United Nations Committee on Relations with the Host Country

The United Nations Committee on Relations with the Host Country is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly that is responsible for dealing with a variety of issues concerning the relationship between the Host Country, the United States of America, and the United Nations in New York City.[1]

United Nations Committee on Relations with the Host Country
Established15 December 1971 (1971-12-15)
TypeGeneral Assembly Committee
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersUN Headquarters
New York, United States
Membership
19 members
Chair
Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the UN
Parent organization
United Nations General Assembly

The Committee meets periodically throughout the year as needed and reports through the Sixth Committee. While the Committee has 19 voting members, all UN Member States can participate in the work of the Committee as observers.[2][3]

History

The precursor for the Committee was created in 1969, when the General Assembly requested, via resolution 2618 (XXIV), that the Secretary-General convene an Informal Joint Committee on Host Country Relations in order to allow for a continuous exchange of views and exploration of problems between the UN community and the government of the host country.[1][4]

In a December 1970 meeting, the General Assembly applauded the work of the Joint Committee and further urged the host country to take measures to ensure the protection of diplomatic missions to the UN, as well as that of their personnel. It also recommended that the Joint Committee review the implantation of both the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations. Finally, the resolution also requested that the Secretary-General convene another session of the Joint Committee in January 1971, and thereafter as frequently as appropriate.[5]

In December 1971, the General Assembly decided to established a permanent Committee on Relations with the Host Country. This Committee would mainly concern itself with questions regarding of security of UN missions and their personnel, but may also consider any topic that would fall under the category of UN-Host Country relations. The Committee would be composed of 15 members to be chosen by the President of the General Assembly in consultation with the UN Regional Groups and with consideration of equitable geographic representation.[1][6]

The composition and work of the Committee remained relatively unchanged until December 1997, when the General Assembly requested that the Committee review its membership and composition due to an increase in interest and concern of Member States in the work of the Committee. Consequently, in its report to the 53rd session of the General Assembly, the Committee recommended that its membership be increased by four members to reflect growing membership of the Organization, but to also ensure the effective functioning of the body. This recommendation was adopted in December 1998, when the General Assembly agreed to expand the Committee, bringing membership of the Committee up to 19. This was the first change to the Committee's structure since its creation in 1971. The new seats on the Committee were distributed evenly among the African, Asian, Latin American and Caribbean and Eastern European States Regional Groups.[7][8][9]

Mandate

The list of topics that are considered by the Committee can be found in Annex I of its annual report. For the 74th Session of the General Assembly, the topics it considered were:[10]

  • Question of the security of missions and the safety of their personnel
  • Consideration of and recommendations on issues arising in connection with the implementation of the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations
  • Responsibilities of permanent missions to the United Nations and their personnel, in particular the problem of claims of financial indebtedness and procedures to be followed with a view to resolving the issues relating thereto
  • Housing for diplomatic personnel and for Secretariat staff
  • Question of privileges and immunities
  • Host country activities: activities to assist members of the United Nations community
  • Transportation: use of motor vehicles, parking and related matters
  • Insurance, education and health
  • Public relations of the United Nations community in the host city and the question of encouraging the mass media to publicize the functions and status of permanent missions to the United Nations
  • Consideration and adoption of the report of the Committee to the General Assembly

Members

Current members

The members of the Committee are:[1][3]

Historical members

Former members of the Committee include:

Bureau

The bureau of the Committee is composed of a Chair, three Vice-Chairs, a Rapporteur and a representative of the Host Country. The countries filling the seats of the Chair, Vice-Chairs and Rapporteur have not changed since the first sessions of the Committee. The bureau of the Committee is as follows:[8][10][14]

CountryPosition
CyprusChair
BulgariaVice-Chair
CanadaVice-Chair
Côte d’IvoireVice-Chair
Costa RicaRapporteur
United States of AmericaEx officio member

References
  1. Manhire, Vanessa, ed. (2019). United Nations Handbook 2018–2019 (PDF) (56th ed.). Wellington: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. p. 54. ISSN 0110-1951.
  2. Ruder, Nicole; Nakano, Kenji; Aeschlimann, Johann (2017). Aeschlimann, Johann; Regan, Mary (eds.). The GA Handbook: A Practical Guide to the United Nations General Assembly (PDF) (2nd ed.). New York: Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-615-49660-3.
  3. "UN Committee on Relations with the Host Country". United States Mission to the United Nations. United States Department of State - Bureau of International Organization Affairs. n.d. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  4. United Nations General Assembly Session 24 Resolution 2618. New construction and major alterations to existing premises at United Nations Headquarters A/RES/2618(XXIV) 17 December 1969. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  5. United Nations General Assembly Session 25 Resolution 2747. Work of the Informal Joint Committee on Host Country Relations A/RES/274(XXV) 17 December 1970. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  6. United Nations General Assembly Session 26 Resolution 2819. Security of missions accredited to the United Nations and safety of their personnel and establishment of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country A/RES/2819(XXVI) 15 December 1971. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  7. United Nations General Assembly Session 52 Resolution 159. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country A/RES/52/159 5 December 1997. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  8. United Nations General Assembly Session 53 Supplement 26. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country A/53/26 page 6. 3 November 1998. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  9. United Nations General Assembly Session 53 Resolution 104. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country A/RES/53/104 8 December 1998. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  10. United Nations General Assembly Session 74 Supplement 26. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country A/74/26 29 October 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  11. United Nations General Assembly Session 29 Supplement 36. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country A/9626 November 1974. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  12. United Nations General Assembly Session 32 Supplement 26. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country A/32/26 10 November 1977. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  13. United Nations General Assembly Session 47 Supplement 26. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country A/47/26 4 November 1992. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  14. United Nations General Assembly Session 41 Supplement 26. Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country A/41/26 20 November 1986. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
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