President of the
United Nations General Assembly
Emblem of the United Nations.svg
Flag of the United Nations.svg
2022 Abertura do Debate Geral da 77ª Sessão da Assembleia Geral das Nações Unidas (AGNU) 01.jpg
Incumbent
Csaba Kőrösi

since 13 September 2022
United Nations General Assembly
StyleHis Excellency
StatusPresiding officer
Member ofGeneral Assembly
ResidenceUnited Nations Headquarters
SeatNew York City, United States
AppointerGeneral Assembly
Term lengthOne year
Constituting instrumentCharter of the United Nations
Inaugural holderPaul-Henri Spaak
Formation1946
Websiteun.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

A map of the world showing the home countries of presidents of the United Nations General Assembly up until the 72nd session of the General Assembly in 2017–18, with historical member states in inset.
A map of the world showing the home countries of presidents of the United Nations General Assembly up until the 72nd session of the General Assembly in 2017–18, with historical member states in inset.

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, such as the People's Republic of China, France, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In particular, it is customary that no permanent member of the United Nations Security Council ever serves as UNGA president.

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, and Germany had a national elected once as Federal Republic of Germany and once as German Democratic Republic. This does not include special and emergency special sessions of UNGA.

List of presidents

Year elected Image Name of president[2]
(Birth–Death)
UN member state Region Sessions
1946
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-39998-0427, Paul-Henri Spaak.jpg
Paul-Henri Spaak
(1889–1972)
 Belgium WES First
1947
Osvaldo Euclides de Sousa Aranha, Ministro das Relações Exteriores..tif
Oswaldo Aranha
(1894–1960)
 Brazil LAS First special
Second
1948
José Arce.jpg
José Arce
(1881–1968)
 Argentina LAS Second special
1948
Herbert V. Evatt.jpg
Herbert Vere Evatt
(1894–1965)
 Australia COS Third
1949
Carlos P. Romulo.jpg
Carlos P. Romulo
(1898–1985)
 Philippines EAS Fourth, First Asian president
1950
Nas entezam.jpg
Nasrollah Entezam
(1900–1980)
 Iran EAS Fifth
1951
Blank.png
Luis Padilla Nervo
(1894–1985)
 Mexico LAS Sixth
1952
Lester B. Pearson 1957.jpg
Lester B. Pearson
(1897–1972)
 Canada COS Seventh
1953
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit 1965b.jpg
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
(1900–1990)
 India COS Eighth, First woman president
1954
Eelco van Kleffens 1945.jpg
Eelco van Kleffens
(1894–1983)
 Netherlands WES Ninth
1955
José Maza Fernández 2 (cropped).JPG
José Maza Fernández
(1889–1964)
 Chile LAS Tenth
1956
Rudecindo Ortega Mason (cropped).png
Rudecindo Ortega (es)
(1896–1962)
 Chile LAS First emergency special
Second emergency special
1956
นราธิปพงศ์ประพันธ์.jpg
Wan Waithayakon
(1891–1976)
 Thailand EAS Eleventh
1957
Leslie Knox Munro.png
Leslie Munro
(1901–1974)
 New Zealand COS Twelfth
Third emergency special
1958
Charles Malik (cropped).jpg
Charles Malik
(1906–1987)
 Lebanon MES Thirteenth
1959
Víctor Andrés Belaúnde.jpg
Víctor Andrés Belaúnde
(1893–1966)
 Peru LAS Fourteenth
Fourth emergency special
1960
Frederick H. Boland (cropped).png
Frederick Boland
(1904–1985)
 Ireland WES Fifteenth
Third special
1961
Mongi Slim (1961b).jpg
Mongi Slim
(1908–1969)
 Tunisia MES Sixteenth, First African president
1962
Muhammad Zafarullah Khan (1961).jpg
Muhammad Zafarullah Khan
(1893–1985)
 Pakistan COS Seventeenth
Fourth special
1963
Blank.png
Carlos Sosa Rodríguez (es)
(1912–1997)
 Venezuela LAS Eighteenth
1964
Blank.png
Alex Quaison-Sackey
(1924–1992)
 Ghana COS Nineteenth
1965
Amintore Fanfani 1965.jpg
Amintore Fanfani
(1908–1999)
 Italy WES Twentieth
1966 Abdul Rahman Pazhwak
(1919–1995)
 Afghanistan Asia Twenty-first
Fifth special
Fifth emergency special
1967
Corneliu Mănescu.jpg
Corneliu Mănescu
(1916–2000)
 Romania EEG Twenty-second
1968
Blank.png
Emilio Arenales Catalán
(1922–1969)
 Guatemala GRULAC Twenty-third
1969
Françoise Foliot - Togo - 035 - Angie Brooks-Randolph.jpg
Angie Brooks
(1928–2007)
 Liberia Africa Twenty-fourth
1970 Edvard Hambro
(1911–1977)
 Norway WEOG Twenty-fifth
1971
Adam Malik 1970.jpg
Adam Malik
(1917–1984)
 Indonesia Asia Twenty-sixth
1972
Blank.png
Stanisław Trepczyński
(1924–2002)
 Poland EEG Twenty-seventh
1973
Leopoldo Benites (cropped).jpg
Leopoldo Benites
(1905–1996)
 Ecuador GRULAC Twenty-eighth
Sixth special
1974
Abdelaziz Bouteflika 1975 (cropped 3x4).jpg
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
(1937–2021)
 Algeria Africa Twenty-ninth
Seventh special
1975
Gaston Thorn (cropped).jpg
Gaston Thorn
(1928–2007)
 Luxembourg WEOG Thirtieth
1976
Blank.png
Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe
(1913–1980)
 Sri Lanka Asia Thirty-first
1977
Blank.png
Lazar Mojsov
(1920–2011)
 Yugoslavia EEG Thirty-second
Eighth special
Ninth special
Tenth special
1978
Indalecio Liévano Aguirre.jpg
Indalecio Liévano
(1917–1982)
 Colombia GRULAC Thirty-third
1979
Salim.JPG
Salim Ahmed Salim
(born 1942)
 United Republic of Tanzania Africa Thirty-fourth
Sixth emergency special
Seventh emergency special
Eleventh special
1980
Blank.png
Rüdiger von Wechmar
(1923–2007)
 Federal Republic of Germany WEOG Thirty-fifth
Eighth emergency special
1981
Blank.png
Ismat T. Kittani
(1929–2001)
 Iraq Asia Thirty-sixth
Seventh emergency specialContinuation
Ninth emergency special
Twelfth special
1982
Hollai Imre.jpg
Imre Hollai
(1925–2017)
 Hungary EEG Thirty-seventh
1983
Blank.png
Jorge Illueca
(1918–2012)
 Panama GRULAC Thirty-eighth
1984 Paul J. F. Lusaka
(1935–1996)
 Zambia Africa Thirty-ninth
1985
Blank.png
Jaime de Piniés
(1917–2003)
 Spain WEOG Fortieth
Thirteenth special
1986 Humayun Rashid Choudhury
(1928–2001)
 Bangladesh Asia Forty-first
Fourteenth special
1987
Peter Florin (cropped).jpg
Peter Florin
(1921–2014)
 German Democratic Republic EEG Forty-second
Fifteenth special
1988
Dante Caputo 1984.jpg
Dante Caputo
(1943–2018)
 Argentina GRULAC Forty-third
1989
Blank.png
Joseph Nanven Garba
(1943–2002)
 Nigeria Africa Forty-fourth
Sixteenth special
Seventeenth special
Eighteenth special
1990
Guido de Marco 2003 crop.jpg
Guido de Marco
(1931–2010)
 Malta WEOG Forty-fifth
1991
Blank.png
Samir Shihabi
(1925–2010)
 Saudi Arabia Asia Forty-sixth
1992
Blank.png
Stoyan Ganev
(1955–2013)
 Bulgaria EEG Forty-seventh
1993
Rudy Insanally 2006.jpg
Rudy Insanally
(born 1936)
 Guyana GRULAC Forty-eighth
1994
Essy.jpg
Amara Essy
(born 1944)
 Ivory Coast Africa Forty-ninth
1995
Freitas do Amaral, XV Cimeira Ibero-Americana - Salamanca, Espanha (cropped).jpg
Diogo de Freitas do Amaral
(1941–2019)
 Portugal WEOG Fiftieth
1996 Razali Ismail
(born 1939)
 Malaysia Asia Fifty-first
Tenth emergency special
Nineteenth special
1997
Hennadiy Udovenko.jpg
Hennadiy Udovenko
(1931–2013)
 Ukraine EEG Fifty-second
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
Twentieth special
1998
Opertti.jpg
Didier Opertti
(born 1937)
 Uruguay GRULAC Fifty-third
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
Twenty-first special
1999
Theo-Ben Gurirab (cropped) 01.jpg
Theo-Ben Gurirab
(1938–2018)
 Namibia Africa Fifty-fourth
Twenty-second special
Twenty-third special
Twenty-fourth special
2000
Holkeri-2.jpg
Harri Holkeri
(1937–2011)
 Finland WEOG Fifty-fifth
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
Twenty-fifth special
Twenty-sixth special
2001
Closeup Han Seung-soo.jpg
Han Seung-soo
(born 1936)
 South Korea Asia Fifty-sixth
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
Twenty-seventh special
2002
Jan Kavan, IEIS conference «Russia and the EU the question of trust»-101.jpg
Jan Kavan
(born 1946)
 Czech Republic EEG Fifty-seventh
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
2003
Julian Hunte.jpg
Julian Hunte
(born 1940)
 Saint Lucia GRULAC Fifty-eighth
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
2004
Jean Ping 080202-F-1644L-081 0YWDF.jpg
Jean Ping
(born 1942)
 Gabon Africa Fifty-ninth
Twenty-eighth special
2005
Jan Eliasson at Tällberg Forum 2009 cropped.jpg
Jan Eliasson
(born 1940)
 Sweden WEOG Sixtieth
2006
Haya Rashed Al Khalifa (cropped).jpg
Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa
(born 1952)
 Bahrain Asia Sixty-first
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
2007
Srgjan Kerim (cropped).jpg
Srgjan Kerim
(born 1948)
 North Macedonia EEG Sixty-second
2008
Miguel d
Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann
(1933–2017)
 Nicaragua GRULAC Sixty-third
2009
Ali Treki.JPG
Ali Treki
(1937–2015)
 Libya Africa Sixty-fourth
2010
Joseph Deiss.gif
Joseph Deiss
(born 1946)
 Switzerland WEOG Sixty-fifth
2011
Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser.jpg
Nassir Al-Nasser[3]
(born 1952)
 Qatar Asia-Pacific Sixty-sixth
2012
Vuk-Jeremic-cirsd-2014.jpg
Vuk Jeremić
(born 1975)
 Serbia EEG Sixty-seventh (election)
2013
John William Ashe.jpg
John William Ashe
(1954–2016)
 Antigua and Barbuda GRULAC Sixty-eighth
2014
Sam Kutesa - 2018 (32521275868) (cropped).jpg
Sam Kutesa
(born 1949)
 Uganda Africa Sixty-ninth
Twenty-ninth special
2015
Mogens Lykketoft-2011-09-03.jpg
Mogens Lykketoft
(born 1946)
 Denmark WEOG Seventieth
Thirtieth special
2016
Peter Thomson at IMO Headquarters in London - 2017 (37102010524) (cropped).jpg
Peter Thomson
(born 1948)
 Fiji Asia-Pacific Seventy-first (election)
2017
Miroslav Lajcak 2014 (11981540724).jpg
Miroslav Lajčák
(born 1963)
 Slovakia EEG Seventy-second
Tenth emergency specialContinuation
2018
Entrevista de Canciller María Fernanda Espinosa (36388035054) (cropped).jpg
María Fernanda Espinosa
(born 1964)
 Ecuador GRULAC Seventy-third
2019
Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (48791461812) (cropped).jpg
Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
(born 1957)
 Nigeria Africa Seventy-fourth
2020
Volkan Bozkır April 2016 (26358127551) (cropped).jpg
Volkan Bozkır
(born 1950)
 Turkey WEOG Seventy-fifth
2021
Abdulla Shahid April 2021.png
Abdulla Shahid
(born 1962)
 Maldives Asia-Pacific Seventy-sixth
Eleventh emergency special
2022
2022 Abertura do Debate Geral da 77ª Sessão da Assembleia Geral das Nações Unidas (AGNU) 01.jpg
Csaba Kőrösi
(born 1958)
 Hungary EEG Seventy-seventh

Abbreviations

Pre-1966
Since 1966

See also

References

  1. ^ "About the General Assembly". United Nations. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Past Presidents". General Assembly of the United Nations. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar Elected President of General Assembly's Sixty-Sixth Session; Vice-Presidents, Main Committee Chairs Also Named". United Nations. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Asian Group of Nations at UN Changes Its Name to Asia-Pacific Group". Radio New Zealand. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2022.