Back to top

I. Organizational, administrative and other matter

Election of seven members of the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission

At its sixtieth session, in 2005, the General Assembly decided, acting concurrently with the Security Council, in accordance with Articles 7, 22 and 29 of the Charter of the United Nations, to establish the Peacebuilding Commission as an intergovernmental advisory body that would have a standing Organizational Committee, responsible for developing its own rules of procedure and working methods, and comprising:

  1. Seven members of the Security Council, including permanent members, selected according to rules and procedures decided by the Council;
  2. Seven members of the Economic and Social Council, elected from regional groups according to rules and procedures decided by the Council, giving due consideration to those countries that had experienced post-conflict recovery;
  3. Five top providers of assessed contributions to United Nations budgets and of voluntary contributions to United Nations funds, programmes and agencies, including a standing peacebuilding fund, that were not among those selected in (a) or (b) above, selected by and from among the 10 top providers, giving due consideration to the size of their contributions;
  4. Five top providers of military personnel and civilian police to United Nations missions that were not among those selected in (a), (b) or (c) above, selected by and from among the 10 top providers, giving due consideration to the size of their contributions;
  5. Giving due consideration to representation from all regional groups in the overall composition of the Committee and to representation from countries that had experienced post-conflict recovery, seven additional members would be elected according to rules and procedures decided by the General Assembly;

and decided that members of the Organizational Committee would serve for renewable terms of two years, as applicable (resolution 60/180).

At the resumed sixtieth session, in 2006, the following elections/selections took place, in accordance with paragraph 4 (a) to (d) of General Assembly resolution 60/180 and Security Council resolution 1645 (2005):

  1. The Security Council selected China, Denmark, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Republic of Tanzania and the United States of America as members of the Organizational Committee;
  2. The Economic and Social Council elected Angola, Belgium, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Poland and Sri Lanka as members;
  3. Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Norway were selected as the five top providers of assessed contributions to United Nations budgets and of voluntary contributions to United Nations funds, programmes and agencies, including a standing peacebuilding fund;
  4. Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Nigeria and Pakistan were selected as the five top providers of military personnel and civilian police to United Nations missions.

At its resumed sixtieth session, in May 2006, the General Assembly, noting the following distribution of seats for 2006 among the five regional groups in the Organizational Committee that had resulted from elections and/or selections that had taken place so far: (a) five members from African States; (b) seven members from Asian States; (c) two members from Eastern European States; (d) one member from Latin American and Caribbean States; and (e) nine members from Western European and other States, decided that the seven seats for election by the General Assembly for membership in the Organizational Committee for 2006 would be distributed among the five regional groups as follows: (a) two seats for African States; (b) one seat for Asian States; (c) one seat for Eastern European States; (d) three seats for Latin American and Caribbean States; and (e) no seats for Western European and other States; and also decided that the term of membership should be staggered, and that two members from different regional groups, to be drawn by lots in the first election, should serve for an initial period of one year; that each of the five regional groups should have no less than three seats in the overall composition of the Organizational Committee; that the elections to be held by the Assembly in 2006 would set no precedent for future elections and that the distribution of seats as set out above would be reviewed annually, on the basis of changes in the membership in other categories established in paragraph 4 (a) to (d) of resolution 60/180 and Security Council resolution 1645 (2005) (resolution 60/261).

Accordingly, at its 82nd plenary meeting, on 16 May 2006, the General Assembly elected the following seven members of the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission: Burundi, Chile, Croatia, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji and Jamaica (decision 60/417). By a drawing of lots, Croatia and Jamaica were chosen to serve a term of one year beginning on the day of the first meeting of the Organizational Committee, that is, 23 June 2006. Burundi, Chile, Egypt, El Salvador and Fiji were elected for a two-year term of office (decision 60/417).

At its resumed sixty-first session, on 22 May 2007, the General Assembly, in the light of the provisions of paragraph 8 of its resolution 60/261, elected Georgia, from the Group of Eastern European States, and Jamaica, from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, to replace Croatia and Jamaica, respectively, for a renewable term of two years (decision 61/416). As a result of the election and/or selection in the Security Council during the sixty-first session, there was also an increase of one seat in the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States and a decrease of one seat in the Group of Western European and Other States.

At its resumed sixty-second session, on 20 June 2008, the General Assembly decided, as an interim measure, to extend until 11 July 2008, the term of office of the current members of the Assembly on the Organizational Committee, namely, Burundi, Chile, Egypt, El Salvador and Fiji, which were due to expire on 22 June 2008 (decision 62/419 A).

At the same session, on 11 July 2008, the General Assembly decided, as an interim measure, to further extend the terms of office of the current members of the Assembly of the Organizational Committee, namely, Burundi, Chile, Egypt, El Salvador and Fiji, to 31 December 2008 (decision 62/419 B).

Currently, the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission is composed of the following 31 Member States: Angola,** Bangladesh,** Belgium,** Brazil,** Burundi,** Canada,**** Chile,** China,* Czech Republic,** Egypt,** El Salvador,** Fiji,** France,* Georgia,*** Germany,**** Ghana,** Guinea-Bissau,** India,** Indonesia,** Jamaica,*** Japan,**** Luxembourg,** Netherlands,**** Nigeria,** Pakistan,** Russian Federation,* South Africa,** Sri Lanka,** Sweden,**** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland* and United States of America.*

*   Permanent members of the Security Council.
    **   Term of office expires on 31 December 2008.
  ***   Term of office expires on 22 June 2009.
****   Term of office expires on 22 June 2010.

At its sixty-third session, the General Assembly will need to fill the five seats occupied by the countries whose term of office expires on 31 December 2008: Burundi, Chile, Egypt, El Salvador and Fiji, as well as the two seats occupied by the countries whose term of office expires on 22 June 2009, namely, Georgia and Jamaica.

Documents:

 References for the sixty-first session (agenda item 105 (d))
References for the sixty-second session (agenda item 113 (c))

Related links :

Source: A/63/100/Add.1