Special session of the United Nations General Assembly

A Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, or UNGASS, occurs when the United Nations General Assembly meets in order to discuss an important wide-ranging topic.

Under Chapter IV, article 20 of the United Nations Charter, "Special sessions shall be convoked by the Secretary-General at the request of the Security Council or of a majority of the Members of the United Nations." The request of the Security Council requires a vote of nine or more of its fifteen members. However, since 1975, all special sessions have been called by the General Assembly.[1][2]

Each special session deals exclusively with one topic with a short agenda. They are typically high-level events with the participation of heads of state and government and government ministers. A special session usually adopts one or two outcome documents, such as a political declaration, action plan or a strategy. Special sessions last from one to several days. Like a regular annual session, a special session consists of both formal and informal plenary meetings, with a Committee of the Whole negotiating the outcome document.[1]

Procedure

The procedure to call a special session are laid out in the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly. The rules pertaining to special sessions are as follow:[3]

  • Rule 7:
    • Allows for the General Assembly to fix a date for a special session (in accordance with Article 20 of the Charter).
  • Rule 8(a):
    • Requires special sessions to be convened within fifteen days of the receipt by the Secretary-General of a request for such a session from the Security Council or from a majority of the Members of the United Nations
  • Rule 9(a):
    • Allows any Member State of the United Nations to request the Secretary-General convene a special session. The Secretary-General must then inform other Members of the request and inquire whether they concur with it. If a majority do within thirty days, a special session of the General Assembly shall be convened.
  • Rule 10:
    • Requires the Secretary-General to notify Member States, at least fourteen days in advance, of the opening of a special session convened at the request of the Security Council. This time period is changed to at least ten days in advance in the case of a session convened at the request of a majority of Members.
  • Rule 16:
    • Requires the provisional agenda of a special session convened at the request of the Security Council to be communicated to the Member States at least fourteen days before the opening of the session, or at least ten days before the opening of the session for sessions convened at the request of a majority of Member States.
  • Rule 17:
    • Requires that the provisional agenda for a special session only consist of those items proposed for consideration in the request for the holding of the session.
  • Rule 18:
    • Allows for supplementary items to be added to the agenda by any Member States, principal organ of the United Nations or the Secretary-General at least four days before the date fixed for the opening of a special session. Such items are placed on a supplementary list.
  • Rule 19:
    • During a special session, items on the supplementary list and additional items may be added to the agenda by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.

Sessions
Special sessionTopicConvened byDateResolution
FirstPalestine United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland28 April – 15 May 1947A/310
SecondPalestine United Nations General Assembly16 April – 14 May 1948A/555
ThirdTunisia

Afghanistan
Brazil
Burma
Cambodia
 Ceylon
 Congo (Léopoldville)
 Cuba
 Cyprus
Ethiopia
 Federation of Malaya
 Ghana
 Guinea
 India
 Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
 Jordan
Laos
 Lebanon
 Liberia
Libya
 Mali
 Morocco
Nepal
Nigeria
 Pakistan
Philippines
 Saudi Arabia
 Somalia
Sudan
 Thailand
 Togo
 Tunisia
 Turkey
 United Arab Republic
 Upper Volta
 Yemen
 Yugoslavia

Reference:
[4]
 21 – 25 August 1961A/4860
FourthFinancial situation of the United Nations United Nations General Assembly14 May – 27 June 1963A/5441
FifthSouth West Africa (Namibia)21 April – 13 June 1967A/6657
SixthRaw materials and development Algeria9 April – 2 May 1974A/9559
SeventhDevelopment and international economic cooperation United Nations General Assembly1 – 16 Septembre 1975A/10301
EighthFinancing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon20 – 21 April 1978A/S-8/10
NinthNamibia24 April – 3 May 1978A/S-9/13
TenthDisarmament23 May – 30 June 1978A/S-10/4
EleventhNew International Economic Order25 August – 15 September 1980A/S-11/3
TwelfthDisarmament7 June – 10 July 1982A/S-12/6
ThirteenthAfrica27 May – 1 June 1986A/S-13/16
FourteenthNamibia17 – 20 September 1986A/S-14/10
FifteenthDisarmament31 May – 25 June 1988A/S-15/6
SixteenthApartheid12 – 14 December 1989A/S-16/5
SeventeenthDrug abuse20 – 23 February 1990A/S-17/13
EighteenthInternational economic cooperation (economic growth and developing nations)23 – 27 April 1990A/S-18/15
NineteenthEarth Summit + 523 – 27 June 1997A/S-19/33
TwentiethWorld drug problem8 – 10 June 1998A/S-20/14
Twenty-firstPopulation and development30 June – 2 July 1999A/S-21/7
Twenty-secondSmall Island Developing States27 – 28 September 1999A/S-22/11
Twenty-thirdWomen 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century5 – 9 June 2000A/S-23/13
Twenty-fourthSocial Development26 – 30 June 2000A/S-24/10
Twenty-fifthImplementation of the outcome of the UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II)6 – 8 June 2001A/S-25/9
Twenty-sixthProblem of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in all its aspects25 – 27 June 2001A/S-26/7
Twenty-seventhWorld Summit for Children8 – 10 May 2002A/S-27/24
Twenty-eighthCommemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps24 January 2005A/RES/59/26
Twenty-ninthFollow-up to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development beyond 201422 September 2014A/RES/67/250
ThirtiethWorld drug problem19 – 21 April 2016A/RES/67/193
A/RES/69/200
A/RES/70/181

See also

References
  1. Ruder, Nicole; Nakano, Kenji; Aeschlimann, Johann (2017). Aeschlimann, Johann; Regan, Mary (eds.). The GA Handbook: A practical guide to the United Nations General Assembly (PDF) (2nd ed.). New York: Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-0-615-49660-3.
  2. Charter of the United Nations . San Francisco: United Nations. 26 June 1945. p. 6 – via Wikisource.
  3. United Nations General Assembly Document 520/Rev.18. Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly A/520/Rev.18 September 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  4. United Nations General Assembly Request for the Summoning of a Special Session of the General Assembly A/4831 8 August 1961. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
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