António Guterres, UN chief greeted Abdulla Shahid, Foreign Minister of the Maldives as president of the General Assembly (GA).
Guterres explained, Shadid Adbull has extensive diplomatic experience. Within his current role has become a strong voice for small island developing States. He expressed his greater understanding of multilateralism; and it’s integral part in global challenges.
He congratulated Abdulla Shadid for choosing ‘hope’ as the basis of his vision statement. He explained that Shadid coming from a small developing State will bring a unique perception to the GA. The timing is ideal as the General Assembly prepare for the UN’s climate conference, COP26,
The election saw Shahid against Zalmai Rassoul the former Afghan Foreign Minister and confirmed Shahid with 143 votes. Rassoul received 48 votes.
At the General Assembly 75th anniversary session, the election result was announced,
Gutterres drew lots to confirm the next Member State that will take the first assembly seat in September. He went on to acknowledge his appreciation of both Zalma Rassoul for his contribution; and previous president Volkan Bozkir for his leadership.
The General Assembly is the foundation of the UN’s work; essential to the organisation’s effectiveness he said.
Gutterres announced that in 2021 and a global pandemic, their effectiveness is needed more than ever.
Bozkir joined Guterres in recognising the strong candidacy in Rassoul. Bozkir also announced the Members states respect for his strong multilateral diplomacy experience . He articulated the importance of the international community support for Afghanistan’s journey to democracy. Stating it was more important now than ever.
Covid
The UN chief recognised the millions of people lost in the pandemic and those mourning their loss. Plus the impact that it has on communities, economies and societies. Gutterres stressed the importance od the covid explaining that until the vaccines is universally available; covid still poses an enormous threat.
He confirmed that the 76th assembly will aim to tackle these issues. Addressing these across their three key chosen themes; peace, human rights and sustainable development.
Full support
The meeting was closed with Guterres reiterating Shahid every success in his task. He also extended his full support to the entire secretariat in achieving their goals whilst upholding their values.
Messages of support continue to flood in across social media. Chief of World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he looked forward to working together; towards universal health and the end of the pandemic.
Other Elected Officials
At the general assembly meeting six key UN committee chairs were also announced:
1st committee: Omar Hilale (Morocco) will chair the first Committee, covering deals with disarmament;
2nd committee: Vanessa Frazier (Malta) will chair this Economic and Financial matters committee
3rd Committee: Djibouti’s Mohamed Siad Doualeh will chair on human rights, humanitarian affairs and social matters.
4th Committee: Egriselda Aracely González López (El Salvador) will chair this committee on Special Political and Decolonization
5th Committee: Mher Margaryan (Armenia) will chair on administrative and budgetary matters
6th Committee: Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani (Qatar) will lead on international law and other legal matters.
