Currently in its 79th session, its powers, composition, functions, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter.

The primary phase of these meetings generally runs from September through part of January until all issues are addressed, which is often before the next session starts.

The first session was convened on 10 January 1946 in the Methodist Central Hall in London and included representatives of the 51 founding nations.

During the 1980s, the Assembly became a forum for "North-South dialogue" between industrialized nations and developing countries on a range of international issues.

Because of their numbers, developing countries are often able to determine the agenda of the Assembly (using coordinating groups like the G77), the character of its debates, and the nature of its decisions.

The Assembly can consider the matter immediately with a view to making recommendations to Members for collective measures to maintain or restore international peace and security.

[4] The first session of the UN General Assembly was convened on 10 January 1946 in the Methodist Central Hall in London and included representatives of 51 nations.

[8][9] During this time in 1949, the CBS Television network provided live coverage of these sessions on its United Nations in Action broadcast series which was produced by the journalist Edmund Chester.

[10] It moved to the permanent Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City at the start of its seventh regular annual session, on 14 October 1952.

In December 1988, in order to hear Yasser Arafat, the General Assembly organized its 29th session in the Palace of Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland.

[20] The General Assembly also approves the budget of the United Nations and decides how much money each member state must pay to run the organization.

This is determined by considering their relative shares of total gross national product, adjusted to take into account a number of factors, including their per capita incomes.

These elections are held jointly with the Security Council, with candidates needing to receive an absolute majority of the votes in both bodies.

Resolution 33/138 of the General Assembly states that "the composition of the various organs of the United Nations should be so constituted as to ensure their representative character."

Additionally, the leadership of most bodies also rotates between the regional groups, such as the presidency of the General Assembly and the chairmanship of the six main committees.

At the general debate, Member States are given the opportunity to raise attention to topics or issues that they feel are important.

[24] The General Assembly subsidiary organs are divided into five categories: committees (30 total, six main), commissions (six), boards (seven), councils (four) and panels (one), working groups, and "other."

[48] On 21 March 2005, Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented a report, In Larger Freedom, that criticized the General Assembly for focusing so much on consensus that it was passing watered-down resolutions reflecting "the lowest common denominator of widely different opinions.

"[49] He also criticized the Assembly for trying to address too broad an agenda, instead of focusing on "the major substantive issues of the day, such as international migration and the long-debated comprehensive convention on terrorism."

Annan recommended streamlining the General Assembly's agenda, committee structure, and procedures; strengthening the role and authority of its president; enhancing the role of civil society; and establishing a mechanism to review the decisions of its committees, in order to minimize unfunded mandates and micromanagement of the United Nations Secretariat.

He pointed to the futility of resolutions concerning the Cuban embargo and the Middle East conflict as reasons for the UN model having failed.

Venezuela also called for the suspension of veto rights in the Security Council because it was a "remnant of the Second World War [it] is incompatible with the principle of sovereign equality of States.

[54] The U.N. General Assembly approved the "Pact for the Future," a plan to address global challenges including climate change, AI regulation, inequality, and conflicts.

The diplomatic congregation has also since evolved into a week attracting wealthy and influential individuals from around the world to New York City to address various agendas, ranging from humanitarian and environmental to business and political.