Pakistan wants a revatalised UNGA

Emphasising the UN General Assembly’s status as the only forum with universal representation, Pakistan on Thursday said that its revitalisation was vital to promoting world peace and security, especially its authority for peace enforcement when the Security Council fails to act in a crisis
“This authority is significant in the context of the developments in Gaza,” Naeem Sabir Khan, a counsellor at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, said during a thematic debate on the “Role and Authority of the General Assembly,” at the UN Headquarters in NewYork.

While terming the revitalization of the 193-member Assembly a political rather than a procedural matter, the Pakistani representative called for boosting its role in the peaceful resolution of disputes under Chapter VI of the UN Charter that includes mediation, conciliation.

In this regard, he emphasized the need for limiting the encroachment of the Security Council on numerous “thematic” issues that fall within the ambit of the General Assembly — the agenda for women, peace and security; development and security; climate change and security.

Counsellor Sabir Khan also advocated for the General Assembly’s greater contribution to norm-building and codification of international law.

“The General Assembly’s pivotal role in addressing global concerns such as climate change, development, finance, terrorism, and disarmament, including through the establishment of subsidiary bodies needed to be reaffirmed

There was also the need for the development of the UNGA’s capacity to address emerging global challenges such as Outer Space, the Oceans, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Autonomous Weapons, the Pakistani representative said.

He also proposed the establishment of a dedicated mechanism to monitor the implementation of General Assembly resolutions, with an initial step of preparing a report on the current status of implementation by the UN Secretariat.

Counsellor Sabir Khan reiterated the Charter’s allocation of distinct yet complementary roles to the General Assembly and the Security Council, emphasizing the need to uphold and respect the Assembly’s role as the principal deliberative, policy-making, and norm-setting organ of the United Nations.