Sixth Committee (Legal) — 80th session
Observer status for the Islamic Organization for Food Security in the General Assembly (Agenda item 172)
- Item proposed by Kazakhstan: A/80/142
- List of speakers
Documentation
- A/80/142 — Letter dated 22 May 2025 from the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
- A/C.6/80/L.6 — Draft resolution
Summary of work
Background (source: A/80/150)
By the letter dated 22 May 2025 (A/80/142) addressed to the Secretary-General, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations requested the inclusion of this item in the provisional agenda of the eightieth session.
Consideration at the eightieth session
The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 17th and 38th meetings, on 16 October and 21 November 2025 (see A/C.6/80/SR.17 and 38). For its consideration of the item, the Committee had before it a letter dated 22 May 2025 from the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/80/142).
Statements were made by the representatives of Kazakhstan, the Gambia (on behalf of the member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)), Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and the United States of America.
The representative of Kazakhstan spoke in the exercise of the right of reply.
Support was expressed for granting observer status to the Islamic Organization for Food Security, given its role in promoting sustainable food security among the OIC's member States. It was also stated that the Organization met the criteria for observer status as set out in General Assembly decision 49/426.
An objection was raised to the approval of any new requests for observer status, and a more disciplined approach to observer status was called for.
Archived videos and summaries of plenary meetings
17th meeting (16 October 2025, 10:00am – 1:00pm) | Summary
38th meeting (21 November 2025, 10:30am – 1:00pm) | Summary
Action taken by the Sixth Committee
At the 17th meeting, on 16 October, the representative of Kazakhstan introduced the draft resolution contained in document A/C.6/80/L.6 and announced that Equatorial Guinea had joined as a sponsor of the draft resolution.
At its 38th meeting, on 21 November 2025, the Chair of the Committee announced that the Bureau had been informed that the delegation of Kazakhstan had requested that the Committee defer a decision on the request for observer status for the Islamic Organization for Food Security in the General Assembly until the eighty-first session of the Assembly.
At the same meeting, the Committee adopted, without a vote, a draft decision under which the General Assembly would decide to defer a decision on the request for observer status for the Islamic Organization for Food Security in the General Assembly to the eighty-first session of the Assembly.
Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly
- Report of the Sixth Committee: A/80/463
- GA decision: 80/523 [for the text of the decision, see the Sixth Committee's report to the General Assembly]
This agenda item will be considered at the eighty-first session (2026).
