# Seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly

The Seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly was opened on 18 September 2018. The President of the United Nations General Assembly was from the GRULAC group.

## Organisation for the session
### President

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés was elected as President of the General Assembly on 5 June 2018.

### Vice-Presidents

There will be twenty-one vice-presidents for the 73rd Session. They will be:
The five permanent members of the Security Council:
* China
* France
* Russian Federation
* United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
* United States of America
As well as the following nations:
* Algeria
* Burkina Faso
* Cambodia
* Cyprus
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Gambia (Republic of The)
* Guyana
* Iraq
* Japan
* Namibia
* Panama
* Qatar
* San Marino
* Spain
* Sudan
* Ukraine

### Committees

The following were elected as Chairs and officers of the General Assembly committees for the 73rd Session:
First Committee (Disarmament and International Security)
| Name | Country | Position |
| H.E. Mr. Ion Jinga | Romania | Chairperson |
| Ms. Marissa Edwards | Guyana | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Noël Diarra | Mali | Vice-chair |
| Mr. José Ataíde Amaral | Portugal | Vice-chair |
| Ms. Muna Zawani Md Idris | Brunei Darussalam | Rapporteur |
Second Committee (Economic and Financial)
| Name | Country | Position |
| H.E. Mr. Jorge Skinner-Kleé Arenales | Guatemala | Chairperson |
| Mr. Mehdi Remaoun | Algeria | Vice-chair |
| Ms. Hessa Muneer Mohammed Rashed AlAteibi | United Arab Emirates | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Cedric Braquetti | Monaco | Vice-chair |
| Ms. Anneli Lepp | Estonia | Rapporteur |
Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural)
| Name | Country | Position |
| H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Saikal | Afghanistan | Chairperson |
| Ms. Lahya Itedhimbwa Shikongo | Namibia | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Martin Kováčik | Slovakia | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Andrés Molina Linares | Guatemala | Vice-chair |
| Ms. Katharina Konzett-Stoffl | Austria | Rapporteur |
Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)
| Name | Country | Position |
| H.E. Mr. Lewis Garseedah Brown II | Liberia | Chairperson |
| Mr. Faisal Nasser M. Alhakbani | Saudi Arabia | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Dániel Goldea | Hungary | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Michael O'Toole | Ireland | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Luis Mauricio Arancibia Fernández | Bolivia (Plurinational State of) | Rapporteur |
Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary)
| Name | Country | Position |
| H.E. Ms. GiIlian Bird | Australia | Chairperson |
| Mr. Fabio Esteban Pedraza-Torres | Colombia | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Andre Lipand | Estonia | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Haseeb Gohar | Pakistan | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Hicham Oussihamou | Morocco | Rapporteur |
Sixth Committee (Legal)
| Name | Country | Position |
| H.E. Mr. Michel Xavier Biang | Gabon | Chairperson |
| Ms. Maria Angela Ponce | Philippines | Vice-chair |
| Ms. Barbara Kremžar | Slovenia | Vice-chair |
| Mr. Patrick Luna | Brazil | Vice-chair |
| Ms. Nadia Alexandra Kalb | Austria | Rapporteur |

### Seat Allocation

As is tradition during each session of the General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres 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. For this session, Mali was chosen to take the first seat of the General Assembly Chamber.

### 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 25 September to 1 October 2018, with the exception of the intervening Sunday. The theme for this year's debate was chosen by President María Fernanda Espinosa as "Making the United Nations relevant to all people: Global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies".
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.
Foreign ministers and high representatives participating in the General Debate signed the Code of Conduct Towards Achieving a World Free of Terrorism. The Code of Conduct was the brainchild of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The main goal of the document is implementation of a wide range of international commitments to counter terrorism and establishing a broad global coalition towards achieving a world free of terrorism by 2045.

## Resolutions

The following are resolutions the General Assembly has passed in its 73rd session, as of 3 December 2018.
| Resolution | Date | Plenary or Committee | Agenda Item | Vote | Passed | Topic |
| A/RES/73/1 | 24 September 2018 | Plen. | 66 | No Vote | Yes | Political declaration adopted at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit |
| A/RES/73/2 | 10 October 2018 | Plen. | 119 | No Vote | Yes | Political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases |
| A/RES/73/3 | 10 October 2018 | Plen. | 129 | No Vote | Yes | Political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the fight against tuberculosis |
| A/RES/73/4 | 12 October 2018 | C.5 | 140 | No Vote | Yes | Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations: requests under Article 19 of the Charter |
| A/RES/73/5 | 16 October 2018 | Plen. | 125 | 146-3-15 | Yes | Chair of the Group of 77 for 2019 |
| A/C.1/73/X | 26 October 2018 | Plen. | This draft resolution was not formally introduced | 31-55-54 | No | Preservation of and compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty |
| A/RES/73/6 | 26 October 2018 | Plen. | 30 | No Vote | Yes | Fiftieth anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space: space as a driver of sustainable development |
| A/RES/73/7 | 29 October 2018 | Plen. | 77 | No Vote | yes | Report of the International Criminal Court |
| A/RES/73/8 | 1 November 2018 | Plen. | 43 | 189-2-0 | Yes | Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba |
| A/RES/73/9 | 9 November 2018 | Plen. | 92 | No Vote | Yes | Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency |
| A/RES/73/10 | 26 November 2018 | Plen. | 128 (u) | No Vote | Yes | Cooperation between the United Nations and the Central European Initiative |
| A/RES/73/11 | 26 November 2018 | Plen. | 128 (y) | No Vote | Yes | Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) |
| A/RES/73/12 | 26 November 2018 | Plen. | 128 (k) | No Vote | Yes | Cooperation between the United Nations and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization |
| A/RES/73/13 | 26 November 2018 | Plen. | 128 (o) | No Vote | Yes | Cooperation between the United Nations and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization |
| A/RES/73/14 | 26 November 2018 | Plen. | 128 (v) | No Vote | Yes | Cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM |
| A/RES/73/15 | 26 November 2018 | Plen. | 128 (l) | No Vote | Yes | Cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe |
| A/RES/73/16 | 26 November 2018 | Plen. | 128 (w) | No Vote | Yes | Cooperation between the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States |
| A/RES/73/17 | 26 November 2018 | Plen. | 133 | No Vote | Yes | Impact of rapid technological change on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets |
| A/RES/73/18 | 30 November 2018 | Plen. | 39 | 100-12-62 | Yes | Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People |
| A/RES/73/19 | 30 November 2018 | Plen. | 39 | 156-8-12 | Yes | Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine |
| A/RES/73/20 | 30 November 2018 | Plen. | 39 | 152-8-14 | Yes | Special information programme on the question of Palestine of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat |
| A/RES/73/21 | 30 November 2018 | Plen. | 39 | 96-13-64 | Yes | Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat |
| A/RES/73/22 | 30 November 2018 | Plen. | 38 | 148-11-14 | Yes | Jerusalem |
| A/RES/73/23 | 30 November 2018 | Plen. | 38 | 99-10-66 | Yes | The Syrian Golan |
| A/RES/73/24 | 3 December 2018 | Plen. | 12 | No Vote | Yes | Sport as an enabler of sustainable development |
| A/RES/73/25 | 3 December 2018 | Plen. | 14 | No Vote | Yes | International Day of Education |
| A/RES/73/165 | 17 December 2018 | Plen. | 14 | No Vote | Yes | United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants |