Statement on behalf of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia by Elvira Cupika-Mavrina, Legal advisor of Latvia to the United Nations on the Revitalization of the Work of the United Nations General Assembly
New York, 2 October 2024
Mr. Chair,
Today I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of three Baltic States – Estonia, Lithuania and my own country Latvia.
As this is our first joint statement in the Sixth Committee this year, we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you and the Bureau on your appointments. The Baltic States will remain strong supporters of the General Assembly revitalization process and are looking forward to productive discussions during this session.
The UN General Assembly is the most representative, chief policymaking organ of the United Nations. To strengthen its ability to address the evolving global challenges, we must implement previous commitments and accelerate our collective efforts to revitalize the work of the General Assembly. In our view, Action 42 of the historic Pact for the Future is our first step towards this goal.
It is crucial that the General Assembly not only fulfils, but also steps up the implementation of its Charter-mandated role regarding peace and security. In times when the Security Council - the UN main organ responsible for international peace and security, is unable to fulfil its mandate in key areas, the General Assembly should take the initiative in protecting the United Nations Charter and its values.
In order to fully implement the values vested in the UN Charter, we fully support all efforts made towards an appointment of a woman as the next Secretary General. After 78 years long history of men holding this important position, it is a high time for a woman to serve as the leader of the UN.
Further, we see merit in enhancing the current time management. In our view, transitioning from lengthy and sometimes static statements to concise and focused ones could significantly assist in improving the efficiency of the General Assembly. Likewise, in order to address differences and to strive towards finding common ground, informal consultations could be convened at an earlier stage, whenever there are signs that Member States are diverging on a particular topic.
In the past sessions we have witnessed a positive trend: whenever a veto is cast in the Security Council it is the duty of General Assembly to stand up for peace and security. We should use wisely the power of the General Assembly and analyze further options to ensure that the Assembly gains more prominence.
The veto initiative is directly responsible for strengthening the role of the General Assembly. In the past year, there were 9 times when the General Assembly had to step up – that is 3 times more than the year before. It is only because of the veto initiative that the General Assembly is able to openly discuss the most burning issues in today’s world and make most of its authority.
Lastly, we welcome the recently published digital handbook on the UN General Assembly’s past practice on peace and security, developed under the mandate set forth in the General Assembly resolution 77/335. The handbook is a comprehensive and valuable guide in further enhancing the role and authority of the General Assembly to address evolving global challenges in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
I thank you.