Bangladesh‘s Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman won a hotly contested race Tuesday to be the next president of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly.
In a secret-ballot vote, Rahman defeated Cyprus‘ Ambassador Andreas Kakouris 99-91, with three countries not voting. He will succeed Germany’s former Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, whose one-year term ends in September.
The presidency of the world body rotates by region and this year it was the Asia-Pacific region’s turn.
While the presidency of the General Assembly is largely ceremonial, it is also prestigious. It is the U.N. organ where countries large and small can speak, and is the scene of the only annual gathering of world leaders, in September.
The General Assembly controls the U.N. budget, adopts treaties, addresses global issues from poverty to corruption, and passes numerous resolutions that while not legally binding almost always reflect global opinion.
It has taken the spotlight in reacting to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza because action by the U.N. Security Council has been blocked by the veto power of Russia on Ukraine and, often, the United States on Gaza.
Rahman was selected as foreign minister in February by Bangladesh’s new prime minister, whose party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. They were the country’s first since a mass student-led uprising in 2024 toppled the previous prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
Rahman previously served as national security adviser in the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, and as an ambassador.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres congratulated Rahman, saying, “Your remarkable political and diplomatic experience are a guarantee of success not only to the General Assembly but to the United Nations as a whole.”
He praised Rahman’s commitment to the ambitious program to reform the 80-year-old United Nations to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Rahman told diplomats assembled in the General Assembly hall that its 81st session will open “at a historic crossroads” when “trust in our organization is being tested on multiple fronts.”
Conflict and war — which the U.N. was established to prevent — are inflicting “untold suffering, development gains remain fragile and uncertain, and in some cases are regressing,” he said. “Despite advancements in human rights, we witness a general backsliding of certain rights and freedoms across the world and shrinking humanitarian space.”
Rahman said this is happening at a time when the U.N. is facing financial stress. “This is a challenge I will confront with all of you,” he told the assembly.
The United States, which has historically been the largest contributor to the U.N. budget, is billions of dollars in arrears.
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