Group of Asia and the Pacific Small Island Developing States

The Group of Asia and the Pacific Small Island Developing States (often shortened as Asia and the Pacific or Asia–Pacific Group) is one of the five United Nations regional groups and is composed of 53 Member States from Asia and Oceania.^[1]

Group of Asia and the Pacific Small Island Developing States

Formation	1964; 60 years ago (1964)
Type	Regional group
Legal status	Active
Politics portal

The Asia and the Pacific Group Member States.

The Group, as with all the regional groups, is a non-binding dialogue group where subjects concerning regional and international matters are discussed. Additionally, the Group works to help allocate seats on United Nations bodies by nominating candidates from the region.^[2][3]

Member States

The following are the Member States of the Asia and the Pacific Group:^[4][5]

•  Afghanistan
•  Bahrain
•  Bangladesh
•  Bhutan
•  Brunei
•  Cambodia
•  China^{[lower-alpha 1]}
•  Cyprus
•  Fiji
•  India
•  Indonesia
•  Iran
•  Iraq
•  Japan
•  Jordan
•  Kazakhstan
•  Kiribati
•  Kuwait
•  Kyrgyzstan
•  Laos
•  Lebanon
•  Malaysia
•  Maldives
•  Marshall Islands
•  Micronesia
•  Mongolia
•  Myanmar^{[lower-alpha 2]}
•  Nauru
•    Nepal
•  North Korea
•  Oman
•  Pakistan
•  Palau
•  State of Palestine^{[lower-alpha 3]}
•  Papua New Guinea
•  Philippines
•  Qatar
•  Samoa
•  Saudi Arabia
•  Singapore
•  Solomon Islands
•  South Korea
•  Sri Lanka
•  Syria
•  Tajikistan
•  Thailand
•  Timor-Leste
•  Tonga
•  Turkey^{[lower-alpha 4]}
•  Turkmenistan
•  Tuvalu
•  United Arab Emirates
•  Uzbekistan
•  Vanuatu
•  Viet Nam
•  Yemen

History

Initially, the Group was known as the Asian Group.^[7] However, by the 1970s, Pacific island nations were gaining independence and joining the group. By the mid-2000s the number of Pacific island nations in the group had reached over one fifth of the membership, so they began to advocate for a change of name of the Group.^[8]

These efforts were met with success in 2011 when the United Nations agreed to include "Pacific" in the name of the Group, changing it to the Group of Asia and the Pacific Small Island Developing States at China's insistence. This change in name recognises the growing role Pacific island nations play in the United Nations System.^[9]

Representation

Security Council

The Asia and the Pacific Group holds 3 seats on the Security Council, 2 non-permanent and 1 permanent. The current members of the Security Council from the Group are:^[10][11]

Country	Term
China	Permanent
Republic of Korea	1 January 2024 – 31 December 2025
Japan	1 January 2023 – 31 December 2024

Economic and Social Council

The Asia and the Pacific Group holds 11 seats on the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The current members of the Economic and Social Council from the Group are:^[12][13]

Country	Term
Indonesia	1 January 2021 – 31 December 2023
Japan
Solomon Islands
Afghanistan	1 January 2022 – 31 December 2024
India
Oman
Kazakhstan
Bangladesh	1 January 2020 – 31 December 2022
China
Republic of Korea
Thailand

Human Rights Council

The Asia–Pacific Group holds 13 seats on the United Nations Human Rights Council. The current members of the Economic and Social Council from the Group are:^[14][15]

Country	Term
China	1 January 2021 – 31 December 2023
Nepal
Pakistan
Uzbekistan
Bahrain	1 January 2019 – 31 December 2021
Bangladesh
Fiji
India
Philippines
Indonesia	1 January 2020 – 31 December 2022
Republic of Korea
Japan
Marshall Islands

Presidency of the General Assembly

Every five years in the years ending in 1 and 6, the Asia–Pacific Group is eligible to elect a president to the General Assembly.^[1]

The following is a list of presidents from the region since its official creation in 1963:^[16]

Year Elected	Session	Name of President	Country	Note
1966	21st	Abdul Rahman Pazhwak	Afghanistan	Also chaired the 5th and 6th emergency special sessions of the General Assembly
1971	26th	Adam Malik	Indonesia
1976	31st	H. S. Amerasinghe	Sri Lanka
1981	36th	Ismat T. Kittani	Iraq	Also chaired the 7th and 9th emergency special sessions and the 12th special session of the General Assembly
1986	41st	Humayun Rasheed Choudhury	Bangladesh	Also chaired the 14th special session of the General Assembly
1991	46th	Samir S. Shihabi	Saudi Arabia
1996	51st	Razali Ismail	Malaysia	Also chaired the 10th emergency special and 19th special sessions of the General Assembly
2001	56th	Han Seung-soo	Republic of Korea	Also chaired the 10th emergency special session of the General Assembly
2006	61st	Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa	Bahrain	Also chaired the 10th emergency special session of the General Assembly
2011	66th	Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser	Qatar
2016	71st	Peter Thomson	Fiji
2021	76th	Abdulla Shahid	Maldives
Future
2026	81st	TBD	TBD
2031	86th	TBD	TBD
2036	91st	TBD	TBD

Timeline of membership

As the Group of Asia and The Pacific Small Island Developing States changed significantly over time, the number of its members had also changed.

Years	Number of members	Notes
1966-1967	25	Afghanistan, Burma (now Myanmar), Cambodia, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Cyprus, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Yemen
1967-1970	26	South Yemen
1970-1971	27	Fiji
1971	28	China[lower-alpha 5]
1971-1974	33	Bahrain, Bhutan, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates
1974-1975	34	Bangladesh
1975-1976	35	Papua New Guinea
1976-1977	36	Samoa
1977-1978	37	Vietnam
1978-1981	38	Solomon Islands
1981-1984	39	Vanuatu
1984-1990	40	Brunei
1990-1991	39	Yemeni unification
1991-1992	43	Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea
1992-1994	48	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
1994-1999	49	Palau
1999-2000	51	Nauru, Tonga
2000-2002	52	Tuvalu
2002–present	53	Timor-Leste

See also

• United Nations Regional Groups
• List of members of the United Nations Security Council
• List of members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council

References

1. Wanza, Serah N. (27 November 2017). "What Are The Five Regional Groups of the United Nations?". Worldatlas. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
2. "Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. n.d. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
3. Agam, Hasmy; Sam Daws; Terence O'Brien; Ramesh Takur (26 March 1999). What is Equitable Geographic Representation in the Twenty-First Century (PDF) (Report). United Nations University. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
4. "Regional groups of Member States". United Nations Department for General Assembly and Conference management. United Nations. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
5. United Nations Handbook 2018–19 (PDF) (56 ed.). Wellington: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand. 2018. pp. 15–17. ISSN 0110-1951. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-01-25. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
6. Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. "Status of Palestine at the United Nations". United Nations. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2010.: "On 2 April 1986, the Asian Group of the U.N. decided to accept the PLO as a full member."
7. "A/RES/60/251".
8. "Asian group of nations at UN changes its name to Asia-Pacific group". Radio New Zealand. Wellington. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
9. "UN Recognises The Pacific With Name Change". Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. 3 September 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
10. "Current Members". United Nations Security Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
11. "General Assembly Elects Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Tunisia, Viet Nam as Non-Permanent Members of Security Council for 2020-2021". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
12. "Members". United Nations Economic and Social Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
13. "General Assembly Elects 19 Economic and Social Council Members to Terms Beginning 1 January 2020, Adopts Resolution Commemorating Signing of United Nations Charter". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
14. "Current Membership of the Human Rights Council, 1 January - 31 December 2019 by regional groups". United Nations Human Rights Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
15. "General Assembly Elects 14 Member States to Human Rights Council, Appoints New Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
16. "Past Presidents". United Nations General Assembly. United Nations. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
17. Agam, Hasmy; Sam Daws; Terence O'Brien; Ramesh Takur (26 March 1999). What is Equitable Geographic Representation in the Twenty-First Century (PDF) (Report). United Nations University. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
18. Padelford, Norman J. “Politics and the Future of ECOSOC.” International Organization, vol. 15, no. 4, 1961, pp. 564–80. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2705552. Accessed 24 Mar. 2024.
19. Bailey, Sydney D. “China and the United Nations.” The World Today, vol. 27, no. 9, 1971, pp. 365–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40394545. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.

Notes

1. Permanent member of the United Nations Security Council
2. Formerly known as Burma until 1989.
3. While the State of Palestine is only a non-member observer state in the General Assembly, it has participated fully in the Asia Group since 2 April 1986 as the Palestine Liberation Organization.^[6]
4. Turkey participates the Western European And Others Group, as well as the Asian Group, but for electoral purposes it is considered a member of Western European And Others Group.
5. The Republic of China never joined the Asian Group.^[17][18][19]

External links

• Records of the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) (2002-present) at the United Nations Archives
• The Regional Groups via the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management