UNGA: AT 63RD UNGA, THE NON ALIGNED MOVEMENT CALLS

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001109 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNGA AORC SUBJECT: UNGA: AT 63RD UNGA, THE NON ALIGNED MOVEMENT CALLS FOR AN INCREASED ROLE FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ¶1. The UN 63rd General Assembly held its debate on agenda item 110, "Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly," on November 20. The following delegations delivered interventions: France (on behalf of the EU), Algeria (on behalf of the NAM),Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nepal, Tunisia, Venezuela, and Vietnam. The President of the General Assembly (PGA),Miguel D'Escoto, opened the debate with an address on the importance of prioritizing this topic. All, save two, of the 17 speakers in the debate were from the non-aligned movement (NAM) and encouraged the General Assembly to assert its authority and role in the legislative and deliberative functions of the United Nations. The General Assembly also considered and adopted 5 reports of the Fifth Committee under agenda item 105, "Appointments to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs and other appointments." Finally, the Assembly took note of a letter from the Secretary-General regarding judges of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly -------------- -------------- ¶2. D'Escoto highlighted the importance of "reestablishing the balance among the principle organs" of the United Nations. He praised the Ad Hoc Working Group on Revitalization and the usefulness of its report. D'Escoto commended the informal monthly meetings that have been taking place between the PGA and the President of the UN Security Council (UNSC),suggesting that the meeting take place with the entire General Assembly. D'Escoto argued that the General Assembly should play a greater role in selecting the Secretary-General and asked States to resolve to put procedures into place before the next election. Finally, D'Escoto noted the agility that the Assembly had exhibited by convening high-level dialogues on the financial crisis. He said that the General Assembly must continue to organize such meaningful and action-oriented responses. ¶3. The debate included many suggestions on the logistics of revitalization. France urged the General Assembly to implement and monitor progress on resolutions that had already been passed on the subject of revitalization, something with which many of the NAM speakers expressed agreement. France also deplored the late issuance of reports, or translations of reports, noting that addressing this issue was a foundational aspect of revitalization. Japan acknowledged the value of recent thematic debates but pointed out that one had duplicated the work of the Fifth Committee. Many of the NAM speakers praised the utility of the thematic debates and called for more. ¶4. Delegates also discussed the General Assembly's relationship to other UN organs. Speakers generally called for greater coordination and cooperation between bodies. Algeria expressed NAM's concern about "continuous attempts" by the UN Security Council (UNSC) to "encroach" on issues that should be governed by other organs. Several delegates underlined the "disparity" of authority between the General Assembly and the UNSC and called for balance to be restored. Japan and most of the NAM speakers praised the informal briefings between the Presidents of the General Assembly and the UNSC. Many NAM speakers also called for monthly meetings to be institutionalized. Tunisia called for the UNSC to submit periodic analytic reports to the General Assembly. ¶5. Several speakers echoed the PGA's view that the General Assembly should take an increased role in selecting the Secretary-General and believed that procedures should be put into place in advance of the next election. Egypt suggested that the Assembly should be allowed to evaluate candidates for the position then submit names to the UNSC, in addition to overseeing the criteria that the UNSC uses in its selection of the candidate. Appointments to Vacancies -------------- ¶6. The General Assembly adopted by consensus the recommendations of the Fifth Committee to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs. These included the following appointments: to the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (A/63/528),to the Committee on Contributions (A/63/529),to the Investments Committee (A/63/530),to the International Civil Service Commission (A/63/531),and to the United Nations Staff Pension Committee (A/63/532). The Fifth Committee Reports listed can be found on www.un.org by using the UN Official Documents System. ¶7. The General Assembly also considered the letter from the Secretary-General on his appointment to the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia of Judge Christoph Flugge to replace Judge Wolfgang Schomburg, due to the latter's resignation. The General Assembly took note of the letter and agreed by consensus not to take action on the item. Wolff