President of the United Nations General Assembly explained

President of the United Nations General Assembly should not be confused with Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Style:His Excellency
Post:President of the
United Nations General Assembly
Insignia:Emblem of the United Nations.svg
Insigniacaption:Emblem of the United Nations
Flag:Flag of the United Nations.svg
Flagsize:140px
Flagcaption:Flag of the United Nations
Incumbent:Philemon 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: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

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.[1]

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.

The only modern countries that had a national elected as president of UNGA twice are Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Hungary and Nigeria; all the other member states had been represented only once by their nationals holding this office. This does not include special and emergency special sessions of UNGA. FR ["West"] Germany and ["East"] German DR held the presidency once each during the Cold War; the reunited Germany has not done so.

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.[2] [3]

List of presidents

Year electedImageName of president[4]
(Birth–Death)		UN member stateRegionSessions
1946Paul-Henri Spaak
WESFirst
1947Oswaldo Aranha
 BrazilLASFirst special
Second
José Arce
LASSecond special
Herbert Vere Evatt
COSThird
1949Carlos P. Romulo
 PhilippinesEASFourth, First Asian president
1950Nasrollah Entezam
EASFifth
1951Luis Padilla Nervo
 MexicoLASSixth
1952Lester B. Pearson
 CanadaCOSSeventh
1953Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
COSEighth, First woman president
1954Eelco van Kleffens
WESNinth
1955José Maza Fernández
LASTenth
Rudecindo Ortega Mason
LASFirst emergency special
Second emergency special
Wan Waithayakon
EASEleventh
1957Leslie Munro
COSTwelfth
Third emergency special
1958Charles Malik
 LebanonMESThirteenth
1959Víctor Andrés Belaúnde
LASFourteenth
Fourth emergency special
1960Frederick Boland
WESFifteenth
Third special
1961Mongi Slim
 TunisiaMESSixteenth, First African president
1962Muhammad Zafarullah Khan
COSSeventeenth
Fourth special
1963Carlos Sosa Rodríguez
LASEighteenth
1964Alex Quaison-Sackey
 GhanaCOSNineteenth
1965Amintore Fanfani
WESTwentieth
1966Abdul Rahman Pazhwak
AsiaTwenty-first
Fifth special
Fifth emergency special
1967Corneliu Mănescu
 RomaniaEEGTwenty-second
1968Emilio Arenales Catalán
GRULACTwenty-third
1969Angie Brooks
AfricaTwenty-fourth
1970Edvard Hambro
WEOGTwenty-fifth
1971Adam Malik
AsiaTwenty-sixth
1972Stanisław Trepczyński
EEGTwenty-seventh
1973Leopoldo Benites
GRULACTwenty-eighth
Sixth special
1974Abdelaziz Bouteflika
AfricaTwenty-ninth
Seventh special
1975Gaston Thorn
WEOGThirtieth
1976Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe
 Sri LankaAsiaThirty-first
1977Lazar Mojsov
EEGThirty-second
Eighth special
Ninth special
Tenth special
1978Indalecio Liévano
GRULACThirty-third
1979Salim Ahmed Salim
AfricaThirty-fourth
Sixth emergency special
Seventh emergency special
Eleventh special
1980Rüdiger von Wechmar
WEOGThirty-fifth
Eighth emergency special
1981Ismat T. Kittani
 IraqAsiaThirty-sixth
Seventh emergency special—Continuation
Ninth emergency special
Twelfth special
1982Imre Hollai
EEGThirty-seventh
1983Jorge Illueca
GRULACThirty-eighth
1984Paul J. F. Lusaka
 ZambiaAfricaThirty-ninth
1985Jaime de Piniés
WEOGFortieth
Thirteenth special
1986Humayun Rashid Choudhury
AsiaForty-first
Fourteenth special
1987Peter Florin
EEGForty-second
Fifteenth special
1988Dante Caputo
GRULACForty-third
1989Joseph Nanven Garba
AfricaForty-fourth
Sixteenth special
Seventeenth special
Eighteenth special
1990Guido de Marco
WEOGForty-fifth
1991Samir Shihabi
AsiaForty-sixth
1992Stoyan Ganev
EEGForty-seventh
1993Rudy Insanally
GRULACForty-eighth
1994Amara Essy
AfricaForty-ninth
1995Diogo de Freitas do Amaral
WEOGFiftieth
1996Razali Ismail
AsiaFifty-first
Tenth emergency special
Nineteenth special
1997Hennadiy Udovenko
EEGFifty-second
Tenth emergency special—Continuation
Twentieth special
1998Didier Opertti
GRULACFifty-third
Tenth emergency special—Continuation
Twenty-first special
1999Theo-Ben Gurirab
AfricaFifty-fourth
Twenty-second special
Twenty-third special
Twenty-fourth special
2000Harri Holkeri
WEOGFifty-fifth
Tenth emergency special—Continuation
Twenty-fifth special
Twenty-sixth special
2001Han Seung-soo
AsiaFifty-sixth
Tenth emergency special—Continuation
Twenty-seventh special
2002Jan Kavan
EEGFifty-seventh
Tenth emergency special—Continuation
2003Julian Hunte
 Saint LuciaGRULACFifty-eighth
Tenth emergency special—Continuation
2004Jean Ping
AfricaFifty-ninth
Twenty-eighth special
2005Jan Eliasson
WEOGSixtieth
2006Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa
AsiaSixty-first
Tenth emergency special—Continuation
2007Srgjan Kerim
EEGSixty-second
2008Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann
GRULACSixty-third
2009Ali Treki
 LibyaAfricaSixty-fourth
2010Joseph Deiss
 SwitzerlandWEOGSixty-fifth
2011Nassir Al-Nasser[5]
QatarAsia-PacificSixty-sixth
2012Vuk Jeremić
 SerbiaEEGSixty-seventh (election)
2013John William Ashe
 Antigua and BarbudaGRULACSixty-eighth
2014Sam Kutesa
 UgandaAfricaSixty-ninth
Twenty-ninth special
2015Mogens Lykketoft
 DenmarkWEOGSeventieth
Thirtieth special
2016Peter Thomson
 FijiAsia-PacificSeventy-first (election)
2017Miroslav Lajčák
 SlovakiaEEGSeventy-second
Tenth emergency special—Continuation
2018María Fernanda Espinosa
 EcuadorGRULACSeventy-third
2019Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
 NigeriaAfricaSeventy-fourth
2020Volkan Bozkır
 TurkeyWEOGSeventy-fifth
2021Abdulla Shahid
 MaldivesAsia-PacificSeventy-sixth
Eleventh emergency special
2022Csaba Kőrösi
 HungaryEEGSeventy-seventh
2023Dennis Francis
 Trinidad and TobagoGRULACSeventy-eighth
2024Philémon Yang
 CameroonAfricaSeventy-ninth

Abbreviations

Pre-1966
Since 1966

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About the General Assembly . 7 March 2022 . United Nations.
  2. Web site: Who are the Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly? . Dag Hammarskjöld Library . United Nations . 1 April 2024.
  3. Web site: UNGA: Rules of procedure . United Nations . 1 April 2024.
  4. Web site: Past Presidents . 7 March 2022 . General Assembly of the United Nations.
  5. Web site: 22 June 2011 . Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar Elected President of General Assembly's Sixty-Sixth Session; Vice-Presidents, Main Committee Chairs Also Named . 7 March 2022 . United Nations.
  6. News: 1 September 2011 . Asian Group of Nations at UN Changes Its Name to Asia-Pacific Group . Radio New Zealand . 7 March 2022.

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