Statement of the delegation of Ukraine at the AHWG on GA Revitalization, Thematic debate on the role and authority of the General Assembly

Distinguished Co-Chairs,

Ukraine aligns itself with the Statement delivered by the EU and would like to highlight a few points, we deem significant, in national capacity.

The General Assembly as the most deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the United Nations should further consolidate its role in addressing the issues related to the maintenance of international peace and security.

This responsibility gains additional significance when the Security Council is in a deadlock, while a Member State blocks Security Council decisions related to its own aggression against a sovereign state. In such cases, the General Assembly holds a special obligation to uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter.

In this regard, we welcome that the General Assembly steps up each time a veto is cast in the Security Council. The veto Initiative has proved to be an important step towards strengthening responsibility within the UN system.

It has underpinned such powerful tool at the disposal of the Assembly as its Emergency Special Sessions. Ukraine itself has benefited from using this tool following blocked Security Council’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The issue of implementation of the GA decisions is still a matter of further deliberations and efforts. Thus the goal of GA revitalization should not limit to finetuning of discussion and adoption process, it should encompass implementation stage as well.

It is the necessity that the entire process of revitalization would benefit from.

Another task for the responsible UN community is to secure the agenda items, related to the situations of primary concern of the Member States. At the onset of the current UNGA session, there was an unprecedented attempt to undermine the Assembly's special authority and the credibility of the General Committee. This occurred through a vote initiated by the Russian Federation to challenge the General Assembly's resolution to include the item "The situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine" in its annual agenda. It is our collective duty to thwart such efforts.

We echo the numerous calls to make the full use of the upcoming Summit of the Future to move forward in revitalizing the Assembly as an indispensable element of strengthening multilateralism. It is important that clear position expressed by the GA with regard to the UN Charter as a basis for sustainable and just peace is reflected in the Pact for the Future.

Our joint work aimed at revitalization of the General Assembly has already brought tangible results, but there is a wide space for improvement to make GA and its decisions effective thus regaining the legacy of the Organization.