United Nations General Assembly

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman has been elected the 81st President of the United Nations General Assembly, defeating Cyprus Ambassador Andreas Kakouris in a contested vote. The news highlights the United Nations General Assembly as an international organisation and its institutional features.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA):

Dimension	Key Details
Status within UN	UNGA is one of the 6 principal organs of the United Nations.
Role	UNGA serves as the UN’s main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ.
Establishment	UNGA is established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations.
Headquarters	UNGA is headquartered in New York, United States.
Membership	UNGA comprises all 193 Members of the United Nations, including India.
Voting	Each of the 193 Member States in the Assembly has 1 vote.
Decision-making majorities	Important issues like peace and security, elections, and budget require a 2/3 majority, whereas other issues require a simple majority.
Consensus	Most UNGA resolutions are adopted without a formal vote after informal consultations.
Main Committees	UNGA has 6 Main Committees: Disarmament and International Security; Economic and Financial; Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural; Special Political and Decolonisation; Administrative and Budgetary; Legal.
Budgetary authority	UNGA considers and approves the UN budget, and sets financial contributions for member states.
Elections and appointments	UNGA elects non-permanent members of the Security Council and members of other UN bodies, and appoints the Secretary-General on Security Council recommendation.
Peace and security	UNGA discusses international peace and security issues, and makes recommendations except when the Security Council is actively handling a dispute.
Law and human rights	UNGA initiates studies and recommendations to promote international law, human rights, and cooperation in economic, social, cultural, and health fields.
Emergency action	Under the Uniting for Peace resolution (1950), UNGA can recommend collective measures if the Security Council fails to act due to a veto.