Model United Nations

General Assembly Topic 1: Reports of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization

Created in the wake of World War II, the United Nations most basic structures were drafted around the balance of power in the middle to late 1940s. The victors of World War II—also the driving force behind the initial Charter—felt they were most capable of realizing a new enforcement of global peace and security. This same line of thinking was used to grant veto power to the Permanent Five (P5)—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—and ultimately required their consensus for any changes to the UN Charter. However, the surge of membership in the following decades was accompanied by a desire on the part of new African member states and the growing Non-Aligned Movement to restructure the balance of power in their favor. In 1965, their efforts resulted in an expansion of the Security Council, but change has been limited since then.

In 1974, under the notion that the United Nations reflected an outdated balance of power, the General Assembly created an Ad Hoc Committee on the Charter of the United Nations in order to reassess the effectiveness of the body at that time. One year later, the General Assembly reworked the committee into its current form—the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening the Role of the Organization. The committee has since discussed issues ranging from maintenance of international peace and security, cooperation of member states, and reaffirmation of the rules of international law while adhering to the stipulation that amendments to the UN Charter should be avoided. Previous tasks originating in the Special Committee have included suggestions on how to effectively strengthen the role of the General Assembly in matters concerning international peace and security rather than resorting to requests that Security Council Members willingly surrender certain powers—recognizing that similar requests have been met with little cooperation in the past.

In recent years, the Special Committee discussed matters of international peace and security as well as possible courses of action that would limit the effect of sanctions on third-party states (states that are negatively affected, yet not targeted, by international sanctions). A 2009 Committee document sought to establish guidelines to more precisely target the effects of sanctions, though more work still needs to be done. A working paper from the Russian Federation recommended a greater lever of transparency—including specific implications, timetables, and benchmarks—to ensure the effectiveness of future sanctions and to limit the effects on third-party states.

The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization, while having made a significant impact on the strength and effectiveness of the General Assembly, has much ground to cover in the immediate future.

Questions to be considered from your state's point of view:

How should the General Assembly seek to resolve matters of international peace and security (including, but not limited to dispute resolution or violations of human rights) without resorting to calls for Security Council action?
Do certain General Assembly actions exist that do not require the approval of the Security Council but may still resolve international disputes?
What measures might be taken to promote a more efficient and precise means of sanctioning while limiting the negative effects on untargeted third-party states?
How might the General Assembly implement these changes without making amendments to the United Nations Charter?

Resources:

‘Special Committee on United Nations Charter Concludes 2011 Session, Adopts Draft Report, Forwards Recommendations to General Assembly.’ 9 March 2011. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/l3168.doc.htm

Summary of 65^th Session http://www.un.org/en/ga/sixth/65/StrengthenRole.shtml

Charter of the United Nations http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/index.shtml

Functions and Powers of the General Assembly http://www.un.org/en/ga/about/background.shtml

*Topic adapted from ‘Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization.’ American Model United Nations. September 2010.

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