Sixth Committee (Legal) — 74th session
Observer status for the Boao Forum for Asia in the General Assembly (Agenda item 174)
- Item proposed by China, Cambodia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kyrgyzstan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam (A/74/293)
Documentation
- A/74/293 — Letter dated 16 August 2019 from the representatives of China, Cambodia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kyrgyzstan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
- A/C.6/74/L.5 — Draft resolution
Summary of work
Background (source: A/74/200)
In a letter dated 16 August 2019 (A/74/293), the Permanent Representatives of China, Cambodia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kyrgyzstan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam to the United Nations requested the inclusion of this item in the provisional agenda of the seventy-fourth session.
Consideration at the seventy-fourth session
The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 20th and 35th meetings, on 21 October and 20 November 2019 (see A/C.6/74/SR.20 and 35).
Statements were made by the representatives of the Philippines, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nepal, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and China [in English].
Many delegations expressed support for granting observer status to the Boao Forum for Asia, emphasizing that the objectives and activities of the forum clearly covered matters of interest to the General Assembly and were aligned with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.
View was also expressed that the Forum was not purely intergovernmental in nature and therefore did not meet the requirements for granting observer status in the General Assembly.
Action taken by the Sixth Committee
At the 20th meeting, on 21 October, the representative of China , also on behalf of Cambodia, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam, introduced a draft resolution entitled “Observer status for the Boao Forum for Asia in the General Assembly” (A/C.6/74/L.5).
At the 35th meeting, on 20 November, the representative of China requested, on behalf of the sponsors, that the Committee defer a decision on the request for observer status for the Boao Forum for Asia in the General Assembly until the seventy-fifth session of the Assembly.
At the same meeting, the Committee adopted a draft decision without a vote.
Under this draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to defer a decision on the request for observer status for the Boao Forum for Asia in the Assembly until the seventy-fifth session of the Assembly.
Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly
- Report of the Sixth Committee: A/74/443
- GA decision: 74/530 [for the text of the decision, see the Sixth Committee's report to the General Assembly]
This agenda item will be considered at the seventy-fifth session (2020).
