UNITED NATIONS, New York US
The United Nations is holding its 78th General Assembly this week, at its New York headquarters. But what does that mean? Who's at the Assembly, what do they discuss, and what rules govern them?
As its name implies, the
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is the UN's main gathering – a place at
which its members can meet, debate and construct policy.
It decides UN budgets, elects
the UN Secretary-General and appoints the non-permanent members of the Security
Council. By considering reports from other UN departments, it can also make
recommendations via resolutions – decisions voted on by all members.
The first session was in
January 1946, straight after World War II, in London. The UN decided to build a
headquarters in New York, which was completed by the early 1950s, and most
General Assemblies have been held there since.
The UN has 193 member states –
and at the assembly, just about every one of them gets a chance to speak (145
heads of state or government are expected this year). For some countries, it's
a rare chance to address so many of their peers at once, and on something like
an equal footing.
Officially, the speeches are
supposed to only be 15 minutes or less, but that's an advisory that is often
broken. Last year's speeches averaged around 19 minutes, with Slovakian
President Zuzana Caputova ending within 12 minutes by drily noting "Since
obeying even the smallest of rules matters, let me finish here to respect the
agreed time limit."
(Caputova would presumably not
approve of the longest speech on UN record – a seat-shuffling 269 minutes, from
Cuban President Fidel Castro in 1960.)
To some extent, that depends
on events. Recent years have been dominated by the pandemic and then the
conflict in Ukraine, as well as the global economic instability brought about
by those global shocks.
Other themes – poverty,
inequality, climate chaos – recur regularly, along with a well-intentioned
desire to improve the future. The theme for this year's debate sums it all up:
"Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on
the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace,
prosperity, progress, and sustainability for all."
It's also worth noting that
while at the UN for the Assembly, many nations take the opportunity to meet on
the sidelines in smaller groups, often finding common ground and allies with
which to pursue mutually advantageous ideas.
The General Assembly (this
year, starting on September 5) includes the General Debate (this year, starting
on September 19). But according
to the UN itself, it's "not actually a debate"– it's more of a
turn-taking exercise in speech-making than the sort of rapid back-and-forth
that typifies, for example, a parliamentary debate such as the UK's Prime
Minister Questions.
One exception is that member
states are given the right to reply, in which they can rebut criticism voiced
during the debate. As direct responses, these rebuttals are often the fiercest
parts of the process, in which countries with longstanding frictions can make
their cases.
Technically, yes. Effectively,
perhaps not. Firstly, not all decisions are equally important. Assembly
resolutions usually require a simple majority – one more vote than 50
percent. But if the Assembly deems the issue at hand to be an "important
question" – such as ones dealing with warfare and security, budgets
or UN membership (either being granted or removed) – then the resolution
must be approved by a two-thirds majority.
More importantly, the real
power at the UN lies with the Security Council. The only UN body with the
capacity to issue binding resolutions on member states, the Security Council is
a group of 15 members, but only five are permanent: China, France, Russia, the
UK and the U.S..
The other 10 members –
currently Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique,
Switzerland and UAE – are elected on a regional basis for a two-year term.
However, only permanent members can veto any Security Council resolution, including
new UN members or Secretary-General nominees.
Those five permanent members
reflect the immediate post-World War II global power balance, but many
countries say the in-built predominance of the Security Council no longer
reflects a multipolar world order.
But while the five nations'
Security Council veto remains a bone of contention, the General Assembly will
continue to be one of the world's most important meetings.
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