31 August 2006 Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly

Draft Resolution REVITALIZATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The General Assembly, Reaffirming the central position of the General Assembly as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations, as well as the role of the Assembly in the process of standard-setting and the codification of international law, Reaffirming also the authority and strengthening the role of the General Assembly on global matters of concern to the international community, as set out in the Charter, and reaffirming its central role in the reform process, Recognizing also that the General Assembly is the universal and representative forum comprising all Members of the United Nations, Stressing the need fully to respect and maintain the balance between the principal organs of the United Nations within their respective purviews and mandates, in accordance with the Charter, Reaffirming that the plenary meetings of the General Assembly should constitute a forum for high-level policy statements, as well as for the consideration, inter alia, of agenda items of special importance or urgency, Underscoring the importance of providing adequate resources for the implementation of mandated programmes and activities, Reaffirming its authority in the consideration of all budgetary issues, as stipulated in the Charter, Reaffirming also its previous resolutions relating to the revitalization of its work, particularly resolutions 59/313, 58/316, and 58/126, Also recalling resolution 51/241, Noting, with appreciation, the report of the Ad hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly established by General Assembly resolution 59/313 of 12 September 2005, 1. Decides to adopt the text contained in the annex to the present resolution.

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Annex
Cluster 1 ­ Role and Authority of General Assembly In the context of further strengthening the role and authority of the General Assembly as set out in the Charter of the United Nations; 1. Reaffirms the role and the authority of the General Assembly, including on questions related to international peace and security, as stipulated in Articles 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 35 of the Charter of the United Nations, where appropriate using the procedures set forth in rules 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, which enable swift and urgent action by the Assembly, bearing in mind that the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with Article 24 of the Charter; 2. Urges the Presidents of the General Assembly, the Security Council and ECOSOC to meet periodically to ensure increased cooperation and coordination of their work programmes in accordance with their respective responsibilities under the Charter. The President of the General Assembly shall inform Member States about the outcome of these meetings on a regular basis; 3. Encourages the holding of thematic interactive debates on current issues of critical importance to the international community in the General Assembly and invites the President of the General Assembly to propose themes for such interactive debates, in consultation with Member States; 4. Invites the Security Council to further its initiatives to improve the quality of its annual report to the General Assembly, mandated by Article 24, paragraph 3, of the Charter, in order to provide the General Assembly with a substantive and analytical report; 5. In carrying out the assessment of the debate on the annual report of the Security Council called for in resolution 51/241, annex, paragraph 12, the President shall inform the General Assembly of his decision regarding the need for further consideration of the Security Council report, including in respect of the convening of informal consultations, on the need for, and content of, any action by the Assembly based on the debate, as well as on any matters to be brought to the attention of the Security Council; 6. Invites the Security Council to update the General Assembly on a regular basis on the steps it has taken or is contemplating with respect to improving its reporting to the Assembly; 7. Also invites the Security Council to submit periodically, in accordance with Article 15 and Article 24 of the Charter, special subject-oriented reports to the General Assembly for its consideration on issues of current international concern; /...

3 8. Invites also ECOSOC to continue to prepare its report to the General Assembly in accordance with General Assembly resolution 50/227, striving to make it more concise and action-oriented, by highlighting the critical areas requiring action by the General Assembly and, as appropriate, by making specific recommendations for consideration by the Member States; 9. Requests the President of the General Assembly, at the end of his/her tenure, to provide an informal short report on best practices and lessons learnt to his/her successor; [10. Decides, in accordance with its resolution 59/313, to augment the resources available to the Office of the President of the General Assembly to provide for two further additional posts at management and senior levels, to be filled on an annual basis following consultations with the incoming President, beginning at the sixtyfirst session;] 11. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to make the necessary arrangements for the provision of transitional office accommodation and other support to the Presidentelect of the General Assembly, in accordance with 58/126; 12. Encourages enhanced interaction, as and where appropriate, with civil society, including non-governmental organizations, and particularly those from developing countries, on relevant issues, while fully respecting the intergovernmental nature of the General Assembly and in conformity with relevant Rules of Procedure; 13. Encourages, where appropriate, the continued cooperation between the General Assembly and national and regional parliaments, particularly through the Interparliamentary Union; 14. Requests the Department of Public Information, in cooperation with countries concerned and with the relevant organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, to continue to take appropriate measures to enhance world public awareness of the work of the General Assembly; 15. Urges the Secretariat to continue its endeavours to raise the visibility of the General Assembly and, toward this end, requests the rearrangement of items in the Journal of the United Nations so that listings of Plenary and other major events of the General Assembly may appear alongside those of the meetings of the Security Council; 16. Encourages the Presidents of the General Assembly to increase their public visibility including through enhanced contacts with representatives of media and civil society thus promoting the activities of the General Assembly and encourages the Secretary-General to continue the practice of providing to the Office of the President of the General Assembly a Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly and an Assistant to the Spokesperson; /...

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Cluster II- Selection of the Secretary-General 17. Recalls Article 97 of the Charter, as well as the provisions of GA resolutions 11(1) of 1946 and 51/241 of 1997, as relevant to the role of the General Assembly in appointing the Secretary-General, upon the recommendation of the Security Council; 18. Bearing in mind the provisions of Article 97 of the Charter, emphasizes the need for the process of selection of the Secretary-General to be inclusive to all Member States and made more transparent and, in the course of the identification and appointment of the best candidate for the post of Secretary-General, due regard be given to regional rotation and gender equality, and invites the Security Council to regularly update the General Assembly on the steps it has taken in this regard; 19. Respecting the role of the principal organs as enshrined in Article 97 of the Charter, encourages the President of the General Assembly to consult with Member States to identify potential candidates endorsed by a Member State and, upon informing all Member States of the results, to forward these results to the Security Council; 20. Encourages formal presentation of candidatures for the position of SecretaryGeneral in a manner that allows sufficient time for interaction with Member States, and requests candidates to present their views to all Member States of the General Assembly; 21. Recalls paragraph 61 of resolution 51/241, which states that, in order to ensure a smooth and effective transition, the Secretary-General should be appointed as early as possible, preferably no later than one month before the date on which the term of the incumbent expires; 22. Emphasizes the importance of candidates for the post of Secretary-General possessing and displaying, inter alia, commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, extensive leadership, administrative, and diplomatic experience; Cluster III- Working methods 23. Reaffirms the sovereign right of Member States to submit proposals in the context of the General Assembly Rules of Procedure, and encourages Member States to submit draft resolutions in a more concise, focused, and action-oriented form; 24. Requests the Secretary-General to issue the rules of procedure of the General Assembly in a consolidated version in all official languages, in print and online, and requests the Office of Legal Affairs to make precedents and past practice available in the public domain with respect to rules and practices of the intergovernmental bodies of the organization; /...

5 25. Requests the Main Committees to continue their efforts to further rationalize their agendas and to improve their working methods and invites the Bureaux of the Main Committees to enhance their cooperation, in conformity with the Rules of Procedure; 26. In that respect, decides to give due consideration to those recommendations of the Main Committees regarding the improvement of their working methods and the allocation of agenda items, which require the approval of the General Assembly for their implementation; 27. Reiterates its call for the effective implementation of rule 42 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly; 28. Requests an update on its recommendation, in paragraph 15 of its resolution 59/313, regarding consideration of the use of optical scanners as a means of expediting the counting of votes cast through secret ballots during elections, taking due account of the security requirements in this regard and the credibility, reliability and confidentiality of such means, and requests the Secretary-General to report on the modalities thereof to the General Assembly; 29. Requests the Secretary-General to implement further the measures set out in paragraph 20 of resolution 57/300 of 20 December 2002 on the consolidation of reports and in paragraph 6 of the annex to resolution 58/316, on documentation; 30. Recalls paragraph 19 of resolution 59/313 and requests the Secretary-General to submit a status report with a factual chart to the General Assembly at its 61st session on the implementation of all resolutions regarding the revitalization of its work, including resolutions 58/126, 58/316 and 59/313, and the present resolution; 31. Decides to invite the President of the General Assembly of the sixty-first session, after consultations with Member States, to establish an ad hoc working group on revitalization of the General Assembly, open to all Member States, to identify ways to further enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the General Assembly, inter alia, by building on relevant Assembly resolutions and reviewing the agenda and working methods of the Assembly, and to submit a report to the General Assembly at its sixty-first session. -----