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The Seventy-first Session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 13 September 2016. The President of the United Nations General Assembly is from the
Asia-Pacific Group The Group of Asia and the Pacific Small Island Developing States (often shortened as Asia and the Pacific or Asia-Pacific Group) is one of the five United Nations regional groups and is composed of 53 Member States from Asia and Oceania. The Gr ...
.


Organisation for the session

Fijian Ambassador Peter Thomson was chosen over Cypriot Andreas Mavroyiannis to preside over the assembly in a year that includes the election of a new
secretary-general of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...
. Fiji's Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola that the country sought a platform to achieve sustainable development that would be called the
Triennial UN Conferences on Oceans and Seas An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...
. As is tradition during each session of the General Assembly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will draw lots to see which member state would take the helm at the first seat in the General Assembly Chamber, with the other member states following according to the English translation of their name, the same order would be followed in the six main committees. The
Chairmen The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
and officers of the General Assembly's six Main Committees will also be elected: First Committee (Disarmament and International Security Committee); Second Committee (Economic and Financial Committee); Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee); Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee); Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary Committee); and the Sixth Committee (Legal Committee). There will also be nineteen vice-presidents of the UNGA. Nepal was one of them from the Asia-Pacific Group.


General Debate

Most states will have a representative speaking about issues concerning their country and the hopes for the coming year as to what the UNGA will do. This is an opportunity for the member states to opine on international issues of their concern. The General Debate will occur from September–October, with the exception of the intervening Sunday. The order of speakers is given first to member states, then observer states and supranational bodies. Any other observers entities will have a chance to speak at the end of the debate, if they so choose. Speakers will be put on the list in the order of their request, with special consideration for ministers and other government officials of similar or higher rank. According to the rules in place for the General Debate, the statements should be in one of the United Nations official languages of Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish, and will be translated by the United Nations translators. Each speaker is requested to provide 20 advance copies of their statements to the conference officers to facilitate translation and to be presented at the podium. Speeches are requested to be limited to five minutes, with seven minutes for supranational bodies. President Peter Thomson chose the theme of the debate as "The Sustainable Development Goals: a universal push to transform our world."


Events

The Summit for Refugees and Migrants opened on 19 September along the sidelines of the General Debate in response to the
European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...
.


Resolutions

Resolutions came before the UNGA between October 2016 and summer 2017. The 55th meeting of the 3rd Committee during the session passed a resolution calling 2019 the "International Year of indigenous Languages" and called upon
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 ...
to "serve as the lead agency for the Year."


Elections

The election of non-permanent members to the
Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
for 2018–2019 was held on 2 June 2017, in which Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Peru and Poland were elected to fill seats that will be vacated by Egypt, Senegal, Uruguay, Japan and Ukraine on 31 December 2017. Newly-elected countries will take their seats on 1 January 2018. An election to choose 18 members of the
United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
for a three-year term will take place. A new Secretary-General, António Guterres, was chosen on 6 October 2016 and assumed office on 1 January 2017.


References


External links


President of the 71st General Assembly
Peter Thomson
Agenda for the 71st General Assembly
{{United Nations General Assembly 2016 in the United Nations 2017 in the United Nations Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly