Seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly


The Seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly was opened on 18 September 2018. The President of the United Nations General Assembly is from the GRULAC group.

Organisation for the session

President

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés was elected as President of the General Assembly on 5 June 2018.

Vice-Presidents

There will be twenty-one Vice-Presidents for the 73rd Session. They will be:
The five permanent members of the Security Council:
As well as the following nations:
The following were elected as Chairs and officers of the General Assembly committees for the 73rd Session:
First Committee
NameCountryPosition
H.E. Mr. Ion JingaChairperson
Ms. Marissa EdwardsVice-Chair
Mr. Noël DiarraVice-Chair
Mr. José Ataíde AmaralVice-Chair
Ms. Muna Zawani Md IdrisRapporteur

Second Committee
NameCountryPosition
H.E. Mr. Jorge Skinner-Kleé ArenalesChairperson
Mr. Mehdi RemaounVice-Chair
Ms. Hessa Muneer Mohammed Rashed AlAteibiVice-Chair
Mr. Cedric BraquettiVice-Chair
Ms. Anneli LeppRapporteur

Third Committee
NameCountryPosition
H.E. Mr. Mahmoud SaikalChairperson
Ms. Lahya Itedhimbwa ShikongoVice-Chair
Mr. Martin KováčikVice-Chair
Mr. Andrés Molina LinaresVice-Chair
Ms. Katharina Konzett-StofflRapporteur

Fourth Committee
NameCountryPosition
H.E. Mr. Lewis Garseedah Brown IIChairperson
Mr. Faisal Nasser M. AlhakbaniVice-Chair
Mr. Dániel GoldeaVice-Chair
Mr. Michael O’TooleVice-Chair
Mr. Luis Mauricio Arancibia Fernández Bolivia Rapporteur

Fifth Committee
NameCountryPosition
H.E. Ms. GiIlian BirdChairperson
Mr. Fabio Esteban Pedraza-TorresVice-Chair
Mr. Andre LipandVice-Chair
Mr. Haseeb GoharVice-Chair
Mr. Hicham OussihamouRapporteur

Sixth Committee
NameCountryPosition
H.E. Mr. Michel Xavier BiangChairperson
Ms. Maria Angela PonceVice-Chair
Ms. Barbara KremžarVice-Chair
Mr. Patrick LunaVice-Chair
Ms. Nadia Alexandra KalbRapporteur

Seat Allocation

As is tradition during each session of the General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres will draw lots to see which member state would take the helm at the first seat in the General Assembly Chamber, with the other member states following according to the English translation of their name, the same order would be followed in the six main committees. For this session, Mali was chosen to take the first seat of the General Assembly Chamber.

General Debate

Most states will have a representative speaking about issues concerning their country and the hopes for the coming year as to what the UNGA will do. This is an opportunity for the member states to opine on international issues of their concern. The General Debate will occur from 25 September to 1 October 2018, with the exception of the intervening Sunday. The theme for this year's debate was chosen by President María Fernanda Espinosa as “Making the United Nations relevant to all people: Global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies”.
The order of speakers is given first to member states, then observer states and supranational bodies. Any other observers entities will have a chance to speak at the end of the debate, if they so choose. Speakers will be put on the list in the order of their request, with special consideration for ministers and other government officials of similar or higher rank. According to the rules in place for the General Debate, the statements should be in one of the United Nations official languages of Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish, and will be translated by the United Nations translators. Each speaker is requested to provide 20 advance copies of their statements to the conference officers to facilitate translation and to be presented at the podium. Speeches are requested to be limited to five minutes, with seven minutes for supranational bodies.
Foreign ministers and high representatives participating in the General Debate signed the Code of Conduct Towards Achieving a World Free of Terrorism. The Code of Conduct was the brainchild of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The main goal of the document is implementation of a wide range of international commitments to counter terrorism and establishing a broad global coalition towards achieving a world free of terrorism by 2045.

Resolutions

The following are resolutions the General Assembly has passed in its 73rd session, as of 2018.
ResolutionDatePlenary or CommitteeAgenda ItemVotePassedTopic
A/RES/73/124 September 2018Plen.66No VoteYesPolitical declaration adopted at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit
A/RES/73/210 October 2018Plen.119No VoteYesPolitical declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases
A/RES/73/310 October 2018Plen.129No VoteYesPolitical declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the fight against tuberculosis
A/RES/73/412 October 2018C.5140No VoteYesScale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations: requests under Article 19 of the Charter
A/RES/73/516 October 2018Plen.125146-3-15YesChair of the Group of 77 for 2019
A/C.1/73/X26 October 2018Plen.This draft resolution was not formally introduced31-55-54NoPreservation of and compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
A/RES/73/626 October 2018Plen.30No VoteYesFiftieth anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space: space as a driver of sustainable development
A/RES/73/729 October 2018Plen.77No VoteyesReport of the International Criminal Court
A/RES/73/81 November 2018Plen.43189-2-0YesNecessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba
A/RES/73/99 November 2018Plen.92No VoteYesReport of the International Atomic Energy Agency
A/RES/73/1026 November 2018Plen.128 No VoteYesCooperation between the United Nations and the Central European Initiative
A/RES/73/1126 November 2018Plen.128 No VoteYesCooperation between the United Nations and the International Criminal Police Organization
A/RES/73/1226 November 2018Plen.128 No VoteYesCooperation between the United Nations and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
A/RES/73/1326 November 2018Plen.128 No VoteYesCooperation between the United Nations and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization
A/RES/73/1426 November 2018Plen.128 No VoteYesCooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM
A/RES/73/1526 November 2018Plen.128 No VoteYesCooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe
A/RES/73/1626 November 2018Plen.128 No VoteYesCooperation between the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States
A/RES/73/1726 November 2018Plen.133No VoteYesImpact of rapid technological change on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets
A/RES/73/1830 November 2018Plen.39100-12-62YesCommittee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People
A/RES/73/1930 November 2018Plen.39156-8-12YesPeaceful settlement of the question of Palestine
A/RES/73/2030 November 2018Plen.39152-8-14YesSpecial information programme on the question of Palestine of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat
A/RES/73/2130 November 2018Plen.3996-13-64YesDivision for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat
A/RES/73/2230 November 2018Plen.38148-11-14YesJerusalem
A/RES/73/2330 November 2018Plen.3899-10-66YesThe Syrian Golan
A/RES/73/243 December 2018Plen.12No VoteYesSport as an enabler of sustainable development
A/RES/73/253 December 2018Plen.14No VoteYesInternational Day of Education
A/RES/73/16517 December 2018Plen.14No VoteYesUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants

Elections