The UN General Assembly does its detailed work through six Main Committees, from disarmament to legal questions

Background

The General Assembly works through Main Committees, and there are six in total. Each Member State may be represented by one person on each Main Committee, and on any other committee on which all Member States have the right to be represented. The First Committee takes disarmament and international security; the Second takes economic and financial questions; the Third takes social, humanitarian and cultural questions; the Fourth takes special political questions and decolonization; the Fifth takes administrative and budgetary questions; and the Sixth Committee (Legal) takes legal questions. Under Rule 100 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, Member States may also assign advisers, technical advisers, experts or persons of similar status to these committees. Apart from the Main Committees, the Credentials Committee is mandated to examine the credentials of representatives of Member States and to report to the General Assembly. The General Committee meets periodically throughout each session to review the progress of the General Assembly and its committees and to make recommendations for furthering such progress.