Sixth Committee (Legal) — 74th session
Observer status for the Group of Seven Plus in the General Assembly (Agenda item 171)
- Item proposed by Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo and Yemen (A/74/214)
Documentation
- A/74/214 — Letter dated 16 July 2019 from the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
- A/C.6/74/L.2 — Draft resolution
Summary of work
Background (source: A/74/200)
In a letter dated 16 July 2019 (A/74/214), the Permanent Representatives of Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo and Yemen to the United Nations requested the inclusion of this item in the provisional agenda of the seventy-fourth session.
Consideration at the seventy-fourth session
The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 19th and 24th meetings, on 18 and 29 October 2019 (see A/C.6/74/SR.19 and 24).
Statements were made by the representatives of Gambia (on behalf of the African Group), Timor-Leste, Togo, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, China, the Sudan and Comoros.
Delegations expressed support for granting observer status to the Group of Seven Plus.
Action taken by the Sixth Committee
At the 19th meeting, on 18 October, the representative of Sierra Leone, also on behalf of Afghanistan, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Canada, the Central African Republic, the Gambia, Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Togo, introduced a draft resolution entitled “Observer status for the Group of Seven Plus in the General Assembly” (A/C.6/74/L.2) and announced that Brazil, Chad, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Somalia, Sweden and Yemen had joined in sponsoring the draft resolution. Subsequently, the Comoros, Finland, Norway, Angola and the Sudan also joined in sponsoring the draft resolution.
At the 24th meeting, on 29 October, the Committee adopted draft resolution A/C.6/74/L.2 without a vote.
Under this draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to invite the Group of Seven Plus to participate in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly in the capacity of observer; and request the Secretary-General to take the necessary action to implement the resolution.
Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly
