First Session of UN General Assembly Held on January 10 1946 in Central Hall, London


On January 10, 1946 the first session of the United Nations General Assembly opened in London. Gladwyn Jebb, Executive Secretary of the UN, who opened the session, notified Dr. Eduardo Zuleta Angel, head of the Colombian delegation to the UN and chairman of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations, called the meeting to order. 

Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium was elected the first president of the General Assembly in a 28–23 vote, prevailing over Trygve Lie (who went on to be the first Secretary General of the UN).

The General Assembly has six main committees: Disarmament and International Security; Economic and Financial; Social, Cultural and Humanitarian; Special Political and Decolonization; Administrative and Budgetary; and Legal. There are seven commissions, including the International Law Commission and the new Peace building Commission. 

There are also councils and panels, such as the Human Rights Council and other committees that cover a broad range of topics, from the Committee on the Rights of the Child to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Also a number of working groups.

The General Assembly is headed by a President who is elected prior to the opening session each year. 

The current President for the General Assembly is Ban Ki-moon from South Korean.

Although General Assembly resolutions are non-binding on member states, they often have a dramatic and lasting effect. 

Perhaps the most famous General Assembly Declaration is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Passed in 1948, largely due to the efforts of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, this document has become the guidebook for human rights. 

Another important action included the United for Peace Resolution passed in 1950 that allowed for police action to protect South Korea from North Korean aggression.

More recently, the General Assembly adopted a Millennium Development Declaration calling for improvements in poverty, illiteracy, health, and the environment by 2015. 

In 2005, the General Assembly passed a resolution for comprehensive reform to make the organization more efficient, transparent, and accountable. 

In 2015, France played a leading international role in hosting what is known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

 This seminal conference, and COP21 was one of the largest international conferences ever held in that country. 

The conference attracted close to 50,000 participants including 25,000 official delegates from government, intergovernmental organisations, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society.

GBC’s News desk Report