September 2006 relating to revitalization of the Assembly’s work and role. The Secretary-General’s report should form the basis of the Working Group’s efforts in the 62nd Session.

Yesterday’s decision followed a series of consultations that began in mid-March 2007. An earlier draft Resolution (in the form of a facilitators’ non-paper) circulated during those consultations did not find consensus agreement, and its contents were not included in nor addressed by the final draft Resolution (see below for more on the content of the non-paper).

The co-facilitators also are producing a report summarizing their ideas for further Assembly revitalization efforts, which they hope will inform the Working Group in its efforts during the 62nd Session of the General Assembly. The 62nd session begins in September 2007.

Background

The President of the General Assembly appointed two co-facilitators for consultations on GA Revitalization on 9 March 2007: Ambassador Bodini of San Marino and Ambassador Paul Badji of Senegal. This marked a new stage for efforts to reform the Assembly. The previous efforts, chaired by the Permanent Representatives of Latvia and Yemen, ended in September 2006 with a Resolution (A/Res/60/286) that partially addressed the matters raised for discussion in the World Summit Outcome Document. That Resolution included a decision to consider the re-establishment of the ad hoc working group for further work on the revitalization on the General Assembly in the 61st session.

Once appointed, the co-facilitators held informal discussions with delegations before any large meetings, developing a new list of issues under consideration. They included:

- Whether to continue the use of the open-ended ad hoc working group as the framework for discussion of GA revitalization;

- Status of implementation of previous Resolutions on GA revitalization, and responsibility for implementation;

- Speaking limits in GA debates and streamlining committee agendas;

- Role of the GA on issues of peace and security;

- Strengthening the office of the President of the GA;

- Selection and election process of the UN Secretary-General;

- Interaction between the Secretary-General and the GA; and

- Relationship between the GA and the Security Council.

The co-facilitators then held several series of consultations with Member States. On 6 June they circulated to Member States a non-paper on “Elements for a draft Resolution.”

Proposals of Non-Paper

The draft attempted to consolidate the ideas that had been expressed in the consultations. It included proposals to:

- Avoid “repeat voting on resolutions already acted upon at the Committee level”;

- Encourage Permanent Representative-level and Deputy-level participation in GA meetings;

- Ask the GA President to organize “exchanges of views on relevant subjects with participation of civil society, in particular those from developing countries”;

- Require regional groups to name three candidates for the Presidency of the GA, and to invite candidates to participate in interactive meetings with the whole membership, preceding election in the GA;

- Begin the Secretary-General selection process one year ahead of the end of the current SG’s term, and invite candidates to participate in interactive meetings with the whole membership;

- Appoint the Secretary-General by a two-thirds majority vote, upon recommendation of the Security Council, rather than the current practice of appointing the recommended nominee by acclamation;

- Schedule regular briefings from the Secretary-General;

- Request the Security Council to submit special reports to the GA on the affairs of the Council as needed; and

- Establish an open-ended ad hoc working group to ensure implementation of existing and future resolutions on GA revitalization.

In the view of the facilitators, the goals of the process were to:

- Define the political role of GA;

- Enhance the body’s role and improve its working methods to function more like a parliament; and

- Strengthen the role of President, which has lessened over time especially in terms of media access, they said.

Next Steps

The incoming President of the General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim, will be responsible for convening the Working Group during the 62nd Session of the General Assembly, which begins in mid-September. It is unknown when the Secretary-General will prepare his report on implementation of relevant Resolutions, on which the Working Group will base its efforts.

Resources

Resolution 61/292 adopted on 2 August 2007

The e-Newsletter of ReformtheUN.org is a free service. To subscribe, go to http://reformtheun.org/mailman/listinfo/latestdevelopments. Please forward this announcement widely to individuals and organizations that have expressed an interest in UN reform.