Strengthening and revitalizing the work of the General Assembly
Enhancing the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the General Assembly
Discussions on the Assembly’s working methods and procedures have been held from the inception of the General Assembly itself. In 1949, “mindful of the increasing length of General Assembly sessions, and of the growing tendency towards protracted debates”, the Assembly established the Special Committee on Methods and Procedures of the General Assembly (). From the 46th session onwards, the Assembly’s agenda has included a dedicated item on the revitalization of the work of the Assembly (decision 45/461). This item is allocated also to all Main Committees, for the purpose of discussing their working methods, as well as considering and taking action on their respective tentative programmes of work.
Since the 60th session, the Assembly has established the Ad Hoc Working Group on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly. Its mandate was to “to identify ways to further enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the General Assembly” (). At subsequent sessions, the scope of the AHWG’s work has included different areas, including ones related to: the agenda and working methods of the Assembly; the role and authority of the Assembly and its Main Committees; documentation; the Office of the President of the Assembly; and the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads. More than 200 outcomes have been recorded in 30 different areas.
At the 75th session, in , the General Assembly gave further focus to the work of the AHWG and decided that the thematic focus of the AHWG would be on role and authority of the General Assembly, and working methods, at the 76th session, and on strengthening the accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, and selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads. At the 76th session and subsequent even-numbered sessions, the primary focus would be on implementation of the resolution adopted at the 75th session. The Assembly also decided that a draft resolution would be considered by the Assembly at the 77th session and biennially thereafter.
At the 79th session, in , the Assembly decided to establish the Working Group on the Strengthening and Revitalizing of the Work of the General Assembly. The Working Group will address the following clusters every three years:
- The role, authority and working methods of the General Assembly; the Office of the President of the General Assembly, at the eighty-first session and every three years thereafter;
- The process for the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads, at the eighty-second session and every three years thereafter.
The Assembly also decided that the Working Group will convene, starting from the eightieth session, to review the implementation of the present and past resolutions, and consider a resolution every three years, starting at the eighty-third session.
Information on ongoing work is available on .
