Emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly
Emergency special session Topic Convened by Date Resolution
First Suez Crisis United Nations Security Council 1-10 November 1956 A/3354
Second Soviet invasion of Hungary United Nations Security Council 4-10 November 1956 A/3355
Third Lebanon crisis United Nations Security Council 8-21 August 1958 A/3905
Fourth Congo Crisis United Nations Security Council 17-19 September 1960 A/4510
Fifth Six-Day War Soviet Union 17 June - 18 September 1967 A/6798
Sixth Soviet invasion of Afghanistan United Nations Security Council 10-14 January 1980 ES-6/1 , 2
Seventh Israeli-Palestinian conflict Senegal 22-29 July 1980 20-28 April 1982 25-26 June 1982 16-19 August 1982 24 September 1982 ES-7/1 , 2 , 3 ES-7/4 ES-7/5 ES-7/6 ES-7/9
Eighth South African occupation of Namibia ( South West Africa ) Zimbabwe 3-14 September 1981 ES-8/1 , 2
Ninth Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights ( Golan Heights Law ) United Nations Security Council 29 January-5 February 1982 ES-9/1
Tenth Israeli-Palestinian conflict ( East Jerusalem and Israeli-occupied territories ) Various 24-25 April 1997 15 July 1997 13 November 1997 17 March 1998 5 , 8 and 9 February 1999 18 and 20 October 2000 20 December 2001 7 May 2002 5 August 2002 19 September 2003 20-21 October 2003 3 December 2003 20 July 2004 24 January 2007 4 April 2007 23 January 2009 21 December 2017 13 June 2018 ES-10/1 , 2 ES-10/3 ES-10/4 ES-10/5 ES-10/6 ES-10/7 ES-10/8 , 9 ES-10/10 ES-10/11 ES-10/12 ES-10/13 ES-10/14 ES-10/15 ES-10/16 ES-10/17 ES-10/18 ES-10/L.22 ( draft ) ES-10/L.23
Sessions
An Emergency Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly is an unscheduled meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to make urgent recommendations on a particular issue. Under the Chapter five of the Charter of the United Nations , the Security Council is normally entrusted with maintaining international peace and security. However, on 3 November 1950, the General Assembly passed Resolution 377 (Uniting for Peace) which expanded its authority to consider topics that were previously reserved solely for the Security Council. Under the Resolution, if the Security Council cannot come to a decision on an issue due to a lack of unanimity, the General Assembly may hold an emergency special session within 24 hours to consider the same matter. Emergency special sessions are rare, a fact reflected in that there have been only 10 such sessions in the history of the United Nations. Additionally, most emergency special sessions run for a single session, with the exception of the 7th and 10th, which have been reconvened four and 17 times respectively.