Assembly chief calls for constructive spirit as UN committees begin work

As work begins in the six main committees of the General Assembly, the President of the 193-member body urged all Member States to participate fully and constructively to address global challenges and advance the objectives of the United Nations.

“I call upon the representatives of all Member States to maintain a constructive, flexible and forward-looking approach during the period of work by the committees and to find consensus in their deliberations, in a timely manner,” Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser said in a statement.

“This is an opportunity to turn talk into action and advance the UN’s work,” he added.

The Assembly’s First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) is concerned with disarmament and related international security questions, while the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) is concerned with economic questions.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) deals with social and humanitarian issues and the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) with a variety of political subjects not dealt with by the First Committee, as well as with decolonization.

The Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) deals with the administration and budget of the UN, while the Sixth Committee (Legal) deals with international legal matters.

Mr. Al-Nasser stressed the need for forging “wider consensus and mobilizing the collective will” of Member States in addressing global challenges, and pledged his readiness to provide any necessary support and assistance to ensure the smooth and successful conclusion of the committees’ work.

“I will personally closely monitor and support the activities of these committees, whenever required, to make the UN more effective,” stressed the President.

Mr. Al-Nasser opened the current session of the Assembly on 13 September with a fervent plea for cooperation in tackling looming crises from conflicts to climate change, adding that moving forward the myriad of issues before Member States will require “hard work, integrity, and partnership.”