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
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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
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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