UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said the United Nations General Assembly, under the leadership of its President Dr Khalilur Rahman, can rebuild the trust and good faith that is missing from their geopolitics.
"Under your leadership (UNGA President), 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,” said
the UN chief welcoming Dr Rahman’s presidency.
Dr Rahman, also Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, took the oath of office and opened the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, as its President on Tuesday which is seen as a “historic moment” for Bangladesh at the United Nations.
Having previously served as National Security Adviser and High Representative for the Rohingya Issue in the Interim Government of Bangladesh, he has also held senior positions with the UN and was a founding member of East West University in Dhaka.
The UN thanked Annalena Baerbock of Germany for her dedicated leadership of the 80th session and warmly welcomed Dr Rahman as he took on this responsibility, only the second time in history that Bangladesh has held the UNGA presidency.
“As the gavel passes from the 80th UNGA to the 81st, I’m grateful to all who helped make progress possible through dialogue, cooperation, and a shared commitment to multilateralism,” said Dr Rahman who pledged to restore public trust in the institution during a time of war, humanitarian crises and intensifying climate change.
After officially receiving the iconic Icelandic wooden gavel from outgoing Assembly president Annalesa Baerbock, Dr 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, underlining 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.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres saluted the accomplishments of the outgoing president Annalesa Baerbock and welcomed Dr Rahman’s new tenure, which began amid conflicts, geopolitical divisions, a risk of nuclear escalation, persistent poverty, inequality and worsening climate chaos, he argued.
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,” the UN chief said. “In these tumultuous times, the global problem-solving system is more crucial than ever.”
However, from the UN Security Council to world finance, the institutions of the multilateral system are straining to meet the moment, Guterres said.
At the final meeting of the Assembly’s 80th session, outgoing president Baerbock told ambassadors she was “convinced more than ever of the importance and necessity of our United Nations”.
In spite of its shortcomings, not a single day, not a single country, would be better off without the UN.
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.
She pointed to millions of children who would not be in school without the UN Children’s Fund (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.”