The diplomat Dennis Francis, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, was elected this Thursday, by acclamation, as the next president of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) for its 78th session, which will begin next month of September
With a diplomatic career of approximately 40 years, making him his country’s longest-serving ambassador, Dennis Francis was the only candidate for the position, for which his vision is based on four principles: “Peace, prosperity , progress and sustainability”.
Dennis Francis will replace the Hungarian Csaba Korosi, elected in 2022 and who will remain in office until September, in a mandate guided by the motto “Solutions through solidarity, sustainability and science”.
This Thursday’s election followed the established regional rotation, which for this year determined the election of a candidate from the group of Latin American and Caribbean States.
In an emotional speech centering on the power of education, Dennis Francis advocated for the “empowerment of people, everywhere, by removing the chains that restrict their growth and independence and deny any possibility of creating their own success.”
“It never occurred to me that I would find myself as President of the UN General Assembly. (…) But I am aware of the sensitivity and weight of responsibility. It is my hope to create, with your support, a renewed environment. of conciliation, cooperation and shared commitment to face the multiple challenges and take advantage of all the opportunities, no matter how emerging they may be”, he said, before the diplomatic corps present at the General Assembly, in New York.
Faced with “oppression, injustice and racial discrimination”, the president-elect of the General Assembly assured that he will be guided by the principles of “love of freedom, supreme faith, dignity and value of the human person and belief in the value of cooperation”.
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, was also present at the session, in which he thanked Csaba Korosi for his “diplomatic skill” and “dedication” throughout his tenure, admitting that he will miss the “advice and guidance” of the Hungarian diplomat, and congratulated Dennis Francis on the role, to which he will bring a “wide range of skills, experience and knowledge”.
“Francis comes at a deeply challenging time for the human family: conflict and climate chaos; rising poverty, hunger and inequality; mistrust and division. Meanwhile, our roadmap to a better future, the 2030 Agenda, is in jeopardy. The Sustainable Development Goals are out of reach. On all these issues, the world expects this Assembly to unite member states around common solutions,” Guterres said.
“We hope that the president-elect will carry forward the theme of his presidency – Peace, Prosperity, Progress and Sustainability – next year and that he will bring this Assembly together to strengthen global cooperation at this difficult time,” he added.
Korosi also expressed confidence in the diplomat-elect’s vast experience and “unique perspective coming from a small island developing state.”
In the nearly 100 days into his tenure, Korosi indicated that he still had a lot of work to do, pledging “a successful handover and continued progress on the many important issues currently on the United Nations agenda.”
The General Assembly is the body where the 193 UN Member States sit on an equal footing and with an exclusively representative function, since real power is exercised by the Security Council, of which five great powers are permanent members: the United States , China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France, which have the right of veto.
However, since the start of the war in Ukraine -in February 2022- and given the vetoes imposed by Moscow, the General Assembly has played a leading role on several occasions, voting on resolutions that condemned Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
Demanded by several Western countries in the face of inaction by the Security Council, these votes in the Assembly served to highlight Russia’s relative isolation in the international community.
The powers of the President of the General Assembly include oversight of the UN budget, the appointment of non-permanent members of the Security Council, and the conduct of the process for the nomination of the UN Secretary General.
Other functions include receiving reports from other areas of the United Nations, making recommendations in the form of resolutions, as well as establishing various subsidiary bodies.
Portuguese professor and politician Diogo Freitas do Amaral was president of the 50th UN General Assembly between September 1995 and September 1996.
The 78th session of the UN General Assembly will begin next September.
Source: TSF
