Sixth Committee (Legal) — 80th session
Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly (Agenda item 121)
- Authority: resolutions 58/316 and 75/325 and decision 75/548 B
- List of speakers (will be made available upon the closing of the list of speakers)
Summary of work
Background (source: A/80/100/Add.1)
At its forty-fifth session, the General Assembly, under the item entitled “Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations”, decided to include in the draft agenda of the forty-sixth session the item entitled “Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly” (decision 45/461).
At its fifty-eighth session, the Assembly decided that, in July of each year, the General Committee would conduct a review of the proposed programme of work for the forthcoming session of the Assembly, on the basis of a report submitted by the Secretary-General, and submit recommendations on the matter to the Assembly at its forthcoming session; and that the report would include information on the status of documentation to be issued during the forthcoming session (resolution 58/316).
At its seventy-ninth session, the Assembly decided to establish the Working Group on the Strengthening and Revitalizing of the Work of the General Assembly, with the mandate and composition of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly. It also decided that the Working Group on the Strengthening and Revitalizing of the Work of the General Assembly would address the following clusters every three years, on a trial basis starting at the eighty-first session, while maintaining an ongoing focus on the implementation of mandates given by the Assembly and continuing the practice of concurrent discussions of the clusters within each session, namely: (a) the role, authority and working methods of the Assembly, and the Office of the President of the Assembly, at the eighty-first session and every three years thereafter; and (b) the process for the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads, at the eighty-second session and every three years thereafter. The Assembly further decided that the Working Group would convene, starting from the eightieth session, to review the implementation of the resolution and of past resolutions, and decided that the Working Group would consider a resolution every three years, starting at the eighty-third session, except for instances where earlier consideration of a resolution is deemed necessary by the Assembly, to align with specific timelines related to the work of the Assembly and issue a report on its deliberations. It decided to review and assess during the eighty-third session the feasibility and impact of the triennial frequency of the resolution and the timetable of the Working Group, and also to review and assess during the eighty-third session the feasibility and impact of such measures on the efficiency and effectiveness of the work of the Assembly. The Assembly called upon Member States to continue to nominate women as candidates for the position of President of the Assembly and to explore concrete steps at its eighty-first session, and requested the President to present to the Assembly recommendations to strengthen the efficiency, accountability, transparency and institutional memory of the Office of the President of the Assembly (resolution 79/327).
Since its sixtieth session, pursuant to resolution 58/316 and in order to facilitate the work of the Main Committees, the Assembly has decided annually, on the recommendation of the General Committee, to allocate the item to all the Main Committees for the purpose of discussing their working methods, as well as considering and taking action on their respective tentative programmes of work. Accordingly, at its seventy-ninth session, the Assembly approved the provisional programme of work and timetable of the First Committee for 2025 (decision 79/517); the proposed programme of work and timetable of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) (decision 79/522); the draft programmes of work of the Second Committee (decision 79/545) and the Third Committee (decision 79/540); and the provisional programme of work of the Sixth Committee (decision 79/524) for the eightieth session of the Assembly.
