Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly

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.

Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly
← 62nd 16 September 2008 – 14 September 2009 64th →
General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters, New York City
Host country United Nations
Venue(s)General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters
CitiesNew York City, United States
ParticipantsUnited Nations Member States
PresidentMiguel d'Escoto Brockmann
Websitewww.un.org/en/ga/63/

The theme for the 63rd 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

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

President

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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 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

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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:

Committees

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First Committee (Disarmament and International Security)[1][5][6]
Name Country Position
H.E. Marco Antonio Suazo   Honduras Chairperson
Martin Zvachula   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

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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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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

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Security Council

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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

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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

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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 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

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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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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "General Assembly Elects, by Acclamation, President for Sixty-Third Session, Bureau Members of Its Main Committees". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Acceptence speech of Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, President-elect of the 63rd Session of the General Assembly" (PDF). United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Nicaraguan elected to head next session of General Assembly". UN News. United Nations. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Past Presidents – 63rd Session: Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g United Nations Handbook 2009-2010 (47th ed.). Wellington: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. 2009. pp. 20–21. ISBN 9780477102223.
  6. ^ "First Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Second Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Third Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Fourth Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Fifth Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Sixth Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  12. ^ "General Debate of the 63rd Session (23-27 September & 29 September 2008)". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  13. ^ Capel, Charles (22 September 2018). "How is the order of speakers at the UN General Assembly decided?". The National. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  14. ^ United Nations Department of Global Communications (17 October 2008). "General Assembly Elects Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, Uganda to Two-Year Terms on Security Council". United Nations. Archived from the original on 31 March 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  15. ^ United Nations Department of Global Communications (22 October 2008). "General Assembly Elects 18 Members to Economic and Social Council". United Nations. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  16. ^ United Nations Department of Global Communications (6 November 2008). "General Assembly, in Four Rounds of Voting, Elects Five Members to International Court of Justice". United Nations. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  17. ^ United Nations Department of Global Communications (12 May 2009). "United States Elected to Human Rights Council for First Time, with Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, as 18 Seats Filled in Single Round of Voting". United Nations. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
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