General Assembly

General Assembly Committees Get Real

by Jessica Gao

This year's GA consists of six committees in total, each addressing a different set of issues including disarmament and international security, economical and financial, social/humanitarian and cultural, special political and decolonization, administration and budgetary and legal.

At the start of the conference, the six committees were combined, and each delegation had one representative deliver the opening speech which presented the delegations' stances on the issues. Following the opening speeches and the conclusion of lobbying, the six committees commenced debate independently.

The overall atmosphere of the GA plenary was positive and hopeful, with most of the opening speeches conveying a sense of eagerness for action to solve the pressing issues at hand. Many delegates quoted great leaders of our time, including Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, who are both great representatives of this year's conference theme – Good Governance.

This spirit of collaboration and cooperation carried through to debate in the separate committees. The delegates focused on the durability, sustainability, and plausibility of the resolutions at hand, as the delegate of Norway of GA4 and the delegate of Micronesia of GA3 clearly examined what a resolution shouldn't be in order for it to be successful. Even though the delegate of Norway's topic was on assistance to Palestinian refugees, and the delegate of Micronesia, on comprehensive implementation of and follow up to the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, both delegates commented on how a resolution should provide the right amount of detail, not too much and not too less, for it to be plausible. The delegate of Russia from GA5 also expressed similar concerns when she conveyed the missing realistic factor of the United States' resolution on the scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of United Nations peacekeeping operations. It seemed that many delegates of GA committees this year have had plenty of experience in the MUN circle, bringing the quality of the resolutions up to a whole new level.

The resolutions that did not supply plausible clauses and solutions were not so lucky. In GA2, debate on the topic of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba resulted in an unsuccessful thirty-nine for, seventy six against, and eighteen abstentions on the resolution. This is largely due to the unrealistic clauses proposed.

However, debates in the GAs are generally less heated this year, as delegates seem to be more willing to submit amendments, showing a willingness to improve the resolutions rather than a thirst to destroy it. Hopefully, the GA committees will be able to, through collaborative efforts, produce the necessary, high quality resolutions for the plenary session on Friday.