\n| \n \t<\/span>III.\t<\/span>Observations on the organization of future sessions of the General Assembly\t<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | \n \t<\/span>42-44<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | \n \t<\/span>11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n \t<\/span>IV.\t<\/span>Adoption of the agenda\t<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | \n \t<\/span>45-47<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | \n \t<\/span>12<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | \n| \n \t<\/span>V.\t<\/span>Allocation of items\t<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | \n \t<\/span>48-62<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | \n \t<\/span>23<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/p>\n \t<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/p>\n \n I.\t<\/span>Introduction<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t1. \t<\/span>The Secretary-General has the honour to place before the General Committee, for its consideration, the following observations and proposals in connection with the report to be made to the General Assembly by the General Committee regarding the organization of the fifty-fourth regular session and future sessions of the Assembly, the adoption of the agenda and the allocation of items.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t2. \t<\/span>Over the years, the General Assembly has adopted a number of provisions aimed at rationalizing the procedures and organization of the Assembly. These provisions are reproduced in the annexes to the rules of procedure of the General Assembly (A\/520\/Rev.15 and Amend.1 and 2, annexes I, II and IV-VIII).\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t3. \t<\/span>The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to the provisions in annexes V, VI, VII and VIII to its rules of procedure, in particular to those provisions reproduced below under the relevant headings.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t4. \t<\/span>The Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of the General Committee to the following resolutions of the General Assembly, the provisions of which are reflected in the present document under the relevant sections:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t(a) \t<\/span>Annex I (Guidelines on the Rationalization of the Agenda of the General Assembly) to resolution 48\/264 of 29 July 1994, entitled "Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly";\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t<\/span>(b)\t<\/span>The annex to resolution 51\/241 of 31 July 1997, entitled "Strengthening of the United Nations system";<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t(c) \t<\/span>Paragraph 1 of resolution 52\/163 of 15 December 1997, entitled "Amendment to rule 103 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly".\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tIn this connection, the Committee may wish to draw the attention of the Assembly to the reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 48\/264 (A\/52\/856) and resolution 51\/241 (A\/52\/855).\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>II.\t<\/span>Organization of the session<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>A.\t<\/span>General Committee<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t5. \t<\/span>The Secretary-General wishes to draw to the attention of the General Committee rule 40 of the rules of procedure, as well as General Assembly decision 34\/401 (A\/520\/Rev.15, annex VI, paras. 1 and 2), Assembly resolutions 39\/88 B (ibid., annex VII, para. 4), the annex to resolution 45\/45 (A\/520\/Rev.15 and Amend.1, annex VIII, para. 3) and the annex to resolution 51\/241 (paras. 17, 18 and 33-35) pertaining to the functions of the Committee.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>B.\t<\/span>Rationalization of work<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t6. \t<\/span>The Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of the General Committee to General Assembly resolution 41\/213 of 19 December 1986, whereby the Assembly decided that the recommendations as agreed upon and as contained in the report of the Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts to Review the Efficiency of the Administrative and Financial Functioning of the United Nations 1<\/u>\/ should be implemented by the Secretary-General and the relevant organs and bodies of the United Nations.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t7. \t<\/span>In this connection, the Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of the General Committee to the measures undertaken in pursuance of the goal of renewal and reform, in particular to recommendations 2, 3 and 7 of the Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts, 1<\/u>\/ as reflected in the progress reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 41\/213, entitled "Review of the efficiency of the administrative and financial functioning of the United Nations". The Secretary-General also wishes to draw the Committee's attention to Assembly resolution 48\/264 entitled "Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly" and annex I thereto and resolution 52\/12 B of 19 December 1997, entitled "Renewing the United Nations: a programme for reform".\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t8. \t<\/span>The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraph 5 of the annex to resolution 45\/45 (A\/520\/Rev.15 and Amend.1, annex VIII), which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"5. \t<\/span>The General Committee should consider, at the beginning of each session of the General Assembly, recommending that certain Main Committees should meet in sequential order, taking into account such matters as the number of meetings required for the consideration of the questions with which they are charged at that session, the organization of the work of the whole session and the problem of participation of smaller delegations."\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tIn this connection, the Committee may also wish to draw the attention of the Assembly to paragraphs 30, 31 and 36 of the annex to resolution 51\/241, which read as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"30. \t<\/span>All Main Committees shall hold brief organizational sessions once the General Assembly has taken decisions on the agenda, before the commencement of the general debate. Bureaux of the Main Committees shall meet earlier to draw up recommendations on the organization and programme of work.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"31. \t<\/span>The Main Committees shall meet in substantive session only after the end of the general debate.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t…\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"36. \t<\/span>The First Committee and the Fourth Committee shall not meet simultaneously and may consider meeting in a sequential manner during the regular session of the General Assembly. This arrangement shall not apply if it affects their respective identities, programmes of work and effective consideration of their agendas."\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t9. \t<\/span>The Secretary-General also wishes to draw the attention of the General Committee to paragraph 1 of General Assembly resolution 52\/163, which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"1. \t<\/span>Decides<\/i> to amend the first sentence of rule 103 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly to read: 'Each Main Committee shall elect a Chairman, three Vice-Chairmen and a Rapporteur';".\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t10. \t<\/span>Furthermore, the Secretary-General wishes to draw the attention of the General Committee to the fact that measures introduced to reduce costs relating to overtime will be strictly enforced.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>C.\t<\/span>Closing date of the session<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t11. \t<\/span>In accordance with the provisions of rule 2 of the rules of procedure, the General Assembly should fix a closing date for the fifty-fourth session. By its resolution 53\/239 of 8 June 1999, the General Assembly decided that the fifty-fourth session would close on Tuesday, 5 September 2000. The General Committee may wish to recommend to the Assembly that the fifty-fourth session should recess not later than Tuesday, 14 December 1999. The Committee may also wish to recommend to the Assembly that the First, Special Political and Decolonization (Fourth Committee) and Sixth Committees should complete their work by Friday, 19 November, the Third Committee by Monday, 22 November, the Second Committee by Friday, 26 November and the Fifth Committee by Friday, 10 December 1999.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>D.\t<\/span>Schedule of meetings<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t12. \t<\/span>The General Committee may wish to recommend to the General Assembly that, in accordance with established practice, morning meetings should start at 10 a.m. promptly for all plenary meetings and meetings of the Main Committees during the fifty-fourth session. The Committee may also wish to recommend to the Assembly that, as a cost-saving measure, plenary meetings and meetings of the Main Committees, including informals, be adjourned by 6 p.m., and that no meetings should be held on weekends, with the exception of the general debate (see para. 20 (e) of General Assembly resolution 51\/241, A\/53\/PV.97 and para. 15 below). The Committee may also wish to recommend to the Assembly that this cost-saving measure should also apply, for the remainder of 1999, to meetings on the calendar of conferences and meetings.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t13. \t<\/span>The General Committee may further wish to recommend that, in order to avoid the late start of meetings, the General Assembly should waive, in view of the practice at recent sessions, the requirement of the presence of at least one third of the members to declare a plenary meeting open and permit the debate to proceed and one quarter of the members to declare a meeting of a Main Committee open and permit the debate to proceed. This recommendation would be made on the understanding that such a waiver would not imply any permanent change in the provisions of rules 67 and 108 of the rules of procedure and that the requirement of the presence of a majority of the members for any decision to be taken would be maintained.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t14. \t<\/span>Furthermore, the General Committee may wish to recommend to the General Assembly that delegations should be reminded of the utmost importance of punctuality in the interest of ensuring an effective and orderly organization of work and achieving economies for the United Nations.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>E.\t<\/span>General debate<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t15. \t<\/span>The general debate will be held from Monday, 20 September to Saturday, 25 September , and from Wednesday, 29 September to Saturday, 2 October 1999, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the annex to resolution 51\/241 (paras. 19 and 20 (a) and (e)), which read as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"19. \t<\/span>There shall continue to be only one general debate each year, beginning in the third week of September.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"20. \t<\/span>The preparation of the list of speakers for the general debate shall be based on the following principles:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"(a) \t<\/span>The general debate shall be organized over a period of two weeks so as to maximize possibilities for interministerial contacts;\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t…\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"(e) \t<\/span>The list of speakers for each day shall be completed and no speakers will be rolled over to the next day, notwithstanding the implications for hours of work."\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t16. \t<\/span>The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraph 21 of the annex to resolution 51\/241, which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"21. \t<\/span>There shall be no time limits or specified themes for the general debate but the General Assembly will indicate a voluntary guideline of up to twenty minutes for each statement."\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t17. \t<\/span>The Secretary-General suggests that the list of speakers in the general debate should be closed on Wednesday, 22 September, at 6 p.m., in accordance with the recommendation of the Special Committee on the Rationalization of the Procedures and Organization of the General Assembly (A\/520\/Rev.15, annex V, para. 46).\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t18. \t<\/span>The General Committee may also wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to the decision taken by the Assembly at previous sessions, namely, that the practice of expressing congratulations inside the General Assembly Hall after a speech has been delivered is strongly discouraged. In this connection, the Committee may wish to recommend to the Assembly that speakers in the general debate, after delivering their statements, should leave the General Assembly Hall through room GA-200, located behind the podium, before returning to their seats.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>F.\t<\/span>Explanations of vote, right of reply, points of order and length of statements<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t19. \t<\/span>The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 of its decision 34\/401 (A\/520\/Rev.15, annex VI), which read as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t<\/span>"6.\t<\/span>Explanations of vote should be limited to ten minutes.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t<\/span>"7.\t<\/span>When the same draft resolution is considered in a Main Committee and in plenary meeting, a delegation should, as far as possible, explain its vote only once, i.e., either in the Committee or in plenary meeting, unless that delegation's vote in plenary meeting is different from its vote in the Committee.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t<\/span>"8.\t<\/span>Delegations should exercise their right of reply at the end of the day whenever two meetings have been scheduled for that day and whenever such meetings are devoted to the consideration of the same item."<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t20. \t<\/span>The Secretary-General wishes to suggest that, in line with time limits for explanations of vote and the right of reply, the General Committee recommend to the General Assembly that points of order be limited to five minutes.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t21. \t<\/span>With a view to streamlining the procedures of the General Assembly, and as another cost-saving measure, the General Committee, in connection with the length of statements, may wish to draw the attention of the Assembly to paragraph 22 of the annex to resolution 51\/241, which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"22. \t<\/span>Outside the general debate there shall be a fifteen-minute time limit in plenary meetings and in the Main Committees."\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tIn this connection, the Committee may also wish to draw the attention of the Assembly to the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution 51\/241 (A\/52\/855), in particular to paragraph 23, which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"23. \t<\/span>Paragraph 22<\/i>. Since in plenary meetings the length of statements in debates other than the general debate averages eight minutes, the General Assembly may wish to review the recommendation contained in paragraph 22."\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tThe Committee may further wish to draw the attention of the Assembly, as it did at recent sessions, to rules 72 and 114 of the rules of procedure and paragraph 22 of annex VI thereto for appropriate action in plenary meeting and the Main Committees.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>G.\t<\/span>Records of meetings<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t22. \t<\/span>As at past sessions, verbatim records will continue to be provided, during the fifty-fourth session, for the plenary meetings of the General Assembly and meetings of the First Committee and summary records will be provided to the General Committee and the other Main Committees of the Assembly. In accordance with the recommendation of the Special Committee on the Rationalization of the Procedures and Organization of the General Assembly (A\/520\/Rev.15, annex V, para. 108 (b)), the General Committee may wish to recommend that the Assembly should maintain for the fifty-fourth session the practice whereby the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) may obtain, on specific request, transcriptions of the debates of some of its meetings, or portions thereof. These transcriptions, which would not be part of the official records of the Committee, would be provided as the required services became available. Furthermore, the General Committee may wish to draw the General Assembly's attention to paragraphs 8 and 9 of its resolution 38\/32 E of 25 November 1983, which read as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t<\/span>"8.\t<\/span>Decides<\/i> that the practice of reproducing statements in extenso<\/i> as separate documents shall be discontinued for all its subsidiary organs that are entitled to summary records;<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t<\/span>"9.\t<\/span>Decides further<\/i> that any exceptions to this rule may be made by the body concerned only if the statements are to serve as bases for discussion and if, after hearing a statement of the relevant financial implications, the body decides that one or more statements in extenso<\/i> may be included in the summary record, or reproduced as separate documents or as annexes to authorized documents".<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tIn this connection, the General Committee may also wish to recommend to the Assembly that the practice not to reproduce in extenso<\/i> statements made in a Main Committee should be maintained for the fifty-fourth session.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>H.\t<\/span>Seating arrangements<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t23. \t<\/span>In accordance with established practice, the Secretary-General has drawn lots for the purpose of choosing the Member State to occupy the first desk on the General Assembly floor from which the alphabetical seating order will begin. The name drawn was South Africa. Consequently, the delegation of that country will sit at the first desk at the right of the President and the other countries will follow in the English alphabetical order. The same order will be observed in the Main Committees.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>I.\t<\/span>Concluding statements<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t24. \t<\/span>The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraph 17 of its decision 34\/401 (ibid., annex VI), which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"17. \t<\/span>To save time at the end of the session, the practice of making concluding statements in the General Assembly and its Main Committees should be dispensed with except for statements by the presiding officers."\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>J.\t<\/span>Resolutions<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t25. \t<\/span>The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraph 32 of its decision 34\/401 (ibid.), which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"32. \t<\/span>Whenever possible, resolutions requesting the discussion of a question at a subsequent session should not call for the inclusion of a separate new item and such discussion should be held under the item under which the resolution was adopted."\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t26. \t<\/span>The General Committee may also wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to recommendation 3 (f) of the Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts,1 which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t<\/span>"(f)\t<\/span>Efforts should be made to reduce the number of resolutions adopted by the General Assembly. Resolutions should request reports of the Secretary-General only in cases where that would be indispensable for facilitating the implementation of these resolutions or the continued examination of the question."<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t27. \t<\/span>In this connection, the General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraph 5 of its resolution 48\/264, which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t<\/span>"5.\t<\/span>Encourages<\/i> Member States to exercise restraint in making proposals requesting new reports of the Secretary-General, bearing in mind the desirability of reducing the number of such reports".<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t28. \t<\/span>The General Committee may further wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraphs 1 and 10 of the annex to resolution 45\/45 (A\/520\/Rev.15\/Amend.1, annex VIII).\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>K.\t<\/span>Documentation<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t29. \t<\/span>The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraph 28 of its decision 34\/401 (A\/520\/Rev.15, annex VI), which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t<\/span>"28.\t<\/span>The General Assembly, including its Main Committees, should merely take note of those reports of the Secretary-General or subsidiary organs which do not require a decision by the Assembly and should neither debate nor adopt resolutions on them, unless specifically requested to do so by the Secretary-General or the organ concerned."<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t30. \t<\/span>The General Committee may wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraph 6 of its resolution 48\/264, which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t\t\t\t<\/span>"6.\t<\/span>Emphasizes<\/i> that reports requested of the Secretary-General should be made available in all official languages in a timely manner in accordance with the rules of procedure of the General Assembly and the annexes thereto with a view to enabling delegations to consider the substance of such reports more thoroughly in advance of meetings".<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tThe Committee may also wish to draw the attention of the Assembly to paragraph 3 of resolution 53\/208 B of 18 December 1998, in which the Assembly once again requested the Secretary-General Ato ensure that documentation is available in accordance with the six-week rule for the distribution of documents simultaneously in each of the six official languages of the General Assembly".\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t31. \t<\/span>The General Committee may further wish to draw the attention of the General Assembly to paragraph 32 of resolution 51\/241, which reads as follows:\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t"32. \t<\/span>The number of reports requested shall be rationalized where possible so as to permit more focused consideration of issues. All bodies shall exercise restraint in making proposals containing requests for new reports and should consider integrating, biennializing or triennializing the presentation of reports, bearing in mind paragraphs 6 and 7 of General Assembly resolution 50\/206 C of 23 December 1995."\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n \n \t<\/span>L.\t<\/span>Questions related to the programme budget<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n | | | |