Seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly

The Seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly was opened on 18 September 2018. The President of the United Nations General Assembly was from the GRULAC group.

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés was elected as President of the General Assembly on 5 June 2018.

There were twenty-one vice-presidents for the 73rd Session. They were:

The five permanent members of the Security Council:

• China
• France
• Russian Federation
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• United States of America

As well as the following nations:

• Algeria
• Burkina Faso
• Cambodia
• Cyprus
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Gambia (Republic of The)
• Guyana
• Iraq
• Japan
• Namibia
• Panama
• Qatar
• San Marino
• Spain
• Sudan
• Ukraine

The following were elected as Chairs and officers of the General Assembly committees for the 73rd Session:

First Committee (Disarmament and International Security)

Second Committee (Economic and Financial)

Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural)

Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization)

Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary)

Sixth Committee (Legal)

As is tradition during each session of the General Assembly, Secretary-General António Guterres drew lots to see which member state would take the helm at the first seat in the General Assembly Chamber, with the other member states following according to the English translation of their name, the same order would be followed in the six main committees. For this session, Mali was chosen to take the first seat of the General Assembly Chamber.

Most states had a representative speaking about issues concerning their country and the hopes for the coming year as to what the UNGA will do. This was an opportunity for the member states to opine on international issues of their concern. The General Debate occurred from 25 September to 1 October 2018, with the exception of the intervening Sunday. The theme for that year's debate was chosen by President María Fernanda Espinosa as "Making the United Nations relevant to all people: Global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies".

The order of speakers was given first to member states, then observer states and supranational bodies. Any other observers entities had a chance to speak at the end of the debate, if they so choose. Speakers were put on the list in the order of their request, with special consideration for ministers and other government officials of similar or higher rank. According to the rules in place for the General Debate, the statements should be in one of the United Nations official languages of Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish, and will be translated by the United Nations translators. Each speaker is requested to provide 20 advance copies of their statements to the conference officers to facilitate translation and to be presented at the podium. Speeches are requested to be limited to five minutes, with seven minutes for supranational bodies.

Foreign ministers and high representatives participating in the General Debate signed the Code of Conduct Towards Achieving a World Free of Terrorism. The Code of Conduct was the brainchild of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The main goal of the document is implementation of a wide range of international commitments to counter terrorism and establishing a broad global coalition towards achieving a world free of terrorism by 2045.

The following are resolutions the General Assembly has passed in its 73rd session, as of 3 December 2018.

• List of UN General Assembly sessions

• List of General debates of the United Nations General Assembly

• President of the 73rd General Assembly

• Agenda for the 73rd General Assembly