A/77/PV.77 General Assembly

The Assembly will first proceed to a by-election to elect one member of the Economic and Social Council to fill the seat of the member that is relinquishing its seat before the end of its term, in accordance with rule 140 of the rules of procedure, as well as an election to fill one remaining vacancy for a member from the Group of Eastern European States. The election of 18 members of the Council will take place immediately after that. In connection with the by-election, I would like to draw the attention of members to a note verbale dated 12 May 2023 from the Permanent Mission of Monaco to the United Nations (A/77/889/Rev.1), in which the Mission, in its capacity as Chair of the Group of Western European and other States for the month of May, announced that Greece would relinquish its seat on the Economic and Social Council in favour of Türkiye for the period 2024–2025. The Group has endorsed the candidature of Türkiye. As a result, one vacancy in the Council will occur and a new member must be elected to fill Greece’s unexpired term, commencing on 1 January 2024 and expiring on 31 December 2025. In accordance with paragraph 4 of resolution 2847 (XXVI), of 20 December 1971, and taking account of the fact that the vacancy will occur among the Western European and other States, the new member should be elected from that region. I would like to inform the Assembly that the candidate that receives the greatest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of those present and voting will be declared elected. In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, the election shall be held by secret ballot. I should like to inform members that as of 1 January 2024, the following seven States from among the Western European and other States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States of America. The names of those States should therefore not appear on the ballot paper. In addition to the by-election, we will proceed to the election to fill the one remaining vacancy for a member from the Group of Eastern European States. Since no candidate obtained the required two-thirds majority in the previous ballot during the 56th plenary meeting, on 20 December 2022, one seat still remains to be filled from among the Eastern European States. Both elections will take place concurrently. We shall therefore proceed to a tenth unrestricted ballot. In accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure, this twenty-third round of balloting shall be unrestricted. I would like to remind the Assembly that any Member State from among the Eastern European States may be a candidate, except those that are current members of the Economic and Social Council. The following members therefore cannot be voted for in the present balloting: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind members that pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting. In addition, ballot papers will only be given to the representative seated directly behind the country’s nameplate. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. I would like to remind members that at this stage, they are voting in the by-election for one seat for the Western European and other States and in the election to fill the one remaining vacancy for a member from the Eastern European States. The election of 18 members of the Council will take place immediately following those elections. Ballot papers will now be distributed, and the voting has therefore begun. In accordance with resolution 71/323 of 8 September 2017, the names of the States that have been communicated to the Secretariat have been printed on the ballot papers. An additional blank line corresponding to the one vacant seat to be filled from each of the two groups has been provided on the ballot paper, for inscribing another State if desired. I request representatives to use only those ballot papers that have been distributed and to put an “X” in the box next to the name printed on the ballot paper or to write the name of another eligible State on the blank line. If the box next to the name of a State is checked, the name of that State does not have to be repeated on the blank line. There should be no more than one checked box or handwritten name for the vacant seats to be filled as indicated on the ballot papers. A ballot will be declared invalid if it contains more names of States from the relevant region than the seat allocated to it. Accordingly, members can only check the box or write one name of an eligible Member State from the respective groups in the space provided. If the ballot paper contains a vote for a Member State that does not belong to the region concerned or for a Member State from a region that continues to be a member of the Council next year, the ballot paper will be declared invalid. Finally, if a ballot paper contains any notation other than a vote in favour of an eligible Member State, those notations will be disregarded.

In the interests of time, the General Assembly will now proceed to consider the other items announced in The Journal of the United Nations while the ballots are being counted. The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 116.

I invite the attention of the General Assembly to draft resolution A/77/L.72, circulated under sub-item (j) of agenda item 18, entitled “Combating sand and dust storms”. Members will recall that at its 3rd plenary meeting, on 16 September 2022, the General Assembly decided to allocate sub-item (j) of agenda item 18 to the Second Committee. To enable the Assembly to take action expeditiously on the document, may I take it that the Assembly wishes to consider sub-item (j) of agenda item 18 directly in plenary meeting and proceed immediately to its consideration?

I now give the floor to the representative of Cuba to introduce draft resolution A/77/L.72 on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

On behalf of the Group of 77 and China, I have the honour to introduce draft resolution A/77/L.72, entitled “International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms”. The draft resolution stresses the need for cooperation at the global and regional levels, with a view to managing and mitigating the effects of sand and dust storms through the enhancement of early-warning systems and the sharing of climate and weather information to forecast sand and dust storms, and affirms that resilient action to combat sand and dust storms requires a better understanding of the severe multidimensional impacts of sand and dust storms, including the deterioration of people’s health, well-being and livelihoods, increased desertification and land degradation, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and land productivity and their impact on sustainable economic growth. It is based on paragraph 19 of resolution 77/171, in which the General Assembly decided to consider during its seventy- seventh session the measures required to designate a day of every year as the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms. The objective of the draft resolution is to further raise international awareness of sand and dust storms, taking into consideration that the paragraph mentioned was based on the flexibility that our Group showed in having it in a separate process. The Group was completely aware of another substantive resolution (resolution 77/171), adopted during the Assembly’s current session, in which the International Day was agreed upon. To that end, the draft resolution proclaims 12 July as the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms, to be observed annually. The Group expresses its gratitude to the delegation of Iraq for its effort in coordinating the draft resolution on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, in addition to its role as facilitator. We look forward to seeing draft resolution A/77/L.72 adopted by consensus.

We shall now proceed to consider the draft resolution. I now give the floor to the representative of the Secretariat.

I should like to announce that there have been no additional sponsors since the submission of draft resolution A/77/L.72. I would like to remind members that the draft resolution is already sponsored by the members of the Group of 77 and China.

Since no delegation has asked for the floor in explanation of vote before the voting, the Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/77/L.72, entitled “International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms”. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to adopt draft resolution A/77/L.72?

The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (j) of agent item 18. I shall now suspend the meeting for 10 minutes to allow for the completion of the ballot counting.

The result of the vote is as follows: Western European and other States (1 seat) Number of ballot papers:190 Number of invalid ballots:1 Number of valid ballots:189 Abstentions:2 Number of members present and voting:187 Required two-thirds majority:125 Number of votes obtained: Türkiye186 Andorra1 Eastern European States (1 seat) Number of ballot papers:190 Number of invalid ballots:1 Number of valid ballots:189 Abstentions:5 Number of members present and voting:184 Required two-thirds majority:123 Number of votes obtained: Russian Federation102 North Macedonia82 Having obtained the required two-thirds majority, Türkiye was elected a member of the Economic and Social Council for a term of office beginning on 1 January 2024 and ending on 31 December 2025 (decision 77/423).

I congratulate Türkiye on having been elected a member of the Economic and Social Council. One seat remains to be filled from among the Eastern European States. In accordance with rule 94 of the rules of procedure, we should continue with the series of balloting. Further balloting will take place on a date to be announced. The General Assembly will now proceed to the election of 18 members of the Economic and Social Council to replace those members whose term of office expires on 31 December 2023. The 18 outgoing members are: Argentina, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Bulgaria, France, Guatemala, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mexico, Nigeria, Portugal, Solomon Islands, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe. Pursuant to rule 146 of the rules of procedure, those countries are eligible for immediate re-election. As of 1 January 2024, the following States will be represented on the Economic and Social Council: Afghanistan, Belgium, Belize, Botswana, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mauritius, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Tunisia, Türkiye, the United Republic of Tanzania and the United States of America. The names of those States should therefore not appear on the ballot papers. In accordance with paragraph 4 of resolution 2847 (XXVI), of 20 December 1971, and taking into account the number of States that will remain members of the Council after 1 January 2024, the 18 members should be elected as follows: five from the African States; three from the Asia-Pacific States; one from the Eastern European States; four from the Latin American and Caribbean States; and five from the Western European and other States. The ballot papers reflect that pattern. I should like to inform the Assembly that those candidates, their number not exceeding the number of seats to be filled, that receive the greatest number of votes and a two-thirds majority of the votes by members present and voting, will be declared elected. If the number of candidates obtaining a two- thirds majority is less than the number of members to be elected, there shall be additional ballots to fill the remaining places, the voting being restricted to the candidates obtaining the greatest number of votes in the previous ballot to a number not more than twice the places remaining to be filled. Also, consistent with past practice, in the case of a tied vote, and when it becomes necessary to determine the candidates to be elected or the ones to proceed to the next round of restricted balloting, there will be a special restricted ballot limited to those candidates that have obtained an equal number of votes. May I take it that the General Assembly agrees to those procedures?

Regarding candidates, I have been informed of the following. For the five vacant seats for the Group of African States, five endorsed candidates have been communicated, namely, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia. For the three vacant seats for the Group of Asia-Pacific States, five candidates have been communicated, namely, Iraq, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan and Tajikistan. For the one vacant seat for the Group of Eastern European States, one candidate has been communicated, namely, Poland. For the four vacant seats for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, four endorsed candidates have been communicated, namely, Haiti, Paraguay, Suriname and Uruguay. For the five vacant seats for the Group of Western European and other States, five endorsed candidates have been communicated, namely, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In accordance with rule 92 of the rules of procedure, we shall now proceed to the election by secret ballot. Before we begin the voting process, I should like to remind representatives that pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order on the actual conduct of the voting. In addition, ballot papers will only be given to the representative seated directly behind the country’s nameplate. We shall now begin the voting process. Members are requested to remain seated until all ballots have been collected. Ballot papers marked “A”, “B”, “C”, “D” and “E” will now be distributed. The voting has thus begun. In accordance with resolution 71/323 of 8 September 2017, the names of the States that have been communicated to the Secretariat at least 48 hours prior to the election today have been printed on the ballot papers for each of the regional groups. Also, additional blank lines corresponding to the number of vacant seats to be filled for each of the regional groups have been provided on the ballot papers for inscribing other names if desired. Representatives are requested to use only those ballot papers that have been distributed and to put an “X” in the boxes next to the names of the Member States from the relevant region that they wish to vote for, or to write the names of other eligible States on the blank lines. If the box next to the name printed on the ballot paper is checked, the name of that State does not need to be repeated on the blank line. The total number of checked boxes and all handwritten names may not exceed the number of vacant seats to be filled, as indicated on the ballot paper. A ballot paper containing more names of States from the relevant region than the number of seats allocated to it will be declared invalid. Accordingly, for the ballot papers marked “A”, for the African States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed five; for the ballot papers marked “B”, for the Asia-Pacific States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed three; for the ballot papers marked “C”, for the Eastern European States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed one; for the ballot papers marked “D”, for the Latin America and Caribbean States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed four; and for the ballot papers marked “E”, for the Western European and other States, the total number of checked boxes and handwritten names should not exceed five. The ballot paper will be declared invalid if none of the names of the States on that ballot for which votes were cast belongs to the relevant region. If a ballot paper of a region contains one of the following, the ballot remains valid but the vote for these States will not be counted: names of Member States that do not belong to the region concerned or Member States that will continue to be members of the Council. If a ballot paper contains any notation other than votes in favour of specific eligible candidates, those notations will be disregarded.

The result of the voting is as follows: Group A — African States (5 Seats) Number of ballot papers: 191 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 191 Abstentions: 0 Number of members present and voting: 191 Required two-thirds majority: 128 Number of votes obtained: Nigeria: 191 Senegal: 190 Zambia: 190 Kenya: 189 Mauritania:189 Group B — Asia-Pacific States (3 Seats) Number of ballot papers: 191 Number of invalid ballots: 6 Number of valid ballots: 185 Abstentions: 0 Number of members present and voting: 185 Required two-thirds majority: 124 Number of votes obtained: Nepal: 145 Pakistan: 129 Japan: 127 Tajikistan: 97 Iraq: 50 Group C — Eastern European States (1 Seat) Number of ballot papers: 191 Number of invalid ballots: 1 Number of valid ballots: 190 Abstentions: 13 Number of members present and voting: 177 Required two-thirds majority: 118 Number of votes obtained: Poland: 177 Group D  — Latin American and Caribbean States (4 Seats) Number of ballot papers: 191 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 191 Abstentions: 2 Number of members present and voting: 189 Required two-thirds majority: 126 Number of votes obtained: Suriname: 189 Haiti: 184 Paraguay: 184 Uruguay: 184 Group E — Western European and other States (5 Seats) Number of ballot papers: 191 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 191 Abstentions: 8 Number of members present and voting: 183 Required two-thirds majority: 122 Number of votes obtained: Spain: 176 Liechtenstein: 174 Germany: 170 France: 163 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: 162 San Marino: 2 Having obtained the required two-thirds majority of members present and voting and the greatest number of votes, the following 18 States are elected members of the Economic and Social Council for a three-year term beginning on 1 January 2024: France, Germany, Haiti, Japan, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Mauritania, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Poland, Senegal, Spain, Suriname, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay and Zambia (decision 77/423).

I congratulate the States that have just been elected members of the Economic and Social Council, and I thank the tellers for their assistance in the election. The General Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item (b) of agenda item 116.