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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 by 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 additional members
of the Trusteeship Council (when necessary); 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. Beginning
with its fifty-eighth regular session (2003-2004), the Assembly
opens on Tuesday of the third week in September, counting from
the first week that contains at least one working day. The election
of the President of the Assembly, as welll as its 21 Vice-Presidents
and the Chairspersons of the Assembly's six main committees, take
place at least three months before the start of the regular session.
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, 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 concur. 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 concur.
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.
MAIN
COMMITTEES
Most questions
are then discussed in its six main committees:
Some issues
are considered only in plenary meetings, while others are allocated
to one of the six 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 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/2337 - September 2004,
ISBN: 92-1-100936-7
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