Bangladeshi Diplomat and Foreign Minister, Khalilur Rahman was on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 elected President of the United Nations General Assembly after he defeated Andreas Kakouri of Cyprus in a closely contested voting process, positioning himself to steer the world’s body through a pivotal year marks by intensifying global and major leadership transitions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Rahman through a secret – ballot election secured 99 votes to defeat closest rival, Mr. Kakouri who polled 91 votes from a total of 190 ballots cast, with no valid votes or abstentions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United Nations General Assembly Presidency rotates among the United Nations’s five regional groups, and 81st session falls to Asia – Pacific group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Rahman Khalilur will serve a year term commencing from 8 September. His presidency will coincide with one of the most consequential processes on the UN Calendar, the selection of Secretary – General Antonio Guiterres’s successor, whose term ends on 31st December 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Rahman the newly elected President of the General Assembly brings more than four decades of diplomatic and multilateral experience to his new role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was Bangladeshi’s Foreign Minister since February, he previously served as National Security Adviser and High Representative on the Rohingya issue. A career diplomat, he joined the Bangladeshi’s foreign service in 1979. He also held senior UN position in New York and Geneva. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accepting his position, Mr Rahman said he was taken on the role “with humility and respect” at a moment when confident in the international system was under strain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
” The United Nations will commence its ninth decade at a time when trust in our organization is being tested on multiple fronts,” he told Member States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Taken together, these challenges tend to undermining the public trust and confidence in the ability of our organization to deliver on its promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Rahman, the President – elect 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drawing on Bangladesh’s experience in peacekeeping, he pledged to support preventive diplomacy, peace – building and civilian protection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also highlighted the need to address development financial gaps, advance implementation of the Global Digital Compact and strengthen the United Nations effectiveness at a time of growing pressure on multilateral institutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The President – elect said he intends to act as a bridge – builder, promising to engage all Member States and seek common ground despite growing divisions: “As your President, I will dedicate myself to rebuilding trust, nurturing consensus, and opening space for good faith negotiations that lead to outcomes for all that are owned by all,” he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also pledged to uphold the UN Charter, maintain geographical and gender balance within his office and support the needs of smaller delegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The General Assembly is the UN’s most representative body, bringing all 193 Member States, each with one vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While its resolutions are not legally binding, the Assembly serves as the Principal Forum for International deliberation on peace and security, development, human rights and international law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 81st session will open on 8 September, with world leaders gathering two weeks later for the annual high – level debate at United Nations Headquarters, in New York. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Rahman’s overarching theme for the session is “Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations that Delivers for All.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source : UN News <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bangladeshi Diplomat and Foreign Minister, Khalilur Rahman was on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 elected President of the United Nations General Assembly after he defeated Andreas Kakouri of Cyprus in a closely contested voting process, positioning himself to steer the world’s body through a pivotal year marks by intensifying global and major leadership transitions. Mr. Rahman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2832"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2841,"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832\/revisions\/2841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnavigator.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}