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UN System Documentation

Delegates submit voting ballots during the General Assembly plenary meeting for voting on the election of a member of the International Court of Justice. November 2021

Delegates submit voting ballots during the General Assembly plenary meeting. November 2021. UN Photo UN7916704

Delegates submit voting ballots during the General Assembly plenary meeting. November 2021. UN Photo UN7916704.

A view of UN Headquarters and delegates of the high-level week of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly. September 2022

A view of UN Headquarters and delegates of the high-level week of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly. September 2022. UN Photo UN7953041.

Csaba Kőrösi, President of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, addresses the opening of seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly Debate. September 2022.

Csaba Kőrösi, President of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, addresses the opening of seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly Debate. September 2022. UN Photo UN7953043.

A view of the flags outside the General Assembly building.

The General Assembly building. September 2020. UN Photo UN7871214.

Introduction to General Assembly Documentation

The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the United Nations. Chapter IV, Articles 9-22, of the UN Charter concern the General Assembly. 

All Member States participate in the General Assembly and each state has one vote.

The General Assembly meets in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly (A/520/Rev.20).

Each year, a regular session is held. Special and  emergency special sessions may also be convened. 

  • The regular session begins on the Tuesday of the third week in September (starting with 78th session, will be second week of September in accordance with A/RES/75/325);
  • The session is suspended in late December;
  • The session reconvenes in February;
  • The session concludes the day before the next session begins.

Meetings of the General Assembly are announced and summarized in the Journal of the United Nations. The Journal lists the documents of the General Assembly as they are published throughout the year.

From the 1st session (1946) through the 30th session (1975), General Assembly meetings and documents were consecutively numbered. At the 31st session, the symbols began to include the session number.

The basic format for the symbols of General Assembly documents is:

  • A/session/sequential number
  • From 1946 to 1975, the format was A/sequential number