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}} !UN member state !Region !Sessions |
---|
1946
|60px |Paul-Henri Spaak |{{BEL}} |WES |
1947
|60px |Oswaldo Aranha |{{flag|Brazil|1889}} |LAS |First special |
{{sort|1948.1|1948}}
|60px |José Arce |{{ARG}} |LAS |
{{sort|1948.2|1948}}
|60px |Herbert Vere Evatt |{{AUS}} |COS |
1949
|60px |Carlos P. Romulo |{{flag|Philippines|1936}} |EAS |Fourth, First Asian president |
1950
|60px |Nasrollah Entezam |{{flag|Iran|1925}} |EAS |
1951
|60px |Luis Padilla Nervo |{{flag|Mexico|1934}} |LAS |
1952
|60px |Lester B. Pearson |{{flag|Canada|1921}} |COS |
1953
|60px |Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit |{{IND}} |COS |Eighth, First woman president |
1954
|60px |Eelco van Kleffens |{{NED}} |WES |
1955
|60px |José Maza Fernández |{{CHL}} |LAS |
{{sort|1956.1|1956}}
|60px |Rudecindo Ortega Mason |{{CHL}} |LAS |
{{sort|1956.2|1956}}
|60px |Wan Waithayakon |{{THA}} |EAS |
1957
|60px |Leslie Munro |{{NZL}} |COS |
1958
|60px |Charles Malik |{{flag|Lebanon}} |MES |
1959
|60px |Víctor Andrés Belaúnde |{{PER}} |LAS |
1960
|60px |Frederick Boland |{{IRL}} |WES |
1961
|60px |Mongi Slim |{{flag|Tunisia|1959}} |MES |Sixteenth, First African president |
1962
|60px |Muhammad Zafarullah Khan |{{PAK}} |COS |
1963
|60px |Carlos Sosa Rodríguez |{{flag|Venezuela|1954}} |LAS |
1964
|60px |Alex Quaison-Sackey |{{flag|Ghana|1964}} |COS |
1965
|60px |Amintore Fanfani |{{ITA}} |WES |
1966
| |Abdul Rahman Pazhwak |{{flag|Kingdom of Afghanistan|name=Afghanistan}} |Asia |
1967
|60px |Corneliu Mănescu |{{flag|Romania|1965}} |EEG |
1968
|60px |Emilio Arenales Catalán |{{GUA}} |GRULAC |
1969
|60px |Angie Brooks |{{LBR}} |Africa |
1970
|60px |Edvard Hambro |{{NOR}} |WEOG |
1971
|60px |Adam Malik |{{INA}} |Asia |
1972
|60px |Stanisław Trepczyński |{{POL}} |EEG |
1973
|60px |Leopoldo Benites |{{ECU}} |GRULAC |
1974
|60px |Abdelaziz Bouteflika |{{ALG}} |Africa |
1975
|60px |Gaston Thorn |{{LUX}} |WEOG |
1976
|60px |Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe |{{flag|Sri Lanka}} |Asia |
1977
|60px |Lazar Mojsov |{{flag|Yugoslavia}} |EEG |
1978
|60px |Indalecio Liévano |{{COL}} |GRULAC |
1979
|60px |Salim Ahmed Salim |{{flag|TAN|name=United Republic of Tanzania}} |Africa |Thirty-fourth |
1980
|60px |Rüdiger von Wechmar |{{flag|West Germany|name=Federal Republic of Germany}} |WEOG |
1981
|60px |Ismat T. Kittani |{{flag|Iraq|1963}} |Asia |Thirty-sixth |
1982
|60px |Imre Hollai |{{HUN}} |EEG |
1983
|60px |Jorge Illueca |{{PAN}} |GRULAC |
1984
| |Paul J. F. Lusaka |{{flag|Zambia|1964}} |Africa |
1985
|60px |Jaime de Piniés |{{ESP}} |WEOG |
1986
| |Humayun Rashid Choudhury |{{BAN}} |Asia |
1987
|60px |Peter Florin |{{flag|German Democratic Republic}} |EEG |
1988
|60px |Dante Caputo |{{ARG}} |GRULAC |
1989
|60px |Joseph Nanven Garba |{{NGA}} |Africa |Forty-fourth |
1990
|60px |Guido de Marco |{{MLT}} |WEOG |
1991
|60px |Samir Shihabi |{{KSA}} |Asia |
1992
|60px |Stoyan Ganev |{{BUL}} |EEG |
1993
|60px |Rudy Insanally |{{GUY}} |GRULAC |
1994
|60px |Amara Essy |{{CIV}} |Africa |
1995
|60px |Diogo de Freitas do Amaral |{{POR}} |WEOG |
1996
|60px |Razali Ismail |{{MYS}} |Asia |
1997
|60px |Hennadiy Udovenko |{{UKR}} |EEG |Fifty-second |
1998
|60px |Didier Opertti |{{URU}} |GRULAC |Fifty-third |
1999
|60px |Theo-Ben Gurirab |{{NAM}} |Africa |Fifty-fourth |
2000
|60px |Harri Holkeri |{{FIN}} |WEOG |Fifty-fifth |
2001
|60px |Han Seung-soo |{{flag|Republic of Korea}} |Asia |Fifty-sixth |
2002
|60px |Jan Kavan |{{CZE}} |EEG |Fifty-seventh |
2003
|60px |Julian Hunte |{{flag|Saint Lucia}} |GRULAC |Fifty-eighth |
2004
|60px |Jean Ping |{{GAB}} |Africa |
2005
|60px |Jan Eliasson |{{SWE}} |WEOG |
2006
|60px |Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa |{{BHR}} |Asia |Sixty-first |
2007
|60px |Srgjan Kerim |{{flag|North Macedonia|name=North Macedonia}} |EEG |
2008
|60px |Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann |{{NIC}} |GRULAC |
2009
|60px |Ali Treki |{{flag|Libya|1977|name=Libya}} |Africa |
2010
|60px |Joseph Deiss |{{flag|Switzerland}} |WEOG |
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}} |{{flag|Qatar}} |Asia-Pacific |
2012
|60px |Vuk Jeremić |{{flag|Serbia}} |EEG |
2013
|60px |John William Ashe |{{flag|Antigua and Barbuda}} |GRULAC |
2014
|60px |Sam Kutesa |{{flag|Uganda}} |Africa |
2015
|60px |Mogens Lykketoft |{{flag|Denmark}} |WEOG |
2016
|60px |Peter Thomson |{{flag|Fiji}} |Asia-Pacific |
2017
|60px |Miroslav Lajčák |{{flag|Slovakia}} |EEG |Seventy-second |
2018
|60px |María Fernanda Espinosa |{{flag|Ecuador}} |GRULAC |
2019
|60px |Tijjani Muhammad-Bande |{{flag|Nigeria}} |Africa |
2020
|60px |Volkan Bozkır |{{flag|Turkey}} |WEOG |
2021
|60px |Abdulla Shahid |{{flag|Maldives}} | Asia-Pacific |
2022
|60px |Csaba Kőrösi |{{flag|Hungary}} | EEG |
2023
|60px |Dennis Francis |{{flag|Trinidad and Tobago}} | GRULAC |
2024
|60px |Philémon Yang |{{flag|Cameroon}} | Africa |
2025
|60px |Annalena Baerbock |{{flag|Germany}} | WEOG |
=Abbreviations=
; Pre-1966
- COS: Commonwealth Seat
- EAS: Eastern European and Asian Seat
- LAS: Latin American Seat
- MES: Middle Eastern Seat
- WES: Western European Seat
; Since 1966
- Africa: African Group
- Asia-Pacific: Asian Group, since 2011 the Asia-Pacific Group{{Cite news |date=1 September 2011 |title=Asian Group of Nations at UN Changes Its Name to Asia-Pacific Group |work=Radio New Zealand |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/199302/asian-group-of-nations-at-un-changes-its-name-to-asia-pacific-group |access-date=7 March 2022}}
- EEG: Eastern European Group
- GRULAC: Latin American and Caribbean Group
- WEOG: Western European and Others Group
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Wikinewscat|United Nations}}
- [https://www.un.org/ga/60/presskit/presidents.htm UN: List of UN General Assembly presidents]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130517085404/http://www.unelections.org/?q=node%2F94 UN General Assembly President Election Reform].
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080511180149/http://www.unelections.org/ UNelections.org].
- [https://www.un.org/en/ga/75/meetings/elections/index.shtml Elections and appointments (2020-2021)]
{{Presidents of the UN General Assembly}}
{{Permanent Representatives to the United Nations}}
{{United Nations}}