Since its creation in 1945, the UN has always held global security as one of its principal goals. To facilitate this, the UN charter called for the formation of the First Committee of the General Assembly to deal with disarmament and international security. This seemingly broad mandate has actually allowed the committee to deal with many of the various issues, which constantly threaten the international peace and disarmament efforts.
The committee has jurisdiction over a broad range of topics, including nuclear disarmament, nuclear free-zones, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, conventional weapons, regional disarmament and development and illicit trafficking of weapons.
It is important to note that the General Assembly lacks the enforcement power that the Security Council wields, except in certain cases in which the lack of unanimity among the permanent members is impeding the council?s ability to respond to an emergency. Nevertheless, the moral and symbolic influence of the general assembly is considerable, since its pronouncements represent the majority of the world?s opinion.
Because of its membership, which geographically encompasses nearly all of the international community, the committee generally looks at problems of a more global nature, rather that focusing on specific regions, which can be better addressed by specific summits and subsidiary bodies. This is a huge advantage the committee possesses because for complex and multi-faceted issues, solutions simply cannot come from and exclusively deals with one section of the world.
While thinking about the committee and the work you hope to accomplish in it, keep in mind one final point. All issues regarding security and disarmament are of great national concern to all nations.
ThessISMUN 2019 – UN General Assembly – 1st Committee
BOARD-MEMBERS
Chair: Albi Kristo
Co-chair: Alexandros Pantelakos
AGENDA
1. Combating the spillover of terrorist activity in Sub-Saharan Africa.
2. Prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons and on their destruction.