United Nations: Pakistan on Thursday highlighted the status of the UN General Assembly as the only forum with universal representation, saying its revitalization is vital for promoting world peace and security, especially its authority to enforce peace when the Security Council fails to intervene in a crisis.
“This authority is significant in the context of developments in Gaza,” said Naeem Sabir Khan, adviser to Pakistan’s mission to the UN, during a thematic debate on “the role and authority of the General Assembly” at UN headquarters. in New York.
While describing the revitalization of the 193-member assembly as a political rather than a procedural matter, Pakistan’s representative called for strengthening its role in the peaceful resolution of disputes under Chapter VI of the UN Charter, which includes mediation and conciliation.
In this regard, he emphasized the need to limit the Security Council’s interference in a number of “thematic” issues that fall under the purview of the General Assembly – the women, peace and security agenda; development and security; climate change and security.
Counselor Sabir Khan also argued for a greater contribution by the General Assembly to the norm-making and codification of international law.
“The key role of the General Assembly in addressing global issues such as climate change, development, finance, terrorism and disarmament needs to be reaffirmed, including through the establishment of subsidiary bodies.
There was also a need to develop the capacity of the UN General Assembly to address emerging global challenges such as space, oceans, artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous weapons, the Pakistani representative said.
He also proposed the establishment of a specialized mechanism to monitor the implementation of General Assembly resolutions, with the UN Secretariat preparing a report on the current status of implementation as a first step.
Adviser Sabir Khan reiterated that the Charter assigns distinct but complementary roles to the General Assembly and the Security Council, and emphasized the need to support and respect the Assembly’s role as the main advisory, policy-making and norm-setting body of the United Nations.
