On 27th March 2019 the Ad Hoc Working Group (AHWG) on the “Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly” met for the fourth time during the 73rd Session of the GA. The meeting was formatted as a thematic debate on the working methods of the six main committees and began with reports from representatives of the chairs of the committees and the Chef de Cabinet of the Office of the President of the General Assembly (OPGA). This was followed by questions for the panelists and then statements from the attending member states (MSs).

The six representatives, after reporting basic figures regarding the work output of their respective committees, discussed recently implement methods for improving their efficiency. Eventually, it was observed that the subject matter for each of the committees practically guarantees that the cultures and working methods of each will remain individualized, such as the Administrative and Budgetary Committee (Fifth) having the most robust and often round-the-clock schedule. However, each of the committees did have to address certain common issues, and in these commonalities there was some overlap.

Committees made attempts at time management by keeping meetings on time and managing MS speakers by enforcing time limits on speeches via automatically turning off microphones or having flashing lights or buzzers in the final minutes of speech. Some committees also reported that distributing programs of work earlier and gathering a list of speakers before meetings help to plan the pace of meetings and prevent them from running over, without limiting the number of speakers.

Many panelists discussed the implementation of bi-, tri-, and quad- annualization of agenda items to pare down schedules, a sentiment that would be reiterated by most of the MSs in their statements. Similarly, MSs responded positively to the panelist’s suggestions for both meetings between incoming and outgoing committee chairs and between the chairs of the six committees, in order to share successful strategies for improving working methods. MSs’ statements also called for improving language parity within the online systems of the UN, creating a code of conduct for elections, and reducing the number high-level events during the General Debate (GD).

Lastly, the concept of moving the opening of the GD or the start of the PGA’s term was suggested by the Chef de Cabinet and a few of the MSs, resonating with the 5th committee chair’s suggestion to improve her own committee. She stated that allowing the incoming committee chair to begin their session in Jan. when the agenda is lightest, and work up towards the Sept. - Dec. session, which is the busiest, would allow them more adequate time to prepare. This suggestion was covered in an earlier AHWG meeting, and a report from the Secretary General in regards to the PGA and GA schedule.

The full session can be found on the UN’s website here (Part I) and here (Part II).