Seventy-second session of the United Nations General Assembly

Seventy-second session of the United Nations General Assembly
President of the 72nd General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak
Host country  United Nations
Dates 12 September 2017 –[1] 18 September 2018
Venue(s) United Nations Headquarters
Cities New York City

The seventy-second session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 12 September 2017.[1] The President of the United Nations General Assembly is from the Eastern European Group.

Organisation for the session

Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak was elected as President of the General Assembly on 31 May 2017.[2] He replaced Ambassador Peter Thompson of Fiji on 12 September at the opening of the new session.[3]

Twenty-one Vice Presidents were also elected. Vice Presidents, other than the five permanent members of the Security Council, will be from Afghanistan, Bolivia, Chile, Finland, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, Liberia, Madagascar, Morocco, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe.[2]

As is tradition during each session of the General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres (as his inaugural experience) will draw lots to see which member state would take the helm at the first seat in the General Assembly Chamber, with the other member states following according to the English translation of their name, the same order would be followed in the six main committees.[4] For this session, on 31 May, the Czech Republic was chosen to take the first seat of the General Assembly Chamber.[2]

Committees

The following were elected as Chairs and officers of the General Assembly committees for this session:[2]

General Debate

Most states will have a representative speaking about issues concerning their country and the hopes for the coming year as to what the UNGA will do. This is an opportunity for the member states to opine on international issues of their concern. The General Debate will occur from 19–25 September 2017, with the exception of the intervening Sunday.[1] The theme for this year's debate was chosen by President Miroslav Lajcak as "Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet."[3]

The order of speakers is given first to member states, then observer states and supranational bodies. Any other observers entities will have a chance to speak at the end of the debate, if they so choose. Speakers will be put on the 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. Each speaker is requested to provide 20 advance copies of their statements to the conference officers to facilitate translation and to be presented at the podium. Speeches are requested to be limited to five minutes, with seven minutes for supranational bodies.[4]

Resolutions

Resolutions will come before the UNGA between October 2017 and summer 2018.

The tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly was held in continuation during the tenure of this session on 21 December 2017 in regards to the status of Jerusalem.[5] United Nations General Assembly resolution ES-10/L.22 passed by 128 votes to nine against with 21 absentees and 35 abstentions.

Elections

The election of non-permanent members to the Security Council for 2018–2019 was held on 2 June 2017, in which Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Peru and Poland were elected[6] to fill seats that will be vacated by Egypt, Senegal, Uruguay, Japan and Ukraine on 31 December 2017. Newly-elected countries will take their seats on 1 January 2018.

An election to choose 18 members of the United Nations Human Rights Council for a three-year term will take place.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "72nd Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 72)". sdg-iisd.org. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "General Assembly Elects Slovakia Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák President of Seventy-Second Session, while Selecting Bureaux for Main Committees". www.un.org. United Nations. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 http://sdg.iisd.org/events/72nd-session-of-the-un-general-assembly-unga-72/
  4. 1 2 "63rd Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme, Geneva, 1 - 5 October 2012" (PDF). Unhcr.org. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  5. ↑ http://vestnikkavkaza.net/news/UN-General-Assembly-rejects-Trump-s-Jerusalem-move.html
  6. ↑ "General Assembly Elects Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, Peru, Poland as Non-Permanent Members of Security Council for 2018-2019 | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.

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