Seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly explained

Cities:New York City, United States
Compactnav:yes
Date:14 September 2021 – 13 September 2022
Participants:United Nations Member States
President:Abdulla Shahid
Precedes:77th
Venues:General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters
Website:www.un.org/eng/ga
Follows:75th

The Seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly was the session of the United Nations General Assembly which ran from 14 September 2021 to 13 September 2022. The President of the UN General Assembly is from Asia-Pacific Group.

Organisation for the session

President

On 7 June 2021, Maldivian politician and diplomat, and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid was elected to the position of President of the General Assembly.[1]

In his vision statement, Shahid laid out some of his priorities for the session. Specifically, a stronger and more effective United Nations to inspire unity and solidarity, and above all hope. His "Five Rays of Hope” include recovering from COVID-19, rebuilding sustainably, responding to the needs of the planet, respecting the rights of all and revitalising the united nations. He also pledged that his team would be gender balanced, multi-national and geographical diverse. Finally he pledged to uphold the rules of procedure of the General Assembly for him, his team and the entire Assembly.[2] [3]

Vice-Presidents

The General Assembly elected the following countries as the vice-presidents of the 76th session:

The five permanent members of the Security Council:[4]

As well as the following nations:[3]

Committees

The following were elected Chairs and Officers of the General Assembly's Main Committees for the 76th Session:[3]

First Committee (Disarmament and International Security)!Name!Country!Position
H.E. Omar HilaleChair
Vacant, Latin American and Caribbean GroupVice-chair
Amir Hamzah Mohd NasirVice-chair
Saša MilanovićVice-chair
Sanna Leena OravaRapporteur
Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)!Name!Country!Position
H.E. Egriselda Aracely González LópezChair
Angelito AyongVice-chair
Lukáš Peter PrvýVice-chair
Matthew EdbrookeVice-chair
Youssouf Aden MoussaRapporteur
Second Committee (Economic and Financial)!Name!Country!Position
H.E. Vanessa Frazier Chair
Nadja MicaelVice-chair
Karolina KrywulakVice-chair
Claudia LarueVice-chair
Prathma UpretyRapporteur
Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Issues)!Name!Country!Position
Mohamed Siad DoualehChair
Joongil Shin Republic of KoreaVice-chair
Devita Abraham Vice-chair
Hanne CarléVice-chair
Maria‑Iuliana NiculaeRapporteur
Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary Committee)!Name!Country!Position
H.E. Mher MargaryanChair
Ahmed Mohamed Ismail ElmahsVice-chair
Mike Ammann Vice-chair
Mohammed Abdulaziz Alateek Vice-chair
Megayla AustinRapporteur
Sixth Committee (Legal)!Name!Country!Position
H.E.Alya Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani Chair
Ahmed AbdelazizVice-chair
Justina KrutulytéVice-chair
Ricardo García LópezVice-chair
Ana L. VillalobosRapporteur

Seat allocation

As is tradition before each session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General drew lots to see which member state would occupy the first seat in the General Assembly Chamber, with the other member states following according to the English translation of their name. For the 76th Session, Suriname was selected to sit in the first seat by Secretary-General António Guterres. This same order is followed in the six main committees, as well as other United Nations bodies.[3] [5]

Agenda

The agenda for the 76th session, will be approved by the General Committee prior to the opening of the Session.

General debate

See main article: General debate of the seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly. Each member of the General Assembly 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 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 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 350 advance copies of their statements to the conference officers to facilitate translation and to be presented at the podium.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Election of the 76th President of the General Assembly . . n.d. . United Nations General Assembly . United Nations . 5 August 2021.
  2. Web site: A Presidency of Hope: Vision statement by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Maldives, candidate for the Presidency of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly . . n.d. . United Nations General Assembly . United Nations . 5 August 2021.
  3. Web site: Electing Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid President of Seventy-Sixth Session, General Assembly Selects Main Committee Bureaus, Economic and Social Council Members . . 7 June 2021 . United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases . United Nations . 5 August 2021.
  4. Book: Ruder . Nicole . Nakano . Kenji . Aeschlimann . Johann . Aeschlimann . Johann . Regan . Mary . The GA Handbook: A Practical Guide to the United Nations General Assembly . 2nd . New York . Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations . 2017 . 17, 86–88 . 978-0-615-49660-3.
  5. Web site: 63rd Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme: Information Note . . n.d. . United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees . United Nations . 14 September 2019 . 26 June 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160626052815/http://www.unhcr.org/5028f5129.pdf . live .