Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly

A/RES/68/307View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 122 Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, published in 2014.

What other versions does this mandate have?

20 versions · 1992–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/327

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/79/327	Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly	4,131	19%Compare
2023	A/RES/77/335	Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly	7,262	38%Compare
2021	A/RES/75/325	Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly	5,917	9%Compare
2020	A/RES/74/303	Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly	656	12%Compare
2019	A/RES/73/341	Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly	3,957	25%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

6 reports · 2011–2019

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2019	A/73/723	Opening of the regular sessions of the General Assembly report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/72/313
2018	A/72/736	Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/71/323
2017	A/71/780	Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/305
2016	A/70/681	Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/69/321
2013	A/67/710	Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/66/294

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Appointment of Officials Conference and Meeting Services Guidelines Organizational Change

What’s in this document?

47 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly and the updated inventory of General Assembly resolutions on revitalization annexed thereto;³

³A/68/951.

Also welcomes the establishment of a multilingual web page devoted to the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, accessible directly from the United Nations website, and invites the Secretariat to continue updating that web page and its substantive content;

Decides to establish, at its sixty-ninth session, an ad hoc working group on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, open to all Member States:

To identify further ways to enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the Assembly, inter alia, by building on the progress achieved in past sessions as well as on previous resolutions, including evaluating the status of their implementation;

To submit a report thereon to the Assembly at its sixty-ninth session;

Also decides that the Ad Hoc Working Group shall continue its review of the inventory of General Assembly resolutions on revitalization annexed to the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group submitted at the sixty-eighth session, and, as a result, continue to update the inventory to be attached to the report to be submitted at the sixty-ninth session of the Assembly;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General,⁴ and requests the Secretary-General to submit an update on the provisions of the General Assembly resolutions on revitalization addressed to the Secretariat for implementation that have not been implemented, with an indication of the constraints and reasons behind any lack of implementation, for further consideration by the Ad Hoc Working Group at the sixty-ninth session;

⁴A/68/774.

Role and authority of the General Assembly

Reaffirms the role and authority of the General Assembly, including on questions relating to international peace and security, in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 and 35 of the Charter of the United Nations, where appropriate, using the procedures set forth in rules 7 to 10 of the rules of procedure of the Assembly, which enable swift and urgent action by the Assembly, bearing in mind that the Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, in accordance with Article 24 of the Charter;

Recognizes that implementation of General Assembly resolutions, including those related to the revitalization of its work, enhances the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the Assembly, and underlines the important role and responsibility of Member States in their full implementation;

Reaffirms that the relationship between the principal organs of the United Nations is mutually reinforcing and complementary, in accordance with and with full respect for their respective functions, authority, powers and competencies as enshrined in the Charter, and in this regard stresses the importance of further ensuring increased cooperation, coordination and the exchange of information among the Presidents of the principal organs and also with the Secretariat of the United Nations, in particular the Secretary-General;

Also reaffirms the importance and benefit of continuing interaction between the General Assembly and international or regional forums and organizations dealing with global matters of concern to the international community, as well as with civil society, where appropriate, and encourages the exploration of appropriate actions or measures, while fully respecting the intergovernmental nature of the Assembly, in conformity with its relevant rules of procedure;

Recognizes the value of holding interactive inclusive thematic debates on current issues of critical importance to the international community, and encourages the President of the General Assembly to continue this practice in close consultation with the General Committee and the Member States, including with regard to the preliminary programme of such debates, in order to enable an adequate level of participation and an appropriate allocation of time for substantive interactive discussion to facilitate, where appropriate, results-oriented and productive outcomes of such debates, and in this context welcomes the initiative of the President of the Assembly at the sixty-eighth session to select “The post-2015 development agenda: setting the stage” as the theme of the general debate;

Welcomes the improvement in the quality of the annual reports of the Security Council to the General Assembly, and encourages the Council to make further improvement as necessary;

Invites the Secretariat, including the Department of Public Information, while carrying out its activities, as mandated by the General Assembly, to continue its efforts to raise the visibility of the Assembly and to enhance, in the light of the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations, world public and media awareness of the contribution made by the Assembly to the fulfilment of the goals of the Organization, as set out in the Charter;

Working methods

Appreciates the briefings by the Chairs of the Main Committees of the General Assembly to the Ad Hoc Working Group about the working methods of their respective Committees during the sixty-eighth session of the Assembly, and in this regard encourages the Main Committees:

To ensure adequate coordination in their work while avoiding overlap and duplication;

To elect the bureau of each Committee at least three months in advance of the session for better coordination and for smoother handover of their work;

To benefit from their respective intranet and other online services to facilitate the smooth organization and timely conclusion of their work;

To share experiences, best practices and lessons learned concerning their respective working methods;

To further enhance sharing of information on the work and activities of the Main Committees within each Main Committee;

Requests each Main Committee to further discuss its working methods at the beginning of every session, and in this regard invites the Chairs of the Main Committees to brief the Ad Hoc Working Group during the sixty-ninth session on any best practices and lessons learned with a view to improving working methods, as appropriate;

Stresses the importance of enhancing the role of the General Committee to support the work of the General Assembly;

Emphasizes that the General Assembly and its Main Committees, at the sixty-ninth session, in consultation with Member States, should continue their consideration of and make proposals for the further biennialization, triennialization, clustering and elimination of items on the agenda of the Assembly, including through the introduction of a sunset clause, with the clear consent of the sponsoring State or States, taking into account the relevant recommendations of the Ad Hoc Working Group;

Decides to conduct the elections of the non-permanent members of the Security Council and the members of the Economic and Social Council about six months before the elected members assume their responsibilities, beginning at the seventieth session;

Reiterates its invitation to the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and the Chairs of the Main Committees, in consultation with the General Committee and Member States, to enhance the coordination of the scheduling of high-level meetings and high-level thematic debates with a view to optimizing the number, especially during the general debate, and distribution of such events throughout the session;

Reaffirms resolution 57/301 of 13 March 2003, by which the General Assembly, inter alia, decided that the general debate shall be held without interruption, and encourages the scheduling of future high-level meetings during the first half of the year, from within existing resources, taking into account the calendar of conferences and without prejudice to the current practice of convening one high-level meeting in September at the beginning of each session of the Assembly;

Encourages Member States to make, to the extent possible, full use of the e-services provided by the Secretariat, in order to save costs, reduce the environmental impact and improve the distribution of documents;

Decides to reiterate the interim arrangement adopted in General Assembly decision 68/505 of 1 October 2013 recommending the pattern for the rotation of the Chairs of the Main Committees for the forthcoming five sessions, namely from the sixty-ninth to seventy-third sessions, as well as the guidelines on the election of the Chairs and Rapporteurs of the Main Committees contained in the annex to the present resolution;

Requests in this regard that the Ad Hoc Working Group prepare long-term arrangements concerning the election of the Chairs and Rapporteurs of the Main Committees of the General Assembly with the aim of establishing a predictable, transparent and fair mechanism, in consultation with regional groups, and that it submit them to the Assembly no later than at the seventy-second session, and in this regard invites Member States to present proposals and begin early on to give attention to the matter of concluding a future arrangement, which would come into effect at the seventy-fourth session of the Assembly, with the annex to the present resolution containing an option to be considered in this context;

Encourages Member States to seek gender balance in the distribution of Chairs of the Main Committees and in the position of the President of the General Assembly;

Underlines the need to fully implement and observe rule 55 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, which provides that, during the sessions of the Assembly, the Journal of the United Nations shall be published in the languages of the Assembly, from within existing resources;

Selection and appointment of the Secretary-General and other executive heads

Reaffirms its commitment to continue, in the Ad Hoc Working Group, in accordance with the provisions of Article 97 of the Charter, its consideration of the revitalization of the role of the General Assembly in the selection and appointment of the Secretary-General, and calls for the full implementation of all relevant resolutions, including resolutions 11 (I) of 24 January 1946, 51/241 of 31 July 1997, 60/286 of 8 September 2006, in particular paragraphs 17 to 22 of the annex thereto, and 64/301 of 13 September 2010, keeping in mind the applicable procedures in the rules of procedure, including rule 141, while acknowledging existing relevant Assembly practices;

Reiterates that the process of selecting and appointing the Secretary-General differs from the process used with regard to other executive heads in the organizations of the United Nations system, given the roles of the Security Council and the General Assembly in accordance with Article 97 of the Charter, and re-emphasizes the need for the process of selection of the Secretary-General to be transparent and inclusive of all Member States;

Notes that the selection and appointment of the next Secretary-General is expected to take place in 2016, and as a result encourages, without prejudice to the role of the principal organs as enshrined in Article 97 of the Charter, the President of the General Assembly to actively support this process in accordance with the role accorded to him or her by relevant resolutions;⁵

⁵Resolutions 51/241, 60/286 and 64/301.

Stresses the need to ensure equal and fair distribution based on gender and geographical balance, while meeting the highest possible requirements on the appointment of executive heads of the Organization;

Takes note of the recommendations contained in the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the selection and conditions of service of executive heads in the organizations of the United Nations system,⁶ proposing that the General Assembly conduct hearings or meetings with candidates running for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations;

⁶A/65/71, annex.

Strengthening the institutional memory of the Office of the President of the General Assembly

Notes with appreciation the views expressed by the Office of the President of the General Assembly to the Ad Hoc Working Group on the strengthening of the institutional memory of the Office of the President of the Assembly and its relationship with the Secretariat⁷ and measures already undertaken in this regard, while continuing to explore additional measures where feasible, and notes the support provided by the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council Affairs Division of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management of the Secretariat to the Office of the President of the Assembly;

⁷See A/68/951.

Encourages the Presidents of the General Assembly to continue with the practice of periodically briefing Member States on their activities, including official travel;

Commends the initiative of convening a retreat on the strengthening of the General Assembly, which brings together the incoming and outgoing presidencies of each session of the Assembly, and in this regard takes note of the summary of the proceedings of the retreat held on 11 and 12 July 2013;⁸

⁸A/68/669, annex.

Encourages exchanges between the President-elect of the General Assembly and the Council of Presidents so that Presidents-elect may benefit from the experiences of former Presidents in terms of best practices and lessons learned, as part of strengthening the institutional memory of the Office of the President of the Assembly;

Encourages Presidents-elect to continue to ensure respect for balanced gender and geographical representation in the Office of the President of the General Assembly;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Ad Hoc Working Group at the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly on sources of the funding and staffing of the Office of the President of the Assembly, including on any technical, logistical, protocol-related or financial questions, and for more clarification on the budgetary basis for the provision of such support by the Secretariat;

Emphasizes the need to ensure, from within agreed resources, that the Office of the President of the General Assembly is allocated dedicated Secretariat staff, with responsibility for coordinating the transition between Presidents, managing interactions between the President and the Secretary-General and the preservation of institutional memory;

Notes that the activities of the President of the General Assembly have increased markedly in recent years, recalls provisions regarding support for the Office of the President of the Assembly in previous resolutions, and expresses continued interest in seeking ways to further support the Office, in accordance with existing procedures, in particular rule 153 of the rules of procedure of the Assembly;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit, in the context of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2016–2017, proposals to review the budget allocation to the Office of the President of the General Assembly in accordance with existing procedures;

Stresses the importance of the contributions of Member States to the Trust Fund in support of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, and in this regard notes with appreciation contributions that have been made to the Fund and encourages Member States to continue to contribute to the Fund;

Requests the President of the General Assembly, in cooperation with the Secretariat, to report to the Ad Hoc Working Group at the sixty-ninth session of the Assembly on the role, mandate and activities of the President.

Guidelines on the election of the Chairs and Rapporteurs of the Main Committees of the General Assembly

The allocation of chairmanships of the Main Committees for the next session of the General Assembly, in case there is an intention to switch or waive chairmanship, shall be determined by the regional groups involved with facilitation and coordination by the President of the Assembly as soon as possible before the opening of that session of the Assembly.

Member States and regional groups might wish to consider the following pattern of regional rotation of chairmanships for the Main Committees starting at the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly:

a Regional group holding two chairmanships during the session.

b Regional group holding two chairmanships in this Committee during the period from the seventy-fourth to the seventy-ninth sessions.

The decision on switching or waiving the chairmanship of a Main Committee shall be taken by the regional groups involved in coordination with the President of the General Assembly. Such a decision shall not affect the general pattern of allocation of chairmanships of the Main Committees among the regional groups in consecutive sessions.

The Rapporteur of a Main Committee should be elected from the regional group that held the chairmanship of the Committee at the previous session.