Source: United Nations (video statements)
Informal comments to the media by Khalilur Rahman, President-elect of the 81st session of the General Assembly, on his election and his priorities as the new President of the General Assembly.
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman was elected President of the UN General Assembly’s 81st session today (2 Jun) after defeating Andreas Kakouris of Cyprus in a closely contested vote, positioning himself to steer the world body through a pivotal year marked by intensifying global crises, UN reform efforts, and major leadership transitions.
In a secret-ballot election, Rahman secured 99 votes to Kakouris’s 91. A total of 190 ballots were cast, with no invalid votes or abstentions.
The election comes amid what the current General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock described as “not only headwinds, but immense pressure.”
Addressing Member States after the vote, Baerbock said, “the role of the President of the General Assembly is no longer simply procedural, reading out notes, because even in the procedural rules themselves, they are being challenged, as we have experienced many times before. The role, therefore, and indeed that of the wider General Assembly, has to be evolved in an era where consensus is no longer a given.”
Rahman brings more than four decades of diplomatic and multilateral experience to the role. Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister since February, he previously served as National Security Adviser and High Representative on the Rohingya Issue. A career diplomat, he joined Bangladesh’s foreign service in 1979. He also held senior UN positions in New York and Geneva.
Accepting the position, Rahman expressed “deep appreciation to the member States of the United Nations for the trust and confidence they have reposed in me.”
He said, “the UN will commence its 9th decade at a time when trust in our organisation is being tested on multiple fronts. Scourges of conflict and war, from which our organisation aimed to save our succeeding generations, continue to inflict untold sufferings. Development gains remain fragile and uncertain, and in some cases are regressing. Despite advancements in human rights, we witnessed a general backsliding of certain rights and freedoms across the world and shrinking humanitarian space. All this is happening at a time when multilateralism has come under increasing pressure, and our organisation faces financial stress.”
The President-elect said, “we must collectively demonstrate that the UN can adopt reform and better deliver and justify every penny Member States – all of you – contribute in order to restore trust in our organisation.”
Rahman said his presidency would focus on six broad priorities: peace and security; accelerating progress on the SDGs; climate action and environmental protection; human rights; governance of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and UN reform.
Drawing on Bangladesh’s experience in peacekeeping, he pledged to support preventive diplomacy, peacebuilding, and civilian protection.
He also highlighted the need to address development financing gaps, advance implementation of the Global Digital Compact and strengthen the UN’s effectiveness at a time of growing pressure on multilateral institutions.