Sixty-first session Agenda item 110 Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly Report of the Secretary-General Summary The present report has been prepared in compliance with paragraph 3 of resolution 58/316, paragraph 19 of resolution 59/313 and paragraph 30 of the annex to resolution 60/286. The report is organized under sections according to topics and provides an overview of the status of implementation of General Assembly resolutions relating to the revitalization of its work, with a particular focus on the three resolutions adopted by the Assembly at its fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth sessions. In terms of both structure and content, it also parallels closely the areas and issues examined by the Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly in the course of the sixtieth session. It is followed by an annex that provides fuller detail on earlier resolutions and the implementation by the Secretariat of measures contained in them that relate directly to it and its work. An addendum to the present report, covering further measures taken to implement the provisions of resolution 60/286, will be issued, as appropriate, during the sixty-first session. Contents Paragraphs Page Introduction 1–4 3 Enhancing the authority and role of the General Assembly 5–14 3 Improving the working methods of the General Assembly 15–21 6 Agenda 22–26 7 General Committee 27–30 8 President of the General Assembly 31–33 9 Documentation 34–36 9 Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group established by resolution 59/313 37–39 10 Annex Factual chart on the implementation by the Secretariat of the relevant provisions of resolutions 58/126, 58/316, 59/313 and 60/286 on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly 11 A. Resolution 58/126 of 19 December 2003 11 B. Resolution 58/316 of 1 July 2004 13 C. Resolution 59/313 of 12 September 2005 18 D. Resolution 60/286 of 8 September 2006 20 I. Introduction 1. The revitalization of the General Assembly has been examined by the Assembly at length and in depth in the course of the last 15 sessions. Moreover, even before it was addressed as such, many measures were adopted during the early years of the Organization to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Assembly. The item on revitalization has been included in the agenda of the Assembly since its forty-sixth session in 1991. Subsequently, it has considered this item regularly and has adopted important annual resolutions on the subject. 2. In the 2005 World Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1), Member States 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. Heads of State and Government welcomed the measures adopted by the Assembly with a view to strengthening its role and authority and the role and leadership of the President of the Assembly and, to that end, called for their full and speedy implementation. 3. In its resolution 58/316, entitled “Further measures for the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly”, the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit a report on all aspects of the implementation of resolutions 58/126 and 58/316 to the Assembly at its sixtieth session. It also requested the Secretary-General, in its resolution 59/313, entitled “A strengthened and revitalized General Assembly”, to submit a status report to the Assembly at its sixtieth session on the implementation of all resolutions regarding the revitalization of its work, including resolutions 58/126, 58/316 and 59/313. Moreover, recalling those requests, the Assembly, in paragraph 30 of the annex to its resolution 60/286, additionally requested the Secretary-General to submit the status report with a factual chart on the implementation of all resolutions regarding the revitalization of its work. 4. The present report has been prepared in compliance with those requests and has been organized under sections according to topics related to the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, reflecting also the structure and substance of issues examined in the course of the sixtieth session by the Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly. It is followed by an annex that provides fuller detail on earlier resolutions and the implementation by the Secretariat of measures contained in them that relate directly to it and its work. An addendum to the present report, covering measures taken to implement the provisions of resolution 60/286, will be issued, as appropriate, during the sixty-first session. II. Enhancing the authority and role of the General Assembly 5. The authority of the General Assembly derives from its status as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations, which has been further underpinned by the holding of the 2005 World Summit — the largest gathering of Heads of State and Government in history. In addition, the Assembly’s role has gained considerably through the ensuing follow-up process. There are nearly a dozen areas in which it has now convened informal consultations, from management, development, the environment and terrorism to the institutional reform of the Secretariat, the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council. Furthermore, in the course of the sixtieth session alone, the Assembly established the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council. These are just some of the successes achieved thus far in the implementation of the World Summit Outcome document, and revitalization of the Assembly, though dating back for a much longer time, is also being discussed within this context. 6. Indeed, since the early 1990s, the General Assembly has adopted several resolutions aimed at enhancing its authority and role of the Assembly by touching upon one or several of the aspects covered in the present report (e.g. resolutions 46/77, 47/233, 48/264, 51/193, 51/241, 55/285 and 57/300). At its fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth sessions, the Assembly adopted three landmark resolutions on the revitalization of its work (resolutions 58/126, 58/316 and 59/313). As a result of those resolutions, and in addition to the central role it has played in the follow-up and implementation of the Outcome document, the Assembly’s role and authority have been further underlined and accentuated. 7. Moreover, the President-elect, as of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, now suggests an issue or issues of global concern upon which Member States will be invited to comment during the forthcoming general debate. The President-elect for the sixtieth session suggested the theme “Follow-up and implementation of the Summit outcome” for that session, which followed immediately the conclusion of the World Summit of 2005 and provided an important opportunity for delegations to express their views on the Outcome document and the way forward on its implementation. The President-elect of the sixty-first session put forward “Implementing a Global Partnership for Development” as the suggested theme. 8. For example, the President of the General Assembly now meets periodically with the Presidents of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council, with a view to ensuring increased cooperation, coordination and complementarity of the work programmes of the three organs. In addition, the Presidents of the Assembly, since the adoption of resolution 58/126, have regularly informed the membership of the briefings held with the Presidents of the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council, thereby further strengthening the coordination among those organs. The President of the Assembly also continues to be briefed regularly by the President of the Security Council on the work of the Council. 9. In the annex to its resolution 58/126, the General Assembly decided that the Security Council is invited to submit periodically special subject-oriented reports to the Assembly on issues of current international concern and to continue with initiatives to improve the quality of its annual report. In its resolution 59/313, it also decided to consider the annual reports and special reports of the Council through substantive and interactive debates. Since the adoption of resolution 58/126, the Council twice submitted its annual report to the Assembly. Those reports were considered by the Assembly at its fifty-ninth and sixtieth sessions, from 11 to 13 October 2004 and on 10 and 11 November 2005, respectively, and the Council continues to consider ways to further improve the quality of its reports to the Assembly. 10. A further step envisaged by the General Assembly in the annex to its resolution 58/126, harking back to resolution 51/241, was to ask the President to inform the Assembly of the need for further consideration of the Security Council report, including through the convening of informal consultations. To date, the Assembly has been able to consider and address the Council report in the time frame allotted. 11. With regard to publicizing the work and decisions of the General Assembly, the Assembly requested that a plan for the intensification and strengthening of the support provided by the Department of Public Information be presented to the Committee on Information. In line with that request, the report of the Secretary-General to the Committee (A/AC.198/2004/6) described the activities of the Department to publicize the work and decisions of the Assembly as well as recommendations for their further development. Those recommendations were taken up by the Assembly at its fifty-ninth session, and in its resolution 59/126 B, the Assembly welcomed the Department’s recommendations, encouraged the Department to establish a closer working relationship with the Office of the President of the General Assembly and requested a further report on those matters to the next session of the Committee on Information (see A/AC.198/2005/2, para. 18). In turn, the Assembly, at its sixtieth session, noted with appreciation the efforts of the Department and encouraged it to further strengthen its working relationship with the Office of the President of the General Assembly (see resolution 60/109 B). 12. Furthermore, the General Assembly decided that Member States and the Secretariat should consider initiatives that might be taken for better monitoring the follow-up of Assembly resolutions, such as the provision of timely inputs for reports of the Secretary-General and giving effect to proposals that would advance the follow-up of major United Nations conferences and summits. Those issues continue to be considered in the realm of the revitalization of the Assembly, underlining their continuing relevance. 13. In its resolution 59/313, the General Assembly stressed the need to demonstrate political will to ensure the effective implementation of its resolutions and decided to convene and organize major thematic debates in order to establish broad international understanding on current substantive issues of importance to Member States. The Assembly also decided to discuss issues pertaining to the maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with the Charter, where appropriate, using the procedures set forth in rules 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the rules of procedure of the Assembly. In that regard, neither special sessions nor emergency special sessions have been summoned since the adoption of resolution 59/313. 14. During the sixtieth session, the Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly also addressed issues surrounding the selection of the Secretary-General in Cluster II of the annex to resolution 60/286. In paragraph 18 of the annex, the Assembly emphasized the need for the process of selection of the Secretary-General to be inclusive to all Member States and made more transparent and, in this regard, in paragraph 20, it encouraged formal presentation of candidatures for the position of Secretary-General in a manner that allows sufficient time for interaction with Member States and requested candidates to present their views to all States Members of the Assembly. In agreeing upon those steps, delegations expressed the hope that they would facilitate the transparency and outcome of the selection process. That positive step by the Assembly is a concrete example of the ongoing efforts to revitalize itself through the further enhancement of its role and authority. III. Improving the working methods of the General Assembly 15. Much has also been achieved in the improvement of the working methods of the General Assembly. For example, the President is now elected several months in advance of the opening of the session, as are the chairpersons of the Main Committees and their full bureaux. During the main part of Assembly sessions, meetings of the plenary are normally held on Mondays and Thursdays. The websites of the Main Committees have been enhanced and are regularly updated by the relevant secretariats. The rules of procedure of the Assembly, whose issuance the Assembly requested in a consolidated version in all official languages in print and online, will be made available on the United Nations website and in hard copy during the sixty-first session. Furthermore, in paragraph 24 of the annex to its resolution 60/286, the Assembly requested 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. That document will be made available in the course of the sixty-first session. 16. Other measures that have been implemented include the utilization by the Main Committees of the practice of interactive debates, panel discussions and question time so as to enhance informal, in-depth discussions and to bring together experts from various fields. Those practices, inter alia, have enabled a dynamic and candid exchange with heads of departments and offices, representatives of the Secretary-General and special rapporteurs, thereby adding to the deliberations and decision-making processes in the Main Committees. 17. With a view to ensuring the continuity and the effective organization of the work of the Main Committees, their bureaux-elect now meet immediately after their election to discuss the organization and division of their work. Moreover, with a view to better harnessing the institutional memory acquired by the chairpersons and the bureaux of the Main Committees, the incoming bureaux also meet with the outgoing bureaux in order to consult on and review issues relating to the efficient functioning of the Main Committees. Where such meetings have taken place, they have proven to be of value to the work of the respective Committees. In fact, they have proven to be particularly useful and effective as a means of transmitting and reporting on the observations and lessons learned that outgoing Committee chairpersons were requested to provide their successors. 18. In addition, a number of measures the General Assembly decided upon require implementation by the Member States themselves. They include the request to draft more concise, focused and action-oriented resolutions and decisions, that preambular paragraphs in resolutions should normally be kept to the minimum, that time limits on speeches in the plenary as well as in the Main Committees should be applied and that Member States aligned with statements already made by the chairperson of a group of Member States should focus additional interventions on points that have not already been adequately addressed in the statements of the group in question. 19. Some measures brought up in the course of the discussions on the improvement of the working methods of the General Assembly remain to be decided. In its resolution 58/126, for example, the Assembly stated that the work of the Main Committees might benefit if it was scheduled over two substantive periods during the session. With a view to enabling the Assembly to consider changes in that regard, various options were presented for consideration by the General Committee, taking into account the requirements of the relevant intergovernmental bodies and the different locations of their meetings and the budget cycle (see A/58/CRP.3). The General Committee then held open-ended discussions on those options and the Assembly decided that the consideration of that subject would be deferred until its fifty-ninth session. Member States, however, have not taken any further action on the matter. 20. The General Assembly also noted that its Main Committees had different practices and working methods and requested, with a view to identifying best practices and working methods, the submission of a historical and analytical note on the practices and working methods of the Committees. That note (A/58/CRP.5) was submitted and discussed in open-ended discussions of the General Committee. However, the Committee has not yet made any further recommendations in that regard to the plenary. 21. Regarding the conduct of elections in the General Assembly, the Assembly, in its resolution 59/313, recommended the consideration of the use of optical scanners as a means of expediting the counting of votes cast through secret ballots, taking due account of the security requirements in that regard and the credibility, reliability and confidentiality of such means, and requested the Secretary-General to submit a report on the modalities thereof to the Assembly through the Committee on Conferences. Several options have now been examined and, once all the results have been compiled, taking into account the criteria listed by Member States, a study will be presented to the Committee on Conferences during the current session. IV. Agenda 22. The agenda of the General Assembly reflects its working programme and the scope of its activity. From the early years, the multitude of items on the agenda testified to the variety of issues of concern to the United Nations. The number of items has grown steadily and further underlines the body’s responsiveness to global events as well as its relevancy. At the same time, the increasing number of items has reduced the actual amount of time available to focus on any particular issue. And while items continue to be included on an annual basis, rarely are any eliminated. 23. Rationalizing and streamlining the agenda of the General Assembly in order to focus its work on priority issues has been a subject of debate for many years. In the annex to its resolution 55/285, the Assembly decided to cluster all cooperation items on its agenda and to biennialize its consideration in the form of a joint debate. In operative paragraph 4 (l) of the annex to its resolution 58/316, the Assembly decided to consolidate the 18 reports theretofore submitted on cooperation into a single report. In both resolutions, the Assembly decided to biennialize and triennialize a number of other items as well. 24. At its fifty-eighth session, with a view to better conceptualizing the content of its agenda, the General Assembly requested an illustrative agenda of the Assembly, organized around the priorities of the Organization. The illustrative agenda is contained in a note by the Secretariat (A/58/CRP.4). The General Committee held open-ended discussions on the note, leading to the decision of the Assembly to organize the agenda under headings for the purpose of giving a sense of structure to its work, thus achieving a better presentation of the issues and challenges with which it deals and making its work more accessible. At the fifty-ninth and sixtieth sessions, the General Committee made recommendations on the placement of agenda items under those headings and the agenda of the Assembly has since been arranged under them. In accordance with resolution 58/316, those provisions shall be reviewed by the Assembly at its sixty-first session with a view to making further improvements, as appropriate. 25. In the annex to its resolution 58/126, the General Assembly also stated that it would be advantageous to have a shorter agenda to ensure the fullest discussion of all issues, so that its decisions might have greater impact. Having reviewed the note by the Secretariat entitled “Analysis of the agenda of the General Assembly” (A/58/CRP.6), which provides factual information on the frequency of consideration, origin and history of action on the 333 items and sub-items on the agenda, and having taken into account the views expressed by Member States, the Assembly decided, in the annex to its resolution 58/316, that a number of items and sub-items should be eliminated, biennialized, triennialized, should remain on the agenda for consideration upon notification by a Member State, should be allocated to one of the Main Committees, or should be considered in their entirety in plenary. The Assembly also decided that each Main Committee should give specific attention to the rationalization of its future agendas by the biennialization, triennialization, clustering and elimination of items. 26. Those adjustments took effect beginning with the fifty-ninth session. The General Assembly continues to monitor the effects of the adjustments and to make efforts to streamline the agenda of the plenary further. V. General Committee 27. At its fifty-eighth session, taking up earlier provisions, the General Assembly stated that the General Committee should continue to consider ways and means to further improve its working methods to increase its efficiency and effectiveness and should play the leading role in advising the Assembly on the efficient organization, coordination and management of its work. 28. The General Committee now meets regularly throughout the session with the bureaux of the Main Committees to review the progress of the work of those Committees and to make recommendations for furthering that progress. The General Committee also conducts a review, in July of each year, of the proposed programme of work for the forthcoming session of the General Assembly and submits recommendations on the matter to the forthcoming Assembly (see A/58/864 and A/59/860 and Add.1). 29. On the basis of proposals from the President, the General Committee convened four informal topical briefings open to all Member States at the fifty-ninth session (by the Special Adviser on Africa; the Special Representative for children and armed conflict; the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; and the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States), which provided Member States an opportunity to engage in a direct exchange on topical issues on the agenda of the Assembly with high-level officials of the Organization. 30. In light of the late date of the adoption of resolution 59/313 and the ensuing workload following the World Summit 2005, the General Committee did not recommend to the General Assembly, at the beginning of the sixtieth session, a programme of interactive debates on the items on the agenda of the Assembly. VI. President of the General Assembly 31. The role of the President of the General Assembly has been touched upon in a number of the revitalization resolutions adopted by the Assembly (e.g. resolutions 46/77, 51/24 and 55/285). At its fifty-eighth session, the Assembly stated that the resources available to the Office of the President in personnel and other support should be augmented. Moreover, transitional office accommodation should be provided to the President-elect of the Assembly, beginning with the President-elect of the fifty-ninth session. Those provisions have been fully implemented. In connection with those requests, the Office of the President has been increased by five posts and transitional office accommodation has been arranged for and is now being provided to the Presidents-elect. 32. At its fifty-ninth session, the General Assembly reiterated its decision to augment the resources available to the Office of the President from within existing resources, subject to consideration by the Assembly of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007, 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 sixtieth session of the Assembly. In paragraph 10 of the annex to its resolution 60/286, the Assembly took note of that request as well as paragraph 9 of its resolution 60/246, by which those posts were made available to the Office of the President of the Assembly, within the programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007, as part of the effort to strengthen the Office. 33. The General Assembly, also at the fifty-ninth session, decided to strengthen the role and leadership of the President by authorizing him or her to propose, in consultation with Member States, interactive debates on current issues on the Assembly’s agenda. In light of the full schedule and exigencies posed by the follow-up and implementation process of the World Summit Outcome document, the President of the Assembly at its sixtieth session decided not to propose to hold an interactive debate at that session. VII. Documentation 34. As was pointed out in the report of the Secretary-General on the review of mandates (A/60/733), the quantity of the reports requested often obscures their quality and impact, overwhelming the Member States and overburdening the Secretariat. Already at its forty-eighth session, the General Assembly, in its resolution 48/264, encouraged Member States to exercise restraint in making proposals requesting new reports of the Secretary-General, bearing in mind the desirability of reducing the number of such reports. Moreover, in the annex to its resolution 51/241, reaffirmed by the annex to its resolution 55/285, the Assembly plainly stated that the number of reports requested should be rationalized where possible so as to permit more focused consideration of issues. 35. At its fifty-eighth session, the General Assembly noted that the heavy volume of documentation submitted to the Assembly for its consideration should be reduced. It requested the presentation of further proposals to Member States for the consolidation of reports on related subjects in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 20 of its resolution 57/300 (i.e. in consultation, at the end of the main part of each session, with the President of the Assembly and the Chairmen of the Main Committees (see resolutions 58/126, annex, 58/316, annex, and 59/313)) for the consideration of the General Committee. There has been limited success in that respect. In paragraph 29 of the annex to its resolution 60/286, the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to implement further the measures set out in paragraph 20 of its resolution 57/300 and in paragraph 6 of the annex to its resolution 58/316 on documentation. 36. In its resolution 59/313, the General Assembly also encouraged Member States, when seeking additional information, to request that they be provided with the information either orally or, if in writing, in the form of information sheets, annexes, tables and the like, and encouraged the wider use of that practice. VIII. Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group established by resolution 59/313 37. At the end of its fifty-ninth session, the General Assembly decided to establish an ad hoc working group open to all Member States with the objective of identifying ways to further enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the Assembly, inter alia, by building on its relevant resolutions and reviewing its agenda and working methods. The scope of the Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group therefore was comprehensive, covering all the subjects covered in the present report. 38. By the same resolution, the General Assembly also requested the Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group to submit a report of its own with specific recommendations to the Assembly at its sixtieth session. 39. The President of the General Assembly at its sixtieth session invited the Permanent Representatives of Latvia and Yemen to co-chair the Open-ended Ad Hoc Working Group. The Working Group held 12 meetings (on 16 February, 3, 16 and 29 March, 6, 19 and 26 April, 6 and 29 June, 21 July, and 1 and 5 September 2006). The drafting group, which was established by the co-Chairpersons to continue negotiations on the draft resolution on the Assembly’s revitalization, met on 26, 28 and 31 July, and 3 and 8 August 2006 under the chairmanship of Mexico; on 22, 23 and 25 August 2006 under the chairmanship of New Zealand; and on 1 and 5 September 2006 under the chairmanship of Canada. Following the conclusion of the drafting group’s deliberations, the Working Group adopted its report and draft resolution on 5 September 2006. At its 99th plenary meeting, the Assembly adopted its resolution 60/286 on the revitalization of the General Assembly, which contains, in the annex, the resolution adopted by the Working Group. Annex Factual chart on the implementation by the Secretariat of the relevant provisions of resolutions 58/126, 58/316, 59/313 and 60/286 on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly A. Resolution 58/126 of 19 December 2003 Annex A: Enhancing the authority and role of the General Assembly Status of implementation The work and decisions of the General Assembly should be better publicized. Accordingly, the support provided by the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat for these purposes should be intensified and strengthened. The Secretary-General is requested to present a plan to this end, within existing resources, to the next session of the Committee on Information, so that recommendations can be made to the Assembly (para. 8). A plan was presented by the Secretary-General to the Committee on Information at its twenty-sixth session (see A/AC.198/2004/6; see also resolutions 59/126 B and 60/286, annex para. 14). Member States and the Secretariat should consider initiatives that might be taken for better monitoring of the follow-up of resolutions of the General Assembly, such as the provision of timely inputs for reports of the Secretary-General and giving effect to proposals that would advance the follow-up of major United Nations conferences and summits (para. 9). Communications from the Secretary-General have been sent to Member Sates on an ongoing basis to ask for pertinent information. The resources available to the Office of the President of the General Assembly in personnel and other support shall be augmented from within existing resources, bearing in mind the provisions of paragraph 22 of the annex to resolution 55/285. Five additional posts shall be made available to supplement current support, of which three shall be filled on an annual basis, following consultations with the incoming President, beginning at the fifty-ninth session of the Assembly (para. 10). Implemented as of the fifty-ninth session Transitional office accommodation and other support shall be provided to the President-elect of the General Assembly. The Secretary-General is requested to make the necessary arrangements for the provision of such support, within existing resources, beginning with the President-elect of the fifty-ninth session of the Assembly (para. 11). Beginning with the fifty-ninth session, transitional office space and other support have been provided to the President-elect. Annex B: Improving the working methods of the General Assembly Status of implementation The work of the Main Committees of the General Assembly might benefit if it is scheduled over two substantive periods during the session. The rescheduling of the work of the Main Committees should not lead to additional costs, additional or longer meetings, or staggered work schedules of the Main Committees. With a view to enabling the Assembly to consider changes in this regard, with effect from the sixtieth session of the Assembly, the Secretary-General is requested to present, by 1 February 2004, various options for consideration by the General Committee, taking into account the requirements of the relevant intergovernmental bodies and the different locations of their meetings and the budget cycle (para. 2). In response to this request, the Secretariat circulated a note entitled “Options for the rescheduling of the Main Committees of the General Assembly” (A/58/CRP.3), which the Assembly considered at its fifty-eighth session. a For the priorities of the Organization for the period 2002-2005: (a) Maintenance of international peace and security; (b) Promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and recent United Nations conferences; (c) Development of Africa; (d) Promotion of human rights; (e) Effective coordination of humanitarian assistance efforts; (f) Promotion of justice and international law; (g) Disarmament; (h) Drug control, crime prevention and combating international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, see paragraph 26 of the introduction to the medium-term plan for the period 2002-2005 (Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 6 (A/55/6/Rev.1)) adopted in resolution 55/234. With a view to better conceptualization of the content of the agenda of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General is requested to submit to the Assembly, for its consideration by 1 March 2004, an illustrative agenda of the Assembly, based on all the agenda items of the fifty-eighth session, organized around the priorities of the Organization for the period 2002-2005 (para. 4).a In response to this request, the Secretariat circulated a note entitled “Illustrative agenda of the General Assembly” (A/58/CRP.4), which the Assembly considered at its fifty-eighth session (see also resolution 58/316, annex, para. 2 (b)). The heavy volume of documentation that is submitted to the General Assembly for its consideration should be reduced. In this regard, the Secretary-General is requested to continue his efforts to make proposals to Member States for the consolidation of reports on related subjects in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 20 of resolution 57/300. The proposals on a shorter agenda should be accompanied by related proposals for a reduction in the volume of documentation (para. 7). See resolution 58/316, annex, section F. The Main Committees of the General Assembly are bound by the rules of procedure of the Assembly, although they have different practices and working methods. With a view to identifying best practices and working methods, and recognizing the ongoing efforts of the Main Committees to streamline their work, the Secretary-General, drawing on the experience of previous Chairmen of the Main Committees, is requested to submit a historical and analytical note on the practices and working methods of the Main Committees for the consideration of the General Committee by 1 April 2004 (para. 8). In response to this request, the Secretariat circulated a note entitled “Historical and analytical note on the practices and working methods of the Main Committees” (A/58/CRP.5), which was considered by the General Committee in open-ended informal consultations (see resolution 58/316, annex, section C). B. Resolution 58/316 of 1 July 2004 Annex, section A: reordering the work of the General Assembly Status of implementation With effect from the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly, the meetings of the plenary Assembly shall normally be held on Mondays and Thursdays (para. 1 (b)). As of the fifty-ninth session, plenary meetings of the Assembly are scheduled and held on Mondays and Thursdays to the extent possible. Annex, section B: organization of the agenda of the General Assembly Status of implementation Pursuant to paragraph 4 of section B of the annex to resolution 58/126, the agenda of the General Assembly shall be organized under headings corresponding to the priorities of the Organization, as contained in the medium-term plan for the period 2002-2005b (or in the strategic framework, as appropriate), with an additional heading for “Organizational, administrative and other matters” for the purpose As of the fifty-ninth session, the agenda of the General Assembly has been organized under headings corresponding to the priorities of the Organization, as contained in the medium-term plan for the period 2002-2005 and, subsequently, in accordance with the strategic framework for the period 2006-2007, with an additional heading I, entitled “Organizational, administrative and other matters”. b Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 6 (A/55/6/Rev.1). of giving a sense of structure to the work of the Assembly, achieving a better presentation of the issues and challenges with which the Assembly deals and making the work of the Assembly more accessible, with the understanding that the new arrangement will not prejudge the way in which the work of the Assembly is organized and carried out (para. 2 (a)). The headings of the agenda shall consequently be: (i) Maintenance of international peace and security; (ii) Promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development in accordance with the resolutions of the General Assembly and recent United Nations conferences; (iii) Development of Africa; (iv) Promotion of human rights; (v) Effective coordination of humanitarian assistance efforts; (vi) Promotion of justice and international law; (vii) Disarmament; (viii) Drug control, crime prevention and combating international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations; (ix) Organizational, administrative and other matters (para. 2 (b)). See 2 (a) above. Annex, section C: practices and working methods of the Main Committees Status of implementation c Information on the programme of work of the Fifth Committee is usually not available owing to the time frame of the Committee’s work. Main Committees shall adopt a provisional programme of work at the end of the session for the next session to help them better to plan, prepare and organize and, in this context, review the related documentation requirements (para. 3 (b)). Implemented as of the fifty-ninth session.c The websites of the Main Committees shall be enhanced and thereafter regularly updated and their content maintained by the secretariats of the Main Committees (para. 3 (c)). The websites of the Main Committees continue to be enhanced and regularly updated by the respective secretariats. Annex, section D: review of the agenda of the General Assembly Status of implementation d A/58/CRP.6. Recalling section B, paragraph 5, of the annex to resolution 58/126, having reviewed the note by the Secretariat entitled “Analysis of the agenda of the General Assembly”,d which provides factual information on the frequency of consideration, origin and history of action on the 333 items and sub-items on the agenda, taking into account the views expressed by Member States, and following consultations with concerned Member States, it is decided that: (a) The items entitled “Launching of global negotiations on international economic cooperation for development” and “Restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields” shall be eliminated from the agenda; (b) The items entitled “Question of Cyprus”, “Armed aggression against the Democratic Republic of the Congo”, “Question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)”, “The situation of democracy and human rights in Haiti”, “Armed Israeli aggression against the Iraqi nuclear installations and its grave consequences for the established international system concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons and international peace and security”, Consequences of the Iraqi occupation of and aggression against Kuwait” and “Declaration of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity on the aerial and naval military attack against the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya by the present United States Administration in April 1986” shall remain on the agenda for consideration upon notification by a Member State; The provisions of this paragraph are being implemented as of the fifty-ninth session and reflected in the agenda of each session. (c) The item entitled “Report of the Economic and Social Council” shall be considered in its entirety in plenary; (d) While remaining on the agenda of the plenary, the sub-item entitled “Sport for peace and development: building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal” shall be considered every other year and the items entitled “Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin” and “Elimination of unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion” shall be considered every three years; (e) The item entitled “Information and communication technologies for development” and the sub-item entitled “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance: special economic assistance to individual countries or regions” shall be allocated for annual consideration in the Second Committee; (f) The item entitled “Towards global partnerships” shall be allocated for consideration every other year in the Second Committee; (g) The sub-item entitled “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance: participation of volunteers, ‘White Helmets’, in the activities of the United Nations in the field of humanitarian relief, rehabilitation and technical cooperation for development” shall be allocated for consideration every three years in the Second Committee; (h) The item entitled “Global road safety crisis” shall be allocated for consideration every other year in the Third Committee; (i) The item entitled “Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples” shall be allocated for annual consideration in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee); (j) The item entitled “Assistance in mine action” shall be allocated for consideration every other year in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee); (k) The item entitled “University for Peace” shall be allocated for consideration every three years in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee); (l) Bearing in mind that the General Assembly decided in resolution 55/285 of 7 September 2001 to cluster all cooperation items under one item, to make individual cooperation items sub-items and to hold a joint debate for all sub-items, the Secretary-General shall submit a single consolidated report under the item entitled “Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations” (para. 4). Annex, section E: General Committee Status of implementation In July of each year, the General Committee shall conduct a review of the proposed programme of work for the forthcoming session of the General Assembly, on the basis of a report to be submitted by the Secretary-General, and submit recommendations on the matter to the forthcoming Assembly. The report of the Secretary-General shall include information on the status of documentation to be issued during the forthcoming session (para. 5 (d)). In response to this request the Secretary-General has submitted reports at the fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth and sixtieth sessions of the General Assembly, including the requested information on the status of documentation (see A/58/864, A/59/860 and A/60/971 and their respective addenda). Annex, section F: documentation Status of implementation In the light of its decision in section B, paragraph 7, of the annex to resolution 58/126 that the heavy volume of documentation that is submitted to the General Assembly for its consideration should be reduced, the Secretary-General is requested: To take the necessary action to initiate the implementation of the provisions of paragraph 20 of resolution 57/300 of 20 December 2002, in which the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to start, on a trial basis, a consultative process with the President of the General Assembly and the Chairmen of the Main Committees of the Assembly at the end of the main part of each session of the Assembly, with a view to consolidating reports on related subjects, if decided by the Main Committees (para. 6 (c)). See resolution 60/286, annex, para. 29. C. Resolution 59/313 of 12 September 2005 President of the General Assembly Status of implementation (b) Augmenting the resources available to the Office of the President of the General Assembly from within existing resources, subject to consideration by the Assembly of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2006-2007, 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 sixtieth session of the Assembly; (c) Making available to the President of the General Assembly adequate office and conference space with a view to enabling the President to carry out his/her functions in a manner commensurate with the dignity and stature of the Office; (d) Requesting the Secretary-General to ensure that the President of the General Assembly is provided with proper protocol services at Headquarters and at other United Nations duty stations (para. 3). Implemented as of the sixtieth session See resolution 58/126, annex A, para. 11. Support by the Protocol Office to the Office of the President of the General Assembly has been further strengthened through closer coordination with the Office of the President on appointments and programmes of the President where protocol services are necessary, including also the social events hosted by the President. Agenda and working methods of the plenary Assembly and the Main Committees Status of implementation Requests the Secretary-General to provide the ad hoc working group with the necessary services (para. 6) Action completed. Strongly urges all officers presiding over meetings of the General Assembly to start such meetings on time (para. 11) Periodically, the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management provides presiding officers with statistics on the financial impact of the implementation of this provision. 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 (para. 14) See resolution 60/286, annex, para. 24. Recommends 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 through the Committee on Conferences (para. 15) See resolution 60/286, annex, para. 28. Documentation Status of implementation 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 (para. 16) See resolution 60/286, annex, para. 29. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that documentation and reports are issued well in advance, in keeping with the six-week rule for the issuance of documentation simultaneously in all official languages, as set out in resolution 49/221 B of 23 December 1994 and in resolution 59/309 of 22 June 2005 on multilingualism (para. 18) In response to this request, the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management has entered into a compact with the Secretary-General which provides for zero tolerance of late submission of documents. Also requests the Secretary-General to submit a status report to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session on the implementation of all resolutions regarding the revitalization of its work, including resolutions 58/126 of 19 December 2003 and 58/316 and the present resolution (para. 19) This report has been submitted at the sixty-first session pursuant also to resolution 60/286, annex, para. 30. D. Resolution 60/286 of 8 September 2006 Cluster I. Role and authority of the General Assembly Status of implementation Requests the Secretary-General to continue to make the necessary arrangements for the provision of transitional office accommodation and other support to the President-elect of the General Assembly, in accordance with resolution 58/126 (para. 11) See resolution 59/313, President of the General Assembly, para. 3 (c). 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 (para. 14) The Department of Public Information continues to implement its communications strategy to publicize the work and decisions of the General Assembly approved by the Assembly in its resolutions 59/126 B and 60/109 B. Urges the Secretariat to continue its endeavours to raise the visibility of the General Assembly and, to that end, requests the rearrangement of items in the Journal of the United Nations so that listings of plenary meetings and other major events of the General Assembly may appear alongside those of the meetings of the Security Council (para. 15) This provision will be implemented during the sixty-first session. Encourages the Presidents of the General Assembly to increase their public visibility, including through enhanced contacts with representatives of the 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 Assembly and an assistant to the Spokesperson (para. 16) Implementation is continuous. Cluster III. Working methods Status of implementation 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 (para. 24) This provision will be implemented during the sixty-first session. 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 (para. 28) Various options are being explored by the Secretariat and will be discussed further during the sixty-first session. 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 (para. 29) Since the adoption of this resolution, a number of reports, where appropriate, have been consolidated. Recalls paragraph 19 of its resolution 59/313 and requests the Secretary-General to submit a status report with a factual chart to the General Assembly at its sixty-first 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 (para. 30) Implemented by the present report. An addendum will be issued, as necessary.   sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/61/483 sss1 \* MERGEFORMAT A/61/483 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 06-55134 \* MERGEFORMAT 20 \* MERGEFORMAT 21 FooterJN \* MERGEFORMAT 06-55134 United Nations A/61/483 General Assembly Distr.: General 2 October 2006 Original: English jobn \* MERGEFORMAT 06-55134 (E) 161006 Barcode \* MERGEFORMAT *0655134*