UN Economic and Social Development
Division for Sustainable Development

The nineteenth Special Session of the General Assembly to review the first five years of progress in implementing Agenda 21 was convened on 23 June. Ambassador Razali Ismail of Malaysia, the President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second session, was elected to Chair.

GASS 19

Member States

One hundred eighty-three of the one hundred eighty-five Member States participated in the 19th special session. This included:
over fifty heads of State and government, eighty ministers and other senior government officials.

Bureau

The Special Session appointed a Committee of the Whole under the Chair of Dr. Tolba.
Vice-chairs were:

1. Ambassador Bagher Asadi (Islamic Republic of Iran),
2. Ambassador John Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda),
3. Ms. Idun Eideheim (Norway),
4. and Mr. Czeslaw Wieckowski (Poland).

• Ms. Linn-Locher, along with Ambassador Amorin and Mr. Osborn, continued to assist the Bureau as friends of the Chair.