The General Assembly is the main deliberative body of the U.N. It is composed of all UN members, each with one vote. It meets once every year. The President of the G.A. is elected for every session Twenty-one vice-presidents and chairmen of the six committees of the Assembly are also elected. Special sessions may also be convened at the request of the Security Council or a majority of UN members or when requested by a member concurred with by a majority of the rest. Emergency special sessions are also held.
The GA can discuss any matter within the scope of the UN Charter and give suggestions on questions and issues provided they are not already on the agenda of the Security Council.
When lack of unanimity among members in the Security Council render it unable to fulfil its primary responsibility of ensuring world peace in the face of aggression or breach of peace, the GA can consider the issue and make suggestions for collective action in order to restore a peaceful and secure international climate.
It receives and studies reports from other UN organs as well as the annual report of the Secretary-General on the functioning of the UNO; admits new members; directs activities for development; set policies and determines programmes for the secretariat; appoints the Secretary-General; and approves the UN budget.
Where decisions are concerned, two-thirds majority of members is required on important issues such as peace and security, new membership and budgetary matters; a simple majority would do in other cases.
The GA’s work is carried on by six main committees-the Disarmament and International Security Committee, Economic and Financial Committee, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, Special Political and Decolonization Committee, Administrative and Budgetary Committee, and Legal Committee. The Assembly president along with its vice-presidents and chairmen of the main committees constitutes the 29 member General Committee which coordinates the Assembly proceedings and proceedings of the committees. There is also the nine member Credentials committee which is constituted at the start of every GA session to study the credentials of delegates. The GA has a couple of standing committees, namely, a committee on Contributions and an advisory Committee.
Subsidiary Bodies
The Assembly’s ad hoc bodies for addressing specific issues are the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations, Conference on Disarmament, International Law Commission, UN Commission on International Trade Law, Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, Conciliation Commission for Palestine, Special Committee on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to the Colonial Countries and Peoples and Special Committee on the Policies of Apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa.
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