President of the United Nations General Assembly

{{Use Oxford spelling|date=March 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

{{distinguish|Secretary-General of the United Nations}}

{{Short description|Chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly}}

{{Infobox Political post

| style = His Excellency

| post = President of the
United Nations General Assembly

| insignia = Emblem of the United Nations.svg

| insigniasize =

| insigniacaption = Emblem of the United Nations

| flag = Flag of the United Nations.svg

| flagsize = 140px

| flagcaption = Flag of the United Nations

| image = Philemon Yang, Prime Minister of Cameroon in London, 21 June 2010. (4720521915) cropped.jpg

| imagesize =

| incumbent = Philémon Yang

| incumbentsince = 10 September 2024

| department = United Nations General Assembly

| status = Presiding officer

| member_of = General Assembly

| residence = New York City
(International Territory)

| seat = United Nations Headquarters

| appointer = Member states of General Assembly

| termlength = One year

| constituting_instrument = Charter of the United Nations

| formation = 1946

| inaugural = Paul-Henri Spaak

| website = [https://www.un.org/en/ga/president/index.shtml un.org/en/ga/]

}}

The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly.

Election

File:UNGA President states.svg

The session of the assembly is scheduled for every year starting in September—any special, or emergency special, assemblies over the next year will be headed by the president of the UNGA.

The presidency rotates annually between the five geographic groups: African, Asia-Pacific, Eastern European, Latin American and Caribbean, and Western European and other States.{{Cite web |title=About the General Assembly |url=https://www.un.org/en/ga/about/background.shtml |access-date=7 March 2022 |website=United Nations}}

Because of their powerful stature globally, some of the largest, most powerful countries have never held the presidency, including the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Japan.

A few countries had a national elected as president of UNGA twice: Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Hungary and Nigeria; all the other member states had a national holding this office once (not counting additional special and emergency special sessions of UNGA and also not considering that the then separate West Germany and East Germany held the presidency once each during the Cold War).

In addition to the president, a slate of 21 vice-presidents are elected for each General Assembly session. The vice-presidents have the same powers and duties as the president, and the president may designate one of them to cover his absence from any meeting or part thereof.{{cite web |title=Who are the Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly? |url=https://ask.un.org/faq/14364 |website=Dag Hammarskjöld Library |publisher=United Nations |access-date=1 April 2024}}{{cite web |title=UNGA: Rules of procedure |url=https://www.un.org/en/ga/about/ropga/prez.shtml |publisher=United Nations |access-date=1 April 2024}}

List of presidents

class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"
Year elected

!Image

!Name of president{{Cite web |title=Past Presidents |url=https://www.un.org/en/ga/president/index.shtml |access-date=7 March 2022 |website=General Assembly of the United Nations}}
(Birth–Death)

!UN member state

!Region

!Sessions

1946

|60px

|Paul-Henri Spaak
{{small|(1889–1972)}}

|{{BEL}}

|WES

|First

1947

|60px

|Oswaldo Aranha
{{small|(1894–1960)}}

|{{flag|Brazil|1889}}

|LAS

|First special
Second

{{sort|1948.1|1948}}

|60px

|José Arce
{{small|(1881–1968)}}

|{{ARG}}

|LAS

|Second special

{{sort|1948.2|1948}}

|60px

|Herbert Vere Evatt
{{small|(1894–1965)}}

|{{AUS}}

|COS

|Third

1949

|60px

|Carlos P. Romulo
{{small|(1898–1985)}}

|{{flag|Philippines|1936}}

|EAS

|Fourth, First Asian president

1950

|60px

|Nasrollah Entezam
{{small|(1900–1980)}}

|{{flag|Iran|1925}}

|EAS

|Fifth

1951

|60px

|Luis Padilla Nervo
{{small|(1894–1985)}}

|{{flag|Mexico|1934}}

|LAS

|Sixth

1952

|60px

|Lester B. Pearson
{{small|(1897–1972)}}

|{{flag|Canada|1921}}

|COS

|Seventh

1953

|60px

|Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
{{small|(1900–1990)}}

|{{IND}}

|COS

|Eighth, First woman president

1954

|60px

|Eelco van Kleffens
{{small|(1894–1983)}}

|{{NED}}

|WES

|Ninth

1955

|60px

|José Maza Fernández
{{small|(1889–1964)}}

|{{CHL}}

|LAS

|Tenth

{{sort|1956.1|1956}}

|60px

|Rudecindo Ortega Mason
{{small|(1896–1962)}}

|{{CHL}}

|LAS

|First emergency special
Second emergency special

{{sort|1956.2|1956}}

|60px

|Wan Waithayakon
{{small|(1891–1976)}}

|{{THA}}

|EAS

|Eleventh

1957

|60px

|Leslie Munro
{{small|(1901–1974)}}

|{{NZL}}

|COS

|Twelfth
Third emergency special

1958

|60px

|Charles Malik
{{small|(1906–1987)}}

|{{flag|Lebanon}}

|MES

|Thirteenth

1959

|60px

|Víctor Andrés Belaúnde
{{small|(1893–1966)}}

|{{PER}}

|LAS

|Fourteenth
Fourth emergency special

1960

|60px

|Frederick Boland
{{small|(1904–1985)}}

|{{IRL}}

|WES

|Fifteenth
Third special

1961

|60px

|Mongi Slim
{{small|(1908–1969)}}

|{{flag|Tunisia|1959}}

|MES

|Sixteenth, First African president

1962

|60px

|Muhammad Zafarullah Khan
{{small|(1893–1985)}}

|{{PAK}}

|COS

|Seventeenth
Fourth special

1963

|60px

|Carlos Sosa Rodríguez
{{small|(1912–1997)}}

|{{flag|Venezuela|1954}}

|LAS

|Eighteenth

1964

|60px

|Alex Quaison-Sackey
{{small|(1924–1992)}}

|{{flag|Ghana|1964}}

|COS

|Nineteenth

1965

|60px

|Amintore Fanfani
{{small|(1908–1999)}}

|{{ITA}}

|WES

|Twentieth

1966

|

|Abdul Rahman Pazhwak
{{small|(1919–1995)}}

|{{flag|Kingdom of Afghanistan|name=Afghanistan}}

|Asia

|Twenty-first
Fifth special
Fifth emergency special

1967

|60px

|Corneliu Mănescu
{{small|(1916–2000)}}

|{{flag|Romania|1965}}

|EEG

|Twenty-second

1968

|60px

|Emilio Arenales Catalán
{{small|(1922–1969)}}

|{{GUA}}

|GRULAC

|Twenty-third

1969

|60px

|Angie Brooks
{{small|(1928–2007)}}

|{{LBR}}

|Africa

|Twenty-fourth

1970

|60px

|Edvard Hambro
{{small|(1911–1977)}}

|{{NOR}}

|WEOG

|Twenty-fifth

1971

|60px

|Adam Malik
{{small|(1917–1984)}}

|{{INA}}

|Asia

|Twenty-sixth

1972

|60px

|Stanisław Trepczyński
{{small|(1924–2002)}}

|{{POL}}

|EEG

|Twenty-seventh

1973

|60px

|Leopoldo Benites
{{small|(1905–1996)}}

|{{ECU}}

|GRULAC

|Twenty-eighth
Sixth special

1974

|60px

|Abdelaziz Bouteflika
{{small|(1937–2021)}}

|{{ALG}}

|Africa

|Twenty-ninth
Seventh special

1975

|60px

|Gaston Thorn
{{small|(1928–2007)}}

|{{LUX}}

|WEOG

|Thirtieth

1976

|60px

|Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe
{{small|(1913–1980)}}

|{{flag|Sri Lanka}}

|Asia

|Thirty-first

1977

|60px

|Lazar Mojsov
{{small|(1920–2011)}}

|{{flag|Yugoslavia}}

|EEG

|Thirty-second
Eighth special
Ninth special
Tenth special

1978

|60px

|Indalecio Liévano
{{small|(1917–1982)}}

|{{COL}}

|GRULAC

|Thirty-third

1979

|60px

|Salim Ahmed Salim
{{small|(born 1942)}}

|{{flag|TAN|name=United Republic of Tanzania}}

|Africa

|Thirty-fourth
Sixth emergency special
Seventh emergency special
Eleventh special

1980

|60px

|Rüdiger von Wechmar
{{small|(1923–2007)}}

|{{flag|West Germany|name=Federal Republic of Germany}}

|WEOG

|Thirty-fifth
Eighth emergency special

1981

|60px

|Ismat T. Kittani
{{small|(1929–2001)}}

|{{flag|Iraq|1963}}

|Asia

|Thirty-sixth
Seventh emergency specialContinuation
Ninth emergency special
Twelfth special

1982

|60px

|Imre Hollai
{{small|(1925–2017)}}

|{{HUN}}

|EEG

|Thirty-seventh

1983

|60px

|Jorge Illueca
{{small|(1918–2012)}}

|{{PAN}}

|GRULAC

|Thirty-eighth

1984

|

|Paul J. F. Lusaka
{{small|(1935–1996)}}

|{{flag|Zambia|1964}}

|Africa

|Thirty-ninth

1985

|60px

|Jaime de Piniés
{{small|(1917–2003)}}

|{{ESP}}

|WEOG

|Fortieth
Thirteenth special

1986

|

|Humayun Rashid Choudhury
{{small|(1928–2001)}}

|{{BAN}}

|Asia

|Forty-first
Fourteenth special

1987

|60px

|Peter Florin
{{small|(1921–2014)}}

|{{flag|German Democratic Republic}}

|EEG

|Forty-second
Fifteenth special

1988

|60px

|Dante Caputo
{{small|(1943–2018)}}

|{{ARG}}

|GRULAC

|Forty-third

1989

|60px

|Joseph Nanven Garba
{{small|(1943–2002)}}

|{{NGA}}

|Africa

|Forty-fourth
Sixteenth special
Seventeenth special
Eighteenth special

1990

|60px

|Guido de Marco
{{small|(1931–2010)}}

|{{MLT}}

|WEOG

|Forty-fifth

1991

|60px

|Samir Shihabi
{{small|(1925–2010)}}

|{{KSA}}

|Asia

|Forty-sixth

1992

|60px

|Stoyan Ganev
{{small|(1955–2013)}}

|{{BUL}}

|EEG

|Forty-seventh

1993

|60px

|Rudy Insanally
{{small|(1936–2023)}}

|{{GUY}}

|GRULAC

|Forty-eighth

1994

|60px

|Amara Essy
{{small|(1944–2025)}}

|{{CIV}}

|Africa

|Forty-ninth

1995

|60px

|Diogo de Freitas do Amaral
{{small|(1941–2019)}}

|{{POR}}

|WEOG

|Fiftieth

1996

|60px

|Razali Ismail
{{small|(born 1939)}}

|{{MYS}}

|Asia

|Fifty-first
Tenth emergency special
Nineteenth special

1997

|60px

|Hennadiy Udovenko
{{small|(1931–2013)}}

|{{UKR}}

|EEG

|Fifty-second
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
Twentieth special

1998

|60px

|Didier Opertti
{{small|(born 1937)}}

|{{URU}}

|GRULAC

|Fifty-third
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
Twenty-first special

1999

|60px

|Theo-Ben Gurirab
{{small|(1938–2018)}}

|{{NAM}}

|Africa

|Fifty-fourth
Twenty-second special
Twenty-third special
Twenty-fourth special

2000

|60px

|Harri Holkeri
{{small|(1937–2011)}}

|{{FIN}}

|WEOG

|Fifty-fifth
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
Twenty-fifth special
Twenty-sixth special

2001

|60px

|Han Seung-soo
{{small|(born 1936)}}

|{{flag|Republic of Korea}}

|Asia

|Fifty-sixth
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
Twenty-seventh special

2002

|60px

|Jan Kavan
{{small|(born 1946)}}

|{{CZE}}

|EEG

|Fifty-seventh
Tenth emergency specialContinuation

2003

|60px

|Julian Hunte
{{small|(born 1940)}}

|{{flag|Saint Lucia}}

|GRULAC

|Fifty-eighth
Tenth emergency specialContinuation

2004

|60px

|Jean Ping
{{small|(born 1942)}}

|{{GAB}}

|Africa

|Fifty-ninth
Twenty-eighth special

2005

|60px

|Jan Eliasson
{{small|(born 1940)}}

|{{SWE}}

|WEOG

|Sixtieth

2006

|60px

|Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa
{{small|(born 1952)}}

|{{BHR}}

|Asia

|Sixty-first
Tenth emergency specialContinuation

2007

|60px

|Srgjan Kerim
{{small|(born 1948)}}

|{{flag|North Macedonia|name=North Macedonia}}

|EEG

|Sixty-second

2008

|60px

|Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann
{{small|(1933–2017)}}

|{{NIC}}

|GRULAC

|Sixty-third

2009

|60px

|Ali Treki
{{small|(1937–2015)}}

|{{flag|Libya|1977|name=Libya}}

|Africa

|Sixty-fourth

2010

|60px

|Joseph Deiss
{{small|(born 1946)}}

|{{flag|Switzerland}}

|WEOG

|Sixty-fifth

2011

|60px

|Nassir Al-Nasser{{Cite web |date=22 June 2011 |title=Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar Elected President of General Assembly's Sixty-Sixth Session; Vice-Presidents, Main Committee Chairs Also Named |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2011/ga11105.doc.htm |access-date=7 March 2022 |website=United Nations}}
{{small|(born 1952)}}

|{{flag|Qatar}}

|Asia-Pacific

|Sixty-sixth

2012

|60px

|Vuk Jeremić
{{small|(born 1975)}}

|{{flag|Serbia}}

|EEG

|Sixty-seventh (election)

2013

|60px

|John William Ashe
{{small|(1954–2016)}}

|{{flag|Antigua and Barbuda}}

|GRULAC

|Sixty-eighth

2014

|60px

|Sam Kutesa
{{small|(born 1949)}}

|{{flag|Uganda}}

|Africa

|Sixty-ninth
Twenty-ninth special

2015

|60px

|Mogens Lykketoft
{{small|(born 1946)}}

|{{flag|Denmark}}

|WEOG

|Seventieth
Thirtieth special

2016

|60px

|Peter Thomson
{{small|(born 1948)}}

|{{flag|Fiji}}

|Asia-Pacific

|Seventy-first (election)

2017

|60px

|Miroslav Lajčák
{{small|(born 1963)}}

|{{flag|Slovakia}}

|EEG

|Seventy-second
Tenth emergency specialContinuation

2018

|60px

|María Fernanda Espinosa
{{small|(born 1964)}}

|{{flag|Ecuador}}

|GRULAC

|Seventy-third

2019

|60px

|Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
{{small|(born 1957)}}

|{{flag|Nigeria}}

|Africa

|Seventy-fourth

2020

|60px

|Volkan Bozkır
{{small|(born 1950)}}

|{{flag|Turkey}}

|WEOG

|Seventy-fifth

2021

|60px

|Abdulla Shahid
{{small|(born 1962)}}

|{{flag|Maldives}}

| Asia-Pacific

|Seventy-sixth
Eleventh emergency special

2022

|60px

|Csaba Kőrösi
{{small|(born 1958)}}

|{{flag|Hungary}}

| EEG

|Seventy-seventh

2023

|60px

|Dennis Francis
{{small|(born 1956)}}

|{{flag|Trinidad and Tobago}}

| GRULAC

|Seventy-eighth

2024

|60px

|Philémon Yang
{{small|(born 1947)}}

|{{flag|Cameroon}}

| Africa

|Seventy-ninth

2025

|60px

|Annalena Baerbock
{{small|(born 1980)}}

|{{flag|Germany}}

| WEOG

|Eightieth

=Abbreviations=

; Pre-1966

; Since 1966

See also

References

{{Reflist}}