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The Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly was the session of the United Nations General Assembly that ran from 16 September 2008 to 14 September 2009.
| Sixty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters, New York City | ||
| Host country |  United Nations | |
| Venue(s) | General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters | |
| Cities | New York City, United States | |
| Participants | United Nations Member States | |
| President | Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann | |
| Website | www | |
The theme for the 63rd Session was "The impact of the global food crisis on poverty and hunger in the world as well as the need to democratize the United Nations."
Nicaraguan diplomat and politician Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann was elected by acclimation to the position of President of the General Assembly on 4 June 2008. At the time of his election, d'Escoto Brockmann was serving as Senior Adviser on Foreign Affairs to President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.[1]
In his first speech as President-elect of the General Assembly, d'Escoto Brockmann laid out some of his priorities for the session. He primarily called for unity within the United Nations, as well as between its Member States. He called for unity to combat hunger and poverty, as well as in the struggle to preserve the world’s indispensable biodiversity and cultural diversity. Other priorities for d'Escoto Brockmann in the 63rd Session included:[2][3][4]
The following were appointed to be the Session's vice-presidents on 4 June 2008:[1][5]
The five permanent members of the Security Council:
As well as the following nations:
| Name | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|
| H.E. Marco Antonio Suazo |  Honduras | Chairperson |
| Martin Zvachula |  Micronesia | Vice-Chair |
| Ivan Mutavdžić |  Croatia | Vice-Chair |
| Miguel Graça |  Portugal | Vice-Chair |
| Coly Seck |  Senegal | Rapporteur |
| Name | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|
| H.E. Frank Majoor |  Netherlands | Chairperson |
| Divina Adjoa Seanedzu |  Ghana | Vice-Chair |
| Ara Margarian |  Armenia | Vice-Chair |
| Julio Peralta |  Paraguay | Vice-Chair |
| Khalid Alwafi |  Saudi Arabia | Rapporteur |
| Name | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|
| H.E. Jorge Arguello |  Argentina | Chairperson |
| Emr Elsherbini |  Egypt | Vice-Chair |
| Alexandru Cujba |  Republic of Moldova | Vice-Chair |
| Elmer Cato |  Philippines | Vice-Chair |
| Paulá Parviainen |  Finland | Rapporteur |
| Name | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|
| H.E. Gabor Brodi |  Hungary | Chairperson |
| Olivio Fermín |  Dominican Republic | Vice-Chair |
| Mohamed Yousif Ibrahim Abdelmannan |  Sudan | Vice-Chair |
| Henric Rasbrant |  Sweden | Vice-Chair |
| Patrick Chuasoto | Philippines | Rapporteur |
| Name | Country | Position |
|---|---|---|
| H.E. Hamid Al Bayati |  Iraq | Chairperson |
| El-Hadj Lamine |  Algeria | Vice-Chair |
| Ana Cristina Rodríguez-Pineda |  Guatemala | Vice-Chair |
| Scott Sheeran |  New Zealand | Vice-Chair |
| Marko Rakovec |  Slovenia | Rapporteur |
As is tradition, before each session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General draws lots to determine which Member State will occupy the first seat in the General Assembly Hall for the Session, with other Member States following according to the English translation of their name. For the 65th Session, Barbados was chosen to take the first seat of the General Assembly Chamber.[1]
The General Debate of the 63rd Session was held between 23 & 29 September 2008, with the exception of the intervening Sunday. At the General debate, Member States have the opportunity to lay out the issues that are most concerning to them, as well as their hopes as to what the General Assembly will do during the Session. [12]
The order of speakers is given first to Member States, then Observer States and supranational bodies. Speakers are put on a speaking list in the order of their request, with special consideration for ministers and other government officials of similar or higher rank. According to the rules in place for the General Debate, the statements should be in one of the United Nations official languages of Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish, and will be translated by the United Nations translators.[13]
On 17 October 2008, the General Assembly elected 5 non-permanent members to the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2009. The five elected members were: Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda. They filled the seats that were vacated by Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa.[14]
On 22 October 2008, the General Assembly elected 18 members to the Economic and Social Council to serve three-year terms beginning 1 January 2009. The elected members were: Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Peru, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.[15]
The 18 outgoing members were: Angola, Austria, Benin, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Japan, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mauritania, Paraguay, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.
Prior to the election, the General Assembly approved a request from Iceland to relinquish its WEOG Council seat on 31 December 2008. Norway was then elected to fill the seat for a one-year term beginning 1 January 2009.
On 6 November 2008, the General Assembly elected five judges to sit on the International Court of Justice for nine-year terms beginning 6 February 2009. The five elected judges were:[16]
Judges Abraham and Al-Khasawneh were both re-elected, while Cançado Trindade, Greenwood and Yusuf were elected to the court for the first time.
On 12 May 2009, the General Assembly elected 18 members to sit on the Human Rights Council for three-year terms starting 19 June 2009. Five of these were elected to sit on the Council for the first time: Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Norway and the United States of America, while the other 13 members were all re-elected: Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Jordan, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Uruguay.[17]
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