Sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly
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The Sixty-eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 17 September 2013. The
President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...
was chosen from the
GRULAC The Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries, or GRULAC, is one of the five United Nations Regional Groups composed of 33 Member States from Central and South America, as well as some islands in the West Indies. Its members compose 17% of a ...
with Antigua and Barbuda's
John William Ashe John William Ashe (20 August 1954 – 22 June 2016) was a Antiguan diplomat and politician. He was the President of the United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session, which ran September 2013 to September 2014. He was also President of the ...
being the consensus candidate, thus bypassing the need for an election.


Organisation for the session

In December 2011, Antigua and Barbuda's UN Ambassador
John William Ashe John William Ashe (20 August 1954 – 22 June 2016) was a Antiguan diplomat and politician. He was the President of the United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session, which ran September 2013 to September 2014. He was also President of the ...
was chosen as the consensus candidate by all 33
GRULAC The Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries, or GRULAC, is one of the five United Nations Regional Groups composed of 33 Member States from Central and South America, as well as some islands in the West Indies. Its members compose 17% of a ...
member states to be the
president of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...
, thus not necessitating an election. In opening remarks to the General Assembly, Ashe said: "The upcoming year will be pivotal for this Assembly as we seek to identify the parameters of the post-2015 development agenda. The magnitude of the task before us will require decisive action and the highest levels of collaboration and we must prove ourselves and our efforts to be equal to the enormity of the task. We simply cannot reach our development goals, or advance human well-being without addressing the needs and challenges of women and youth, while also making use of the contributions of them both. With some 1.4 billion people without reliable electricity; 900 million lacking access to clean water and 2.6 billion without adequate sanitation, action is urgently needed to address these persistent challenges. With so many initiatives in these three fields, let us try and draw upon and share the existing knowledge, while scaling up initiatives that have already worked in the areas of integrated water management, sustainable energy and sanitation services for the proposed post-2015 development agenda." Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
then said: "We will intensify our efforts to define a
post-2015 development agenda The Post-2015 Development Agenda was a process from 2012 to 2015 led by the United Nations to define the future global development framework that would succeed the Millennium Development Goals. The new framework, starting from 2016 is called Sustai ...
, including with a single set of goals for sustainable development that we hope will address the complex challenges of this new era and capture the imagination of the people of the world, as the MDGs did. Syria is without doubt the biggest crisis facing the international community. The Assembly has a role and a voice in our efforts to resolve it and respond to the suffering." 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. This year Croatia was drawn to take the first seat. The chairmen and officers of the 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. At the opening of the session, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke of a need for an accelerated
Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...
and of the need to find a resolution to the Syrian civil war.


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 as opportunity for the member states to opine on international issues of their concern. The General Debate will run from 24 to 27 September and 30 September- 1 October. 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 The United Nations Interpretation Service is a part of the Meetings and Publishing Division (MPD) of the UN's Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM). Its core function is to provide interpretation from and into Arabic, ...
. 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 John William Ashe chose the theme: "The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage!." This means he calls on member states and other stakeholders "to promote dialogue, reflection and commitment to the formulation of an effective new agenda to overcome poverty and insecurity and ensure sustainable development. Long term sustainable development was also a goal. Though all member states are welcome to participate in the General Assembly's General Debate regardless of other diplomatic relations as the United Nations is not considered a part of any country, the
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...
said that it has rejected Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's visa application on the groups that he was charged with war crimes. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry released a statement that read the United States too had committed war crimes and genocide, including the invasion of Iraq in
Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
that resulted in over one million deaths. It also reiterated Sudan's adherence to its full right in participating at the meetings of the session and urged the United States to fulfill its duties and issue the necessary entry visa as soon as possible. He later confirmed he would attend the session on a flight to New York City via Morocco. However, he cancelled at the
eleventh hour The Eleventh Hour may refer to: * "The eleventh hour", a phrase in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in the Bible Film * ''The Eleventh Hour'' (1912 film), an Australian silent film * ''The Eleventh Hour'' (1922 film), a British adapt ...
.


Agenda

President John William Ashe chose the theme of the session as "The Post 2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage."


Issues

Other issues for the session are migration, nuclear disarmament, the MDGs and disabilities and a High-Level thematic debate, mandated by the General Assembly, on investment in Africa and its role in achieving development objectives.
United Nations Security Council reform Reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) encompasses five key issues: categories of membership, the question of the veto held by the five permanent members, regional representation, the size of an enlarged Council and its working m ...
will also be an issue, though according to Ashe it will be an uphill battle.


Resolutions

Resolutions came before the UNGA between October 2013 and summer 2014. Notable resolutions include 68/262 in regards to the
2014 Crimean crisis In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The Revolution of Dign ...
.


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, and ...
for 2014–2015 was held in October 2013. Outgoing members were: Morocco, Togo, Guatemala, Pakistan and Azerbaijan. Incoming members are Chad, Nigeria, Lithuania and Chile. While Saudi Arabia were elected they declined to take the role citing "double standards" and calling the body ineffective in dealing with the Syrian civil war. Jordan then took its place. 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. The outgoing states are: Angola, Ecuador, Guatemala, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Moldova, Qatar, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand. Declared losing candidates were South Sudan (89) and Uruguay (93). Others who received votes were: Andorra, Iran, Jordan, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Thailand and Tunisia. All received just one vote except Jordan, who got 16 votes, and Tunisia, who got two votes. On 12 November, those elected were Algeria (164), China (176), Cuba (148), France (174), Macedonia (177), Maldives (164), Mexico (135), Morocco (163), Namibia (150), Russia (176), Saudi Arabia (140), the United Kingdom (171)and Vietnam (184), amid controversy. Namibia, Macedonia and Vietnam were elected for the first time. The minimum required votes was 97. In reaction the U.S. State Department spokeswoman
Jen Psaki Jennifer Rene Psaki (; born c. 1978) is an American television political analyst who currently works for MSNBC. Previously, she was a political advisor who served under both the Obama and Biden administrations. Immediately prior to working for ...
said: "We regret that some countries elected to the Human Rights Council have failed to show their commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights. he council was able towork together and make progress
hen Russia, China and Cuba were members and Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway *Hen, Buskerud, a village in Ringe ...
that is what we are hopeful of with the council moving forward."


References


External links


President of the 68th General Assembly
John William Ashe John William Ashe (20 August 1954 – 22 June 2016) was a Antiguan diplomat and politician. He was the President of the United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session, which ran September 2013 to September 2014. He was also President of the ...

Agenda for the 68th General Assembly
{{United Nations General Assembly 2013 in international relations 2014 in the United Nations Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly