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Countries call for efforts to revitalize UN General Assembly
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Category：International Legal News
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Source：(English.news.cn)
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Publish Date：12-31-2010
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UNITED NATIONS -- Representatives from UN member states on Monday took the floor at the General Assembly to call for further strengthened efforts to revitalize the 192-member body as the main UN organ in addressing issues of international peace and security in accordance with the UN Charter.
The representatives, speaking at the plenary meeting of the 65th General Assembly session to discuss how to revitalize the UN organ, said that the General Assembly should make such greater efforts as taking the lead in setting the global agenda and restoring the centrality of the United Nations in formulating multilateral approaches to resolving transnational issues, and increasing its interaction with civil society, non-governmental organizations and private sector on relevant issues.
"The General Assembly must endeavor to demonstrate its relevance and adapt to changes and challenges in the global environment," said Ang Zhongren, the representative of Singapore. "The reform and strengthening of the General Assembly cannot be more timely and urgent."
Mourad Benmehidi, the Algerian UN ambassador who spoke on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), said, "The Movement underlines that the revitalization process is of political nature aiming mainly strengthen of the role of the General Assembly as the chief deliberative policy-making and representative organ of the UN and its position in the wider UN system."
"It should therefore be conducted in an inclusive, transparent and efficient manner," he said.
The 192-member General Assembly is the main deliberate organ. It is composed of representatives of all member states, each of which has one vote. Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary measures, require a two-thirds majority. Decisions on other questions are by simple majority.
"The General Assembly can be revitalized only when its position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations is respected in letter and in spirit," said Hardeer Singh Puri, the Indian permanent representative to the United Nations.
"The General Assembly should take the lead in setting the global agenda and restoring the centrality of the United Nations in formulating multilateral approaches to resolving transnational issues," he said. "This was the role intended for the Assembly in Article 10 of the UN Charter, namely that it discuss any questions or matters within the scope of the present Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any organs provided for in the Charter. "
POLITICAL WILL
Since 1993, member states have adopted by consensus more than 16 consecutive resolutions containing specific agreed measures aimed at improving and enhancing the work of the General Assembly as the main organ of the United Nations.
"Unfortunately, these agreed measures were not implemented," said Maged A. Abdelaziz, the Egypian permanent representative to the United Nations. "Furthermore, we failed to achieve the main objectives set in the relevant paragraphs of the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome, and no concrete results have been achieved in this important topic so far."
"This is mainly due to the lack of political will to ensure that the General Assembly plays its leading role in strict observance of the delicate balance established by the Charter between all principal organs, in particular the Security Council," the Egyptian representative said.
"Each year, we gather together and spend many hours to find consensus, which means the lowest common denominator amongst us; and each year, we go about in circles discussing the same issues with little progress," Zhongren said. "This cannot be the aim of our work!"
"Resolutions need to have clear action plans, realistic timelines and most importantly, the responsible commitment of all member states to act," Zhongren said. "The General Assembly's agenda also needs to be reviewed and refreshed regularly to ensure its continued relevance."
Le Luong Minh, the Vietnamese permanent representative to the UN, said on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Country (ASEAN) that "the General Assembly should assume a more role in dealing with issues of common concern of the international community, including international peace, security and economy as well as in relation to the new peace-building architecture which have made immense contributions to the purposes and principles of the Charter and the goals of the Organization."
DIRECT DIALOGUE
"The General Assembly should maintain its role and mandate in setting the priorities of the United Nations in considering all budgetary and administrative issues and reforms, including its absolute authority to allocate and reallocate financial and human resources, and in the appointment of senior officials in the (UN) Secretariat, in accordance with the Charter and relevant General Assembly resolutions," Benmehidi said.
"As the most representative decision-making body of the United Nations, the General Assembly is the natural political forum for the consideration of all relevant issues on the international agenda," the deputy Brazilian permanent representative to the UN, Regina Maria Cordeiro Dunlop, said. " Its legitimacy, drawn from universal nature of its membership and democratic statute, also confers the General Assembly a central role in overseeing the implementation of the mandate accorded by member states to the UN system."
"Enhancing the direct interaction between member states and the UN Secretariat should also be at the forefront of the process of revitalization of the General Assembly," Dunlop said.
"The revitalization of the General Assembly is a high priority issue for Belarus," said Zoya Kolontai, the deputy representative of Belarus to the United Nations. "The Belarusian delegation supports further enhancement of the role of the president of the GA (General Assembly), the role of the General Assembly in selecting and appointment of the UN secretary-general, further improvement of the GA working methods, its effectiveness and efficiency, as well the modernization of the voting system."
"We also call for further analysis of the previous resolutions in order to identify weak links in their implementation," Kolontai added.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
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