Features

27 November 2007

On Monday 26 November 2007, the President of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Sgrjan Kerim chaired a debate in the General Assembly on the issue of revitalization of the General Assembly. Subsequently, Ambassador Andrzej Towpik of Poland, and Ambassador Eladio Loizaga of Paraguay, were appointed co-Chairs for the ad-hoc working group on the revitalization of the General Assembly, which is expected to convene shortly. The GA President also used the opportunity to announce that he would convene debates on counter-terrorism in December, on climate change in February 2008, and on management reform in April. The following is an update of the meeting.

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On 10 September 2007, Member States had their first opportunity to respond to the Options Paper prepared by the Co-Chairs H.E. Mr. Claude Heller (Mexico) and H.E. Mr. Peter Maurer (Switzerland). On 26 October, a second round of responses took place in a well-attended meeting at the United Nations.

The Co-Chairs’ Options Paper identified small as well as more ambitious steps to strengthen international environmental governance (IEG), based on consultations held in the General Assembly following the 2005 World Summit.

by Jonas von Freiesleben
19 September 2007

On Monday, 17 September 2007, the 61st session of the General Assembly formally ended and on the following day, Tuesday 18 September 2007, the 62nd session of the General Assembly officially opened. Among other issues, both GA Presidents addressed ongoing reform efforts.

As the outgoing President of the General Assembly, H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain, lowered her gavel for the last time this Monday, it not only marked the formal closing of the 61st session of the General Assembly, but also the end of term for the first Arab woman in office.

On 10 September 2007, Member States and Observers gathered at the General Assembly to respond to the Options Paper which was presented by the Co-Chairs of the Informal Consultations in June 2007.

The Co-Chairs explained that some Member States indicated that they would need more time to respond in detail to the Options Paper. However, a sizeable number of Member States did respond: Pakistan on behalf of the Group of 77 (130 countries), USA, Australia, Japan, Russian Federation, New Zealand, Mexico, China, Republic of Korea, Iran, Portugal on behalf of the EU as well as a number of other countries, Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia, India, and France.

9 February 2007

On 9 February 2007, the President of the GA, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, convened this year’s first meeting of the [i]Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on the Question of Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council (Press Release).

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During the informal meeting, Sheikha Al Khalifa introduced the five key cluster areas which will be the focus for discussion in the next two months and announced who the five facilitators will be (Statement):

by Lydia Swart
January 30, 2007

Now that the informal consultations at the General Assembly (UNGA) on the UN’s environmental activities are moving to the formulation of an Options Paper, it will become more evident whether there is sufficient political will to strengthen environmental governance at the global level.

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Separate processes are currently taking place at the UN Headquarters in New York with the aim of strengthening the UN’s environmental activities. Informal consultations are being held in the General Assembly, co-chaired by Mexican Ambassador Enrique Berruga and Swiss Ambassador Peter Maurer. In addition, the High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence, established by Kofi Annan, has made a number of recommendations on environmental governance in its report “Delivering as One.” The Co-Chairs and the High-level panel reportedly have been in close contact to ensure that the two processes are mutually supportive and complementary.¹

On November 14, 2006, Member States reached agreement on a draft resolution for the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council.

The draft resolution, conceived in pursuance of paragraph 155 and 156 of the World Summit Outcome Document, will be presented for adoption by the General Assembly shortly.

Following is a summary of substantive issues decided by the draft resolution.

High Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council

by Irene Martinetti
October 26, 2006

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A Resolution on the strengthening of the United Nations Economic and Social Council is expected to be adopted by the end of October. A draft resolution was distributed as early as January 2006, but its adoption has been delayed by disagreements amongst Member States on some key issues such as allocation of additional resources, the collaboration of ECOSOC with the Peacebuilding Commission, and its enhanced role in humanitarian affairs, among others.