Dag Hammarskjöld Library General Assembly Documentation

UN Reference ServiceDag Hammarskjöld Library

Overview

• Document symbols • Main Documents of the GA• Online resources: UN-I-QUE,UNBISNET,

ODS,UNDOC Center, Press releases and the daily journal

• Voting and Speech Information •  Annexes to agenda items and documents

(journey of UN agenda items) 

Document Symbols

•  The basic format for the symbols of General Assembly documents is: A/[session]/[sequential number], e.g., A/66/1.

• A/66/[sequential number], e.g. A/66/23

• A/C.[committee number]/66/[sequential number], e.g. A/C.2/66/45

•  From 1946 to 1975, the format was A/[sequential number], e.g., A/9601.

OTHER SYMBOLS

• -/CRP -Conference room paper• -/INF/-Information series (e.g., lists of participants)• -/L. …Limited distribution (i.e., generally draft

documents/resolutions)• -/PV. - Verbatim records of meetings (i.e., procès-

verbaux)• -/RES/- Resolutions• -/SR. …Summary records of meetings• -/WP -Working papers

Agenda

Items arrive on the agenda through different avenues: •Resolutions from previous GA sessions•Rules of Procedure (Rule 13)•Principle organs of the UN•Member States •States not Members of the U.N. (Charter, Article 35, para.2)•Secretary-General Reports

Different Stages of Agenda Documents

• Annex: I•  A/65/50 – Preliminary list

• A/65/100 – Annotated agenda

• A/65/150 – Provisional agenda

• A/BUR/65/1 – Memorandum of the Secretary-General

• A/65/250 – Report of the General Committee

• A/65/251 – Adopted Agenda

• A/65/252 – Allocation of Agenda items

Preliminary AgendaProposes items to be

included in the agenda.

A/64/50 [A/65/50]

Annotated AgendaHistory of each item proposed for inclusionreferences to related reports, resolutions, and meeting records.

A/64/100 [A/65/100]

Provisional AgendaGives more concrete

definition to the shape the final agenda will take.A/64/150 [A/65/150]

Memorandum by the SGObservations and proposals in connection

with the report to be made to the GA by the General Committee regarding, among other

things, the agenda.A/BUR/64/1 [A/BUR/65/1]

Report by the General CommitteeRecommends to the plenary items included, or excluded or postponed; items that can be grouped; allocation of items to the plenary

and to the Main CommitteesA/64/250 [A/65/250]

Adopted AgendaConstitutes a listing of all the items which will be considered at a given

session of the GA.A/64/251 [A/65/251]

Allocation of Agenda ItemsLists the items that are allocated to the plenary and

to the Main Committees A/64/252 [A/65/252]

Journey of an Agenda Item65th Session

• Agenda item allocated to the Plenary

• Agenda item 12 – 2001-2010: Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa

•  Note of the Secretary-General: A/65/210

•  Draft resolutions: A/65/L.70 +Add.1

•  Discussed in the following meetings: A/65/PV.30, 31 and 86

•  At the 86th plenary meeting on 18 April 2011, the draft A/65/L.70 was introduced with additional sponsors added and then adopted as resolution 65/273 (A/RES/65/273)

• (see Annex II)

 

Agenda item allocated to a Main Committee

• Agenda item 80: Diplomatic Protection. Allocated to the Sixth Committee

• Report of the SG: A/65/182 + Add.1

•  Discussed in the following 6th Committee meetings: A/C.6/65/SR.16, and 27.

•  At the 27th meeting, draft resolution A/C.6/65/L.9 was introduced and adopted.

• Final version of draft recommended by the 6thCommittee in its report A/65/468 to the plenary for adoption.

•  The report and draft was adopted in A/65/PV.57.

•  Finally adopted at the GA under : A/RES/65/27

Where do we find GA documents?

• Official Document system (ODS)

– UN documents from 1993

– Resolutions available from 1946

– http://documents.un.org

• UNBISNET: bibliographic information on UN documents from 1979– http://unbisnet.un.org/

– UN Documentation Research Guide

– http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/index.html (Quick Links)

Finding Voting Records

• UNBISnet : Voting Records

– By resolution number e.g. A/RES/65/1

– By keywords eg. General Assembly resolutions on embargo against Cuba

Finding Reports

• By Title or Subject

– UNBISnet : Bibliographic Records

• SG’s reports on violence against women

• Report of the African-Union High Level Panel on Darfur

Meeting Records

• Statements and speeches made and actions taken during UN meetings are recorded in meeting records.– Verbatim records (proces verbal)

• Symbol has .../PV.- (A/63/PV.44)

• Contains full, first-person account of the proceedings of a meeting.

– Summary records • Symbol has .../SR.-

(A/C.5/63/SR.25)• Contains a third-person condensed version of the proceedings of a

meeting

Finding Meeting Records

• By State– Member States On the Record

• http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unms/

– UNBISnet : Index to Speeches

• By Speaker– UNBISNET : Index to Speeches

• Obama

UN-I-QUE

• UN-I-Que provides access to document symbols/sales numbers for UN materials from 1946 onwards. – Information about UN documents of a recurrent nature– Each record is comprehensive historically– Provides the symbols only– Types of documents include:

• annual/sessional reports of committees/commissions• reports periodically/irregularly issued• reports of major conferences• statements in the General Debate

• Search by title only.• http://lib-unique.un.org/lib/unique.nsf

Learning about UN Documents

• Online Tutorials on how to search UN documents: http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/training/training.htm– By symbol

– Resolutions and voting records

– SG’s Reports

– Meetings records

• United Nations Documentation Research Guide: http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/resguide/index.html

Reference• Reference librarians:

– Answer any question on UN documentation

– Offer research assistance

– Offer one-one or small group training

• unreference@un.org

• 212-963-7412

• Stay informed

– UN Pulse http://unhq-appspub-01.un.org/lib/dhlrefweblog.nsf

– Follow us on Twitter @UNLibrary , Facebook:undhllibrary.

Hands onUNBISNET:

1. From the bibliographic search find the reports of the SG on counter-terrorism strategy

2. Find resolution on participation of European Union in the work of the united nations (participation of European Union (B01))

3. From the voting record search which countries voted the resolution (A/RES/65/276)

4. From the voting record database, find which resolution admitted Sweden to UN membership "Sweden admission”

5. From the index to speeches database search all speeches by European Union (country/organization)

6. Narrow the same search to current session of the GA(select GA in symbol A/65). How many results?

Hands on ODS

• Using simple ODS search document A/65/100. What is the document title

• Using advanced ODS find the resolution that admitted Sweden to UN membership

UNIQUE

• Find the Secretary Generals most recent report on Haiti budget

For more training:http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/training/training.htm

Library contacts: unreference@un.org

Tel: 212 963 7412