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The
General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the United
Nations. It is composed of representatives of all Member States,
each of which has one vote. Decisions on important questions,
such as those on peace and security, admission of new Members
and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority. Decisions
on other questions are reached by a simple majority.
Under the
Charter, the functions and powers of the General Assembly include:
- to consider
and make recommendations on the principles of cooperation
in the maintenance of international peace and security, including
the principles governing disarmament and arms regulation;
- to discuss
any question relating to international peace and security
and, except where a dispute or situation is being discussed
by the Security Council, to make recommendations on it;
- to discuss
and, with the same exception, make recommendations on any
question within the scope of the Charter or affecting the
powers and functions of any organ of the United Nations;
- to initiate
studies and make recommendations to promote international
political cooperation, the development and codification of
international law, the realization of human rights and fundamental
freedoms for all, and international collaboration in economic,
social, cultural, educational and health fields;
- to make
recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation,
regardless of origin, which might impair friendly relations
among nations;
- to receive
and consider reports from the Security Council and other United
Nations organs;
- to consider
and approve the United Nations budget and to apportion the
contributions among Members;
- to elect
the non-permanent members of the Security Council, the members
of the Economic and Social Council and those members of the
Trusteeship Council that are elected;
- to elect
jointly with the Security Council the Judges of the International
Court of Justice; and, on the recommendation of the Security
Council, to appoint the Secretary-General.
SESSIONS
The General Assembly's
regular session usually begins each year in September. The 2000-2001
session, for example, is the fifty-fifth regular session of the
General Assembly. At the start of each regular session, the Assembly
elects a new president, 21 Vice-Presidents and the Chairspersons
of the Assembly's six Main Committees. To ensure equitable geographical
representation, the presidency of the Assembly rotates each year
among five groups of States: African, Asian, Eastern European,
Latin American and Caribbean, and Western European and other States.
In addition to its regular sessions, the Assembly may meet in
special sessions at the request of the Security Council, of a
majority of Member States, or of one Member if the majority of
Members concurs. Emergency special sessions may be called within
24 hours of a request by the Security Council on the vote of any
nine Council members, or by a majority of the United Nations Members,
or by one Member if the majority of Members concurs.
At the beginning of each regular session, the Assembly holds a
general debate, often addressed by heads of state and government,
in which Member States express their views on the most presssing
international issues.
Most questions
are then discussed in its six Main Committees:
- First
Committee - Disarmament and International Security Committee
- Second
Committee - Economic and Financial Committee
- Third
Committee - Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee
- Fourth
Committee - Special Political and Decolonization Committee
- Fifth
Committee - Administrative and Budgetary Committee
- Sixth
Committee - Legal Committee
Some issues
are considered only in plenary meetings, rather than in one
of the Main Committees. All issues are voted on through resolutions
passed in plenary meetings, usually towards the end of the regular
session, after the committees have completed their consideration
of them and submitted draft resolutions to the plenary Assembly.
Voting
in Committees is by a simple majority. In plenary meetings,
resolutions may be adopted by acclamation, without objection
or without a vote, or the vote may be recorded or taken by roll-call.
While the decisions of the Assembly have no legally binding
force for governments, they carry the weight of world opinion,
as well as the moral authority of the world community.
The work of the UNited Nations year-round derives largely from
the decisions of the General Assembly - that is to say, the
will of the majority of the Members as expressed in resolutions
adopted by the Assembly. That work is carried out:
- By the
committees and other bodies established by the Assembly to
study and report on specific issues, such as disarmament,
peacekeeping, development and human rights;
- in international
conferences called for by the Assembly; and
- by the
Secretaria of the UNited Nations - the Secretary-General and
his staff of international civil servants.
Source:
Basic Facts About the United Nations, DPI/2155 Rev.1 - December
2002 - 40M
ISBN: 92-1-100850-6
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