As Palestine’s envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, launched his candidacy for president of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, he urged member states to recommit, at this time of growing global division, to multilateral cooperation, the principles of international law and the founding ideals of the UN.
Mansour, whose candidacy was endorsed by the UN’s Arab Group, presented a vision grounded in the three core pillars of the UN: human rights, development, and peace and security.
In his vision statement, he said: “The world we live in today needs more, not less, United Nations. It needs us to honor our commitments, not renege on them; to uphold our responsibilities, not abandon them; to respect the rules of international law, not grow accustomed to their breach.”
The 81st session of the UN General Assembly begins in September, and the election of its president will take place on June 2 in the General Assembly Hall at the UN headquarters in New York. In accordance with the established regional rotation of the position, the next president will be chosen from among the Asia-Pacific group of states.
Two others candidates have announced their intentions to stand so far: veteran diplomats Touhid Hossain from Bangladesh and Andreas S. Kakouris from Cyprus.
