PRESIDENT OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADDRESSES SESSION'S ORGANIZATION AT HEADQUARTERS WORKING LUNCHEON

Press Release
GA/SM/104

PRESIDENT OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADDRESSES SESSION'S ORGANIZATION AT HEADQUARTERS WORKING LUNCHEON

Following is the statement by the President of the General Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab (Namibia), at the first working luncheon for Chairmen of the main committees and Secretariat officials held in New York on 29 September:

I take great pleasure in welcoming you to this first working luncheon. These monthly luncheons will provide us with opportunities to discuss informally matters relating to the work of the Assembly in plenary and the main committees. I am looking forward to working closely with you and I count on your support and expertise to carry out successfully the work of the Assembly and its main committees.

As the main committees are now in the process of finalizing the constitution of their operational structures and prepare to begin their work, I would like to share with you some of my thoughts on the organization of this session.

It is incumbent on the Chairmen of the Committees to start promptly at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. I have made a commitment to begin plenary meetings punctually. You will recall that the Assembly decided that meetings should adjourn at 6 p.m. As I said on 17 September, it is our duty to exercise discipline and foresight in ensuring the optimum use of the resources which are at our disposal for the work and meetings of the Assembly.

As you know, the General Assembly has decided that it should recess not later than Tuesday, 14 December.

Accordingly, the First, Fourth and Sixth Committees should adopt programmes of work which permit the conclusion of their work by Friday, 19 November, the Third Committee by Monday, 22 November, the Second Committee by Friday, 26 November and the Fifth Committee by Friday, 10 December. Draft resolutions with programme budget implications should be submitted as early as possible, so that the main committees would be able to conclude their work on time. I hope the Assembly will begin considering committee reports in late November and early December. I am aware that the Fifth Committee can only complete its work after all the other committees have concluded theirs and I urge everyone’s effort and cooperation in this regard.

As I mentioned earlier, I would like to work very closely with you and you can count on my full cooperation. If you have any problem in your committees on any issues and you feel that I could be of help in resolving them by consulting

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with the parties concerned, please do not hesitate to let me know as soon as possible. I will always be available to hold the necessary consultations to facilitate your work. Thus, let us not leave these issues to the last minute, turning them into major sticking points.

As you are also aware the tentative programme of work and schedule of plenary meetings of the General Assembly from now to the end of November is contained in document A/INF/54/3. As the documents of certain items become available, those items would be put on the programme.

At this point I would just mention the items scheduled until mid-October: On Monday, 4 October, and Tuesday, 5 October, the Assembly will consider “Social development, including questions relating to the world social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family: follow-up to the International Year of Older Persons”; On Wednesday morning, 6 October, the Assembly will consider the “Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization”; and on Wednesday, 6 October, in the afternoon, the Assembly will consider item 37 entitled, “Implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development”.

On Friday, 8 October, in the afternoon, the following items will be considered: Observer status for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in the General Assembly; cooperation between the United Nations and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test- Ban Treaty Organization; granting of observer status in the General Assembly for the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.

On Thursday, 14 October, the election of the non-permanent members of the Security Council is scheduled to take place in the plenary.

I am for teamwork and frequent consultations as a way of strategizing and problem-solving. I will always be available to one and all. I thank you. I should now call on the Committee Chairmen to give us your views on the schedule of work or related matters of the committees, highlighting special issues, both substantive and procedural.

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