16 January 2006 Excellency, In the Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit, the world's leaders reaffirmed 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. In our capacity as Co-Chairs of the ad hoc working group on revitalization of the General Assembly, established in accordance with paragraph 4 of General Assembly Resolution 59/313, we therefore wish to invite all delegations to assist us in identifying ways to further enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the General Assembly. We believe that the three key elements of this task are: 1. to review the agenda of the General Assembly, in order to avoid redundancy; 2. to examine the role of the Assembly in light of current political realities, in order to enhance its credibility, authority and visibility; 3. to propose reforms to the working methods of the Assembly, in order to make it more effective and efficient. It is our intention to assess the impact of previous relevant assembly resolutions and, as far as possible, to promote further implementation of recommendations contained therein.

All Permanent Representatives and Permanent Observers to the United Nations New York

We recognize that several delegations have already made detailed proposals for the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly and we will certainly give careful consideration to these proposals. We envisage that the first meeting of the ad hoc working group will take place by mid-February, with a view to completing its work by May. In anticipation of our first meeting, initial contributions from delegations on the theme of revitalization of the General Assembly will be most welcome. Yours sincerely,

Ambassador Abdullah M. Alsaidi Co-Chair

Ambassador Solveiga Silkalna Co-Chair