Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly
68th session (2013-2014)
Mandate
By resolution 67/297 of 29 August 2013, the General Assembly decided to establish at its 68th session an ad hoc working group on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly (AHWG), open to all Member States, “to identify further ways to enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the Assembly, inter alia, by building on the progress achieved in past sessions of the Assembly as well as on previous resolutions, including evaluating the status of their implementation” and to submit a report thereon to the Assembly at its 68th session.
By the same resolution, the General Assembly also decided that the AHWG shall continue its review of the inventory (see p.33) of General Assembly resolutions on revitalization annexed to its report submitted at the 67th session of the Assembly.
Among specific mandates for the 68th session, the Assembly:
- Requested each Main Committee to further discuss its working methods at the beginning of every session, and in this regard invited the Chairs of the Main Committees to brief the AHWG at the 68th session, as appropriate.
- Encouraged exploration of the possibility of electing the non-permanent members of the Security Council and members of the Economic and Social Council earlier than October of each year, as is currently the practice, in order to foster better advance planning and preparation before the members assume such responsibilities.
- Requested the AHWG to prepare arrangements concerning the election of Chairs and Rapporteurs of the Main Committees of the General Assembly with the aim of establishing a predictable, transparent and fair mechanism for the elections at an early stage of the 68th session. In this context, see also the interim arrangement on the pattern for the rotation of the chairs of the Main Committees adopted by the General Assembly in its decision 68/505 of 1 October 2013.
- Requested the President of the General Assembly, in cooperation with the Secretariat, to report to the AHWG on the role, mandate and activities of the President.
- Requested the Secretary-General to report on sources of the funding and staffing of the Office of the President of the Assembly, including on any technical, logistical, protocol-related or financial questions, and for more clarification on the budgetary basis for the provision of such support by the Secretariat.
- Requested the Secretariat, in coordination with the Office of the President of the Assembly, to explore the possibility of issuing a compendium of best practices of past Presidents, from within existing resources, which could serve to strengthen the institutional memory of the Office.
Letters
Draft updated inventory chart
Meeting of the AHWG (4 March 2014) : Statements 
- President of the 68th session of the General Assembly, Mr. John W. Ashe
- Co-chairs of the AHWG: Mr. František Ružička | Mr. Norachit Sinhaseni
- Secretary, Mr. Ion Botnaru