Dear distinguished members of the ICAPP Standing Committee,

The draft resolution to invite the ICAPP to the U.N. General Assembly as an observer was co-sponsored by 13 member states, i.e. Australia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Netherlands, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, and was deliberated at the Sixth Committee meeting of the 71st session of the U.N. General Assembly on October 11, 2016.

At the meeting, in addition to the co-sponsors, three more member states, i.e. Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey, made statements supporting the draft resolution. Consensus was not reached, however, due to reservations expressed by three member states, i.e. Russia, Syria and Venezuela, on the ground that the ICAPP is not an inter-governmental organization, thus does not meet one of the criteria set by the General Assembly for granting observer status.

In the absence of consensus, the Chairman of the Sixth Committee concluded discussions on the item by recommending member states to continue consultation among them and to revert to it at later stage.

The ICAPP mission to the U.N. on this occasion was also joined by three other SC Members, i.e. Hon. Mushahid Hussain Sayed of Pakistan, Hon. Theo Sambuaga of Indonesia and Hon. Youssef Awad of Lebanon.

With warm regards,

Chung Eui-yong
Co-Chairman and
Secretary General of the ICAPP
U.N. headquarters, New York
October 11, 2016