The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative body. Established in 1945 under the United Nations Charter, it includes all 193 UN member states, each with one vote. Its responsibilities encompass international discussion, recommendations, institutional elections, and approval of the organization’s budget. It normally meets at UN headquarters in New York. (un.org)
Origins and membership
The Assembly’s first session opened on January 10, 1946, at Central Hall, Westminster, London. Its constitutional framework appears principally in Chapter IV of the Charter, which defines its composition, powers, voting arrangements, and procedures. Membership in the United Nations entails membership in the Assembly; there is no separate admission process for the latter. (un.org)
The Assembly’s one-state-one-vote arrangement gives each member state equal formal voting weight, irrespective of population, economic size, or financial contribution. This reflects the Charter’s principle of sovereign equality, associated with sovereignty. No member possesses a veto in Assembly voting. However, admission to the United Nations requires an Assembly decision following a recommendation from the Security Council. (un.org)
Participation is not confined to member states. The Holy See and the State of Palestine hold non-member observer-state status. Observer participation is distinct from membership and does not confer the member-state vote established by the Charter. (un.org)
Responsibilities and authority
The Assembly may discuss matters within the Charter’s scope and generally make recommendations to member states, the Security Council, or both. Its agenda includes peace and security, disarmament, human rights, economic cooperation, sustainable development, and the development and codification of international law. It also receives reports from other UN organs. (un.org)
Its institutional responsibilities include approving the UN budget and determining member states’ assessed contributions. It elects the Security Council’s non-permanent members and members of the Economic and Social Council. On the Security Council’s recommendation, it appoints the Secretary-General. The Assembly and Security Council also elect judges of the International Court of Justice, voting independently. (un.org)
Most General Assembly resolutions addressing states are recommendations rather than legally binding commands. Nevertheless, the Assembly also makes operative institutional decisions concerning budgets, elections, mandates, and its own procedures. The legal effect of an Assembly act therefore depends on its subject and the authority under which it is adopted; describing every resolution as simply non-binding obscures this distinction. (shop.un.org)
Sessions and organization
The Assembly holds an annual regular session beginning in September. The main period of work generally extends through December, with meetings continuing during the remainder of the session as required. The annual general debate allows national representatives, often heads of state or government, to present their positions on international affairs. It is one part of the Assembly’s work rather than the entire session. (un.org)
A President of the General Assembly is elected for each session. The presidency rotates among five regional groups. The General Committee, comprising the president, 21 vice-presidents, and the chairs of the six Main Committees, helps organize the agenda and coordinate proceedings. A separate Credentials Committee examines representatives’ credentials and reports to the Assembly. (un.org)
Most substantive agenda items are allocated to six Main Committees:
- First Committee: Disarmament and International Security.
- Second Committee: Economic and Financial.
- Third Committee: Social, Humanitarian and Cultural.
- Fourth Committee: Special Political and Decolonization.
- Fifth Committee: Administrative and Budgetary.
- Sixth Committee: Legal.
All member states may participate in these committees. They consider assigned matters and recommend draft resolutions and decisions for action in plenary; some items are handled directly by the plenary. (un.org)
Voting and decision-making
Important questions require a two-thirds majority of members present and voting. These include specified peace-and-security recommendations, admission of new members, certain elections, and budgetary questions. Other questions generally require a simple majority. “Present and voting” means casting an affirmative or negative vote: abstentions are excluded from the denominator used to calculate the majority. (un.org)
Recorded votes document individual states’ positions. Article 19 of the Charter also provides that a member with contribution arrears reaching a specified threshold loses its Assembly vote, although the Assembly may allow voting when non-payment results from circumstances beyond that member’s control. (un.org)
Special sessions and landmark decisions
Besides regular sessions, the Assembly can convene special sessions and emergency special sessions. The Uniting for Peace resolution, adopted on November 3, 1950, provides for immediate Assembly consideration when disagreement among the Security Council’s permanent members prevents it from exercising its primary peace-and-security responsibility. An emergency special session may be convened within 24 hours, at the request of nine Council members or a majority of UN members. The resulting collective-measures recommendations remain distinct from Security Council enforcement decisions. (un.org)
Major Assembly instruments include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on December 10, 1948, and the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. In September 2015, the Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda, containing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These illustrate its roles in articulating international standards and establishing frameworks for cooperation. (un.org)