Recommendation 12

HM Government Acknowledged

We note the Committee’s suggestion on the possibility of using the “Uniting for Peace” (UfP) procedure, which, if there is sufficient support, allows the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to meet, if necessary in an Emergency Special Session (ESS), to consider a matter on which the Security Council is essentially blocked by a veto from acting upon. In practice, however, the General Assembly is already seized of the Myanmar crisis and is already exercising its prerogatives in respect of the crisis. This would not be changed by invoking the UfP procedure. On 26 February, the General Assembly convened to discuss the situation in Myanmar and the UK used this as an opportunity to provide a platform for Government Response: The UK Government’s Response to the Myanmar Crisis 5 the NUG. On 18 June, the UK worked closely with partners to deliver a General Assembly resolution, adopted with 119 votes in favour, on the situation in Myanmar. This resolution strongly condemned the crisis in Myanmar and included a commitment to prevent the flow of arms to Myanmar. The UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar also takes her mandate from, and reports to, the General Assembly. UNGA also addresses Myanmar’s human rights situation annually. While UfP allows UNGA to discuss the issue and to make recommendations, it does not allow UNGA to authorise measures that it cannot otherwise do under the UN Charter.