| United Nations | A/BUR/53/1 |
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
4 September 1998
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
General Assembly
Fifty-third session
General Committee
Organization of the fifty-third regular session of the General
Assembly, adoption of the agenda and allocation of items
Memorandum by the Secretary-General
Contents
Paragraphs Page
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4 2
II. Organization of the session. . . . . . . . . . . 5-39 2
III. Observations on the organization of future
sessions of the General Assembly . . . . . . . . 40-41 11
IV. Adoption of the agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42-47 11
V. Allocation of items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48-61 24
I. Introduction
1. The Secretary-General has the honour to place before the General
Committee, for its consideration, the following observations and proposals in
connection with the report to be made to the General Assembly by the General
Committee regarding the organization of the fifty-third regular session and
future sessions of the Assembly, the adoption of the agenda and the allocation
of items.
2. Over the years, the General Assembly has adopted a number of
provisions aimed at rationalizing the procedures and organization of the
Assembly. These provisions are reproduced in the annexes to the rules of
procedure of the General Assembly (A/520/Rev.15 and Amend.1 and 2, annexes I,
II and IV-VIII).
3. The General Committee may wish to draw the General Assembly's
attention to the provisions in annexes V, VI, VII and VIII to its rules of
procedure, in particular to those provisions reproduced below under the
relevant headings.
4. The Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of the General
Committee to the following resolutions of the General Assembly, the provisions
of which are reflected in the present document under the relevant headings:
(a) Annex I to resolution 48/264 of 29 July 1994, entitled
"Guidelines on the rationalization of the agenda of the General Assembly";
(b) The annex to resolution 51/241 of 31 July 1997,
entitled "Strengthening of the United Nations system", annex.
In this connection, the Committee may wish to draw the attention of
the Assembly to the reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of
General Assembly resolution 48/264 (A/52/856) and resolution 51/241
(A/52/855).
II. Organization of the session
A. General Committee
5. The Secretary-General wishes to draw to the General Committee's
attention rule 40 of the rules of procedure, as well as General Assembly
decision 34/401 (A/520/Rev.15, annex VI, paras. 1 and 2), Assembly resolutions
39/88 B (ibid., annex VII, para. 4), the annex to resolution 45/45
(A/520/Rev.15 and Amend.1, annex VIII, para. 3) and the annex to resolution
51/241 (paras. 17, 18 and 33-35) pertaining to the functions of the Committee.
B. Rationalization of work
6. The Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of the General
Committee to General Assembly resolution 41/213 of 19 December 1986, whereby
the Assembly decided that the recommendations as agreed upon and as contained
in the report of the Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts to Review
the Efficiency of the Administrative and Financial Functioning of the United
Nations 1/ should be implemented by the Secretary-General and the relevant
organs and bodies of the United Nations.
7. In this connection, the Secretary-General wishes to draw the
attention of the General Committee to the measures undertaken in pursuance of
the goal of renewal and reform, in particular to recommendations 2, 3 and 7 of
the Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts, as reflected in the
progress reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation
of General Assembly resolution 41/213, entitled "Review of the
efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United
Nations". The Secretary-General also wishes to draw the Committee's attention
to Assembly resolution 48/264 entitled "Revitalization of the work of the
General Assembly" and annex I thereto and resolution 52/12 B of 19 December
1997, entitled "Renewing the United Nations: a programme for reform".
8. The General Committee may wish to draw the General Assembly's
attention to paragraph 5 of the annex to resolution 45/45 (A/520/Rev.15 and
Amend.1, annex VIII), which reads as follows:
"5. The General Committee should consider, at the beginning of
each session of the General Assembly, recommending that certain
Main Committees should meet in sequential order, taking into
account such matters as the number of meetings required for the
consideration of the questions with which they are charged at that
session, the organization of the work of the whole session and the
problem of participation of smaller delegations."
In this connection, the Committee may also wish to draw the Assembly's
attention to paragraphs 30, 31 and 36 of the annex to resolution 51/241, which
read as follows:
"30. All Main Committees shall hold brief organizational
sessions once the General Assembly has taken decisions on the
agenda, before the commencement of the general debate. Bureaux of
the Main Committees shall meet earlier to draw up
recommendations on the organization and programme of work.
"31. The Main Committees shall meet in substantive session only
after the end of the general debate.
...
"36. The First Committee and the Fourth Committee shall not meet
simultaneously and may consider meeting in a sequential manner
during the regular session of the General Assembly. This
arrangement shall not apply if it affects their respective
identities, programmes of work and effective consideration of
their agendas."
9. Furthermore, the Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of
the General Committee to the fact that measures introduced to reduce costs
relating to overtime will be strictly enforced.
C. Closing date of the session
10. In accordance with the provisions of rule 2 of the rules of
procedure, the General Assembly should fix a closing date for the fifty-third
session. By its resolution 52/232 of 4 June 1998, the General Assembly
decided, inter alia, on the opening date of the fifty-third session, namely,
Wednesday, 9 September 1998. The practice of recommending an average
duration of 13 weeks for the main part of the session would bring the
Assembly to a recess on Wednesday, 9 December. However, as the Assembly is
mandated to meet on 10 December for the commemoration of the fiftieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the General
Committee may wish to recommend to the Assembly that the session should recess
on Friday, 11 December 1998. The Committee may also wish to recommend to the
Assembly that the First, Special Political and Decolonization (Fourth
Committee), Third and Sixth Committees should complete their work by
Friday, 20 November, the Second Committee by Friday, 27 November and the
Fifth Committee by Friday, 4 December 1998.
D. Schedule of meetings
11. The General Committee may wish to recommend to the General
Assembly that, in accordance with established practice, morning meetings
should start at 10 a.m. promptly for all plenary meetings and meetings of the
Main Committees during the fifty-third session. The Committee may also wish to
recommend to the Assembly that, as a cost-saving measure, plenary meetings and
meetings of the Main Committees, including informals, be adjourned by 6 p.m.,
and that no meetings should be held on weekends. The Committee may also wish
to recommend to the Assembly that this cost-saving measure should also
apply, for the remainder of 1998, to meetings on the calendar of
conferences and meetings.
12. The General Committee may further wish to recommend that, in
order to avoid the late start of meetings, the General Assembly should waive,
in view of the practice at recent sessions, the requirement of the presence of
at least one third of the members to declare a plenary meeting open and permit
the debate to proceed and one quarter of the members to declare a meeting of a
Main Committee open and permit the debate to proceed. This recommendation
would be made on the understanding that such a waiver would not imply
any permanent change in the provisions of rules 67 and 108 of the
rules of procedure and that the requirement of the presence of a majority of
the members for any decision to be taken would be maintained.
13. Furthermore, the General Committee may wish to recommend to the
General Assembly that delegations should be reminded of the utmost importance
of punctuality in the interest of ensuring an effective and orderly
organization of work and achieving economies for the United Nations.
E. General debate
14. The general debate will begin on Monday, 21 September, and end
on Friday, 2 October 1998, in accordance with recent practice and the relevant
provisions of the annex to resolution 51/241 (paras. 19 and 20 (a) and (e)),
which read as follows:
"19. There shall continue to be only one general debate each
year, beginning in the third week of September.
"20. The preparation of the list of speakers for the general
debate shall be based on the following principles:
"(a) The general debate shall be organized over a period of
two weeks so as to maximize possibilities for interministerial
contacts;
...
"(e) The list of speakers for each day shall be completed and
no speakers will be rolled over to the next day, notwithstanding
the implications for hours of work."
15. The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the
General Assembly to paragraph 21 of the annex to resolution 51/241, which
reads as follows:
"21. There shall be no time limits or specified themes for the
general debate but the General Assembly will indicate a voluntary
guideline of up to twenty minutes for each statement."
16. The Secretary-General suggests that the list of speakers in the
general debate should be closed on Wednesday, 23 September, at 6 p.m., in
accordance with the recommendation of the Special Committee on the
Rationalization of the Procedures and Organization of the General Assembly
(A/520/Rev.15, annex V, para. 46).
17. The General Committee may also wish to draw the General
Assembly's attention to the decision taken by the Assembly at previous
sessions, namely, that the practice of expressing congratulations inside the
General Assembly Hall after a speech has been delivered is prohibited. In this
connection, the Committee may wish to recommend to the Assembly that speakers
in the general debate, after delivering their statements, should leave
the General Assembly Hall through room GA-200 located behind the podium before
returning to their seats.
F. Explanations of vote, right of reply, points of order and
length of statements
18. The General Committee may wish to draw the General Assembly's
attention to paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 of its decision 34/401 (A/520/Rev.15, annex
VI), which read as follows:
"6. Explanations of vote should be limited to ten minutes.
"7. When the same draft resolution is considered in a
Main Committee and in plenary meeting, a delegation should, as far
as possible, explain its vote only once, i.e., either in the
Committee or in plenary meeting, unless that delegation's vote in
plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee.
"8. Delegations should exercise their right of reply
at the end of the day whenever two meetings have been scheduled for
that day and whenever such meetings are devoted to the consideration
of the same item."
19. The Secretary-General wishes to suggest that, in line with time
limits for explanations of vote and the right of reply, the General Committee
recommend to the General Assembly limiting points of order to five minutes.
20. With a view to streamlining the procedures of the General
Assembly and as another cost-saving measure, the General Committee, in
connection with the length of statements, may wish to draw the attention of
the Assembly to paragraph 22 of the annex to resolution 51/241, which reads as
follows:
"22. Outside the general debate there shall be a fifteen-minute
time limit in plenary meetings and in the Main Committees."
In this connection, the Committee may also wish to draw the attention
of the Assembly to the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation
of resolution 51/241 (A/52/855), in particular to paragraph 23, which reads as
follows:
"23. Paragraph 22. Since in plenary meetings the length of
statements in debates other than the general debate averages eight
minutes, the General Assembly may wish to review the
recommendation contained in paragraph 22."
The Committee may further wish to draw the attention of the Assembly,
as it did at recent sessions, to rules 72 and 114 of the rules of procedure
and paragraph 22 of annex VI thereto for appropriate action in plenary meeting
and the Main Committees.
G. Records of meetings
21. As at past sessions, verbatim records will continue to be
provided, during the fifty-third session, for the plenary meetings of the
General Assembly and meetings of the First Committee and summary records will
be provided to the General Committee and the other Main Committees of the
Assembly. In accordance with the recommendation of the Special Committee on
the Rationalization of the Procedures and Organization of the General
Assembly (A/520/Rev.15, annex V, para. 108 (b)), the General Committee may
wish to recommend that the Assembly should maintain for the fifty-third
session the practice whereby the Special Political and Decolonization
Committee (Fourth Committee) may obtain, on specific request, transcriptions
of the debates of some of its meetings, or portions thereof. These
transcriptions, which would not be part of the official records of the
Committee, would be provided as the required services became available.
Furthermore, the General Committee may wish to draw the General Assembly's
attention to paragraphs 8 and 9 of its resolution 38/32 E of 25 November 1983,
which read as follows:
"8. Decides that the practice of reproducing
statements in extenso as separate documents shall be discontinued for
all its subsidiary organs that are entitled to summary records;
"9. Decides further that any exceptions to this rule
may be made by the body concerned only if the statements are to serve
as bases for discussion and if, after hearing a statement of the
relevant financial implications, the body decides that one
or more statements in extenso may be included in the
summary record, or reproduced as separate documents or as annexes to
authorized documents".
In this connection, the General Committee may also wish to recommend
to the Assembly that the practice not to reproduce in extenso statements made
in a Main Committee should be maintained for the fifty-third session.
H. Seating arrangements
22. In accordance with established practice, the Secretary-General
has drawn lots for the purpose of choosing the Member State to occupy the
first desk on the General Assembly floor from which the alphabetical seating
order will begin. The name drawn was Mali. Consequently, the delegation of
that country will sit at the first desk at the right of the President and the
other countries will follow in the English alphabetical order. The same
order will be observed in the Main Committees.
I. Concluding statements
23. The General Committee may wish to draw the General Assembly's
attention to paragraph 17 of its decision 34/401 (ibid., annex VI), which
reads as follows:
"17. To save time at the end of the session, the practice of
making concluding statements in the General Assembly and its Main
Committees should be dispensed with except for statements by the
presiding officers."
J. Resolutions
24. The General Committee may wish to draw the General Assembly's
attention to paragraph 32 of its decision 34/401 (ibid.), which reads as
follows:
"32. Whenever possible, resolutions requesting the discussion
of a question at a subsequent session should not call for the
inclusion of a separate new item and such discussion should be held
under the item under which the resolution was adopted."
25. The General Committee may also wish to draw the attention of
the General Assembly to recommendation 3 (f) of the Group of High-level
Intergovernmental Experts, which reads as follows:
"(f) Efforts should be made to reduce the number of
resolutions adopted by the General Assembly. Resolutions should
request reports of the Secretary-General only in cases where that
would be indispensable for facilitating the implementation
of these resolutions or the continued examination of the question."
26. In this connection, the General Committee may wish to draw the
attention of the General Assembly to paragraph 5 of its resolution 48/264,
which reads as follows:
"5. Encourages Member States to exercise restraint in
making proposals requesting new reports of the Secretary-General,
bearing in mind the desirability of reducing the number of such
reports".
27. The General Committee may further wish to draw the attention of
the General Assembly to paragraphs 1 and 10 of the annex to resolution 45/45
(A/520/Rev.15/Amend.1, annex VIII).
K. Documentation
28. The General Committee may wish to draw the General Assembly's
attention to paragraph 28 of its decision 34/401 (A/520/Rev.15, annex VI),
which reads as follows:
"28. The General Assembly, including its Main
Committees, should merely take note of those reports of the
Secretary-General or subsidiary organs which do not require a
decision by the Assembly and should neither debate nor adopt
resolutions on them, unless specifically requested to do
so by the Secretary-General or the organ concerned."
29. The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the
General Assembly to paragraph 6 of its resolution 48/264, which reads as
follows:
"6. Emphasizes that reports requested of the
Secretary-General should be made available in all official languages
in a timely manner in accordance with the rules of procedure of the
General Assembly and the annexes thereto with a view to
enabling delegations to consider the substance of such
reports more thoroughly in advance of meetings".
The Committee may also wish to draw the attention of the Assembly to
paragraph 4 of resolution 50/206 C, in which the Assembly once again requested
the Secretary-General "to ensure that documentation is available in accordance
with the six-week rule for the distribution of documents, simultaneously in
each of the six official languages of the United Nations".
30. The General Committee may further wish to draw the attention of
the General Assembly to paragraph 32 of resolution 51/241, which reads as
follows:
"32. The number of reports requested shall be rationalized
where possible so as to permit more focused consideration of issues.
All bodies shall exercise restraint in making proposals containing
requests for new reports and should consider integrating,
biennializing or triennializing the presentation of reports,
bearing in mind paragraphs 6 and 7 of General Assembly resolution
50/206 C of 23 December 1995."
L. Questions related to the programme budget
31. The Secretary-General would like to draw the attention of the
General Committee to rule 153 of the rules of procedure, which reads as
follows:
"No resolution involving expenditure shall be
recommended by a committee for approval by the General Assembly
unless it is accompanied by an estimate of expenditures prepared by
the Secretary-General. No resolution in respect of which
expenditures are anticipated by the Secretary-General
shall be voted by the General Assembly until the Administrative and
Budgetary Committee (Fifth Committee) has had an opportunity of
stating the effect of the proposal upon the budget estimates
of the United Nations."
In this connection, the General Committee may wish to draw the Assembly's
attention to paragraph 12 of its decision 34/401 (ibid.), which reads as
follows:
"12. It is imperative that Main Committees should
allow sufficient time for the preparation of the estimate of
expenditures by the Secretariat and for its consideration by the
Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions
and the Fifth Committee and that they should take this
requirement into account when they adopt their programme of work."
Furthermore, the General Committee may wish to draw the attention of
the Assembly to paragraph 6 of its resolution 35/10 A of 3 November 1980,
which reads as follows:
"6. Decides that all proposals affecting the schedule
of conferences and meetings made at sessions of the General
Assembly shall be reviewed by the Committee on Conferences when
administrative implications are being considered under the
requirements of rule 153 of the rules of procedure of the
Assembly".
The General Committee may also wish to draw the Assembly's attention
to regulation 4.9 of the Regulations Governing Programme Planning, the
Programme Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of Implementation and the
Methods of Evaluation (resolution 37/234, annex), which reads as follows:
"Regulation 4.9. No Council, Commission or other competent body
shall take a decision involving either a change in the programme
budget approved by the General Assembly or the possible
requirement of expenditure unless it has received and taken
account of a report from the Secretary-General on the programme
budget implications of the proposal."
32. The General Committee may also wish to recall paragraph 13 of
decision 34/401 (A/520/Rev.15, annex VI), which reads as follows:
"13. Furthermore:
"(a) A mandatory deadline, not later than 1
December, should be established for the submission to
the Fifth Committee of all draft resolutions with
financial implications;
"(b) The Fifth Committee should, as a general
practice, consider accepting without debate the
recommendations of the Advisory Committee on
Administrative and Budgetary Questions on the financial
implications of draft resolutions up to a
prescribed limit, namely, $25,000 on any one item;
"(c) Firm deadlines should be set for the early
submission of the reports of subsidiary bodies which
require consideration by the Fifth Committee;
"(d) A minimum period of forty-eight hours should
be allowed between the submission and the voting of a
proposal involving expenditure in order to allow the
Secretary-General to prepare and present the related
statement of administrative and financial implications."
In this connection, see also paragraph 41.
33. In connection with subparagraph 13 (d) of decision 34/401
quoted above, experience has shown that, depending on the type and complexity
of the proposals involving changes in the work programme and additional
expenditures, the preparation of a statement of programme budget implications
by the Secretary-General may take a few days. In addition, the Advisory
Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions and the Fifth
Committee need adequate time to review the programme budget
implications of a draft resolution before the latter can be acted on by the
Assembly.
34. It is thus desirable that Member States submit proposals
involving statements of programme budget implications sufficiently in advance
to avoid the cancellation of meetings and the postponement of consideration of
items.
M. Observances and commemorative meetings
35. Observances and commemorative meetings held in plenary meeting
have for the most part followed a well-defined pattern. Considering past
practice and allowing for the necessary flexibility, the General Committee may
wish to recommend that, with the exception of the anniversary of the United
Nations, the General Assembly should adopt the following format for
commemorative meetings: statements by the President of the General Assembly
and the Secretary-General, statements by the chairmen of the five
regional groups and by the representative of the host country. The
Committee may also wish to recommend to the Assembly that, according to
established practice, each statement should be limited to 15 minutes.
36. It is further suggested that observances and commemorative
meetings take place, as far as possible, immediately following the general
debate. The advantage of such a procedure is that it may facilitate the
participation of dignitaries attending the general debate. This procedure
would also allow advance planning of the work of the General Assembly.
N. Special conferences
37. The General Committee may wish to draw the General Assembly's
attention to recommendation 6 of the Committee on Conferences, adopted by the
Assembly in paragraph (b) of its decision 34/405, which reads as follows:
"(b) The Committee, taking into account
difficulties encountered in ensuring adequate preparation of
meetings, including timely distribution of documentation,
as well as the ability of Member States to participate
fully, recommends that the General Assembly should instruct the Main
Committees to review the number of special conferences of the United
Nations already proposed and scheduled in their respective fields of
activity prior to deciding upon the scheduling of new and additional
special conferences, thus bearing in mind the relevant portions of
General Assembly resolution 33/55."
The General Committee may also wish to draw the Assembly's attention
to recommendation 2 (d) of the Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts,
which reads as follows:
"(d) Until 1978, a number of resolutions had
requested that only one major conference be scheduled annually. The
decision of the General Assembly that no more than five special
conferences should take place in a given year and that no more
than one special conference should be convened at the
same time should be strictly implemented."
38. In this connection, the General Committee may further wish to
draw the General Assembly's attention to the relevant provisions of
recommendation 4 of the Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts, which
reads as follows:
"The existing principle that United Nations bodies
should meet at their respective established headquarters, as provided
for in General Assembly resolution 40/243 of 18 December 1985, should
be strictly enforced. Whenever the Assembly accepts an invitation
from the Government of a Member State to hold a conference
or meeting away from established headquarters, the additional cost
should be borne in full by that Government. The methods of budgeting
these costs should be improved so as to ensure that all additional
costs are accounted for."
O. Meetings of subsidiary organs
39. In accordance with section 1, paragraph 7, of General Assembly
resolution 40/243, no subsidiary organ of the Assembly should be permitted to
meet at United Nations Headquarters during a regular session of the Assembly,
unless explicitly authorized by the Assembly. In this connection, the
Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of the General Committee to a
letter dated 19 August 1998 (A/53/298) in which the Chairman of the Committee
on Conferences informed the President of the General Assembly that the
Committee had recommended, on the strict understanding that meetings
would have to be accommodated within available facilities and services, that
the following subsidiary organs should be authorized to meet during the main
part of the fifty-third session:
(a) Committee on Relations with the Host Country;
(b) Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable
Rights of the Palestinian People;
(c) Executive Board of the United Nations Development
Programme/United Nations Population Fund;
(d) Working Group on the Financing of the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
III. Observations on the organization of future sessions of the
General Assembly
40. The Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of the
General Committee to paragraph 17 of the annex to resolution 51/241 which
states, inter alia, that the "plenary meetings of the General Assembly shall
be formally opened every year on the first Tuesday following 1 September". In
this connection, the Committee may wish to draw the attention of the Assembly
to the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution
51/241 (A/52/855), in particular to paragraphs 16 and 17 thereof, which read:
"16. Rule 1 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly
states that the General Assembly shall meet every year in regular
session commencing on the third Tuesday in September. Paragraph 17
of the annex to the resolution calls, inter alia, for the
regular sessions of the General Assembly to now commence on the
first Tuesday following 1 September. Rule 1 of the rules of
procedure would need to be amended.
"17. In addition, in accordance with rule 2 of the rules of
procedure, the General Assembly has, at the beginning of each
session, fixed a closing date for the session. In recent years,
the closing date has been the Monday before the opening of the
next session. Were the General Assembly to retain this practice,
the closing date would consistently fall on an official holiday of
the Organization, for which financial and other implications may
need to be considered. The General Assembly may wish to decide on
a closing date ... and for future sessions, that will fall on a
working day ..."
41. On 4 June 1998, the General Assembly adopted resolution 52/232
on the strengthening of the United Nations system. In paragraph 1, the
Assembly decided, as an interim measure, "that the fifty-second session of the
General Assembly shall close on Tuesday, 8 September 1998, and that the
fifty-third session of the General Assembly shall open on Wednesday, 9
September 1998". The General Committee may wish to recommend that the Assembly
address the question of the opening and closing dates of future regular
sessions. In this connection, taking into account the opening date of
the regular sessions, the Committee may also wish to recommend to the Assembly
a review of the question of the mandatory deadline for the submission to the
Fifth Committee of all draft resolutions with programme budget implications.
IV. Adoption of the agenda
42. All proposals for the inclusion of items in the agenda of the
fifty-third session have been communicated to Member States in the following
documents:
(a) Provisional agenda of the fifty-third session (A/53/150);
(b) Supplementary list (A/53/200);
(c) Request for the inclusion of an additional item (A/53/231).
The items proposed for inclusion are listed in the draft agenda,
which appears in paragraph 47 below.
43. Bearing in mind the need to rationalize the General Assembly's
procedures, and in view of the large number of items on the draft agenda, the
Secretary-General wishes to recall the recommendation of the Special Committee
on the Rationalization of the Procedures and Organization of the General
Assembly that Member States should examine the agenda with a view to
eliminating items that have lost their urgency or relevance, are
not ripe for consideration or could be dealt with and even disposed
of equally well by subsidiary organs of the General Assembly, and to referring
specific items to other United Nations organs or to specialized agencies,
taking into account the nature of the question (A/520/Rev.15, annex V, paras.
19 and 22; see also ibid., annex VII, paras. 1 and 2). The Secretary-General
wishes also to recall paragraphs 4 and 5 (a) and (c) of annex I to
resolution 48/264, which read as follows:
"4. There shall be periodic reviews of the agenda, taking into
account the views of concerned Member States, in order to
ascertain whether it is possible to delete any item on which no
resolution or decision has been adopted for a period of time.
"5. The Main Committees should be encouraged to continue with
the review of their respective agendas, taking into account, inter
alia, the following:
"(a) Agenda items concerning issues of closely related
substance could be merged within a single agenda title or be
incorporated as sub-items where this is possible without loss of
focus on the items/sub-items concerned;
...
"(c) Biennialization and triennialization of items on the
agenda of the Main Committees could be considered in accordance
with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly".
In this connection, the General Committee may wish to draw the
attention of the General Assembly to paragraphs 23 to 26 of the annex to
resolution 51/241. In addition, bearing in mind the extremely heavy workload
of the Assembly and the need to make the most effective use of scarce
resources, the Committee may wish to consider deferring to a later
session items for which decisions or action are not required at the
present session.
44. Concerning item 62 of the draft agenda (The situation in
Burundi), the Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of the General
Committee to a communication dated 24 August 1998 from Burundi, in which the
deletion of the item is requested (A/53/290).
45. With regard to item 89 of the draft agenda (Activities of
foreign economic and other interests which impede the implementation of the
Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples
in Territories under colonial domination), the Secretary-General wishes to
draw to the attention of the General Committee a communication dated 12 August
1998 from the Acting Chairman of the Special Committee on the Situation with
regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (A/53/261), in which a
change in the wording of the item was requested to reflect recent resolutions
of the Special Committee. The item would then read: "Economic and other
activities which affect the interests of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing
Territories".
46. Concerning item 168 of the draft agenda (Fiftieth anniversary
of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide),
the sponsors have requested the inclusion of this item as a sub-item under
item 46 (Fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
(A/52/192).
47. Subject to the recommendations of the General Committee
regarding paragraphs 42 to 46 above, the draft agenda of the fifty-third
session would consist of the following items: 2/
1. Opening of the session by the Chairman of the delegation of
Ukraine (P.1)
2. Minute of silent prayer or meditation (P.2).
3. Credentials of representatives to the fifty-third session of the
General Assembly (P.3):
(a) Appointment of the members of the Credentials Committee;
(b) Report of the Credentials Committee.
4. Election of the President of the General Assembly (P.4).
5. Election of the officers of the Main Committees (P.5).
6. Election of the Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly (P.6).
7. Notification by the Secretary-General under Article 12, paragraph
2, of the Charter of the United Nations (P.7).
8. Adoption of the agenda and organization of work: reports of the
General Committee (P.8).
9. General debate (P.9).
10. Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization
(P.10). 3/
11. Report of the Security Council (P.11). 3/
12. Report of the Economic and Social Council (P.12).
13. Report of the International Court of Justice (P.13).
14. Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (P.14).
15. Elections to fill vacancies in principal organs (P.15):
(a) Election of five non-permanent members of the Security
Council;
(b) Election of eighteen members of the Economic and Social
Council.
16. Elections to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs and other
elections (P.16):
(a) Election of seven members of the Committee for Programme
and Coordination; 3/
(b) Election of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.
17. Appointments to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs and other
appointments (P.17):
(a) Appointment of members of the Advisory Committee on
Administrative and Budgetary Questions;
(b) Appointment of members of the Committee on
Contributions;
(c) Appointment of a member of the Board of Auditors;
(d) Confirmation of the appointment of members of the
Investments Committee;
(e) Appointment of members of the United Nations
Administrative Tribunal;
(f) International Civil Service Commission:
(i) Appointment of members of the Commission;
(ii) Designation of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the
Commission;
(g) Appointment of members of the Committee on Conferences;
(h) Appointment of a member of the Joint Inspection Unit;
(i) Confirmation of the appointment of the Secretary-General
of the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development;
(j) Appointment of the Under-Secretary-General for Internal
Oversight Services.
18. Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (P.18).
19. Admission of new Members to the United Nations (P.19).
20. Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster
relief assistance of the United Nations, including special
economic assistance (P.20):
(a) Strengthening of the coordination of emergency
humanitarian assistance of the United Nations;
(b) Special economic assistance to individual countries or
regions; 3/
(c) Emergency international assistance for peace, normalcy
and reconstruction of war-stricken Afghanistan;
(d) Assistance to the Palestinian people.
21. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of
American States (P.21).
22. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Asian-African
Legal Consultative Committee (P.22).
23. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Caribbean
Community (P.23).
24. Implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the
Development of Africa in the 1990s, including measures and
recommendations agreed upon at its mid-term review (P.24).
25. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Latin American
Economic System (P.25).
26. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of
the Islamic Conference (P.26).
27. Cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab
States (P.27).
28. Cooperation between the United Nations and the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (P.28).
29. Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial
embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba
(P.29).
30. United Nations reform: measures and proposals (P.30). 4/
31. Culture of peace (P.31).
32. Zone of peace and cooperation of the South Atlantic (P.32).
33. Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of
Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored
democracies (P.33).
34. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic
Cooperation Organization (P.34).
35. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of
African Unity (P.35).
36. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (P.36).
37. Implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social
Development (P.37).
38. Oceans and the law of the sea (P.38): 3/
(a) Law of the sea;
(b) Large-scale pelagic drift-net fishing, unauthorized
fishing in zones of national jurisdiction and on the
high seas, fisheries by-catch and discards, and other
developments.
39. Question of Palestine (P.39). 5/
40. The situation in the Middle East (P.40). 3/
41. The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (P.41). 3/
42. Assistance in mine clearance (P.42).
43. The situation of democracy and human rights in Haiti (P.43). 3/
44. The situation in Central America: procedures for the
establishment of a firm and lasting peace and progress in
fashioning a region of peace, freedom, democracy and
development (P.44). 3/
45. The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for
international peace and security (P.45). 3/
46. Fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (P.46). 6/
47. Election of the judges of the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and
Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law
Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens
Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in
the Territory of Neighbouring States between 1 January and 31
December 1994 (P.47). 7/
48. Report of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of
Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former
Yugoslavia since 1991 (P.48).
49. Question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) (P.49).
50. Report of the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other
Serious Violations of International Humanitarian
Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens
Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in
the Territory of Neighbouring States between 1 January and 31
December 1994 (P.50).
51. Elimination of coercive economic measures as a means of
political and economic compulsion (P.51).
52. Declaration of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of
the Organization of African Unity on the aerial and naval
military attack against the Socialist People's
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya by the present United States
Administration in April 1986 (P.52).
53. Armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear
installations and its grave consequences for the established
international system concerning the peaceful uses
of nuclear energy, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and
international peace and security (P.53).
54. Consequences of the Iraqi occupation of and aggression against
Kuwait (P.54).
55. Implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations (P.55).
56. Launching of global negotiations on international economic
cooperation for development (P.56).
57. Question of the Comorian island of Mayotte (P.57).
58. Strengthening of the United Nations system (P.58).
59. Question of equitable representation on and increase in the
membership of the Security Council and related matters (P.59).
60. Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly (P.60).
61. Restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the
economic, social and related fields (P.61). 8/
62. The situation in Burundi (P.62). 9/
63. Question of Cyprus (P.63). 8/
64. Role of science and technology in the context of international
security, disarmament and other related fields (P.64).
65. Maintenance of international security -- prevention of the
violent disintegration of States (P.65).
66. Reduction of military budgets (P.66):
(a) Reduction of military budgets;
(b) Objective information on military matters, including
transparency of military expenditures.
67. Role of science and technology in the context of international
security and disarmament (P.67).
68. Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of
the Middle East (P.68).
69. Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in South Asia
(P.69).
70. Conclusion of effective international arrangements to assure
non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of
nuclear weapons (P.70).
71. Prevention of an arms race in outer space (P.71).
72. General and complete disarmament (P.72):
(a) Notification of nuclear tests;
(b) Further measures in the field of disarmament for the
prevention of an arms race on the seabed and the ocean
floor and in the subsoil thereof: report of the
Secretary-General;
(c) Measures to uphold the authority of the 1925 Geneva
Protocol;
(d) Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,
Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on
Their Destruction;
(e) Transparency in armaments;
(f) Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in
small arms and collecting them;
(g) Relationship between disarmament and development;
(h) Observance of environmental norms in the drafting and
implementation of agreements on disarmament and arms
control;
(i) Convening of the fourth special session of the General
Assembly devoted to disarmament;
(j) Consolidation of peace through practical disarmament
measures;
(k) Contributions towards banning anti-personnel landmines;
(l) Prohibition of the dumping of radioactive wastes;
(m) Small arms;
(n) Nuclear disarmament;
(o) Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent
areas;
(p) Follow-up to the advisory opinion of the International
Court of Justice on the Legality of the Threat or Use of
Nuclear Weapons;
(q) Regional disarmament;
(r) Conventional arms control at the regional and
subregional levels;
(s) Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central
Asia;
(t) Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of
the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of
Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction.
73. Review and implementation of the Concluding Document of the
Twelfth Special Session of the General Assembly (P.73):
(a) United Nations Disarmament Information Programme;
(b) United Nations disarmament fellowship training and
advisory services;
(c) United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament
in Asia and the Pacific;
(d) Regional confidence-building measures: activities of the
United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security
Questions in Central Africa;
(e) Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Nuclear
Weapons.
74. Review of the implementation of the recommendations and
decisions adopted by the General Assembly at its tenth special
session (P.74): 3/
(a) Report of the Disarmament Commission;
(b) Report of the Conference on Disarmament;
(c) Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters;
(d) United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.
75. The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East (P.75).
76. Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of
Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be
Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (P.76).
77. Strengthening of security and cooperation in the Mediterranean
region (P.77).
78. Consolidation of the regime established by the Treaty for the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the
Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco) (P.78).
79. Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production
and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin
Weapons and on Their Destruction (P.79).
80. Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (P.80).
81. Rationalization of the work and reform of the agenda of the
First Committee (P.81). 3/
82. Effects of atomic radiation (P.82).
83. International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space
(P.83).
84. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
in the Near East (P.84).
85. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli
Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People
and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (P.85).
86. Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping
operations in all their aspects (P.86).
87. Questions relating to information (P.87).
88. Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories transmitted
under Article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations (P.88).
89. Activities of foreign economic and other interests which impede
the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in Territories
under colonial domination (P.89). 10/
90. Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by the
specialized agencies and the international institutions
associated with the United Nations (P.90).
91. Offers by Member States of study and training facilities for
inhabitants of Non-Self-Governing Territories (P.91).
92. Question of the Malagasy islands of Glorieuses, Juan de Nova,
Europa and Bassas da India (P.92).
93. Question of East Timor (P.93).
94. Macroeconomic policy questions (P.94):
(a) Trade and development;
(b) Financing of development, including net transfer of
resources between developing and developed countries;
(c) Commodities;
(d) External debt crisis and development.
95. Sectoral policy questions (P.95):
(a) Business and development;
(b) Industrial development cooperation.
96. Sustainable development and international economic cooperation
(P.96):
(a) Implementation of and follow-up to major consensus
agreements on development:
(i) Implementation of the commitments and policies
agreed upon in the Declaration on International
Economic Cooperation, in particular the
Revitalization of the Economic Growth and
Development of the Developing Countries;
(ii) Implementation of the International Development
Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development
Decade;
(b) Integration of the economies in transition into the
world economy;
(c) Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations
Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II);
(d) Renewal of the dialogue on strengthening international
economic cooperation for development through
partnership;
(e) Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least
Developed Countries for the 1990s;
(f) Implementation of the Programme of Action of the
International Conference on Population and Development;
(g) Cultural development.
97. Environment and sustainable development (P.97):
(a) Implementation of and follow-up to the outcome of the
United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, including the outcome of the
nineteenth special session of the General Assembly for
the purpose of an overall review and appraisal of the
implementation of Agenda 21;
(b) Protection of global climate for present and future
generations of mankind;
(c) Implementation of the outcome of the Global Conference
on the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States;
(d) Convention on Biological Diversity;
(e) Implementation of the United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing
Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in
Africa.
98. Operational activities for development (P.98).
99. Training and research (P.99):
(a) United Nations University;
(b) United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
100. Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied
Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab
population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural
resources (P.100).
101. Implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the
Eradication of Poverty (1997 2006) (P.101).
102. Commemorative meeting of the twentieth anniversary of the
adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and
Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries
(P.102).
103. Social development, including questions relating to the world
social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the
family (P.103).
104. Crime prevention and criminal justice (P.104).
105. International drug control (P.105). 3/
106. Advancement of women (P.106).
107. Implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on
Women (P.107).
108. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
questions relating to refugees and displaced persons and
humanitarian questions (P.108).
109. Promotion and protection of the rights of children (P.109).
110. Programme of activities of the International Decade of the
World's Indigenous People (P.110).
111. Elimination of racism and racial discrimination (P.111).
112. Right of peoples to self-determination (P.112).
113. Human rights questions (P.113):
(a) Implementation of human rights instruments;
(b) Human rights questions, including alternative approaches
for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights
and fundamental freedoms;
(c) Human rights situations and reports of special
rapporteurs and representatives;
(d) Comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action; 11/
(e) Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights.
114. Financial reports and audited financial statements, and reports
of the Board of Auditors (P.114): 12/
(a) United Nations;
(b) United Nations Development Programme;
(c) United Nations Children's Fund;
(d) United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East;
(e) United Nations Institute for Training and Research;
(f) Voluntary funds administered by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees;
(g) Fund of the United Nations Environment Programme;
(h) United Nations Population Fund;
(i) United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation;
(j) Fund of the United Nations International Drug Control
Programme;
(k) United Nations Office for Project Services.
115. Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial
functioning of the United Nations (P.115). 4/
116. Programme budget for the biennium 1998 1999 (P.116). 4/
117. Programme planning (P.117).
118. Improving the financial situation of the United Nations
(P.118). 8/
119. Administrative and budgetary coordination of the United Nations
with the specialized agencies and the International Atomic
Energy Agency (P.119).
120. Pattern of conferences (P.120). 12/
121. Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of
the United Nations (P.121). 3/
122. Human resources management (P.122). 4/
123. United Nations common system (P.123). 3/
124. United Nations pension system (P.124).
125. Financing of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the
Middle East (P.125): 4/
(a) United Nations Disengagement Observer Force;
(b) United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
126. Financing of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission and
the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (P.126). 4/
127. Financing of the activities arising from Security Council
resolution 687 (1991) (P.127):
(a) United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission; 4/
(b) Other activities.
128. Financing of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in
Western Sahara (P.128). 4/
129. Financing and liquidation of the United Nations Transitional
Authority in Cambodia (P.129). 4/
130. Financing of the United Nations Protection Force, the United
Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia, the United
Nations Preventive Deployment Force and the United Nations
Peace Forces headquarters (P.130). 4/
131. Financing of the United Nations Operation in Somalia II
(P.131). 8/
132. Financing of the United Nations Operation in Mozambique
(P.132). 4/
133. Financing of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
(P.133). 4/
134. Financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia
(P.134). 4/
135. Financing of the United Nations Mission in Haiti (P.135). 4/
136. Financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia
(P.136). 3/
137. Financing of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
(P.137). 8/
138. Financing of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of
Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former
Yugoslavia since 1991 (P.138). 3/
139. Financing of the United Nations Mission of Observers in
Tajikistan (P.139). 4/
140. Financing of the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other
Serious Violations of International Humanitarian
Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens
Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in
the Territory of Neighbouring States between 1 January and 31
December 1994 (P.140). 4/
141. Financing of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (P.141). 4/
142. Financing of the United Nations Transitional Administration for
Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium and the Civilian
Police Support Group (P.142). 4/
143. Financing of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force
(P.143). 4/
144. Financing of the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti, the
United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti and the United
Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (P.144). 4/
145. Financing of the Military Observer Group of the United Nations
Verification Mission in Guatemala (P.145). 8/
146. Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the
United Nations peacekeeping operations (P.146): 4/
(a) Financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations;
(b) Relocation of Ukraine to the group of Member States set
out in paragraph 3 (c) of General Assembly resolution
43/232.
147. Report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Office
of Internal Oversight Services (P.147 (a)). 4/
148. Review of the implementation of General Assembly resolution
48/218 B (P.147 (b)).
149. Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of
1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed
conflicts (P.148).
150. Consideration of effective measures to enhance the protection,
security and safety of diplomatic and consular missions and
representatives (P.149).
151. Convention on jurisdictional immunities of States and their
property (P.150).
152. United Nations Decade of International Law (P.151):
(a) United Nations Decade of International Law;
(b) Progress in the action dedicated to the 1999 centennial
of the first International Peace Conference and to the
closing of the United Nations Decade of International
Law;
(c) Draft guiding principles for international negotiations.
153. Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its
fiftieth session (P.152).
154. Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade
Law on the work of its thirty-first session (P.153).
155. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country
(P.154).
156. Establishment of an international criminal court (P.155).
157. Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United
Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the
Organization (P.156).
158. Measures to eliminate international terrorism (P.157).
159. Review of the Statute of the Administrative Tribunal of the
United Nations (P.158).
160. Bethlehem 2000 (P.159).
161. World Solar Programme 1996 2005 (P.160).
162. Observer status for the Association of Caribbean States in the
General Assembly (P.161).
163. Global implications of the year 2000 date conversion problem of
computers (P.162).
164. Financing of the United Nations Mission in the Central African
Republic (P.163). 4/
165. Observer status for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development in the General Assembly (P.164).
166. Need to review General Assembly resolution 2758 (XXVI) of 25
October 1971 owing to the fundamental change in the
international situation and to the coexistence of two
Governments across the Taiwan Strait (P.165).
167. Financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra
Leone (S.1).
168. Fiftieth anniversary of the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (S.2). 13/
169. Causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and
sustainable development in Africa (A.1).
V. Allocation of items
48. The allocation of items described in paragraph 61 below is
based on the pattern adopted by the General Assembly for those items in
previous years. The Secretary-General trusts that delegations will consider
allotting items in a manner which will best enhance the effectiveness and the
impact of the Assembly's work. In this connection, the General Committee may
wish to draw the General Assembly's attention to paragraph 4 of its
decision 34/401 (A/520/Rev.15, annex VI), which reads as follows:
"4. Substantive items should normally be discussed initially in
a Main Committee and, therefore, items previously allocated to
plenary meetings should henceforth be referred to a Main Committee
unless there are compelling circumstances requiring their continued
consideration in plenary meeting."
The General Committee may also wish to draw the Assembly's attention
to paragraph 3 of annex I to resolution 48/264. The Secretary-General wishes
to draw the General Committee's attention to the relevant paragraphs of
resolution 39/88 B and resolution 45/45 (A/520/Rev.15 and Amend.1, annexes VII
and VIII). Paragraph 5 of the annex to resolution 39/88 B reads as follows:
"5. The Chairmen of the Main Committees should take the
initiative, in the light of past experience, to propose the grouping
of similar or related items and the holding of a single general
debate on them."
Paragraph 6 of the annex to resolution 45/45 reads as follows:
"6. In making recommendations as to how agenda items should be
allocated to the Main Committees and the plenary of the General
Assembly, the General Committee should ensure the best use of the
expertise of the Committees."
In this connection, the Secretary-General also wishes to draw the
General Committee's attention to paragraphs 2 and 5 (b) and (d) of annex I to
resolution 48/264, which read as follows:
"2. Agenda items which are of a nature that relates to more
than one Main Committee or which do not come within the purview of
any Main Committee should be considered by the General Assembly in
plenary meeting, taking into account the recommendations of the
General Committee.
...
"5. The Main Committees should be encouraged to continue with
the review of their
respective agendas, taking into account, inter alia, the
following:
...
"(b) Items that cover related matters or issues could be
considered in agreed clusters;
...
"(d) The existing broad division of work among the Main
Committees should be maintained."
The Secretary-General also wishes to draw the attention of the
General Committee to paragraph 24 of the annex to resolution 51/241, which
reads as follows:
"24. The General Assembly shall take further steps to
rationalize and streamline the agenda ... and in particular shall
make greater use of clustering, biennialization or
triennialization of agenda items. Items that could be considered
at a later session shall be identified, taking into account the
priorities set by the medium-term plan."
49. The following items of the draft agenda have not been
considered previously by the General Assembly:
160. Bethlehem 2000 (P.159).
161. World Solar Programme 1996-2005 (P.160).
162. Observer status for the Association of Caribbean States in
the General Assembly (P.161).
165. Observer status for the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development in the General Assembly
(P.164).
166. Need to review General Assembly resolution 2758 (XXVI) of
25 October 1971 owing to the fundamental change in the
international situation and to the coexistence of two
Governments across the Taiwan Strait (P.165).
167. Financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra
Leone (S.1).
168. Fiftieth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (S.2). 14/
169. Causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and
sustainable development in Africa (A.1).
The sponsors of the requests for the inclusion of the following items
have suggested that they should be allocated as follows:
Item 160 . . . . . Plenary meetings
Item 161 . . . . . Plenary meetings
Item 162 . . . . . Plenary meetings
Item 165 . . . . . Plenary meetings
Item 166 . . . . . Plenary meetings
Item 167 . . . . . Fifth Committee
Item 168 . . . . . Plenary meetings
Item 169 . . . . . Plenary meetings
50. With regard to item 10 of the draft agenda (Report of the
Secretary-General on the work of the Organization), as at the last session,
the Secretary-General wishes to make a brief presentation of his annual report
(A/53/1) as the first item in the morning prior to the opening of the general
debate on Monday, 21 September.
51. In connection with item 12 of the draft agenda (Report of the
Economic and Social Council), the Secretary-General proposes that, as in
previous years, the various parts of the report should be assigned to the Main
Committees in accordance with their respective fields of competence or to
plenary meetings, on the understanding that the administrative,
programme and budgetary aspects should be dealt with by the Fifth
Committee. Bearing that consideration in mind, the Secretary-General
recommends the following allocation for the various parts of the report: 15/
Chapter I Matters calling for action by the Plenary meetings, Second,
General Assembly or brought to its Third and Fifth
attention Committees
Chapter II Special high-level meeting with the Plenary meetings and
Bretton Woods institutions Second Committee
Chapter III Session of the Council on integrated Plenary meetings and
and coordinated implementation of and Second and Third
follow-up to the major United Nations Committees
conferences and summits
Chapter IV High-level segment of the Council Plenary meetings and
Second Committee
Chapter V Operational activities of the United Plenary meetings and
Nations for international development Second and Third
cooperation Committees
Chapter VI Coordination of the policies and Plenary meetings and
activities of the specialized Third Committee
agencies and other bodies of the
United Nations system
Chapter VII Humanitarian affairs segment Plenary meetings
Chapter VIII General segment
Section A Integrated and coordinated Plenary meetings, Second
implementation and follow-up to the and Third Committees
major international United Nations
conferences and summits
Section B Coordination questions Plenary meetings, Second
and Fifth Committees
Section C Implementation of General Assembly Plenary meetings, Second,
resolutions 50/227 and 52/12 B Third and Fifth
Committees
Section D Implementation of the Declaration on Special Political and
the Granting of Independence to Decolonization Committee
Colonial Countries and Peoples by the (Fourth Committee)
specialized agencies and the
international institutions associated
with the United Nations
Section E Regional cooperation Second Committee
Section F Economic and social repercussions of Second Committee
the Israeli occupation on the living
conditions of the Palestinian people
in the occupied Palestinian territory,
including Jerusalem, and the Arab
population in the occupied Syrian
Golan
Section G Non-governmental organizations Second Committee
Section H Economic and environmental questions Second Committee
Section I Social and human rights questions Third Committee
Chapter IX Elections, nominations and Plenary meetings
confirmations
Chapter X Organizational matters Plenary meetings, Second,
Third and Fifth
Committees
52. With regard to item 18 of the draft agenda (Implementation of
the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and
Peoples), the General Committee may wish to consider referring to the Special
Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) chapters of the
report of the Special Committee (A/53/23) relating to specific Territories;
this would again enable the General Assembly to deal in plenary meeting with
the question of the implementation of the Declaration as a whole.
53. In connection with item 46 of the draft agenda (Fiftieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and item 113 (b)
(Human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the
effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms), the
Secretary-General wishes to recall decision 52/424 of 12 December 1997
entitled "Award of human rights prizes in 1998", whereby the General
Assembly decided to request the Secretary-General to make the necessary
arrangements for the awarding of human rights prizes in 1998 as envisaged in
recommendation C of the annex to Assembly resolution 2217 A (XXI). The General
Committee may wish to recommend that the award ceremony should be held on
Thursday, 10 December 1998, on the occasion of the celebration of the fiftieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
54. With regard to item 49 of the draft agenda (Question of the
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)), the Secretary-General wishes to remind the
General Committee that at previous sessions the General Assembly decided to
consider this item directly in plenary meeting, on the understanding that
bodies and individuals having an interest in the question would be heard in
the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee)
in conjunction with the consideration of the item in plenary meeting.
55. With regard to item 63 of the draft agenda (Question of
Cyprus), the General Committee will recall that at its forty-second session
16/ the General Assembly decided to consider this item directly in plenary
meeting, on the understanding that it would, when considering the item, invite
the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) to meet
for the purpose of affording representatives of the Cypriot communities
an opportunity to take the floor in the Committee in order to express
their views, and that the Assembly would then resume its consideration of the
item, taking into account the report of the Committee.
56. In connection with item 72 of the draft agenda (General and
complete disarmament), the Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of
the General Committee to the fact that some portions of the annual report of
the International Atomic Energy Agency (A/53/286), which is to be considered
directly in plenary meeting under item 14, deal with the subject matter of
this item. The General Committee may therefore wish to recommend that the
relevant paragraphs of the report should be drawn to the attention of the
First Committee in connection with its consideration of item 72.
57. With regard to item 86 of the draft agenda (Comprehensive
review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects),
the Secretary-General wishes to recall paragraph 2 of resolution 52/69 of 10
December 1997, in which the General Assembly endorsed a recommendation made by
the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, recognizing that 1998 marks
the fiftieth anniversary of peacekeeping, to dedicate a commemorative meeting
to pay tribute to all who have served in peacekeeping operations, especially
those who have lost their lives under the United Nations flag during
the past 50 years. The General Committee may wish to recommend to the
Assembly that the commemorative meeting should be held on Tuesday, 6 October
1998, in the morning.
58. In connection with item 96 (d) of the draft agenda (Renewal of
the dialogue on strengthening international economic cooperation for
development through partnership), the Secretary-General wishes to recall
resolution 50/122 of 20 December 1995 and decision 52/480 of 4 June 1998
whereby the General Assembly decided to hold a high-level dialogue
on the social and economic impact of globalization and interdependence and
their policy implications for a period of two days before the commencement of
the general debate at the fifty-third session, that is, on Thursday, 17, and
Friday, 18 September 1998.
59. With regard to item 102 of the draft agenda (Commemorative
meeting of the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan
of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among
Developing Countries), the Secretary-General wishes to recall paragraph 9 of
resolution 52/205 of 18 December 1997 whereby the General Assembly decided to
hold a one-day commemorative meeting at the beginning of the fifty-third
session of the General Assembly to mark the occasion of the twentieth
anniversary of the adoption of Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and
Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries. The General
Committee may wish to recommend to the Assembly that the commemorative meeting
should be held on Wednesday, 7 October 1998, in the morning.
60. In connection with item 106 of the draft agenda (Advancement of
women), the Secretary-General wishes to recall paragraph 16 of the annex to
resolution 39/125 of 14 December 1984 concerning the United Nations
Development Fund for Women, which reads as follows:
"16. Taking into account the advice of the Consultative
Committee, the Administrator shall submit to the Governing Council of
the United Nations Development Programme an annual report on the
operations, management and budget of the Fund. He shall submit a
similar report to the General Assembly, to be referred to the Second
Committee for consideration of its technical cooperation aspects and
also to the Third Committee."
The General Committee may therefore wish to recommend that the report
be referred to the Second Committee for consideration under item 98 of the
draft agenda (Operational activities for development).
61. Subject to changes that may be made by the General Committee in
the light of paragraphs 48 to 60 above, the allocation of the items of the
draft agenda, as based on previous practice, would be the following: 17/
Plenary meetings
1. Opening of the session by the Chairman of the delegation
of Ukraine (P.1).
2. Minute of silent prayer or meditation (P.2).
3. Credentials of representatives to the fifty-third session of the
General Assembly (P.3):
(a) Appointment of the members of the Credentials Committee;
(b) Report of the Credentials Committee.
4. Election of the President of the General Assembly (P.4).
5. Election of the officers of the Main Committees (P.5).
6. Election of the Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly (P.6).
7. Notification by the Secretary-General under Article 12, paragraph
2, of the Charter
of the United Nations (P.7).
8. Adoption of the agenda and organization of work: reports of the
General Committee (P.8).
9. General debate (P.9).
10. Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization
(P.10). 18/
11. Report of the Security Council (P.11). 3/
12. Report of the Economic and Social Council [chapters I to VII
and VIII (sections A to C), IX and X] (P.12). 19/
13. Report of the International Court of Justice (P.13).
14. Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (P.14). 20/
15. Elections to fill vacancies in principal organs (P.15):
(a) Election of five non-permanent members of the Security
Council;
(b) Election of eighteen members of the Economic and Social
Council.
16. Elections to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs and other
elections (P.16):
(a) Election of seven members of the Committee for Programme
and Coordination; 3/
(b) Election of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.
17. Appointments to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs and other
appointments (P.17): 21/
(g) Appointment of members of the Committee on Conferences;
(h) Appointment of a member of the Joint Inspection Unit;
(i) Confirmation of the appointment of the Secretary-General
of the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development;
(j) Appointment of the Under-Secretary-General for Internal
Oversight Services.
18. Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (P.18). 22/
19. Admission of new Members to the United Nations (P.19).
20. Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster
relief assistance of the United Nations, including special
economic assistance (P.20):
(a) Strengthening of the coordination of emergency
humanitarian assistance of the United Nations;
(b) Special economic assistance to individual countries or
regions; 3/
(c) Emergency international assistance for peace, normalcy
and reconstruction of war-stricken Afghanistan;
(d) Assistance to the Palestinian people.
21. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of
American States (P.21).
22. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Asian-African
Legal Consultative Committee (P.22).
23. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Caribbean
Community (P.23).
24. Implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the
Development of Africa in the 1990s, including measures and
recommendations agreed upon at its mid-term review (P.24).
25. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Latin American
Economic System (P.25).
26. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of
the Islamic Conference (P.26).
27. Cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab
States (P.27).
28. Cooperation between the United Nations and the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (P.28).
29. Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial
embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba
(P.29).
30. United Nations reform: measures and proposals (P.30). 4/
31. Culture of peace (P.31).
32. Zone of peace and cooperation of the South Atlantic (P.32).
33. Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of
Governments to promote and consolidate new or restored
democracies (P.33).
34. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic
Cooperation Organization (P.34).
35. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of
African Unity (P.35).
36. Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (P.36).
37. Implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social
Development (P.37).
38. Oceans and the law of the sea (P.38): 3/
(a) Law of the sea;
(b) Large-scale pelagic drift-net fishing, unauthorized
fishing in zones of national jurisdiction and on the
high seas, fisheries by-catch and discards, and other
developments.
39. Question of Palestine (P.39). 5/
40. The situation in the Middle East (P.40). 3/
41. The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (P.41). 3/
42. Assistance in mine clearance (P.42).
43. The situation of democracy and human rights in Haiti (P.43). 3/
44. The situation in Central America: procedures for the
establishment of a firm and lasting peace and progress in
fashioning a region of peace, freedom, democracy and
development (P.44). 3/
45. The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for
international peace and security (P.45). 3/
46. Fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (P.46). 23/
47. Election of the judges of the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and
Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law
Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens
Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in
the Territory of Neighbouring States between 1 January and 31
December 1994 (P.47). 7/
48. Report of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of
Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former
Yugoslavia since 1991 (P.48).
49. Question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) (P.49). 24/
50. Report of the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other
Serious Violations of International Humanitarian
Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens
Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in
the Territory of Neighbouring States between 1 January and 31
December 1994 (P.50).
51. Elimination of coercive economic measures as a means of
political and economic compulsion (P.51).
52. Declaration of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of
the Organization of African Unity on the aerial and naval
military attack against the Socialist People's
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya by the present United States
Administration in April 1986 (P.52).
53. Armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear
installations and its grave consequences for the established
international system concerning the peaceful uses
of nuclear energy, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and
international peace and security (P.53).
54. Consequences of the Iraqi occupation of and aggression against
Kuwait (P.54).
55. Implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations (P.55).
56. Launching of global negotiations on international economic
cooperation for development (P.56).
57. Question of the Comorian island of Mayotte (P.57).
58. Strengthening of the United Nations system (P.58).
59. Question of equitable representation on and increase in the
membership of the Security Council and related matters (P.59).
60. Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly (P.60).
61. Restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the
economic, social and related fields (P.61). 8/
62. The situation in Burundi (P.62). 25/
63. Question of Cyprus (P.63). 26/
64. Commemorative meeting of the twentieth anniversary of the
adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and
Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries
(P.102). 27/
65. Global implications of the year 2000 date conversion problem of
computers (P.162).
First Committee
1. Role of science and technology in the context of international
security, disarmament and other related fields (P.64).
2. Maintenance of international security prevention of
the violent disintegration of States (P.65).
3. Reduction of military budgets (P.66):
(a) Reduction of military budgets;
(b) Objective information on military matters, including
transparency of military expenditures.
4. Role of science and technology in the context of international
security and disarmament (P. 67).
5. Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the
Middle East (P.68).
6. Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in South Asia (P.69).
7. Conclusion of effective international arrangements to assure
non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of
nuclear weapons (P.70).
8. Prevention of an arms race in outer space (P.71).
9. General and complete disarmament (P.72): 28/
(a) Notification of nuclear tests;
(b) Further measures in the field of disarmament for the
prevention of an arms race on the seabed and the ocean
floor and in the subsoil thereof: report of the
Secretary-General;
(c) Measures to uphold the authority of the 1925 Geneva
Protocol;
(d) Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,
Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on
Their Destruction;
(e) Transparency in armaments;
(f) Assistance to States for curbing the illicit traffic in
small arms and collecting them;
(g) Relationship between disarmament and development;
(h) Observance of environmental norms in the drafting and
implementation of agreements on disarmament and arms
control;
(i) Convening of the fourth special session of the General
Assembly devoted to disarmament;
(j) Consolidation of peace through practical disarmament
measures;
(k) Contributions towards banning anti-personnel landmines;
(l) Prohibition of the dumping of radioactive wastes;
(m) Small arms;
(n) Nuclear disarmament;
(o) Nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere and adjacent areas;
(p) Follow-up to the advisory opinion of the International
Court of Justice on the Legality of the Threat or Use of
Nuclear Weapons;
(q) Regional disarmament;
(r) Conventional arms control at the regional and subregional
levels;
(s) Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central
Asia;
(t) Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical
Weapons and on Their Destruction.
10. Review and implementation of the Concluding Document of the
Twelfth Special Session of the General Assembly (P.73):
(a) United Nations Disarmament Information Programme;
(b) United Nations disarmament fellowship training and
advisory services;
(c) United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament
in Asia and the Pacific;
(d) Regional confidence-building measures: activities of the
United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security
Questions in Central Africa;
(e) Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Nuclear
Weapons.
11. Review of the implementation of the recommendations and
decisions adopted by the General Assembly at its tenth special
session (P.74): 3/
(a) Report of the Disarmament Commission;
(b) Report of the Conference on Disarmament;
(c) Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters;
(d) United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.
12. The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East (P.75).
13. Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of
Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be
Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (P.76).
14. Strengthening of security and cooperation in the Mediterranean
region (P.77).
15. Consolidation of the regime established by the Treaty for the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the
Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco) (P.78).
16. Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production
and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin
Weapons and on Their Destruction (P.79).
17. Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (P.80).
18. Rationalization of the work and reform of the agenda of the
First Committee (P.81). 3/
Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee)
1. Effects of atomic radiation (P.82).
2. International cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space
(P.83).
3. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in
the Near East (P.84).
4. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices
Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other
Arabs of the Occupied Territories (P.85).
5. Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping
operations in all their aspects (P.86). 29/
6. Questions relating to information (P.87).
7. Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories transmitted under
Article 73 e of the Charter of the United Nations (P.88).
8. Activities of foreign economic and other interests which impede
the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in Territories
under colonial domination (P.89). 30/
9. Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence
to Colonial Countries and Peoples by the specialized agencies and
the international institutions associated with the United Nations
(P.90).
10. Report of the Economic and Social Council [chapter VIII
(section D)] (P.12). 31/
11. Offers by Member States of study and training facilities for
inhabitants of Non-Self-Governing Territories (P.91).
12. Question of the Malagasy islands of Glorieuses, Juan de Nova,
Europa and Bassas da India (P.92).
13. Question of East Timor (P.93).
14. Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (P.18). 32/
Second Committee
1. Report of the Economic and Social Council [chapters I to V, VIII
(sections A to C and E to H) and X] (P.12). 33/
2. Macroeconomic policy questions (P.94):
(a) Trade and development;
(b) Financing of development, including net transfer of
resources between developing and developed countries;
(c) Commodities;
(d) External debt crisis and development.
3. Sectoral policy questions (P.95):
(a) Business and development;
(b) Industrial development cooperation.
4. Sustainable development and international economic cooperation
(P.96):
(a) Implementation of and follow-up to major consensus
agreements on development:
(i) Implementation of the commitments and policies agreed
upon in the Declaration on International Economic
Cooperation, in particular the Revitalization of the
Economic Growth and Development of the Developing
Countries;
(ii) Implementation of the International Development
Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development
Decade;
(b) Integration of the economies in transition into the world
economy;
(c) Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations
Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II);
(d) Renewal of the dialogue on strengthening international
economic cooperation for development through partnership;
34/
(e) Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least
Developed Countries for the 1990s;
(f) Implementation of the Programme of Action of the
International Conference on Population and Development;
(g) Cultural development.
5. Environment and sustainable development (P.97):
(a) Implementation of and follow-up to the outcome of the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
including the outcome of the nineteenth special session of
the General Assembly for the purpose of an overall
review and appraisal of the implementation of Agenda 21;
(b) Protection of global climate for present and future
generations of mankind;
(c) Implementation of the outcome of the Global Conference on
the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States;
(d) Convention on Biological Diversity;
(e) Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious
Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa.
6. Operational activities for development (P.98). 35/
7. Training and research (P.99):
(a) United Nations University;
(b) United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
8. Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied
Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab
population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural
resources (P.100).
9. Implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the
Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) (P.101).
Third Committee
1. Report of the Economic and Social Council [chapters I, III, V, VI,
VIII (sections A, C and I) and X] (P.12). 36/
2. Social development, including questions relating to the world
social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the
family (P.103).
3. Crime prevention and criminal justice (P.104).
4. International drug control (P.105). 3/
5. Advancement of women (P.106). 37/
6. Implementation of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on
Women (P.107).
7. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
questions relating to refugees and displaced persons and
humanitarian questions (P.108).
8. Promotion and protection of the rights of children (P.109).
9. Programme of activities of the International Decade of the World's
Indigenous People (P.110).
10. Elimination of racism and racial discrimination (P.111).
11. Right of peoples to self-determination (P.112).
12. Human rights questions (P.113):
(a) Implementation of human rights instruments;
(b) Human rights questions, including alternative approaches
for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights
and fundamental freedoms; 38/
(c) Human rights situations and reports of special
rapporteurs and representatives;
(d) Comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action; 11/
(e) Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights.
Fifth Committee
1. Financial reports and audited financial statements, and reports of
the Board of Auditors (P.114): 12/
(a) United Nations;
(b) United Nations Development Programme;
(c) United Nations Children's Fund;
(d) United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East;
(e) United Nations Institute for Training and Research;
(f) Voluntary funds administered by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees;
(g) Fund of the United Nations Environment Programme;
(h) United Nations Population Fund;
(i) United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation;
(j) Fund of the United Nations International Drug Control
Programme;
(k) United Nations Office for Project Services.
2. Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial
functioning of the United Nations (P.115). 4/
3. Programme budget for the biennium 1998 1999 (P.116). 4/
4. Programme planning (P.117).
5. Improving the financial situation of the United Nations (P.118).8/
6. Administrative and budgetary coordination of the United Nations
with the specialized agencies and the International Atomic Energy
Agency (P.119).
7. Pattern of conferences (P.120). 12/
8. Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the
United Nations (P.121). 3/
9. Human resources management (P.122). 4/
10. United Nations common system (P.123). 3/
11. United Nations pension system (P.124).
12. Financing of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the
Middle East (P.125): 4/
(a) United Nations Disengagement Observer Force;
(b) United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
13. Financing of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission and
the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (P.126). 4/
14. Financing of the activities arising from Security Council
resolution 687 (1991) (P.127):
(a) United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission; 4/
(b) Other activities.
15. Financing of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in
Western Sahara (P.128). 4/
16. Financing and liquidation of the United Nations Transitional
Authority in Cambodia (P.129). 4/
17. Financing of the United Nations Protection Force, the United
Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia, the United
Nations Preventive Deployment Force and the United Nations
Peace Forces headquarters (P.130). 4/
18. Financing of the United Nations Operation in Somalia II
(P.131). 8/
19. Financing of the United Nations Operation in Mozambique
(P.132). 4/
20. Financing of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
(P.133). 4/
21. Financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia
(P.134). 4/
22. Financing of the United Nations Mission in Haiti (P.135). 4/
23. Financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia
(P.136). 3/
24. Financing of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
(P.137). 8/
25. Financing of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of
Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former
Yugoslavia since 1991 (P.138). 3/
26. Financing of the United Nations Mission of Observers in
Tajikistan (P.139). 4/
27. Financing of the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other
Serious Violations of International Humanitarian
Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens
Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in
the Territory of Neighbouring States between 1 January and 31
December 1994 (P.140). 4/
28. Financing of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (P.141). 4/
29. Financing of the United Nations Transitional Administration for
Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium and the Civilian
Police Support Group (P.142). 4/
30. Financing of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force
(P.143). 4/
31. Financing of the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti, the
United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti and the United
Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (P.144). 4/
32. Financing of the Military Observer Group of the United Nations
Verification Mission in Guatemala (P.145). 8/
33. Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of the
United Nations peacekeeping operations (P.146): 4/
(a) Financing of the United Nations peacekeeping operations;
(b) Relocation of Ukraine to the group of Member States set
out in paragraph 3 (c) of General Assembly resolution
43/232.
34. Report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Office
of Internal Oversight Services (P.147 (a)). 4/
35. Review of the implementation of General Assembly resolution
48/218 B (P.147 (b)).
36. Financing of the United Nations Mission in the Central African
Republic (P.163). 4/
37. Report of the Economic and Social Council [chapters I, VIII
(sections B and C) and X] (P.12). 39/
38. Appointments to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs and other
appointments (P.17): 40/
(a) Appointment of members of the Advisory Committee on
Administrative and Budgetary Questions;
(b) Appointment of members of the Committee on
Contributions;
(c) Appointment of a member of the Board of Auditors;
(d) Confirmation of the appointment of members of the
Investments Committee;
(e) Appointment of members of the United Nations
Administrative Tribunal;
(f) International Civil Service Commission:
(i) Appointment of members of the Commission;
(ii) Designation of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the
Commission.
Sixth Committee
1. Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of
1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts
(P.148).
2. Consideration of effective measures to enhance the protection,
security and safety of diplomatic and consular missions and
representatives (P.149).
3. Convention on jurisdictional immunities of States and their
property (P.150).
4. United Nations Decade of International Law (P.151):
(a) United Nations Decade of International Law;
(b) Progress in the action dedicated to the 1999 centennial of
the first International Peace Conference and to the closing
of the United Nations Decade of International Law;
(c) Draft guiding principles for international negotiations.
5. Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its
fiftieth session (P.152).
6. Report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
on the work of its thirty-first session (P.153).
7. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country
(P.154).
8. Establishment of an international criminal court (P.155).
9. Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United
Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization
(P.156).
10. Measures to eliminate international terrorism (P.157).
11. Review of the Statute of the Administrative Tribunal of the
United Nations (P.158).
Notes
1/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-first Session, Supplement
No. 49 (A/41/49).
2/ Abbreviations used in the present document:
(P. ): item on the provisional agenda (A/53/150);
(S. ): item on the supplementary list (A/53/200);
(A. ): additional item (A/53/231).
3/ This item remains also on the agenda of the fifty-second session (decision
52/459 of 22 December 1997).
4/This item remains also on the agenda of the fifty-second session (see
A/52/PV.88).
5/ This item remains also on the agenda of the fifty-second session (see
A/52/PV.89).
6/ See para. 46.
7/ This item remains also on the agenda of the fifty-second session (see
A/52/PV.86).
8/ This item, which has not been considered by the General Assembly at its
fifty-second session, remains on the agenda of that session (decision 52/459
of 22 December 1997). Its inclusion in the provisional agenda of the
fifty-third session is subject to any action that the Assembly may take on it
at its fifty-second session.
9/ See para. 44.
10/ See para. 45.
11/ This sub-item also remains on the agenda of the fifty-second session
(decision 52/426 of 12 December 1997).
12/ This item remains also on the agenda of the fifty-second session (see
A/52/PV.82).
13/See para. 46.
14/See para. 46.
15/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifth-third session, Supplement
No. 3 (A/53/3).
16/ This item has not been considered since the thirty-seventh session.
17/ For the abbreviations used in the allocation of items, see footnote 2.
18/ See para. 50; see also footnote 3.
19/ The chapters of the report listed below would be referred also to the
Second, Third and Fifth Committees, as follows:
(a) Chapters I, VIII (section C) and X ....Second, Third and Fifth
Committees
(b) Chapters II and IV ....................Second Committee
(c) Chapters III, V and VIII (section A) ..Second and Third Committees
(d) Chapter VI ............................Third Committee
(e) Chapter VIII (section B) ..............Second and Fifth Committees
For further details, see para. 51.
20/ See para. 56.
21/ For sub-items (a) to (f), see "Fifth Committee", item 38.
22/ See para. 52.
23/ See para. 53.
24/See para. 54.
25/ See para. 44.
26/ See para. 55; see also footnote 8.
27/ See para. 59.
28/ See para. 56.
29/ See para. 57.
30/ See para. 45.
31/ For further details, see para. 51.
32/ See para. 52.
33/ The chapters of the report listed below would be referred also to plenary
meetings and to the Third and Fifth Committees, as follows:
(a) Chapters I, VIII (section C) and X ... Plenary meetings and Third and
Fifth Committees
(b) Chapters II and IV ................... Plenary meetings
(c) Chapters III, V and VIII (section A) . Plenary meetings and Third
Committee
(d) Chapter VIII (section B) ............. Plenary meetings and Fifth
Committee
For further details, see para. 51.
34/ See para. 58.
35/ See para. 60.
36/ The chapters of the report listed below would be referred also to plenary
meetings and to the Second and Fifth Committees, as follows:
(a) Chapters I, VIII (section C) and X ... Plenary meetings and Second and
Fifth Committees
(b) Chapters III, V and VIII (section A) . Plenary meetings and Second
Committee
(c) Chapter VI ........................... Plenary meetings
For further details, see para. 51.
37/ See para. 60.
38/ See para. 53.
39/ The chapters of the report listed below would be referred also to plenary
meetings and to the Second and Third Committees, as follows:
(a) Chapters I, VIII (section C) and X ... Plenary meetings, Second and
Third Committees
(b) Chapter VIII (section B) ............. Plenary meetings and Second
Committee
For further details, see para. 51.
40/ For sub-items (g) to (j), see "Plenary meetings", item 17.