New GA president opens 81 Session to restore global trust ‘This is not 1945’
By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – World body gavelled on Tuesday open its 81st session at UN Headquarters as the incoming president Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh pledged to restore public trust in the institution during a time of war, humanitarian crises and intensifying climate change.
The outgoing Assembly president Annalesa Baerbock, and the new UNGA president Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh outlined a key theme for the year: Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all.
“We must make the United Nations fit for the future,” he said.
He underlined the importance of hearing voices from civil society.
“We have a situation where trust is in deficit. This is not 1945. This is the 81st session. The world has moved on. The Organization must move on, and I’ll help that process.”
He sent a strong message “Silence the guns, amplify the voices: Peace, security and justice for all”
Khalilur Rahman said no one left behind, no country left out: Sustainable development through accelerating the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
“Our planet, our pact: Climate resilience and environmental sustainability,” he added.
His priorities for the 81 session – rights and protection: Human rights, humanitarian action, protecting refugees and migrants
Innovation with inclusion: Digital governance, artificial intelligence and safeguarding the next generation
“We the peoples, reimagined: Renewed multilateralism, UN reform and inclusive global governance,” he concluded
UN head António Guterres saluted the accomplishments of the outgoing president Annalesa Baerbock and welcomed Mr. Rahman’s new tenure which begins after conflicts, geopolitical divisions, a risk of nuclear escalation, persistent poverty, inequality and worsening climate chaos, he argued.
He noted that another immediate priority is selecting the next UN chief, to begin their term in January 2027.
“Rebuilding trust in the multilateral system is the defining challenge of our time,” tGuterres said.
“In these tumultuous times, the global problem-solving system is more crucial than ever.”
UN Security Council to world finance, the institutions of the multilateral system are straining to meet the moment, Mr. Guterres said.
“International law and human rights the core of our Organization are too often flouted with impunity, and geopolitical mistrust and suspicion continue to block the effective solutions we need and erode people’s faith in the possibilities of global cooperation,” he said.
He said “But, as I join you in this opening of a General Assembly session for the last time as Secretary-General, I have enormous hope thanks to the work that happens here.”
UN has been the place where the world’s toughest and most consequential problems are confronted head-on, Guterres said.
“Through diplomacy, dialogue and collaboration, this Assembly can rebuild the trust and good faith that is missing from our geopolitics today and ensure the people of the world inherit a better, healthier and more peaceful future.”
The outgoing president Baerbock told ambassadors she was “convinced more than ever of the importance and necessity of our United Nations”.
She said that to those out there who argue that the UN is irrelevant or failing, especially in these new geopolitical realities, she asked Member States to consider the alternative a world without the UN.
Ms. Baerbock pointed to millions of children who would not be in school without UNICEF and women who only dare to walk out of their homes without fear of being raped because UN peacekeepers are deployed close by.
“Our challenge though is that in a world where hate gets six times more clicks, these positive examples can easily go unnoticed,” she said.
“Make no mistake, in spite of its shortcomings, not a single day, not a single country, would be better off without the UN.”
Khalilur Rahman is a long time diplomat from Bangladesh left his position as the Foreign Minister to take up his new duties as the newxt head of the the General Assembly.
He served as National Security Adviser and High Representative for the Rohingya Issue in the Interim Government of Bangladesh.
Khalilur Rahman has also held senior positions with the UN and was a founding member of the East West University in Dhaka.
