General Assembly

How it is used

Its annual session opens each September in New York with the 'general debate', when leaders address the hall. Its resolutions are generally recommendations rather than binding decisions, although its budget decisions bind members. Shortened to UNGA.

Example sentences

1. The General Assembly adopted the resolution with 150 votes in favour and 12 abstentions.

2. The president will address the General Assembly next Tuesday.

3. General Assembly resolutions carry political weight even when they are not binding.

Common collocations

• UN General Assembly
• address the General Assembly
• General Assembly resolution
• general debate
• General Assembly session

Related terms

• United NationsThe global organisation set up in 1945 to keep international peace and security, build friendly relations between nations and encourage cooperation; almost every state is a member.
• resolutionA formal decision or statement adopted by vote or consensus in a body such as the UN Security Council or General Assembly, expressing a position or requiring action.
• member stateA country that belongs to an international organisation such as the UN or the EU, with the rights and duties that membership brings.
• Security CouncilThe UN organ with primary responsibility for international peace and security. It has 15 members and can take decisions, such as sanctions, that all UN member states must carry out.
• Secretary-GeneralThe head of the United Nations Secretariat and the UN's chief administrative officer; the title is also used for the heads of other organisations, such as NATO.

More terms: International Organisations

• international organisation
• NATO
• European Union
• veto
• NGO