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Sixty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly

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Sixty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly
← 63rd 15 September 2009 – 14 September 2010 65th →
General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters, New York City
Host country United Nations
Venue(s)General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters
CitiesNew York City, United States
ParticipantsUnited Nations Member States
PresidentAli Abdussalam Treki
Websitewww.un.org/en/ga/64/

The Sixty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly was the session of the United Nations General Assembly that ran from 15 September 2009 to 14 September 2010. The President of the session, Ali Abdussalam Treki of Libya, was elected from the Group of African States on 10 June 2009 by acclamation.[1][2][3]

The theme for the 64th Session was "Effective responses to global crises: strengthening multilateralism and dialogue among civilizations for international peace, security and development."[1]

Organisation

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President of the 64th Session, Ali Abdussalam Treki

President

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Libyan diplomat and politician Ali Abdussalam Treki was elected by acclimation to the position of President of the General Assembly on 11 June 2010. At the time of his election, Treki was serving as Libya's Minister of African Union Affairs.[4]

In his first speech as President-elect of the General Assembly, Treki laid out some of his priorities for the session. Paramount among them was the need to reform the United Nations system, especially reform of the Security Council and revitalization of the General Assembly. Other issues Treki sought to focus on included: combating climate change, realizing human rights for all, disarmament and the realization of peace and achieving sustainable economic growth by mitigating the impact of the world financial crisis.[3][4][5]

Vice-Presidents

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The following were appointed to be the Session's vice-presidents on the 11 June 2010:[4][6]

The five permanent members of the Security Council:

As well as the following nations:

Committees

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First Committee (Disarmament and International Security)[6][7]
Name Country Position
H.E. Mr. José Luis Cancela  Uruguay Chairperson
Mr. Hossam Aly  Egypt Vice-Chair
Mr. Hilario G. Davide, Jr.  Philippines Vice-Chair
Mr. Florian Laudi  Germany Vice-Chair
Ms. Tetyana Pokhval’ona  Ukraine Rapporteur
Second Committee (Economic and Financial)[6][8]
Name Country Position
H.E. Mr. Park In-kook Republic of Korea Chairperson
Mr. Mohamed Cherif Diallo  Guinea Vice-Chair
Mr. Carlos Enrique García González  El Salvador Vice-Chair
Mr. Dragan Mićić  Serbia Vice-Chair
Ms. Denise McQuade  Ireland Rapporteur
Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural)[6][9]
Name Country Position
H.E. Mr. Normans Penke  Latvia Chairperson
Ms. Fiola Hoosen  South Africa Vice-Chair
Mr. Edgard Pérez  Peru Vice-Chair
Mr. Zahid Rastam  Malaysia Vice-Chair
Ms. Nicola Hill  New Zealand Rapporteur
Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)[6][10]
Name Country Position
H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser  Qatar Chairperson
Mr. Ridas Petkus  Lithuania Vice-Chair
Mrs. Heidi Schroderus-Fox  Finland Vice-Chair
Mr. Reniery Valladares  Honduras Vice-Chair
Mr. Khalid Mohammed Osman Sidahmed Mohammed Ali  Sudan Rapporteur
Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary)[6][11]
Name Country Position
H.E. Mr. Peter Maurer   Switzerland Chairperson
Mr. Danilo Rosales Díaz  Nicaragua Vice-Chair
Mr. Babou Sène  Senegal Vice-Chair
Ms. Sirithon wairatpanij  Thailand Vice-Chair
Ms. Yuliana Georgiev  Bulgaria Rapporteur
Sixth Committee (Legal)[6][12]
Name Country Position
H.E. Mr. Mourad Benmehidi  Algeria Chairperson
Mr. Esmaeil Bahaei Hamaneh  Iran (Islamic Republic of) Vice-Chair
Mr. Andris Stastoli  Albania Vice-Chair
Mr. Marcelo Böhlke  Brazil Vice-Chair
Mr. Jean-Cédric Janssens de Bisthoven  Belgium Rapporteur

Seat allocation

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As is tradition, before each session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General draws lots to determine which Member State will occupy the first seat in the General Assembly Hall for the Session, with other Member States following according to the English translation of their name. For the 65th Session, Cambodia was chosen to take the first seat of the General Assembly Chamber.[5]

General debate

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The General Debate of the 64th Session was held between 24th–26th and 28th–29th of September 2009. At the General debate, Member States have the opportunity to lay out the issues that are most concerning to them, as well as their hopes as to what the General Assembly will do during the Session.[13]

The order of speakers is given first to Member States, then Observer States and supranational bodies. Speakers are put on a speaking 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.[14]

Elections

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Security Council

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On 15 October 2009, the General Assembly elected five non-permanent members to the Security Council to two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2010. The five elected members were: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria. They filled the seats that were vacated by Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya and Viet Nam.[15]

Economic and Social Council

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On 26 October 2009, the General Assembly elected 18 members to the Economic and Social Council to serve three-year terms beginning 1 January 2010. The elected members were: Argentina, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Comoros, Egypt, Ghana, Iraq, Italy, Mongolia, Philippines, Rwanda, Slovakia, Ukraine, United States of America and Zambia.[16]

The 18 outgoing members were: Algeria, Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Canada, Cabo Verde, El Salvador, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Malawi, Netherlands, Philippines, Romania, Somalia, Sudan and the United States of America.[16]

Prior to the main election, the General Assembly, in a by-election, also elected Australia, Finland, Malta and Turkey to fill un-expired terms of office of New Zealand, Sweden, Greece and Portugal beginning 1 January 2010. The terms of Australia and Finland will end on 31 December 2010, while the terms of Malta and Turkey will end on 31 December 2011.[16]

Human Rights Council

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On 13 May 2010, the General Assembly elected 14 members to serve on the Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting 19 June 2010. The elected members were: Angola, Ecuador, Guatemala, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and Uganda.[17]

International Court of Justice

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On 9 September 2010, the General Assembly elected Joan Donoghue of the United States of America to the International Court of Justice to fill the remainder of the term of Judge Thomas Buergenthal of the United States of America. Mr. Buergenthal was first elected to the Court in 2000, and was re-elected on 6 February 2006. His term would have originally ended on 5 February 2015.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b "64th session". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  2. ^ "UN General Assembly Elects Libyan as President". VOA News. Voice of America. 2 November 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b "H.E. Dr. Ali Abdussalam Treki: Acceptance speech upon his election as President" (PDF). UNIS Vienna. United Nations. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Past Presidents – 64th Session: Ali Abdussalam Treki". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  5. ^ a b "By Acclamation, General Assembly Elects Veteran Libyan Diplomat to Preside over Its Sixty-Fourth Session". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g United Nations Handbook 2010-2011 (PDF) (48th ed.). Wellington: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. 2010. pp. 20–21. ISBN 9780477102285.
  7. ^ "First Committee: Bureau of the 64th Session". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Second Committee: Bureau of the 64th Session". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Third Committee: Bureau of the 64th Session". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Fourth Committee: Bureau of the 64th Session". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  11. ^ "The 64th Session: Bureau of the Fifth Committee". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  12. ^ "Sixth Committee (Legal) — 64th session Bureau". General Assembly of the United Nations. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  13. ^ United Nations General Assembly (n.d.). "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  14. ^ Capel, Charles (22 September 2018). "How is the order of speakers at the UN General Assembly decided?". The National. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  15. ^ "General Assembly Elects Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon, Nigeria to Two-Year Terms on Security Council". UN News. United Nations Department of Public Information. 15 October 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  16. ^ a b c "General Assembly Elects 18 Members to Economic and Social Council". UN News. United Nations Department of Public Information. 26 October 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  17. ^ "General Assembly Fills 14 Seats on Human Rights Council; Approves Funds for Higher UN Troop, Police Levels in Haiti; Sets Date for Communicable Diseases Meeting". UN News. United Nations Department of Public Information. 13 May 2010. Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  18. ^ "General Assembly Elects Joan E. Donoghue of United States to International Court of Justice, in Tandem with Security Council, to Serve Until 5 February 2015". UN News. United Nations Department of Public Information. 9 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2019.