President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA)

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)?
• What are the key decisions taken by the UNGA?
• What are the important achievements of UNGA?
• Who is the President of the General Assembly (PGA)?
• How is the PGA elected?
• What is the role and mandate of the PGA?
• News Summary: President of 77th Session of UNGA visit to India
• Key highlights of the speech

Why in news?

• President of the 77^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Csaba Korosi is on a three-day visit to India. 
• This is his first bilateral visit to any country since he assumed UNGA Presidency in September 2022.

What is the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)?

• I t was established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations and is headquartered in New York City. 
• It is one of the six principal organs of the UN and serves as the main policy-making organ of the Organization.
• It provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. 
• Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.  

What are the key decisions taken by the UNGA?

• The UNGA also makes key decisions for the UN, including:
  • appointing the Secretary-General on the recommendation of the Security Council
  • electing the non-permanent members of the Security Council
  • approving the UN budget

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What are the important achievements of UNGA?

• Millennium Declaration, adopted in 2000 
• The 2005 World Summit Outcome Document
• 17 Sustainable Development Goals formulated in September 2015

Who is the President of the General Assembly (PGA)?

• Any Member State can put forward a candidate for PGA.
  • H e/she is not required to be, but always has been, a citizen of the Member State presenting the candidacy.
• The PGA is elected in his/her personal capacity for a one-year term which in non-renewable. 
• The Member State of the PGA cannot at the same time hold the office of Vice-President or Chair of a Main Committee.  
  • Thus, the five permanent members of the Security Council, who are always Vice-Presidents, cannot hold the office of the PGA.
• The Presidency of the General Assembly rotates among the five regional groups , namely: 
  • the Group of Asian States, 
  • the Group of Eastern European States, 
  • the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, 
  • the Group of African States, 
  • the Western European and other States Group.  

How is the PGA elected?

• The President is elected by a simple majority vote of the General Assembly.
• The President is elected at least three months before formally assuming office, usually in mid-June.  
  • This allows him/her to prepare and to assemble a team before the GA session begins in September.

What is the role and mandate of the PGA?

• The PGA is the guardian of the GA Rules of Procedure but has no say in the actual decision-making of the GA – in fact, the PGA does not have a vote in the GA.  
• Even on procedural matters, the PGA always remains under the authority of the GA.
• Hence, PGA has very little formal power. It depends on the moral authority of and the convening power of the office as main instruments to keep the 193 Member States working together.

News Summary: President of 77th Session of UNGA visit to India

• Current President of UN General Assembly, Csaba Korosi, has arrived in India on a three-day visit. 
• Ahead of his visit, he criticised UN Security Council (UNSC) for not reflecting today’s realities.

Key highlights of the speech

• UNSC is not reflecting today’s realities
  • The UNSC was created back then, and it does not reflect today’s realities.
  • The composition of the Security Council reflects the outcome of the Second World War.
  • In the 77-year-old history of the UN, the composition of the Security Council has been altered only once.
    • In 1963 when the General Assembly decided to expand the Council from 11 to 15 members, with the addition of four non-permanent seats.
  • Since then, the world has changed. The geopolitical relations in the world altered, the economic responsibilities changed. 
  • India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the UNSC, and it rightly deserved a place as a permanent member in the UN.
• UNSC is paralysed 
  • UNSC is unable to discharge its basic function of maintaining international peace and security when one of its permanent members has attacked its neighbour.
  • Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN, attacked Ukraine in February 2022. 
  • Russia has vetoed UNSC resolutions on Ukraine and voted against a resolution in the UNGA which called on countries not to recognise the four regions of Ukraine that Russia has claimed.
  • The veto power is used to paralyse the functioning of UNSC.

Q1) Who is the president of 77^th UN General Assembly?

 Mr Csaba Kőrösi was elected as the President of 77^th UN General Assembly in an election held on 7 June 2022.

Q2) Who are the permanent members of UN Security Council?

 The Council is composed of 15 Members: Five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.

Source: UNSC does not reflect today’s realities, is paralysed, says UNGA President | United Nations | News on Air