In the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

system of specialized agencies such as

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, General Conferences are the recurring meetings of Member States. General Conference sessions are usually held yearly or biennially (although other frequencies are possible) at the headquarters of the Agency. Special sessions of General Conferences may also be convened in other circumstances.

Composition

A General Conference comprises an Agency's Member States, all having equal voting rights, although

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

and

intergovernmental organizations An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...

, regional or international, usually attend General Conference sessions as observers. At General Conference sessions, each Member State is represented by one delegate (usually the Resident Representative to the Agency or, more rarely, a government minister) accompanied by alternates and advisers. In practice, however, General Conferences are not necessarily attended by all Member States; some might lack the financial means to send a delegation, while others purposely refrain from attending as a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

measure.

Functions

Functions of General Conferences are extensive. General Conferences determine their Agency's broad policy direction. General Conferences also elect the Agency's Director General and members of the Agency's standing executive board, while also approving States for membership or suspending a state therefrom.

References

* {{United-Nations-stub