The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the United Nations. It is composed of representatives of all Member States, each of which has one vote. Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new Members and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority. Decisions on other questions are reached by a simple majority.

FUNCTIONS AND POWERS
Under the Charter, the functions and powers of the General Assembly include:

• to consider and make recommendations on the principles of cooperation in the maintenance of international peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and arms regulation;
  
• to discuss any question relating to international peace and security and, except where a dispute or situation is being discussed by the Security Council, to make recommendations on it;
  
• to discuss and, with the same exception, make recommendations on any question within the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and functions of any organ of the United Nations;
  
• to initiate studies and make recommendations to promote international political cooperation, the development and codification of international law, the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, and international collaboration in economic, social, cultural, educational and health fields;
  
• to make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation, regardless of origin, which might impair friendly relations among nations;
  
• to receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other United Nations organs;
  
• to consider and approve the United Nations budget and to apportion the contributions among Members;
  
• to elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council, the members of the Economic and Social Council and those members of the Trusteeship Council that are elected;
  
• to elect jointly with the Security Council the Judges of the International Court of Justice; and, on the recommendation of the Security Council, to appoint the Secretary-General.

SESSIONS

The General Assembly's regular session usually begins each year in September. The 2000-2001 session, for example, is the fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly. At the start of each regular session, the Assembly elects a new president, 21 Vice-Presidents and the Chairspersons of the Assembly's six Main Committees. To ensure equitable geographical representation, the presidency of the Assembly rotates each year among five groups of States: African, Asian, Eastern European, Latin American and Caribbean, and Western European and other States.

In addition to its regular sessions, the Assembly may meet in special sessions at the request of the Security Council, of a majority of Member States, or of one Member if the majority of Members concurs. Emergency special sessions may be called within 24 hours of a request by the Security Council on the vote of any nine Council members, or by a majority of the United Nations Members, or by one Member if the majority of Members concurs.

At the beginning of each regular session, the Assembly holds a general debate, often addressed by heads of state and government, in which Member States express their views on the most presssing international issues.

MAIN COMMITTEES

Most questions are then discussed in its six Main Committees:

• 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
  
• Sixth Committee - Legal Committee

Some issues are considered only in plenary meetings, rather than in one of the Main Committees. All issues are voted on through resolutions passed in plenary meetings, usually towards the end of the regular session, after the committees have completed their consideration of them and submitted draft resolutions to the plenary Assembly.

Voting in Committees is by a simple majority. In plenary meetings, resolutions may be adopted by acclamation, without objection or without a vote, or the vote may be recorded or taken by roll-call.
While the decisions of the Assembly have no legally binding force for governments, they carry the weight of world opinion, as well as the moral authority of the world community.
The work of the UNited Nations year-round derives largely from the decisions of the General Assembly - that is to say, the will of the majority of the Members as expressed in resolutions adopted by the Assembly. That work is carried out:

• By the committees and other bodies established by the Assembly to study and report on specific issues, such as disarmament, peacekeeping, development and human rights;
• in international conferences called for by the Assembly; and
• by the Secretaria of the UNited Nations - the Secretary-General and his staff of international civil servants.

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• discussing all the issues concerning the general policy of the Organization, and occasionally by focusing on certain major themes;
  
• adopting for the next two years a programme and budget, the draft of which is submitted to the General Conference and is the outcome of a consultation process between the Member States and the Secretariat;
  
• electing the Members of the Executive Board;
  
• appointing, every four years, the Director-General;
  
• adopting the (six-year) Medium-Term Strategy of the Organization.

Frequency

The General Conference meets every two years in ordinary session. If required, it may also hold extraordinary sessions. Since the founding of UNESCO, the General Conference has met 31 times in ordinary session and 4 times in extraordinary session. The most recent session was held in Paris, at UNESCO Headquarters, from 15 October to 3 November 2001.

Stages of the General Conference

The General Conference begins with an opening ceremony in plenary, temporarily presided over by the head of the delegation whose country was President at the previous session. It approves its agenda, prepared by the Executive Board, then elects its President and Vice-Presidents, on the proposal of the Nominations Commitee. Next, the Director-General introduces the general policy debate by presenting the draft medium-term strategy programme and budget. During the last three days of the session, the Plenary resumes its work in order to consider and adopt the reports of the Commissions and the budget by the Commissions become decisions (called Resolutions) of the General Conference.

Structure and functioning

Plenary meeting
The general assembly of the Member States, or plenary meeting, examines the recommendations submitted to it and takes all decisions. Heads of delegations attend the plenary meeting and take part in the general policy debate.

General Committee
The General Committee of the General Conference consists of the President and Vice-Presidents of the General Conference, and the Chairpersons of its subsidiary bodies. The General Committee steers the work of the session and coordinates the work of the commissions. It sets the agenda of the plenary meetings, draws up the list of speakers in the general policy debate, and examines requests for the inclusion of new items in the agenda. Each commission chairperson makes a regular report to the General Committee on the progress of the work.

Subsidiary bodies
The General Conference may set up, at each session, whatever subsidiary bodies it deems necessary for the conduct of its work. In view of the many topics to be addressed, the plenary meeting refers a large part of the agenda items to the commissions and committees. The elected bureau of each commission consists of a Chairperson, four Vice-Chairpersons and a Rapporteur, who are assisted by a secretariat composed of staff members specially seconded to the commission for the duration of the session. The agendas of the commissions are organized around one of the main themes of UNESCO’s programme, but each commission considers a great variety of topics connected with the central one.

Four statutory committees
the Credentials Committee is made up of nine members elected at the first plenary meeting on the proposal of the Temporary President; it checks the credentials of participants. the Legal Committee consists of 21 members elected at the previous session; it is responsible for considering draft amendments to the Constitution or Rules of Procedure of the General Conference, and legal matters which are submitted to it. the Nominations Committee consists of the heads of all the delegations with voting rights at the General Conference; it examines and submits to the General Conference proposals concerning the composition of commissions and committees and other bodies whose members must be elected by the General Conference. the Headquarters Committee consists of 24 members elected at the previous session; it advises the Director-General on questions concerning the Organization’s Headquarters. It reports thereon to the General Conference.

Information Office

To find out all you want to know about the schedule, content and workings of the General Conference, contact the Delegates’ Information Office. The daily schedule of meetings will be displayed in the hall of the Conference Building and on the closed-circuit television screens; it will also be announced in the Journal of the General Conference. Detailed information on the General Conference and its workings, in particular the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure, can be found in the "Manual of the General Conference (2002 Edition)" which is available in meeting rooms.

Documents

To indicate which documents your delegation would like to receive during the General Conference, in what language and how many copies, all you need to do is fill in G.C./Form 18 which can be obtained from the Documents Distribution service, in the basement of the Conference Building. You will find your documents every day in your pigeon-hole at that counter. In each meeting room, delegates will find at their place a complete set of the documents needed for the work of the body which is using that room. It is recommended that that set of documents should remain in the room so that it can be updated.

Essential reading

Two documents: C/1 (Agenda) and C/2 (Organization of work) must be read so that you can decide which commissions and meetings you will attend. The same applies to the Journal of the General Conference, which is issued every day, starting on the first day of the session.

Seating arrangements for delegates

In the plenary meeting rooms and in the commissions, Member States have a place which is allocated in alphabetical order according to the name of each country in French, starting with a country which is chosen by drawing lots. The number of seats per delegation varies according to the room. Places will be set aside for observers.

Working languages

The working languages are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Simultaneous interpretation is provided in these six languages; all documents which require a decision by the General Conference are also published in these languages. Information documents (C/INF.) and the Journal of the General Conference are available in English and French only.

Registration

Registration will take place at the Delegates’ Reception Desk in the foyer opposite Room I of the Conference Building, at the Fontenoy site. You will be given your badge, which must be shown at the entrances of all buildings and at security checks. The same service also registers persons accompanying delegates and provides them with a special visitor’s badge which allows them to enter the buildings throughout the General Conference. Representatives from intergovernmental organizations and observers from non-governmental organizations and Foundations are requested to register at the NGO Reception Desk (Fontenoy Building, Room III).

Credentials

Credentials must be sent one week before the opening date of the session (Rule 23 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Conference). Delegations whose credentials have not yet been presented to the Director-General are requested to hand them directly to the Secretariat of the Credentials Committee, which is responsible for checking the credentials of all the delegations.

Speakers' List

Before or at the beginning of the session, check with the Speakers’ List service that the day and time when the head of your delegation is due to speak in the general policy debate in plenary correspond to the request made by your delegation. If your country is not yet on the Speakers’ List, and if the head of your delegation would like to speak in plenary, the registration must be carried out by the above-mentioned service as early as possible, preferably before the end of the second day of the session.

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The Philippines, a predominantly Christian nation, has long been associated with the Holy See. Until 1951 when the Philippines established diplomatic relations with the Holy See, official relations were indirect, either through Spain or, later, the United States.

The Vatican diplomatic service has the longest uninterrupted history in the world. In the Philippines, as in many predominantly Catholic countries, the Papal Nuncio has precedence among ambassadors and serves as the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

Despite the constitutional principle of the separation of Church and State, the Roman Catholic Church has been playing an influential role in Philippine domestic politics especially in the issues of birth control; the protection and the promotion of human rights, particularly those of migrants, women and children; and governance.

In Europe, the Church has been addressing both spiritual and temporal concerns of several Filipino communities with the establishment of chaplaincies. Philippine foreign service posts have found the gathering of Filipinos in Catholic churches as a convenient venue to conduct dialogues and to disseminate information.

High points in RP-Holy See relations include:

1. Pope John Paul II arrived in Manila on 17 February 1981 for a 6-day pastoral visit. He presided over the beatification of Lorenzo Ruiz at the Rizal Park and visited the cities of Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, lloilo, Legaspi and the town of Morong, Bataan.

2. The canonization of San Lorenzo Ruiz on 18 October 1987 and the beatification of Pedro Calungsod on 5 March 2000;

3. The 2^nd visit of Pope John Paul II on 12-16 January 1995 where the 10^th World Youth Day Congress brought together a record 4 million people at the Luneta Park.

4. The appointment of several Filipino clergymen to high-level positions in the Vatican hierarchy, both in Rome and in the Philippines, notably Cardinal Jose Sanchez as Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy.

Following are other important dates in the history of relations between the Philippines and the Holy See from 1986 to the present:

May 1987 : Pope John Paul II honored the Filipino community in Italy by celebrating Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica during the Collegio Filipino’s Silver Jubilee celebration. The Mass, during which Filipino songs were sung for the first time in the Basilica, was attended by some 7,000 Filipinos from all over Italy.

18 October 1987 : Blessed Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, the first Filipino saint, was canonized by Pope John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Thousands of Filipino faithful witnessed the historic event. (Ambassador Antonio C. Delgado commissioned the Vatican Mosaic Studio to prepare a mosaic image of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, which was installed at the Altar of the Martyrdom of St. Peter in the Basilica of St. Peter.)

18-19 June 1988 : President Corazon C. Aquino visited the Vatican, the first official visit to be made by a Philippine President to the Holy Father. (Previous visits by Philippine Presidents were private visits.)

December 1990 : The Holy See appointed its first Filipino Nuncio, Archbishop Osbaldo Padilla of the Archdiocese of Cebu, as the Papal Nuncio to Panama.

28 June 1991 : Elevation of Archbishop Jose Thomas Sanchez to the College of Cardinals, the fifth Filipino to become a member of the Sacred College. He was appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, making him the first Filipino to be a full member of the Papal Cabinet.

6 October 1991 : Vicar Camillo Cardinal Ruini formalized the turnover of the Basilica of Sta. Pudenziana to the Philippine Chaplaincy for the pastoral care of Filipinos in Italy, especially the growing number of migrant workers. The Papal grant to a migrant community in Rome was a historical first for Asia and the Pacific.

9-10 September 1994 : Working Visit of President Fidel V. Ramos to the Vatican State and the Republic of Italy.

12-16 January 1995 : Second visit to the Philippines of Pope John Paul II to lead the 10^th World Youth Day Congress. A record four million people attended the Mass celebrated by the Pope at the Luneta Park

5 March 2000 : Beautification of Pedro Calungsod, a young Filipino martyr, by Pope John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica

1-6 June 2001 : Visit to Manila of Archbishop Jean Louis Tauran, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States (Vatican Foreign Minister). Visit coincides with 50^th anniversary celebration of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the Holy See.

24-26 January 2003 : As Papal Legate, His Eminence Alfonzo Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, President of the Pontifical Council for Family represented the Holy Father to the 4^th World Meeting of Families in Manila

Filipinos in the Vatican City

Filipino Roman Catholic priests and nuns make up the population of Filipinos accredited to the Vatican City. Data on their number is provided by Italy’s Ministry of Interior. As of April 2002, there are 3,699 Filipino religious with stay permits and the growth rate is estimated at one percent per annum.

Recent Developments:

Holy Father’s Mass for the Filipino Community at the Vatican’s Aula Paulo Sesto (1 December 2002)

Pope John Paul II celebrated Holy Mass for around 7,000 Filipinos at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on 1 December 2002. The Holy Father acknowledged the rich cultural and religious heritage of the Filipino. The Church’s concern for the Filipino faithful can be seen in the 39 pastoral centers located throughout the City where liturgical and pastoral services are held.

The standards of living of Filipinos employed in Italy may have improved enabling them to help their family at home but it has caused loneliness, separation of families, loss of values and faith. His Holiness thus encouraged everyone, " Do not lose heart! We must not grow weak in faith, for the Lord is near. The fact that you are immigrants makes you all the more dear to Jesus who, as we recall during Advent, came on Earth to save us."

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Capital: Vatican City

Location: Southern Europe, an enclave of Rome (Italy)

Land Area: 0.439 sq. km. (109 acres)

Climate: Temperate; mild, rainy winters (September to mid-May) hot, dry summer (May to September)

Population: 890 (July 2001 est.) Population Growth Rate: 1.15% (2001 est.)

No. of Vatican City Citizens: 458

Ethnic Groups: Italians, Swiss, other

Religion: Roman Catholic

Languages: Latin, Italian, French

Literacy: 100%

Work Force: About 3,000 lay workers (mostly non-resident)

Monetray Unit: euro (EUR)

Main Exports: Postage stamps, publications, tourist souvenirs

Budget: Revenues of C196.897 million and expenditures of C200.371 million in 2001, deficit of C3.474 million after eight (8) consecutive years of surplus.

Independence: 11 February 1929 (from Italy); Lateran Pacts regulating independence and sovereignty of the Holy See signed with Italy on 11 February 1929, and revised in 1984

National Holiday: Installation Day of the Pope (John Paul II), 22 October(1978)

Constitution: Apostolic Constitution of 1967 (effective 1 March 1968)

Flag description: two vertical bands of yellow (hoist side) and white with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the papal miter centered in the white band.

Government Type: Papacy; ecclesiastical governmental and administrative capital of the Roman Catholic Church

Suffrage: The Pope is elected for life by members of the College of Cardinals who are less than 80 years old

Executive Branch:

Head of State: Pope John Paul II (since 16 October 1978)

Head of Government: Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano (since 2 December 1990) Holy See equivalent of Prime Minister

Cabinet: Pontifical Commission appointed by the Pope

elections: Pope elected for life by the College of Cardinals; election was last held on 16 October 1978; the Secretary of State is appointed by the Pope

Legislative Branch: unicameral Pontifical Commission

Judicial Branch: none; normally handled by Italy

International Organization Participation:

IAEA, ICFTU, lntelstat, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM (guest), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, UN (observer), UNCTAD, UPU, WIPO, WToO (observer)

Military: Defense is the responsibility of Italy; Swiss Papal Guards are posted at entrances to the Vatican City

Media: The Press: L’Osservatore Romano; Vatican Information Service

Radio: Radio Vaticano (Vatican Radio)

News Agencies: Fides; Missionary Service News Agency

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