General Assembly General Assembly

Statement by Mr. D.C. Manjunath, First Secretary at the first thematic meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the ‘Role and Authority of the General Assembly’ 21 March 2014

 

Mr. Co-Chairs,

1.Thank you for convening this important meeting to discuss the ‘role and authority of the General Assembly’.

 

2. I would like to align myself with the statement made by Algeria on behalf of Non-Aligned Group.

 

Mr. Co-Chairs

3. We sincerely appreciate your hard work and that of the Secretariat on updating the inventory, of resolutions pursuant to the resolution 67/297. A closer look at the steps taken reveals that much needs to be done to enhance the role and efficiency of the Assembly though several steps have been taken in this regard.

 

4. In the meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group held on 4th of this month we had reiterated our view that the General Assembly can be revitalized only when its position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations is respected both in letter and spirit.

 

5. It is imperative that the GA transforms itself from being a customary meeting place to a place where issues that impact each and every one of us are addressed swiftly and global solutions are prescribed.

 

6. The Assembly should take the lead in setting the global agenda and restoring the centrality of the United Nations in formulating multilateral approaches to resolving transnational issues. In particular, revitalization must restore the primacy of the UN in development matters.

 

Mr. Co-Chairs,

7. It is important for us to establish a relationship of respect for respective mandates between the General Assembly and the Security Council in the spirit of the Charter. The Council should not encroach upon the mandate of the Assembly through extremely wide and permissive interpretations of what constitutes a threat to international peace and security and including issues that clearly fall within the purview of the General Assembly or the ECOSOC.

 

8. Moreover, the Assembly must have a greater say in the process of selection of the Secretary General. This is not only central in the interest of the United Nations system in general, but also a question of the Assembly’s prerogative in particular.

 

9. The essence of the Assembly is in its intergovernmental nature. The deliberations in the GA should be inclusive allowing every member state to take part equally in it.

 

10. Also, the member states should engage in substantive deliberations in the six main committees instead of rushing to the plenary or calling for votes without real negotiations in the Committees.

 

Mr. Co Chairs,

11. In conclusion, let me assure my delegation’s continued support in your efforts to further the goal of revitalizing this Assembly.

 

Thank you.