Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly

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Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly
File:UN General Assembly hall.jpg
General Assembly hall at United Nations Headquarters, New York City
Host country  United Nations
Date 16 September 2008 – 14 September 2009
Venue(s) United Nations Headquarters
Cities New York City, United States
Participants United Nations Member States
Follows 62nd
Precedes 64th
Website www.un.org/en/ga/63/

The Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly was the session of the United Nations General Assembly that ran from 16 September 2008 to 14 September 2009.

The theme for the 64th Session was "The impact of the global food crisis on poverty and hunger in the world as well as the need to democratize the United Nations."

Organisation

President of the 63rd Session, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann

President

Nicaraguan diplomat and politician Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann was elected by acclimation to the position of President of the General Assembly on 4 June 2008. At the time of his election, d'Escoto Brockmann was serving as Senior Adviser on Foreign Affairs to President Daniel Ortega Saavedra of Nicaragua.[1]

In his first speech as President-elect of the General Assembly, d'Escoto Brockmann laid out some of his priorities for the session. He primarily called for unity within the United Nations, as well as between its Member States. He called for unity to combat hunger and poverty, as well as in the struggle to preserve the world’s indispensable biodiversity and cultural diversity. Other priorities for d'Escoto Brockmann in the 63rd Session included:[2][3][4]

  • The Democratisation of the United Nations
  • Climate change, as well as the energy crisis
  • The fight against terrorism in all its forms
  • Preserving human rights, especially the rights of women and children
  • Disarmament and nuclear control

Vice-Presidents

The following were appointed to be the Session's vice-presidents on 4 June 2008:[1][5]

The five permanent members of the Security Council:

As well as the following nations:

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Committees

First Committee (Disarmament and International Security)[1][5][6]
Name Country Position
H.E. Marco Antonio Suazo  Honduras Chairperson
Martin Zvachula  F.S. Micronesia Vice-Chair
Ivan Mutavdžić  Croatia Vice-Chair
Miguel Graça  Portugal Vice-Chair
Coly Seck  Senegal Rapporteur
Second Committee (Economic and Financial)[1][5][7]
Name Country Position
H.E. Uche Joy Ogwu  Nigeria Chairperson
Andrei Metelitsa  Belarus Vice-Chair
Troy Torrington  Guyana Vice-Chair
Martin Hoppe  Germany Vice-Chair
Awsan Al-Aud  Yemen Rapporteur
Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural)[1][5][8]
Name Country Position
H.E. Frank Majoor  Netherlands Chairperson
Divina Adjoa Seanedzu  Ghana Vice-Chair
Ara Margarian  Armenia Vice-Chair
Julio Peralta  Paraguay Vice-Chair
Khalid Alwafi  Saudi Arabia Rapporteur
Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)[1][5][9]
Name Country Position
H.E. Jorge Arguello  Argentina Chairperson
Emr Elsherbini  Egypt Vice-Chair
Alexandru Cujba  Republic of Moldova Vice-Chair
Elmer Cato  Philippines Vice-Chair
Paulá Parviainen  Finland Rapporteur
Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary)[1][5][10]
Name Country Position
H.E. Gabor Brodi  Hungary Chairperson
Olivio Fermín  Dominican Republic Vice-Chair
Mohamed Yousif Ibrahim Abdelmannan  Sudan Vice-Chair
Henric Rasbrant  Sweden Vice-Chair
Patrick Chuasoto  Philippines Rapporteur
Sixth Committee (Legal)[1][5][11]
Name Country Position
H.E. Hamid Al Bayati  Iraq Chairperson
El-Hadj Lamine  Algeria Vice-Chair
Ana Cristina Rodríguez-Pineda  Guatemala Vice-Chair
Scott Sheeran  New Zealand Vice-Chair
Marko Rakovec  Slovenia Rapporteur

Seat allocation

As is tradition, before each session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General draws lots to determine which Member State will occupy the first seat in the General Assembly Hall for the Session, with other Member States following according to the English translation of their name. For the 65th Session, Barbados was chosen to take the first seat of the General Assembly Chamber.[1]

General debate

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Main article: General debate of the sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly

The General Debate of the 63rd Session was held between 23 & 29 September 2008, with the exception of the intervening Sunday. At the General debate, Member States have the opportunity to lay out the issues that are most concerning to them, as well as their hopes as to what the General Assembly will do during the Session. [12]

The order of speakers is given first to Member States, then Observer States and supranational bodies. Speakers are put on a speaking list in the order of their request, with special consideration for ministers and other government officials of similar or higher rank. According to the rules in place for the General Debate, the statements should be in one of the United Nations official languages of Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish, and will be translated by the United Nations translators.[13]

Elections

Security Council

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Main article: 2008 United Nations Security Council election

On 17 October 2008, the General Assembly elected 5 non-permanent members to the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2009. The five elected members were: Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda. They filled the seats that were vacated by Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa.[14]

Economic and Social Council

On 22 October 2008, the General Assembly elected 18 members to the Economic and Social Council to serve three-year terms beginning 1 January 2009. The elected members were: Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Peru, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.[15]

The 18 outgoing members were: Angola, Austria, Benin, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Japan, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mauritania, Paraguay, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.

Prior to the election, the General Assembly approved a request from Iceland to relinquish its WEOG Council seat on 31 December 2008. Norway was then elected to fill the seat for a one-year term beginning 1 January 2009.

International Court of Justice

On 6 November 2008, the General Assembly elected five judges to sit on the International Court of Justice for nine-year terms beginning 6 February of 2009. The five elected judges were:[16]

Judges Abraham and Al-Khasawneh were both re-elected, while Cançado Trindade, Greenwood and Yusuf were elected to the court for the first time.

Human Rights Council

On 12 May 2009, the General Assembly elected 18 members to sit on the Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting 19 June 2009. Five of these were elected to sit on the Council for the first time: Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway and the United States of America, while the other 13 members were all re-elected: Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Jordan, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Uruguay.[17]

References

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External links

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