Editing United Nations General Assembly (section)

=== Regional groups ===
[[File:United Nations Economic and Social Council Membership.svg|thumb|275px|Division of seats of the Economic and Social Council based on regional grouping:
{{legend|#0000ff|African States (14)}}
{{legend|#339900|Asia-Pacific States (11)}}
{{legend|#cc0000|Eastern European States (6)}}
{{legend|#cc3399|Latin American and Caribbean States (10)}}
{{legend|#cc9900|Western European and Other States (13)}}]]

The [[United Nations Regional Groups]] were created in order to facilitate the equitable geographical distribution of seats among the Member States in different United Nations 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." Thus, member states of the United Nations are informally divided into five regions, with most bodies in the United Nations system having a specific number of seats allocated for each regional group. 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.<ref name="SWISS HANDBOOK"/><ref>{{UN doc |docid=A/RES/33/138 |body=A |session=33 |type=E |resolution_number=138 |title=Question of the composition of the relevant organs of the United Nations: amendments to rules 31 and 28 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly to rules |date=19 December 1978 |access-date=19 January 2019}}</ref><ref name="UN ENCYCLOPEDIA">{{cite book |last=Winkelmann |first=Ingo |s2cid=159105596 |date=2010 |title=A Concise Encyclopedia of the United Nations |editor1-last=Volger |editor1-first=Helmut |edition=2nd  |location=Leiden |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |pages=592–96 |isbn=978-90-04-18004-8 }}</ref>

The regional groups work according to the consensus principle. Candidates who are endorsed by them are, as a rule, elected by the General Assembly in any subsequent elections.<ref name="UN ENCYCLOPEDIA"/>