Several major events will be featured during the sixty-second session, which runs through mid-September 2008. On 24 September there will be a high-level event, organized by the ­Secretary-General, entitled: “The Future in Our Hands: Addressing the Leadership’s Challenge of Climate Change”; and following the general debate, on 4 and 5 October, the General Assembly will convene a High-level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace. In addition, a High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development will be held on 22 and 23 October, and a commemorative high-level plenary meeting devoted to the follow-up to the outcome of the twenty-seventh special session on children will be convened on 11 and 12 December. Among other key issues, the Assembly will also address the following:

• Climate change;
• Financing for development;
• Implementation of the Counter-Terrorism Strategy;
• Management reform;
• Follow-up on measures to achieve the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals.

The Assembly will also continue to consider issues relating to Security Council reform, system-wide coherence, revitalization of the General Assembly, sustainable development and HIV/AIDS.

Forum for multilateral negotiation

Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policy­making and representative organ of the United Nations. Comprising all 192 Members of the United Nations, it provides a forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter. It also plays a significant role in the process of standard-­setting and the codification of international law. The Assembly meets in regular session intensively from September to December each year, and thereafter as required.

Carrying on the work of the Assembly

• The work of the United Nations derives largely from the decisions of the General Assembly and is carried out:
• By committees and other bodies established by the Assembly to study and report on specific issues, such as disarmament, outer space, peacekeeping, economic development, the environment and human rights;
• By the Secretariat of the United Nations—the Secretary-General and his staff of international civil servants.

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• Consider and make recommendations on the general principles of cooperation for maintaining international peace and security, including disarmament;
• Discuss any question relating to international peace and security and, except where a dispute or situation is currently being discussed by the Security Council, make recommendations on it;
• Discuss, with the same exception, and make recommendations on any questions within the scope of the Charter or affecting the powers and functions of any organ of the United Nations;
• 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 and international collaboration in the economic, social, humanitarian, cultural, educational and health fields;
• Make recommendations for the peaceful settlement of any situation that might impair friendly relations among nations;
• Receive and consider reports from the Security Council and other United Nations organs;
• Consider and approve the United Nations budget and establish the financial assessments of Member States;
• Elect the non-permanent members of the Security Council and the members of other United Nations councils and organs and, on the recommendation of the Security Council, appoint the Secretary-General.

Pursuant to its “Uniting for Peace” resolution of November 1950 (resolution 377 (V)), the Assembly may also take action if the Security Council fails to act, owing to the negative vote of a permanent member, in a case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression. The Assembly can consider the matter immediately with a view to making recommendations to Members for collective measures to maintain or restore international peace and security (see “Special sessions and emergency special sessions” below).

While the Assembly is empowered to make only non-binding recommendations to States on international issues within its competence, it has, nonetheless, initiated actions—­political, economic, humanitarian, social and legal—which have affected the lives of millions of people throughout the world. The landmark Millennium Declaration, adopted in 2000, and the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document reflect the commitment of Member States to reach specific goals to attain peace, security and disarmament along with development and poverty eradication; safeguard human rights and promote the rule of law; protect our common environment; meet the special needs of Africa; and strengthen the United Nations.

The search for consensus

Each Member State in the Assembly has one vote. Votes taken on designated important issues, such as recommendations on peace and security and the election of Security Council members, require a two-thirds majority of Member States, but other questions are decided by simple majority.

In recent years, a special effort has been made to achieve consensus on issues, rather than deciding by a formal vote, thus strengthening support for the Assembly’s decisions. The President, after having consulted and reached agreement with delegations, can propose that a resolution be adopted without a vote.

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Rather than its usual period of nine working days (as called for in resolution 57/301 of March 2003), this year’s general debate will last seven working days to allow for the convening of a High-level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace, which will take place on 4 and 5 October 2007.

The Secretary-General will present his report on the work of the Organization immediately prior to the general debate, a practice that began with the fifty-second session.

Six Main Committees

With the close of the general debate, the Assembly begins consideration of the substantive items on its agenda. Because of the great number of questions it is called upon to consider (156 agenda items at the sixty-first session, for example), the Assembly allocates to its six Main Committees items relevant to their work. The Committees discuss the items, seeking where possible to harmonize the various approaches of States, and present their recommendations, usually in the form of draft resolutions and decisions, to a plenary meeting of the Assembly for its consideration.

The six Main Committees are: the Disarmament and International Security Committee (First Committee), concerned with disarmament and related international security questions; the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee), dealing with a variety of political subjects not covered by any other Committee or the plenary, including the question of decolonization; the Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee), concerned with economic questions; the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (Third Committee), which deals with social and humanitarian issues; the Administrative and Budgetary Committee (Fifth Committee), which is concerned with the administration and budget of the United Nations; and the Legal Committee (Sixth Committee), which deals with international legal matters.

On a number of agenda items, however, such as the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East, the Assembly acts directly in its plenary meetings.

Working groups of the General Assembly

The General Assembly has, in the past, authorized the establishment of working groups to focus on matters of importance in more detail and make recommendations to the Assembly for action. A working group on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council, established by Assembly resolution 48/26 of 3 December 1993, remained active during the sixty-first session. This working group is expected to continue its work during the sixty-second session.

Regional groups

Over the years, various informal regional groupings have evolved in the General Assembly as vehicles for consultation and to facilitate procedural work. The groups are: the African States; the Asian States; the Eastern European States; the Latin American and Caribbean States; and the Western European and other States. The post of President of the General Assembly rotates among the regional groups. For the sixty-second session, the President has been elected from the Group of Eastern European States.

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It has also adopted a Counter-Terrorism Strategy as well as a number of measures to strengthen the Economic and Social Council and reform the Secretariat. Some remaining issues - such as implementation of the Counter-Terrorism Strategy, further efforts at system-wide coherence and an institutional framework for environmental activities, as well as management and Secretariat reform - are expected to continue to be considered during the sixty-second session.

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At its sixtieth session, the Assembly adopted a text, annexed to resolution 60/286 of 8 September 2006, which, among other things, encouraged the holding of informal interactive debates on current issues of critical importance to the international community. The text, which had been ­recommended by the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly, also invited the President of the General Assembly to propose themes for these interactive debates. During the sixty-first session, four informal thematic interactive debates were convened on: partnerships towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals; gender equality and the empowerment of women; civilizations and the challenge for peace; and climate change as a global challenge.

Elections for the President and Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly and Chairs of Main Committees

As a result of the ongoing revitalization of its work, and pursuant to rule 30 of its rules of procedure, the General Assembly now elects its President, Vice-Presidents and Chairs of the Main Committees at least three months in advance of the start of the new session in order to further strengthen coordination and preparation of work among the Main Committees and between the Committees and the plenary.

General Committee

The General Committee—composed of the President and 21 Vice-Presidents of the Assembly, as well as the Chairs of the six Main Committees—makes recommendations to the Assembly about adoption of the agenda, alloca­tion of agenda items and organization of its work.

The role of the General Committee has been further strengthened over the past few sessions with the holding of informal meetings and briefings, open to all Member States, on specific issues under consideration by or pertaining to the work of the Assembly.

Credentials Committee

The Credentials Committee, appointed by the General Assembly at each session, reports to the Assembly on the credentials of representatives.

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Regional groups

Over the years, various informal regional groupings have evolved in the General Assembly as vehicles for consultation and to facilitate procedural work. The groups are: the African States; the Asian States; the Eastern European States; the Latin American and Caribbean States; and the Western European and other States. The post of President of the General Assembly rotates among the regional groups. For the sixty-second session, the President has been elected from the Group of Eastern European States.

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In addition to its regular sessions, the Assembly may meet in special and emergency sessions.

To date, the Assembly has convened 27 special sessions on issues that demanded particular attention, including the question of Palestine, United Nations finances, Namibia, disarmament, international economic cooperation, apartheid, drugs, the environment, population, women, social development, human settlements and HIV/AIDS. The twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly, held from 8 to 10 May 2002, was devoted to children.

Ten emergency special sessions have addressed situations in which the Security Council found itself deadlocked, namely, Hungary (1956), Suez (1956), the Middle East (1958 and 1967), the Congo (1960), Afghanistan (1980), Palestine (1980 and 1982), Namibia (1981), the occupied Arab territories (1982) and illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006). The Assembly also decided to adjourn the tenth emergency special session temporarily and to authorize the President of the Assembly to resume its meetings upon request from Member States.

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A seasoned diplomat, economist, scholar and businessman, Dr. Kerim brings with him a wealth of experience in international political and economic affairs and extensive knowledge of the United Nations system. From 2000 to 2001, Dr. Kerim was Foreign Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in which capacity he also served as Chairman of the South-East European Cooperation Process. He then became his country’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, from 2001 to 2003, during which time he served as vice-chairman both of the International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey, 2002) and of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002). In addition, he was a member of the group of facilitators of the President of the fifty-sixth UN General Assembly, focusing on UN reform, and was a co-organizer of the Regional Forum on Dialogue of Civilizations (Ohrid, 2003).

Over the course of his distinguished career spanning more than three decades, Dr. Kerim also represented his country as Ambassador to Germany, from 1994 to 2000, and to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, from 1995 to 2000. During this period, from 1999 to 2000, he served as Special Envoy of the Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe.

Earlier, during his political career in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), Dr. Kerim held the posts of Assistant Minister and Spokesperson in the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from 1989 to 1991. Before that, he was Minister for Foreign Economic Relations of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia (SFRY), from 1986 to 1989.

In the field of academia, Dr. Kerim was a professor of international economic affairs with the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade. In addition, he was a visit­ing professor at the University of Hamburg (Germany) and at New York University. He has lectured widely on Balkan issues, is the author of nine books dealing with international politics, economics and youth, and has written more than 100 scholarly papers, many of which have been published in countries across Europe. He holds a doctorate in international economics from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade and is fluent in English, French and German as well as Serbian, Croatian and Bulgarian.

Since 2003, Dr. Kerim has been General Manager of Media Print Macedonia in Skopje, and in 2004 he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Politika Newspapers and Magazines in Belgrade. He has been serving as General Manager for South-Eastern Europe of the WAZ Media Group, based in Vienna, since 2006.

Born on 12 December 1948 in Skopje, Dr. Kerim is married with three children.

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