Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly

The Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly was the session of the United Nations General Assembly that ran from 16 September 2008 to 14 September 2009.

Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly
16 September 2008 – 14 September 2009
General Assembly hall at United Nations Headquarters, New York City
Host country United Nations
Venue(s)United Nations Headquarters
CitiesNew York City, United States
ParticipantsUnited Nations Member States
PresidentMiguel d'Escoto Brockmann
Websitewww.un.org/en/ga/63/

The theme for the 64th Session was "The impact of the global food crisis on poverty and hunger in the world as well as the need to democratize the United Nations."

Organisation
President of the 63rd Session, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann

President

Nicaraguan diplomat and politician Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann was elected by acclimation to the position of President of the General Assembly on 4 June 2008. At the time of his election, d'Escoto Brockmann was serving as Senior Adviser on Foreign Affairs to President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.[1]

In his first speech as President-elect of the General Assembly, d'Escoto Brockmann laid out some of his priorities for the session. He primarily called for unity within the United Nations, as well as between its Member States. He called for unity to combat hunger and poverty, as well as in the struggle to preserve the world’s indispensable biodiversity and cultural diversity. Other priorities for d'Escoto Brockmann in the 63rd Session included:[2][3][4]

  • The Democratisation of the United Nations
  • Climate change, as well as the energy crisis
  • The fight against terrorism in all its forms
  • Preserving human rights, especially the rights of women and children
  • Disarmament and nuclear control

Vice-Presidents

The following were appointed to be the Session's vice-presidents on 4 June 2008:[1][5]

The five permanent members of the Security Council:

As well as the following nations:

Committees
First Committee (Disarmament and International Security)[1][5][6]
Name Country Position
H.E. Marco Antonio Suazo HondurasChairperson
Martin Zvachula F.S. MicronesiaVice-Chair
Ivan Mutavdžić CroatiaVice-Chair
Miguel Graça PortugalVice-Chair
Coly Seck SenegalRapporteur
Second Committee (Economic and Financial)[1][5][7]
Name Country Position
H.E. Uche Joy Ogwu NigeriaChairperson
Andrei Metelitsa BelarusVice-Chair
Troy Torrington GuyanaVice-Chair
Martin Hoppe GermanyVice-Chair
Awsan Al-Aud YemenRapporteur
Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural)[1][5][8]
Name Country Position
H.E. Frank Majoor NetherlandsChairperson
Divina Adjoa Seanedzu GhanaVice-Chair
Ara Margarian ArmeniaVice-Chair
Julio Peralta ParaguayVice-Chair
Khalid Alwafi Saudi ArabiaRapporteur
Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)[1][5][9]
Name Country Position
H.E. Jorge Arguello ArgentinaChairperson
Emr Elsherbini EgyptVice-Chair
Alexandru Cujba Republic of MoldovaVice-Chair
Elmer Cato PhilippinesVice-Chair
Paulá Parviainen FinlandRapporteur
Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary)[1][5][10]
Name Country Position
H.E. Gabor Brodi HungaryChairperson
Olivio Fermín Dominican RepublicVice-Chair
Mohamed Yousif Ibrahim Abdelmannan SudanVice-Chair
Henric Rasbrant SwedenVice-Chair
Patrick Chuasoto PhilippinesRapporteur
Sixth Committee (Legal)[1][5][11]
Name Country Position
H.E. Hamid Al Bayati IraqChairperson
El-Hadj Lamine AlgeriaVice-Chair
Ana Cristina Rodríguez-Pineda GuatemalaVice-Chair
Scott Sheeran New ZealandVice-Chair
Marko Rakovec SloveniaRapporteur

Seat allocation

As is tradition, before each session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General draws lots to determine which Member State will occupy the first seat in the General Assembly Hall for the Session, with other Member States following according to the English translation of their name. For the 65th Session, Barbados was chosen to take the first seat of the General Assembly Chamber.[1]

General debate
Main article: General debate of the sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly

The General Debate of the 63rd Session was held between 23 & 29 September 2008, with the exception of the intervening Sunday. At the General debate, Member States have the opportunity to lay out the issues that are most concerning to them, as well as their hopes as to what the General Assembly will do during the Session. [12]

The order of speakers is given first to Member States, then Observer States and supranational bodies. Speakers are put on a speaking 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.[13]

Elections

Security Council
Main article: 2008 United Nations Security Council election

On 17 October 2008, the General Assembly elected 5 non-permanent members to the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2009. The five elected members were: Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda. They filled the seats that were vacated by Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa.[14]

Economic and Social Council

On 22 October 2008, the General Assembly elected 18 members to the Economic and Social Council to serve three-year terms beginning 1 January 2009. The elected members were: Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Peru, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.[15]

The 18 outgoing members were: Angola, Austria, Benin, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Japan, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mauritania, Paraguay, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.

Prior to the election, the General Assembly approved a request from Iceland to relinquish its WEOG Council seat on 31 December 2008. Norway was then elected to fill the seat for a one-year term beginning 1 January 2009.

International Court of Justice

On 6 November 2008, the General Assembly elected five judges to sit on the International Court of Justice for nine-year terms beginning 6 February of 2009. The five elected judges were:[16]

Judges Abraham and Al-Khasawneh were both re-elected, while Cançado Trindade, Greenwood and Yusuf were elected to the court for the first time.

Human Rights Council

On 12 May 2009, the General Assembly elected 18 members to sit on the Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting 19 June 2009. Five of these were elected to sit on the Council for the first time: Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway and the United States of America, while the other 13 members were all re-elected: Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Jordan, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Uruguay.[17]

References
  1. "General Assembly Elects, by Acclamation, President for Sixty-Third Session, Bureau Members of Its Main Committees". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  2. "Acceptence speech of Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, President-elect of the 63rd Session of the General Assembly" (PDF). United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  3. "Nicaraguan elected to head next session of General Assembly". UN News. United Nations. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  4. "Past Presidents – 63rd Session: Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  5. United Nations Handbook 2009-2010 (47th ed.). Wellington: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. 2009. pp. 20–21. ISBN 9780477102223.
  6. "First Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  7. "Second Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  8. "Third Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. 15 September 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  9. "Fourth Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  10. "Fifth Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  11. "Sixth Committee: Bureau of the 63rd Session". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  12. "General Debate of the 63rd Session (23-27 September & 29 September 2008)". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  13. Capel, Charles (22 September 2018). "How is the order of speakers at the UN General Assembly decided?". The National. The National. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  14. United Nations Department of Global Communications (17 October 2008). "General Assembly Elects Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, Uganda to Two-Year Terms on Security Council". United Nations. United Nations. Archived from the original on 31 March 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  15. United Nations Department of Global Communications (22 October 2008). "General Assembly Elects 18 Members to Economic and Social Council". United Nations. United Nations. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  16. United Nations Department of Global Communications (6 November 2008). "General Assembly, in Four Rounds of Voting, Elects Five Members to International Court of Justice". United Nations. United Nations. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  17. United Nations Department of Global Communications (12 May 2009). "United States Elected to Human Rights Council for First Time, with Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, as 18 Seats Filled in Single Round of Voting". United Nations. United Nations. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
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