View source for Special session of the United Nations General Assembly

{{Short description|Type of United Nations meeting}}
A '''special session of the United Nations General Assembly''', or '''UNGASS''', occurs when the [[United Nations]] [[General Assembly, United Nations|General Assembly]] meets in order to discuss an important wide-ranging topic.
Under Chapter IV, article 20 of the [[United Nations Charter]], "Special sessions shall be convoked by the Secretary-General at the request of the Security Council or of a majority of the Members of the United Nations." The request of the Security Council requires a vote of nine or more of its fifteen members. However, since 1975, all special sessions have been called by the General Assembly.<ref name="Swiss Handbook">{{cite book |last1=Ruder |first1=Nicole |last2=Nakano |first2=Kenji |last3=Aeschlimann |first3=Johann |editor1-last=Aeschlimann |editor1-first=Johann |editor2-last=Regan |editor2-first=Mary |date=2017 |title=The GA Handbook: A practical guide to the United Nations General Assembly |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/dam/mission-new-york/en/documents/UN_GA__Final.pdf |edition=2nd |location=New York |publisher=Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations |pages=14–15 |isbn=978-0-615-49660-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Charter of the United Nations |wslink=Charter of the United Nations |date=26 June 1945 |publisher=United Nations |location=San Francisco |page=6}}</ref>
Each special session deals exclusively with one topic with a short agenda. They are typically high-level events with the participation of heads of state and government and government ministers. A special session usually adopts one or two outcome documents, such as a political declaration, action plan or a strategy. Special sessions last from one to several days. Like a regular annual session, a special session consists of both formal and informal plenary meetings, with a Committee of the Whole negotiating the outcome document.<ref name="Swiss Handbook"/>
== Procedure ==
The procedure to call a special session are laid out in the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly. The rules pertaining to special sessions are as follow:<ref>{{UN doc |docid=A/520/Rev.18 |body=A |type=D |document_number=520/Rev.18 |title=Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly |date=September 2016 |accessdate=13 January 2020}}</ref>
* Rule 7:
** Allows for the General Assembly to fix a date for a special session (in accordance with Article 20 of the Charter).
* Rule 8(a):
** Requires special sessions to be convened within fifteen days of the receipt by the Secretary-General of a request for such a session from the Security Council or from a majority of the Members of the United Nations
* Rule 9(a):
** Allows any Member State of the United Nations to request the Secretary-General convene a special session. The Secretary-General must then inform other Members of the request and inquire whether they concur with it. If a majority do within thirty days, a special session of the General Assembly shall be convened.
* Rule 10:
** Requires the Secretary-General to notify Member States, at least fourteen days in advance, of the opening of a special session convened at the request of the Security Council. This time period is changed to at least ten days in advance in the case of a session convened at the request of a majority of Members.
* Rule 16:
** Requires the provisional agenda of a special session convened at the request of the Security Council to be communicated to the Member States at least fourteen days before the opening of the session, or  at least ten days before the opening of the session for sessions convened at the request of a majority of Member States.
* Rule 17:
** Requires that the provisional agenda for a special session only consist of those items proposed for consideration in the request for the holding of the session.
* Rule 18:
** Allows for supplementary items to be added to the agenda by any Member States, principal organ of the United Nations or the Secretary-General at least four days before the date fixed for the opening of a special session. Such items are placed on a supplementary list.
* Rule 19:
** During a special session, items on the supplementary list and additional items may be added to the agenda by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.
== Sessions ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! align="center" | '''Special session''' !! '''Topic''' !! '''Convened by''' !! '''Date''' !! '''Resolution'''
|-
| First || [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]]|| {{flagcountry|UK|name=United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}} || 28 April – 15 May 1947 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/310 A/310]
|-
| Second || [[1948 Palestine war|Palestine]]|| [[File:Emblem of the United Nations.svg|20px]] [[United Nations General Assembly]] || 16 April – 14 May 1948 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/555 A/555]
|-
| Third || [[Bizerte crisis|Tunisia]] ||
{{flagdeco|Afghanistan|1930}} [[Kingdom of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] <br>
{{flagdeco|Brazil|1960}} [[Fourth Brazilian Republic|Brazil]] <br>
{{flagdeco|Burma|1948}}  [[Post-independence Burma, 1948–1962|Burma]] <br>
{{flagdeco|Cambodia}} [[Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–1970)|Cambodia]] <br>
{{flagcountry|Ceylon|1951}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|name=Congo (Léopoldville)}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Cuba}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Cyprus|1960}} <br>
{{flagdeco|Ethiopia|1897}} [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]] <br>
{{flagcountry|Malaya|name=Federation of Malaya}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Ghana}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Guinea}} <br>
{{flagcountry|India}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Indonesia}} <br>
{{flagdeco|Iran|1925}} [[Pahlavi dynasty|Iran]]<br>
{{flagdeco|Iraq|1959}} [[Iraqi Republic (1958–68)|Iraq]]<br>
{{flagcountry|Jordan}} <br>
{{flagdeco|Laos|1952}} [[Kingdom of Laos|Laos]]<br>
{{flagcountry|Lebanon}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Liberia}} <br>
{{flagdeco|Libya|1951}} [[Kingdom of Libya|Libya]]<br>
{{flagcountry|Mali}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Morocco}} <br>
{{flagdeco|Nepal|old}} [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]]<br>
{{flagdeco|Nigeria}} [[Federation of Nigeria|Nigeria]]<br>
{{flagcountry|Pakistan}} <br>
{{flagdeco|Philippines|1936}} [[History of the Philippines (1946–1965)|Philippines]]<br>
{{flagcountry|Saudi Arabia|1938}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Somalia}} <br>
{{flagdeco|Sudan|1956}} [[Republic of the Sudan (1956–1969)|Sudan]] <br>
{{flagcountry|Thailand}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Togo}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Tunisia|1959}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Turkey}} <br>
{{flagcountry|UAR}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Upper Volta}} <br>
{{flagcountry|North Yemen|name=Yemen}} <br>
{{flagcountry|Yugoslavia}}
{{rule||width=.1em|align=center}}
{{center|Reference: }}
{{center|<ref>{{UN doc |docid=A/4831 |body=A |session= |type= |resolution_number= |title=Request for the Summoning of a Special Session of the General Assembly |date=8 August 1961 |accessdate=27 March 2020}}</ref>}}
|| 21 – 25 August 1961 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/4860 A/4860]
|-
| Fourth || [[United Nations funding|Financial situation of the United Nations]] || rowspan=2 | [[File:Emblem of the United Nations.svg|20px]] [[United Nations General Assembly]] || 14 May – 27 June 1963 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/5441 A/5441]
|-
| Fifth || [[South West Africa#UN mandate terminated|South West Africa (Namibia)]]  || 21 April – 13 June 1967 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/6657 A/6657]
|-
| Sixth || [[New International Economic Order|Raw materials and development]] || {{flagcountry|Algeria}} || 9 April – 2 May 1974 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/9559 A/9559]
|-
| Seventh || [[International development|Development and international economic cooperation]] || rowspan=24 | [[File:Emblem of the United Nations.svg|20px]] [[United Nations General Assembly]] || 1 – 16 Septembre 1975 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/10301 A/10301]
|-
| Eighth || [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon|Financing of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon]] || 20 – 21 April 1978 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-8/10 A/S-8/10]
|-
| Ninth || [[South West Africa#UN mandate terminated|Namibia]] || 24 April – 3 May 1978 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-9/13 A/S-9/13]
|-
| Tenth || [[Disarmament]] || 23 May – 30 June 1978 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-10/4 A/S-10/4]
|-
| Eleventh || [[New International Economic Order]] || 25 August – 15 September 1980 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-11/3 A/S-11/3]
|-
| Twelfth || [[Disarmament]] || 7 June – 10 July 1982 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-12/6 A/S-12/6]
|-
| Thirteenth || [[Poverty in Africa|Africa]] || 27 May – 1 June 1986 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-13/16 A/S-13/16 ]
|-
| Fourteenth || [[South West Africa#UN mandate terminated|Namibia]] || 17 – 20 September 1986 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-14/10 A/S-14/10]
|-
| Fifteenth || [[Disarmament]] || 31 May – 25 June 1988 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-15/6 A/S-15/6]
|-
| Sixteenth || [[Apartheid]] || 12 – 14 December 1989 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-16/5 A/S-16/5]
|-
| Seventeenth || [[Substance abuse|Drug abuse]] || 20 – 23 February 1990 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-17/13 A/S-17/13]
|-
| Eighteenth || International economic cooperation ([[economic growth]] and [[developing nations]]) || 23 – 27 April 1990 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-18/15 A/S-18/15]
|-
| Nineteenth || [[Earth Summit|Earth Summit + 5]] || 23 – 27 June 1997 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-19/33 A/S-19/33]
|-
| Twentieth || [[Substance abuse|World drug problem]] || 8 – 10 June 1998 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-20/14(SUPP) A/S-20/14]
|-
| Twenty-first || [[International Conference on Population and Development|Population and development]] || 30 June – 2 July 1999 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-21/7(SUPP) A/S-21/7]
|-
| Twenty-second || [[Small Island Developing States]] || 27 – 28 September 1999 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-22/11(SUPP) A/S-22/11]
|-
| Twenty-third || [[Gender equality|Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century]] || 5 – 9 June 2000 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-23/13&Lang=F A/S-23/13]
|-
| Twenty-fourth || [[Social change|Social Development]] || 26 – 30 June 2000 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-24/10 A/S-24/10]
|-
| Twenty-fifth || [[Habitat II|Implementation of the outcome of the UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II)]] || 6 – 8 June 2001 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-25/9(SUPP) A/S-25/9]
|-
| Twenty-sixth || [[HIV/AIDS|Problem of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in all its aspects]] || 25 – 27 June 2001 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-26/7(SUPP) A/S-26/7]
|-
| Twenty-seventh || [[World Summit for Children]] || 8 – 10 May 2002 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/S-27/24(SUPP) A/S-27/24]
|-
| Twenty-eighth || [[Nazi concentration camps#Liberation|Commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps]] || 24 January 2005 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/59/26 A/RES/59/26]
|-
| Twenty-ninth || [[International Conference on Population and Development|Follow-up to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development beyond 2014]] || 22 September 2014 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/67/250 A/RES/67/250]
|-
| Thirtieth || [[Substance abuse|World drug problem]] || 19 – 21 April 2016 || [https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/67/193 A/RES/67/193]<br>[https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/69/200 A/RES/69/200]<br>[https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/70/181 A/RES/70/181]
|}
== See also ==
* [[Emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://www.un.org/en/ga/sessions/special.shtml UNGA Special Sessions]
<!--- Categories --->
[[Category:Emergency special sessions of the United Nations General Assembly|*]]