Khalilur Rahman - Informal interactive dialogue for the position of President of the General Assembly for the 81st Session

Good afternoon.
Welcome back, everybody.
I call to order the informal interactive dialogue with the candidate for the position of president of the General Assembly for its 81st session.
I welcome all of you to this afternoon's briefing.
Members will recall that in its resolution 71 stroke 323 of September 8th, 2017, the Assembly decided in full respect of the established principle of geographic rotation and its resolution 33 stroke 138 of December 19, 1978, to conduct informal interactive dialogues with the candidates for the position of president of the Assembly, thus contributing to the transparency and inclusivity of the process and called upon candidates to present to the assembly their vision statements.
Furthermore, the Assembly in its resolution 73, stroke 341 of September, 2019, called upon the president to organize the informal interactive dialogue as a question and answer session with targeted and relevant questions that serves as a follow up to the vision statement of the candidates and draws on the plans and priorities to each candidate for his or her term and emphasized the need to provide enough time so that all participants will have the opportunity to put forward questions.
As a current president of the General Assembly, I would like to add that the interactive dialogues with candidates for the president of the General Assembly offer each of you a critical opportunity to assess the candidates vision, priorities, and leadership approach.
This practice is essential to ensuring transparency, inclusivity, and accountability to the selection process.
It is essential to ensuring that the selected candidate can step up and meet this moment head on with the commitment and determination it requires.
Let us recall that the 81st session will be particularly consider with the convergence of multiple processes and workstreams, including the ongoing selection process for the next Secretary-General, the UN AD Initiative, and related reforms, and implementation of the Pact for the future.
Added to this are the continued challenges facing the organization, including liquidity constraints, political headwinds, and multiple global crises.
We must ensure that the work we started, especially on reforms, does not slow down, but continues and in fact picks up pace, particularly as we know that the headwinds will not slow down nor subside in the near future.
The next president of the General Assembly should thus be able to play a key role in each of these areas, simultaneously prioritizing the work of the General Assembly while ensuring a realistic and cohesive alignment between the work of the assembly and available resources.
Throughout the 81st session, a balanced and inclusive approach will be critical to empowering member states, fostering unity and solidarity and supporting consensus building.
The Assembly will, towards this background, now hold an informal interactive dialogue with Mr.
Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh.
The candidates vision statement was circulated in my letter dated March 11, 2026.
As reflected in my letter dated 28, April 2026, the dialogue with the candidate will last for up to 3 hours and we'll begin with a presentation for up to 10 minutes by the candidate of his mission statement for the presidency, followed by an interactive exchange.
Delegations wishing to take the floor can do so by pressing the microphone button and delegations wishing to speak on behalf of a group of states are requested to approach the Secretariat to be given priority.
Interventions for member states will be on a first come first serve basis, bearing in mind requests from groups.
Member States are encouraged to ask concise questions with interventions not exceeding 2 minutes for individual delegations and 3 minutes for groups.
Time limits will be strictly enforced by way of automatic microphone cutoff.
A timer will be projected on screen and for you on screen there as well.
To assist speakers to observe the time limit, their microphone will start blinking 30 seconds before the time limit lapses.
The candidate will be given the opportunity to respond immediately to each intervention.
The response should be not more than 2 minutes for questions from delegations speaking in national capacity on behalf of a group of member states, it will be 3 minutes time limit.
The candidate will also have the opportunity to respond to questions from other stakeholders selected through the website of the president of the assembly prior to the dialogue.
In line with the overall objective of increasing the transparency and inclusivity of the process, this informal interactive dialogue is webcast.
I now give the floor to Mr.
Rahman to present his vision statement for the presidency.
Please, Your Excellency, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Madam President.
Excellency, distinguished delegates.
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon to all of you.
It's quite a privilege to have this opportunity for interactive dialogue with you in this August Assembly, the most universal and representative forum of the global community.
I want to be precise and I want to conform to your time limits.
Therefore, allow me to read from my prepared speech.
As we look forward to a meaningful exchange today, let me offer a few initial thoughts on how I would approach the responsibilities of the Office of the PGA.
The 81st session of the assembly will open at historic crossroads.
The UN will commence its ninth decade at a time when trust in our organization is being tested on multiple fronts.
Scourges of conflict and war from which our organization pledged to pledge the successive generations continue to inflict untold suffering.
Development gains remain fragile and uncertain and in some cases are regressing.
Despite advancement in human rights, we witness a general backsliding of certain rights and freedoms across the world and shrinking humanitarian space.
All this is happening at a time when multilateralism has come under increasing stress.
Such challenges undermine the public trust and confidence in the ability of our organization to deliver its promises.
Restoring trust, therefore, is the core of my vision.
Working with member states, I envision addressing these challenges along six pillars of action, excellencies.
First, in advancing the organization's work on peace and security, I will draw inspiration from the work of more than 200,000 peacekeepers from Bangladesh who have contributed actively to international peace and security across the globe, from Cyprus to Sudan.
Building on my country's experience, I would uphold Assembly's moral and political authority and champion a holistic approach to peacekeeping and peace building that prioritizes prevention and political solution, strengthens peace building and protects civilians.
I will support dialogue to make UN peacekeeping more fit for purpose and advocate for greater representation of women in peacekeeping.
Excellencies, Secondly, the 2030 agenda is a major milestone in the work of the UN, but the gap between promise and delivery remains too wide.
Ongoing energy insecurity has added a new layer of vulnerability for many countries.
Experts have opined that the scope of the current energy crisis could be larger than the combined size of the double energy crisis of the 1970s.
As a young diplomat, I closely followed General Assembly's deliberations on the consequences of the 1970s crisis for the countries of the global South.
For them, 1980s became a lost decade of development.
I intend to work closely with all of you, all member states on how we can prevent another lost decade of development and especially protect the vulnerable people in all countries developing or otherwise.
On the implementation of Agenda 2030, the SDG summit with the SDG Summit 2027 in mind, I will work with you all to accelerate implementation of SDGs that are lagging or regressing.
Building on the outcome of FFD four and the compromise of the SVA, I will encourage member states to address SDG financing gaps, fulfill commitments on debt sustainability, and pursue reforms of international financial architecture.
I'll be particularly mindful of achieving gender equality and full and meaningful participation of youth, women and girls in all walks of life.
I'll also be attentive to the implementation of the Doha program Faction for the least developed countries, AAS a program Faction for landlocked developing countries and the Ata Barbuda agenda, Abs for the seeds.
Working with the member states, I will advance events cooperation with the African Union, particularly on Agenda 2063.
Nearly three fifths of global poor live in the middle income countries.
Following up on a recent ENJ resolution, I will convene a meeting to support the needs of MICs.
Excellencies, third, on climate action, I will work with the member states on delivering on existing commitments, support operationalization of loss and damage fund and protect biodiversity, oceans, and land.
Against the backdrop of the ocean decade, I will promote initiatives to advance science based ocean action and effective partnerships for the conservation of marine ecosystems.
Fourth, I will uphold ING's work on human rights.
I will work towards promoting synergy within and beyond even human rights mechanisms through multi stakeholder partnerships.
I will lend full support of the Office of the PGA to the high level meetings to mark the 25th anniversary of the Durbin Declaration and Program action and the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development.
I will underscore the importance of protecting humanitarian space and remain attentive to refugees, migrants, and displaced communities whose vulnerabilities often miss the headlines.
Bangladesh knows this in human terms as we have been sheltering for years about 1.2 million forcibly displaced Rohingya nationals of Myanmar.
I know it personally when I served recently as my government's high representative on the Rohingya issue.
Excellence is fifth, emerging technologies, including AI, big data, and digital platforms bring immense opportunities, but also entail serious risks of inequality, bias, and misuse.
The question is not whether we will use this technology, we will, but how we will govern them wisely and fairly and make them available equitably.
Building upon the important work of our current PGA, and I thank you Madam, for this, I will champion inclusive implementation of the Global Digital Compact.
I will work with the UN Youth Office to address youth unemployment with the advent of AI and other emerging technologies.
Excellencies.
Finally, we must collectively demonstrate that the UN can adapt, reform, and better deliver in order to restore trust in our organization.
The 80th anniversary of the UN marked by the UN 80 initiative, the Pact for the future, the Global Digital Compact, and the Declaration on future generations, has already charted an ambitious course for renewal of our organization.
I will build upon these efforts and work with the member states toward making the UNGA an engine of member driven and member owned reform.
I will organize inclusive consultations to advance the ideas of shifting paradigms united to deliver and remain invested in enhancing UNGAs coordination and synergy with the Security Council, EcosoC and Peace Building Commission.
Excellencies, I come to this debate from Bangladesh, a country belonging to the Asia Pacific region with its longstanding commitment and contribution to the United Nations.
At the same time, I myself have grown from within this system.
For more than three decades, I served at the United Nations as a representative of my country and as a senior official of the United Nations.
I actively participated in 16 sessions of the General Assembly.
Promoting convergence and consensus has been a hallmark of my work at the UN.
My institutional memory and proven ability to work with all combined with my political responsibility at home, give me a clear and practical understanding of what this office requires.
Excellencies, if elected, I will be everyone's president, full time president.
I will unfailingly uphold the UN charter.
I will engage all member states and pay attention, especially to small delegations.
I will conduct the presidency in full accordance with the code of conduct of the president.
I will not let my personal views interfere with my work as PGA and I will seek common ground without ignoring differences.
Excellencies, I'm able, willing and ready to serve as your president from day one.
I ask for your trust and support, and I thank you for listening.
Thank you.
I thank Mr.
Raman.
Before we begin our interactive dialogue, I would like to remind participants that there is no pre established list of speakers and delegations wishing to take the floor can do so by pressing their microphone button.
Now, delegation wishing to speak on behalf of a group of states are requested to approach the Secretariat to be given priorities.
Speakers will be given the floor in order of inscription.
As the first speaker, I now give the European Union on behalf of the EU and its member states, followed by Guyana and Lithuania.
Thank you, Madam President.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union and its member states.
We do so as active promoters of the central role of the General Assembly and committed political, financial and operational backers of the implementation of GA mandates under all three UN pillars.
In every instance, we are focused on building the necessary trust, solidarity across regional partnerships, and compromises to ensure the broadest possible consensus across all GA processes and mandates.
Madam President, we will support all efforts of the next PGA to ensure that the Assembly remains a credible platform for dialogue, collective action, and cooperation over division.
In our view, the next PGA must represent the full membership, ensure advancing the work of the General Assembly across all pillars, safeguard the GAs normative authority, ensure the effective implementation of its decisions, support the continued progress in the UNA reform agenda, and work to reduce artificial polarization.
Against this backdrop, we would like to ask the following two questions.
First, what concrete initiatives will you propose to build further trust, cooperation, and dialogue among the UN membership and to help reduce polarization and build bridges and consensus during the tenure? And what distinct experiences do you bring from your personal background to achieve these results.
Second, how would you envision the authority of the General Assembly on matters of peace and security in cases where the UNSC fails to act and more broadly if elected, and how would you exercise such authority? Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of the European Union on behalf of the EU and its member states, please, Mr.
Ron.
Thank you.
You asked about personal experience.
I'll give you one.
You see, one of the reasons I mentioned why there is a trust gap is because of the gap between our commitment and delivery.
But it's also true that we don't talk enough about what we have accomplished.
25 years ago, I had the responsibility of drafting the program of action for least developed countries for the Brussels Conference.
At that time, there was a lot of discussion how we can win LDCs away from aid dependency into building productive capacity through trade.
We engaged European Union and on an initiative, which was later known as Everything But Arms.
I worked very closely with your colleagues in EC, and we came up with this initiative, which did wonders in accelerating development of productive capacity in many ADCs.
I'll give you an example of my own country.
Because of the duty and quota free treatment, in two decades, my country became the second producer of clothing apparel.
It employed hundreds of thousands of women and out of the 100 environmentally best factories, 52 are in Bangladesh.
If you go to any of these stores, clothing stores, the label probably will say made in Bangladesh, but what is not written is it is UN and EU.
Some of these stories that we need to tell aloud to the rest of the world.
It's not simply that there is a gap.
No, no, no.
There have been very important achievements.
We don't talk about it.
So this is what this is an experience that I'll bring to bear in my conduct as the president of the General Assembly.
I will listen very attentively to all viewpoints.
I will make sure that I do not miss any opportunity to forge convergence of views and if possible, agreements or even consensus.
You have to be able to work with all delegations, and that is the hallmark of what I have done during my work at the United Nations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Guyana on behalf of Caricm followed by Lithuania and Sweden.
Thank you, Madam President and thank you to doctor Khalil Raman for sharing his vision for the presidency of the General Assembly for the 81st session.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the member states of the Caribbean community, Caricom.
Carcom welcomes this dialogue and the opportunity to engage with the nominated candidates.
The group underscores that the Office of the PGA as the main policy making organ of the UN remains critical in addressing the issues of all UN member states and must continue to be fully accessible to all of them.
We also stress the important role of the PGA in upholding the principles and purposes of the UN Charter in an inclusive, transparent, and impartial manner.
In this regard, I pose five questions to doctor Raman.
One, in what concrete ways do you plan to further strengthen the role of the General Assembly as the most representative body of the UN, particularly in ensuring that the voices of developing countries continue to be amplified and their inputs incorporated into global initiatives.
Two, regarding the UNA initiative, how would you in your capacity as PGA, advance or strengthen the role of the General Assembly in shaping the reforms that are being considered part of this initiative? Three, can you elaborate on your plans in relation to bolstering the role and cooperation of the General Assembly with the other organs of the UN, including the Security Council at this juncture fraught with so many challenges to the maintenance of international peace and security? Four, as we move closer to 2030, acceleration on the implementation of the 2030 agenda and the achievement of the 17 SDGs remains urgent.
What steps do you think are needed, the balls to implementation, and to ensure that the post 2030 development framework has a solid foundation on which to build.
Five, as PGA, how would you ensure greater focus on the means of implementation for climate action, particularly the delivery of adaptation finance for arcm and other vulnerable developing states? I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Guyana on behalf of Carm, Mr.
Ron.
Excellency, thank you for your questions.
I may not be able to cover all five, but I will try to respond to as many as possible.
Excellency, as I said, I will make all efforts to ensure that UN 80 reform process remains inclusive.
The deliberations should be open and transparent.
The reform The results of the reform process must be owned by the assembly.
It should be led by assembly.
These are things I will ensure during my work as the president.
You see, Excellency, as regards the relationship between various organs, I'll help to connect the U Assembly, Echos Security Council and Peace Building Commission.
Already, there are established mechanisms to have routine and regular consultations among these processes.
We have to understand one thing that these processes are not distinct.
They are together, they represent the aggregate of the work we do.
The work of one organ has implications for another organ.
But at the same time, the charter is very clear.
We have our defined roles, within our own mandates, how we are able to collaborate with other principles organs of the United Nations.
That's a challenge and that challenge can be only addressed through regular sharing of information, regular consultations, something that Madam President, you are doing right now.
So these are the processes that I'm going to continue as I move forward if you elect me to this position.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Lithuania on behalf of the Lublin Triangle, followed by Sweden and Spain.
Thank you, Madam President.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Lublin Triangle Group, Poland, Ukraine, and my own country, Lithuania.
The General Assembly, as the most representative and democratic body of the United Nations where all member states participate on an equal footing is uniquely placed to make multilaterlism more practical, visible, and deliverable.
From our perspective, it also has an important role to play in matters of peace and security in full accordance with the UN Chatter.
In this regard, the mandate of the president of the General Assembly is of particular importance.
Through agenda setting, convening power, and facilitation of deliberations, the PGA can help sustain international attention on serious threats to international peace and security, especially when the Security Council is unable to act.
We attach particular importance to the Veto initiative as a tool to enhance transparency and accountability, as well as to continued use where necessary of emergency special sessions, including those concerning Ukraine.
In this context, it is also important that resolutions already adopted by the Assembly, especially those on Ukraine, remain subject to sustained political attention and follow ups so that the Assembly's decisions continue to carry weight beyond the moment of adoption.
Against this background, could you elaborate on how within your mandate as president of the General Assembly, you intend to further strengthen the Assembly's role in responding to acts of aggression and serious violations of the UN Charter.
I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Lithuania on behalf of the Lublin Triangle.
Please, Mr.
Ron.
Thank you very much.
It's a very important question.
The respective roles and mandates of General Assembly and Security Council are all elaborated in the Charter.
The Security Council has got the principal mandate for maintenance of peace and security, but it is not exclusive.
General Assembly also has its role, and we have seen this role exercised through Uniting for peace initiatives, through special emergency sessions, and more recently, the Veto Initiative.
So it is true that the General Assembly has certain role and the General Assembly has been playing this role.
As a universal body of the United Nations, it brings together the voice of the whole world, as well as the moral authority of the Assembly.
So the General Assembly may not have enforcing authority, but its moral authority and its universality are extremely important.
As PGA, the foundation of my work will be Charter.
I've said that in my introductory remark.
On the Ukraine issue, Excellency, the Assembly remains active in accordance with the charter, including through the resumed emergency special session.
At the same time, as I said, it's very important to be clear about the respective mandates of our different principal organs of our organization.
I will ensure that debate on these are transparent, open, and I will make sure that the established rules and procedures are fully respected.
I will create space for inclusive dialogue among member states in all situations and not just Ukraine questions, but in all other questions.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the Distinguished Representative of Sweden on behalf of the Nordic countries, followed by Spain and the first civil society.
Thank you, Madam President.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and my own country, Sweden.
Thank you for sharing your vision for the Gen Assembly and your role as the president.
The Nordic countries are deeply committed to ensuring a strong and effective United Nations with a General Assembly that strengthens multilateralism, human rights, equality, and inclusive participation.
We have four general questions to that end.
First, the Nordic countries are strong supporters of good governance at all levels.
We need a strong and reformed UN with an organizational culture of efficiency, transparency, and accountability.
You may inherit the UN 80 process with many decision points for the assembly at that time.
How will you work with the Secretary-General to ensure a good flow of information and the inclusion of all member states? Would you continue to do differently or do differently to make the assembly's work more efficient? Second, the UN system should work for the benefit of the global population.
The Nordic countries firmly support the participation of civil society in human processes.
As PGA, how will you ensure inclusive, meaningful, and active participation of civil society in the work of the assembly? And third, the General Assembly has a critical role through its power to appoint the next Secretary-General.
How do you view proposals to avoid this being a simple rubber stamping exercise by the GA, such as the Assembly holding an additional dialogue with recommended candidates prior to appointment.
Finally, with regards to the GA's own role in questions of peace and security, what more can the GA do beyond just expressing opinions, perhaps in the form of a resolution? I thank you Madam President.
I thank the Distinguished representative for Sweden on behalf of the Nordic countries, please, Mr.
Rahman.
Thank you so very much.
You mentioned the UNA, and there are three workstreams, as you know, improving efficiency, mandates and structural realignment.
On the question of efficiency, is very important.
Much of this work actually will rest with the Secretary-General and therefore, it's very important for the PGA to remain in constant touch with him, he's changing the procedures of work within the Secretariat.
How is the improving efficiency through use of technology and bunching together various common services, et cetera.
The idea is not simply saving money.
Idea is to do better in order to have better outcomes.
So I will keep constant dialogue with the Secretary-General on this.
I will keep member states involved in this, and I will bring member states views constantly to the Secretary-General.
After all, we own this place, and therefore, we have to make sure that this place is governed very well.
Secondly, on the question of civil society, I'm very happy to tell you my distinguished colleague that my image past boss was one of the celebrities in civil society, Nobel laureate Professor Eunice.
Work with him and I have worked with him for some time.
I know the value that civil society can bring not only to our deliberations but also to the outcomes of the decisions that we take.
I will make sure that civil society remains a very active and integral part of our deliberations.
I know member states have the sole privilege of making decisions.
That's how the whole construct is.
But at the same time, our deliberations and decisions must be informed by wider public and civil society being a very important component of that.
Thirdly, It's appointment, you have seen and I'm very happy that Madam President, you have organized these hearings.
I'll have more.
You are appointing somebody not just for five years, probably for ten years and we must be sure that you can trust this guy.
I'll make sure there are more hearings.
But more importantly, if I'm elected, I will ensure that the transition is done very well, and we are on your behalf, will be active in helping him transition in the most smooth way.
The last question was, I'll come back to that.
I've run out of time.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Spain on behalf of the group of Friends of Spanish, followed by the First Civil Society Organization in Switzerland.
M Thank you very much, Madam President.
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the group of friends of Spanish composed of the Spanish speaking member states of the United Nations.
Thank you very much to the candidate for presenting to us your vision and for participating in the dialogue.
Multilingualism is a foundational principle of the United Nations enshrined in its charter and reaffirmed by this Assembly in successive resolutions.
The effective parity of the six official languages is an indispensable condition for inclusion, transparency, and the democratic legitimacy of our work, as well as for enabling all member states to exercise their rights on an equal footing.
Taking note of the commitment undertaken by the current president of the General Assembly to incorporate multilingualism into the daily work of her office and we'd like to thank you for that initiative.
Through a diverse team in which all regional groups are represented, our group wishes to convey the following considerations, and I'd be very happy to hear your views on this.
Firstly, the group believes it's essential to continue and strengthen this practice of the Office of the General Assembly and ensuring that there is real working capacity in all six official languages, including Spanish while encouraging the voluntary contributions and secondments necessary to make this possible.
Secondly, our group attaches particular importance to the effective use of the six official languages in the practice of the presidency itself in the president's statements, in the office's public communications, website and social media, as well as in informal consultations and events that may be convened because this makes a decisive contribution toward reducing the persistent gap between English and the other official languages repeatedly highlighted by this assembly.
Lastly, in the light of the growing incorporation of artificial intelligence and machine translation technologies within the United Nations system, our group considers it appropriate for the presidency to during the upcoming session, organize a thematic debate or a high level event of the General Assembly on the impact of artificial intelligence on multilingualism, aimed at ensuring that these tools reinforce but never replace the real parity of the six official languages and the quality of professional linguistic services.
Thank you very much.
Mas Garcias, I thank the Spanish representative of Spain on behalf of the group of friends of Spanish.
Please, Mr.
An.
Thank you very much.
We all love our own languages.
It's not only our identity, but it's also a means through which we give expression to our soul.
My country's young people gave their life and blood for language to establish our own language as national language, but we didn't keep it to ourselves only.
At the United Nations, we took the initiative very successfully to have International Mother Language Day.
In my own campaign, I've been very respectful of the official languages of the United Nations.
But not only that, I have my vision statement in other languages like Portuguese.
In my family, between me and my wife, we speak for languages, English and three South Asian languages.
My two daughters are exceptionally fluent in Spanish and French.
My two grandkids, they can converse in Mandarin.
We as a family and my country, we all value language and value the diversity that we have in our human society as expressed by different languages.
In my office, I promise you, I will have representation of all six languages.
I will emphasize that the work of the Assembly pays full and fair attention to the official languages of the United Nations.
At the same time, I also invite your attention to the recent technological developments.
As far as I know, right now, real time simultaneous interpretation is available in 60 languages, 60 As the assembly of all humanity, it's our duty to ensure that at least try, that our work is heard and read by peoples of the United Nations in all corners of the world in their own languages, and that possibility is that today.
So I'm very happy that the question of AI and technology was raised, and this is one area in multilingualism that we also need to press.
So I want your support to work on this matter and we clicked, we will see what is it that we can do to spread our messages, our work to all our peoples.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the first representative of the civil society organizations, the Distinguished representative of the International Service for Human Rights.
Please, you have the floor.
Thank you.
My name is Madeline Sinclair, and as you said, I'm a representative of the International Service for Human Rights.
We are an NGO that works to support and protect human rights defenders.
Thank you for the opportunity to engage with you today.
My question is, what concrete actions will you take as the president of the General Assembly to ensure that civil society, including human rights defenders, can participate meaningfully and safely in its work, including in situations where they face intimidation and reprisals.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I thank the Distinguished Representative of International Service for Human Rights, please, Mr.
Rahman.
Well, thank you so very much.
I love this question.
You see, my country reeled under worse dictatorial rule for 15 years where all kinds of human rights were very forcefully repressed and we had a um, unimaginable violations in the form of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, jailing people without cause.
Especially our young people paid a heavy price to overthrow that regime.
In the ensuing time of interim government led by Nobel laureate, Professor Yunus, we put huge emphasis on human rights and signed all human rights instruments of the United Nations all.
So That is where I come from.
I believe that the human rights organizations do a wonderful job in raising our consciousness about violations of human rights and the need to treat all our people with dignity and with freedom.
I pledge to you and other civil society organizations that I will involve.
I will make sure that your voice is heard in this chamber.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to Distinguished Representative of Switzerland on behalf of the Accountability coherence, and Tparency Group Act, followed by Timor-Leste and Andorra.
President, I'm honored to take the floor on behalf of the 27 members of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Act Group.
First of all, thank you for convening today's important discussion.
Hearings with PGA candidates are an important contribution to the transparency and accountability of the process.
We thank Mr.
Rahman for his engagement and openness.
The A group has two questions.
First, we are living in a time marked by increasing threats to international peace and security.
The number of interstate conflicts is rising.
While the Security Council bears primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the GA also has an important role to play in this regard.
How do you see the role of the General Assembly in contributing to the maintenance of international peace and security, particularly when the council is unwilling or unable to act? Second, the appointment of the next SG by the General Assembly is an important process for many member states as well as for the United Nations this year.
If it has not already happened, this will hopefully take place early in your tenure as PGA to ensure that the incoming Secretary-General has sufficient time to prepare for his or her term in office.
We would therefore be interested in hearing your views on ensuring the GAs meaningful role in the process, including on how exactly you would shape the process within the General Assembly, particularly with regard to ensuring greater transparency and which issues would you place particular emphasis on.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I thank the Distinguished Representative of Switzerland and before on behalf of Act, please, Mr.
Ron.
Thank you very much.
I responded to the first part of your question earlier, but I'll repeat.
You see, the responsibilities of the principal organs of our organization are defined in the charter and it's very important that we respect the mandates that are outlined in in the charter.
And As I said before, Security Council has the primary mandate to keep peace and security.
I remember once one of our most celebrated Secretary-General once said, Doug He Mschel that Security Council resolves conflicts and Esc the root causes of conflict.
There are interlinkages among the principal organizations.
And the Security Council, although it has primary responsibility, but does not have exclusive responsibility.
We have a few and I mentioned that this uniting for peace, it was first done in the 50s during the Korean War, if I remember correctly.
And then it has been used subsequently.
There are special sessions of the General Assembly and the Veto Initiative.
We have tools to do this.
So my take on this is that I'm going to work with all of you If the situation demands that we should add our voice, our moral weight to a particular problem that is finding it intractable to be resolved in another Security Council to make sure that our voices and our moral weight comes to bear upon the issue.
The second point that you raised is the Secretary-General, as I said, we're appointing somebody for five years, if not ten years.
Tenure has been mostly the case except for the first two and Trickle probably did one and Doug Hammerschll's life was cut short by very unfortunately.
So this gentleman or this lady will be the face of the United Nations to the rest of the world.
He'll be leading many of the work that United Nations does.
You've got to be absolutely sure that we are getting somebody who is able to deliver what we expect from him, especially at a time when we see the stress on multilateralsm is growing.
I'll make sure that there are enough opportunities for delegations to question him, find out about his question him or her, find about her or his vision and mission and ability to deliver.
That I will do.
More than that, once and I hope that the selection is over with you so that I have to do that job.
Then if I have to, I will do it transparently and effectively.
The second thing is the transition.
That's the most important thing.
How do you make it more smooth? On your behalf, if you say, elect me as the Secretary-General, I'll make sure given my own 30 years experience here, both sides of the aisle, to help him transition into the office of the Secretary-General.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Times, on behalf of the community of Portuguese speaking countries, followed by Andorra and Australia.
Thank you, Madam President.
On behalf of the community of Portuguese language countries, we welcome this opportunity to engage in this vital dialogue.
Thank you.
For also expressing your ambassador for expressing your support on multilingualism and also cultural diversity.
As the President of the General Assembly, you would set up the world's premest platform for multilateralism and that requires a leader who can navigate the complexities of our current global landscape with both impartiality and resolve.
As a community spanning four continents and united via shared language and a commitment to peace, the CPLP believes that the strength of this assembly lies in its ability to foster inclusivity and bridge widening divides.
In this spirit of constructive engagement, I have the honor to pose the following two questions on behalf of our group.
First, given the importance of the ocean to many CPLP member states, how would you promote greater attention within the General Assembly to ocean governance, sustainable blue economies, and implementation of the BB&G agreement? Second is, how would you ensure that the perspectives and priorities of small and developing states are meaningful it in the work of the General Assembly.
Thank you.
Thank you, Distinguish representative of Timor-Leste on behalf of the community of Portguese speaking countries, please, Ron.
Thank you very much and thank you for mentioning about Portuguese speaking countries.
As I said, I have my vision document in your language.
I did it on purpose.
There are many who speak your language, and I pledge to you that in the PGA, I'll do justice to it.
In my office and in my work.
About ocean, as I said in my opening statement, against the backdrop of ocean decade, I will promote initiatives to advance science based ocean action and effective partnerships for the conservation of marine ecosystems.
You mentioned the BB NG.
I'll facilitate discussions at the first conference, I believe that will be in January 2027.
I will advance and support discussions during the first conference of the parties.
This will be on my agenda.
This will be quite prominent on my agenda.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the Sings representative of Andorra on behalf of the group of friends of Francophone ambassadors, followed by Australia and Zimbabwe.
Thank you, Madam President.
I'm taking the floor today on behalf of French speaking ambassadors, I'd like to welcome the candidate, first of all, and thank him for his briefing.
As you know, the group of French speaking ambassadors is fully committed to the promotion and defense of multilingualism.
With the reforms underway, we'd like to know the place that you are going to give to this principle as you exercise your mandate if you're elected president of the General Assembly.
We've got two questions.
What follow up are you going to give to initiatives undertaken by your predecessor, particularly that of the president of the 79th session, who established a multilingilingualism working group in order to ensure the equality of the six languages in the work of the General Assembly and to institutionalize the use of those languages within the Office of the President of the General Assembly and to make those languages available for official communications.
Secondly, you referred to this several times that in your cabinet, you You want to ensure that you have people that speak the six languages of the United Nations.
I would like to put a question in my national capacity.
According to your own intervention, if you're elected, you will full time president of the General Assembly.
This means that you are ready to resign from your position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Andorra on behalf of the group of friends of Francophone ambassadors and in national capacity.
Thank you very much.
On the first question, but first of all, multilingualism, I already mentioned I responded to this question when the Spanish delegate asked this.
I mentioned that technologies are available for real time simultaneous interpretation pretty accurate these days in as many as 60 languages and expanding.
So would you be willing to work with me to have a special meeting of the United Nations on technology and multilingualism, I could do that.
Maybe that's one of the ways we can spread our messages to the world.
We can allow the rest of the world, the peoples of the United Nations in real time to see what we are doing and read all the reports we prepare.
Technology is available.
We don't have to be in stone age.
Many of these work that we do today, even now, eight years after the establishment of this, we're not using technologies in interpretation.
So Let's make some investments in our effort.
I would invite you and any other delegation who is willing to have an initiative on technology and multilingualism.
It's not just that people like me who speak English or you who do French and others that have access to the work of the organization.
Let's open it to the rest of the world.
Thank you.
Oh, the other thing, sorry.
Will I resign? No, my prime minister has told me very clearly that he's going to let me off for one year to do a full time job.
Resignation is not the only option.
I can get a leave.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the Distinguished Representative of Australia on behalf of Cans, followed by Simbba.
Thank you, President and welcome, Mr.
Rahman.
Of course, I speak on behalf of Canada, New Zealand, and my own country, Australia.
I had two questions, one for Cans and one in my own capacity.
But the one for Cans really goes to, and this is a moment to allow me to congratulate, I think our current president for the dynamism and engagement she has brought to the role and her commitment to reform and Mr.
Rahman, what I would like to ask you is, how can we ensure as smooth as possible transition to a new president of the General Assembly in a way which retains and if possible, enhances, I think the dynamism and engagement that we have enjoyed over the past 12 months or so.
My second question in a personal capacity and I don't think you've addressed this, but forgive me if you have.
I wanted to ask obviously in a circumstance where permanent representatives, there's a considerable gender disequality in permanent representatives.
I think female permanent representatives are 35% or something like that of the total number.
Um, when you're looking at appointments for various processes and you're looking at the way we go forward, what's the best way to make sure that we have gender equality across those co facilitation and appointment processes? Of course, it doesn't just apply to gender, it also applies, I think, to regional and other representation.
But I'd very much welcome your reflections on that.
Thank you.
Thank the Distinguished representative of Australia on behalf of Ken's, please, miss Aran.
Well, the second question first, improving gender balance.
We should put our money where our mouth is.
You could begin by replacing yourself with a woman representative.
That would be probably increase the number of PRs that are female.
This is a serious offer.
You see, I will make sure that PGA represents all regions, the principal the official languages and men and women, young and old.
Both.
Be assured, that's how I will do my business.
I'll also make sure that smaller countries have their place in my office.
It's not that they will come to my office for this or that.
No, I will reach out to them.
That is one of the ways I tell, I was the spokesperson for LDCs when I was a delegate.
This was pre Internet time.
So we had 45 46 delegations.
How do you keep in touch? I assigned three or four key issues to four of my LDC colleagues.
We sit together every week and we used to give a send out a written one page to all delegations.
We kept everybody informed.
Whenever there was negotiations, I would make sure that as many delegations from LDCs as possible are present and fully briefed.
I So in this time and age, we can do this better, and I promise to do that.
About transition, you see that one of the issues that we always faced about PGs is that it's one year office.
So if you take it one year, if I take it, okay, I have 365 days, I think I'm missing a big point.
The whole PGA thing should be a continuum.
When I met with you, you remember and you said Better Together is an initiative that you took that I carry forward.
Okay? So similarly, the multilingualism working group, that 79th session presidency, I'm going to carry it forward.
And then your own work on global digital compact, I'm going to carry over.
More than that, I'll keep in touch with you and I want your promise to keep in touch with me.
So this is how I want to keep continuum is very important.
Is my hard work doesn't end with the day I'm taking over no.
She will still be there, and I'll make sure that we have this commitment.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the next distinguished representative, the representative of Zimbabwe, followed by the next civil society organization.
Thank you, Madam President.
My delegation welcomes this interactive dialogue.
We also thank Mr.
Raman for sharing his vision at a time when the multilateral system faces growing complexity, heightened by divisions and increasing demands for collective action.
In such circumstances, the role of the president of the General Assembly in fostering trust, bridging differing perspectives, and building broad consensus among member states becomes especially important.
The General Assembly is the UN's most representative organ where all nations have an equal voice.
Its president must therefore guide the assembly with inclusivity, transparency, and unity of purpose.
Against this background, my delegation wishes to ask the following questions.
Consensus building has always been one of the most important tasks of the United Nations.
Could you brief us on how you would advance consensus building during your presidency if elected? I thank you, Madam President.
I thank the Distinguished Repsative of imbabwe please, Mr.
An.
Thank you.
Very important question.
You see, once upon a time, I used to be the Bureau Chief of FTD in New York and I had the responsibility of providing substantive support to resolution on international trade and development.
In those days, this was a contentious matter on many issues, as you know in WTO, people fight fight to the death.
But year after year, without fail, I could get this resolution adopted by the member states by consensus.
You have to listen attentively to the various viewpoints, not only attentively, respectfully.
Each one of us bring at an interest and you've got to be interested in this patient hearing, your ability to see where convergences are appearing and to grab them in real time.
Get people together that come to similar viewpoints during your consultations.
With this accretion of people that come to common views on issues, you then try to enlarge the numbers.
It's a very patient process.
You have to be very attentive, you have to be very respectful.
So I will employ all that skills that I have learned, all the tricks also in order to ensure that the process is such that we are respectful to each other, we are open to each other, we are able to express ourselves freely.
So whenever convergence is possible, we work together to advance it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the next civil society organization, and I invite the Assembly to view a pre recorded video by the committee to Protect Journalists.
Hello, my name is Amelia Evans and I'm the advocacy Director at the Committee to Protect Journalists.
My question to you is this.
The importance of press freedom and journalist safety has been recognized by the UN through SDG Indicator 16101 and numerous resolutions, including UGA resolution 68163 and 70 8215, as well as security Resolution 2222.
Yet implementation remains critically weak.
The committee to Protect Journalists has documented unprecedented levels of journalist killings and detentions in recent years.
What specific steps will you take as president of the General Assembly to close that implementation gap and to advance the protection of journalists and a free press? Thank you.
Thank you.
Please, miss Rowan.
I'm very happy that this question has been asked.
I mentioned that my own country was under a worst kind of dictatorship for 15 years and the first victim was press the gagging of press is one of the favorite ways of dictators.
And that happens I've seen that happen in many parts of the world.
And I'm also aware aside from the fact that the journalists find it very difficult to work in circumstances where the the overall environment is not conducive.
They also lose lives in areas of conflict, and we have seen them in recent years.
The role of PGA, and this is one of the things that probably have not done very well, is to raise consciousness about the importance of protecting journalists everywhere.
They are journalists are the bearers of our tidings.
It's very important that we make sure that our societies protect them and protect them from violent acts.
So as PGA, I will add my voice.
I'll try to get all of the member states to recognize the importance of this.
We can add moral voice universally.
Since that's what we can do, that's what at least from my side, I will try to do.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the first speaker on national capacity to please be reminded that the speaking time is reduced to 2 minutes per member state and also the time for answering is 2 minutes.
I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Indonesia, followed by Ukraine and the Dominican Republic.
Thank you, Madam President, and thank you, Excellency, Mr.
Rahman, for sharing your vision.
As multilateralism faces global fragmentation, the General Assembly requires strong and inclusive leadership, particularly in maintaining and restoring trust to the multilateral system.
In this connection, the role of the president is crucial in ensuring that the work of the Assembly remains focused, relevant, and impactful, capable of driving the mandates of the General Assembly to serve members' interests.
In this regard, Indonesia would like to convey two following questions.
First, as the United Nations prepares for the transitions to a new Secretary-General, while also facing ongoing liquidity challenges, how do you envisage safeguarding the effective implementation of UN mandates while maintaining the credibility of the organization? And second, what is your concrete strategy apart from being inclusive to ensure the outcomes of the assembly would reflect more convergence instead of division among member states in tackling our common challenges.
Thank you, and we look forward to your reflections.
I thank the Distinguished representative of Indonesia, please, Mr.
Raman.
Thank you very much.
I'll take the second question first.
You see, I will not overlook the fact that there are divisions.
On many issues, we can have different points of view depending on our national interest.
I was a delegate and I know that when we came to this organization, we also came with our national positions.
All that we hope is that our position correlates with others so that at the end of the day, we're able to get a consensus or as big an agreement as possible.
The role of the the role of the PGA is not simply a presiding officer.
Role of PGA is also a bridge builder.
As I said, that requires a very special ability to listen to all viewpoints, respectfully and attentively, patiently and see where you can get strands of convergence, build on that, get more people on board, and then the circle of convergence expands.
That's how you do it.
It's painstaking work, it's patient work and I pledge this effort to you.
Secondly, about SG, I already mentioned that we First of all, I hope and pray that it doesn't fall on me and you are able to dispose of this matter, Madam President.
But if it does, I'll make sure as you have done, that there is that you get a full view of candidates, the new candidates emerging and you are able to decide yourself that this is the woman or a man who would be able to lead our organization for the next five years.
There is one.
Then as I said, once somebody is selected or elected, I'm going to help him get into his position both as PG and as somebody with very long experience in the organization.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of Ukraine, followed by the Dominican Republic and Japan.
Thank you, Madam President.
Thank You Excellency, for your vision of priorities and readiness to serve as the president of General Assembly.
Your Excellency, how would you characterize Russia's actions against Ukraine? In particular, its large scale military invasion it launched on 21st of February 2022.
What qualification would you give to this war as well as to Russia's systematic daily attacks against Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure which continue to cause dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries among peaceful residents.
Your Excellency, as you know, since 2022, the UN General Assembly has adopted a number of important resolution condemning Russia's aggression and demanding the immediate withdrawal of its troops and an end to this war.
Unfortunately, none of these resolutions has been implemented.
As the future president of the General Assembly, what concrete steps would you propose to ensure the effective implementation of the General Assembly decisions so that they do not remain merely political declarations? I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Ukraine, please, Mr.
Roman.
Thank you, Madam President.
This question came up before and let me reiterate that as the president of the General Assembly, the foundation of my work will be the UN charter.
I'll be guided by the charter and I'll be faithful to Charter.
I said it in my opening statement.
In the case of Ukraine, the Assembly remains seized with this issue in accordance with charter within the mandate that is given by the given to the Assembly, and we have seen that there has been emergency special session on Ukraine.
Now, I considering this issue in the assembly, ensure that the rules of procedure are fully applied and ensure that there's a free, open dialogue on this matter.
And the space for such dialogue is not jeopardized by any other means.
But at the same time, as I said, we have very defined mandates between the General Assembly and Security Council, and I'll be very careful not to duplicate the work of the council.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the Sing representative of the Dominican Republic, followed by Japan and Cuba.
Thank you very much, Madam President and thank you very much, Excellency, for today giving us your vision and your priorities.
My delegation recognizes the importance of the Office of the President of the General Assembly for providing strategic guidance.
You say that we need to have a more agile, integrated organization that can have an impact.
And we'd be grateful if you could expand a little bit more on the specific actions that you might spear ahead from your office, particularly to motivate consensus and dialogue amongst member states that will have an impact on the ground.
In that respect, You also referred to small delegations.
Thank you for that reference, but once again, how can we ensure that general assembly processes are open to smaller delegations with fewer staff so that they can be fully on board with all of the processes that you undertake.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of the Dominican Republic, please, Mr.
Ran.
Thank you very much.
Very important question.
I alluded to this before.
It's extremely difficult for smaller delegations to navigate through the thousands and thousands of pages of documents, nearly 4,000 mandates, and multiple meetings that severely taxes their ability to attend.
Yeah.
My own delegation here is probably the size of Singapore, so we feel if not exactly the same size and we feel the same difficulty.
As I said, I will make sure that the PGA has focal points for small delegations, maybe multiple, and so that we can reach out proactively to the smaller delegations before they come and ask for information.
Today's technology it's possible to do that.
We can have smart solutions.
As I said, in the pre Internet days, we were able to do this effectively.
I think we can do much better today.
From me, be assured that I'll be invested in fully.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the signature Representative of Japan, followed by Cuba and the next Civil Society organization.
Thank you, Madam Chair President.
I'd also like to thank Mr.
Rahman for his opening remarks and explanation so far.
Japan attaches great importance to the General Assembly as the most transparent and representative organ.
Under the next president leadership, Japan looks forward to enhancing multilaterlism, upholding the rule of law based upon the UN charter and embracing diverse views of member states in an inclusive manner.
In this regard, Japan would appreciate your views on three points.
First, Japan stresses the urgent need to reform the Security Council to restore confidence in the UN as the center of multilaterlism.
In this regard, Japan believes that expansion in both the permanent and non permanent categories is essential to make the council truly more democratic and accountable.
Second, the UN 80 initiative is a critical ongoing reform effort to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the UN system, ultimately enabling the organization to function as one UN in addressing complex global challenges.
Third, in view of aforementioned ongoing UN reform efforts, comprehensive approach, leveraging the humanitarian development piece nexus is essential.
Japan believes that enhancing synergies of course across this field is critical and regards human security as a vital framework for achieving this.
You have already mentioned some of these points, but I would like to welcome you for thought on how you intend to promote discussions on these critical issues.
I thank you.
I thank the Distinguish representative of Japan, please, Mr.
An.
Thank you very much.
As regards the Security Council Reform, the discussions are going on in the council itself as needed.
Then your PG, I'll keep my eyes and ears open on this, consult regularly with the president of the Security Council.
One thing that I would like to mention that when the charter was framed, in 1945, many of our countries were not present.
The world has changed, the membership of the United Nations has changed, and the issue of greater representation in various bodies have also become more and more vocal in recent times.
The IGN is seized with this matter.
I'll be closely following that process, but I believe that this is an issue that should remain in the forefront of our discussions and a more representative Security Council is something that is good for both the member states and the rest of the world.
On the question of humanity, I said very clearly that I will make sure that the process remains process is driven, member state owned.
I will be in constant touch with the Secretary-General on various work streams, especially the first one.
And the important thing is that the president of the General Assembly is able to and willing to work with all the member states to carry forward this very, very important reform package.
The most significant one that I've seen in recent years about human security, they are at the intersection of peace, development, and human rights.
If you draw circular diagram, there will be a Venn diagram, we call it in mathematics.
They are right at the center intersection of all these three.
And I've said in in my opening that humanitarian aspects are taking an increasing backseat.
We need to reverse that.
And for that, we need to create much greater awareness and a more bold action from the assembly, a much greater convergence and consensus.
I will work with you on this, Excellency, the representative of Japan.
This is a very important question that you have asked, and we see that everywhere, the uh the fragility of fragility of our security all over the world.
I would especially work with you and your delegation to advance this item.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of Cuba.
Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, Mr.
Khalil Rachman, Your Excellency, we welcome these interactive dialogues with the two candidates for the President of the General Assembly.
We also very much appreciate this exercise to have a frank exchange of views between member states and the candidates to lead the principal deliberative body of the organization.
Stress the need to continue with transparency, openness, and the inclusive nature of the selection process for the president of the General Assembly.
We think that these dialogues increase accountability, legitimacy, and credibility of the process.
In that regard, we'd like to put the following questions.
How do you assess the role of the General Assembly in confronting unilateral coercive measures? What concrete actions do you think you could drive forward in order to strengthen the role of the UN GA against these measures, move to end them, and prevent them being applied? Thank you.
I thank the Distinguished representative of Cuba, please, Mr.
Rahman.
Thank you.
As I said before, the guiding principle of my approach to questions such as you have raised would be based on the provisions of the UN charter.
This question came before the assembly before, and my approach would be to make sure that there is informed, respectable, and constructive debate.
In the process, if I see the possibility of convergence, I will try to bring all those converging parties together to build greater, commonality of view, uh, As I said, the strength of our assembly lies in our legitimacy, and that's what I will always have in my mind.
You can be rest assured of my objectivity and my adherence to rules of procedure in addressing this issue.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the next civil society representative and invite the distinguished representative of Grigory Ode Water Foundation.
Thank you, Madam President.
My name is Gregory Ode, and I have the honor of speaking on behalf of the Gregory Ode Water Foundation.
Your Excellency, doctor Ragman, thank you for sharing your vision for the Office of the President of the United Nations General Assembly.
Here's my question.
In line with the United Nations Charter, Chapter seven, Article 39, which mandates the United Nations member states through the Security Council, to determine any threat and breach of peace among its members and to act collectively to maintain sustainable peace.
The African region, particularly at the Sahel, has not received proper attention from the United Nations General Assembly to decisively address the terror of Bandit and Boko Haram.
As the president of the United States General Assembly, I want to be a priority to addressing the security challenges in the African region, particularly in the Sahel, where the insecurity challenges has caused millions of deaths, displacement of people, and forced migration of women and children who bear the brunt of the security challenges.
Thank you, Madam President.
I thank the distinguished representative of the Grigori Odie Water Foundation.
Please, Mr.
Rahman.
Thank you very much.
The Sahel region has been seeing multiple crises simultaneously happening affecting human livelihoods and lives for an extended period of time.
In some way, the UN responded through peacekeeping actions, through humanitarian assistance.
But it seems that the problem of security continues unabated and part of the problem is also, as you've said, non state actors destabilizing the societies.
There's no easy answer, but it's important that as the most universal body of the United Nations that looks at human conditions throughout the world is seized with this matter.
If this issue is raised, as I said, by member states, I will ensure that there is an informed, respectful and constructive dialogue and discourse.
I will try to see if it is possible to have convergence on actions by the United Nations.
This is a problem that cannot be resolved by UN action alone.
There will be a lot of work that has to be done at the country levels at the regional and sub regional levels.
We'll have to work together and patiently over a significant period of time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of Paraguay, followed by the Maldives and Singapore.
War Thank you very much, Madam President.
We'd like to thank Foreign Affairs Minister Rahman for his information.
My delegation endorses the statement delivered by Spain on behalf of the group of friends of Spanish.
I'd also like to second what other delegations have stated with regard to small delegations and the difficulty in attending all meetings.
If you are elected, we would like you to take that into consideration.
We'd also like to Request special attention for countries in particular situations such as LDCs and SIDS.
I would like those to be priorities on your agenda as well, please.
Finally, a quick question.
What would be your program of work All right.
With regard to the vice chairs with which we'll be working, thank you.
Thank Distinguished Represent Apaga.
Please, Mr.
Rahman.
Thank you very much.
I'll start with the last question about vice presidents.
You say, I'll not be a one man show.
I'll work with my vice presidents.
They are a resource that we need to tap more intensively.
Imagine myself as a prime minister with ministers.
I'm being senior among equals.
I will use the services of the vice presidents going beyond two or three responsibilities that they have to carry.
These vice presidents come from all parts of the member states.
They are connected with your groups, with your delegations.
What better vehicle can I have than them to get the inter membership on board.
So I will work closely with all vice presidents.
This will be a very important organizational setup that I'm going to use.
Secondly, LDCs, landloged seeds.
I'll tell you, in 2025, LDCs, ODA dropped by more than 25%.
This is a serious drop.
This is happening at a time when the circumstances they're facing is very adverse.
I mentioned this whole matter of energy crisis and in the 70s, you had two crisis 74 and 2079 and what was the consequence? A lost decade of development for Latin America, Africa, and Asian developing countries.
I don't want I don't want to see this happen again.
For example, for landlord countries, their import cost is 63% higher than their neighbors just because they don't have access to the sea.
So these are serious issues.
And I believe today, for example, when the oil prices is under, say, $120 per barrel, they will pay $63 more per barrel.
So think about the serious effect that they will have.
So I will have the interest of these groups very closely to my mind and to my action.
I was myself, as I said, a spokesman for LDCs.
Within that group, there are also seeds and LLDCs.
I'm very aware of the problems and I will pay very special attention to this.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinged representative of the Maldives, followed by Singapore and Malawi.
Thank you, Madam President.
Foreign Minister, doctor Rahman.
Your vision statement has expressed strong commitment for multilateralism, strengthening the role of the General Assembly, and in enhancing the role of countries in special situations.
I have three questions.
Your vision statement explicitly commits to maintaining focus on ABAS, the Doha program of action for ADCs, the ABASA program of action for LLDCs.
For SIDS, the key issue is implementation.
How would you use the convening power of the PGA to ensure that ABAS is mainstreamed across the general Assembly's work? Number two, your vision statement highlights transparency, open channels to every mission, gender parity, and equitable geographical distribution.
How would these principles be reflected in the composition and working methods of the Office of the President or General Assembly? Number three, would you consider continuing and strengthening the PGA fellowship scheme as a concrete way to build capacity and broaden participation from underrepresented member states? I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of the Maldives, please, Mr.
Ban.
Thank you.
Let me again start with the last question, PG fellowships.
Those fellowships are more numerous than before for a longer period, but they have become fewer and for shorter duration.
This is one of the ways of attracting young people from various parts of the world to get connected with the work that we do in the General Assembly.
So when I looked at the situation, it was not very, very comfortable.
So I was not sitting idle.
I've been trying to get funding for this.
I get even before getting elected, it doesn't matter whether I get elected or not.
There's a cause that I believe in.
So I have got some promising leads, and I believe that I'll be able to increase the number and increase the duration.
In doing this, it's very important that those delegations that are not fully represented or adequately represented, they must be the primary candidates for these fellowships.
The second thing is a the PGA PGAs vis-à-vis small delegations.
I've already mentioned that.
This is going to be one of my focus when I put together this office.
The smaller delegations will be properly fully represented men, women, and from various language families so that we are able to service those delegations as well as we can.
About ABS, one very quick thing we can do is to look to integrate the ABS Pro action into the severe commitment.
They are complementary and we can try to see what we can do for small island countries from the point of view of severe commitment.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to distinguished representative of Singapore, followed by Malawi and Angola.
Thank you very much, Madam President, for convening this very important interactive dialogue.
Excellency, doctor Khalil Rahman, a warm welcome and thank you for presenting your vision, as well as your very comprehensive listing of your six priority areas.
Madam President, doctor Rahman, I speak as the representative of a small state.
In this regard, the role of the General Assembly is crucial because it is the only universal body of the UN where no one can or should have the veto.
Accordingly, small states generally have very high expectations for the president of the General Assembly, and we also have very high expectations of the role that the General Assembly should perform at a time when multilateralism is being tested.
In this regard, it is very much our hope that whoever is elected president of the General Assembly will actively reach out to small states and listen to the voices of the small states in order to understand our vulnerabilities and priorities.
You've already addressed the concerns of small states in your response.
I had some questions with that regard.
And I will not raise them here because you have given us some of your response in terms of helping small states, and I've taken note of that.
It is also our hope that if you are elected that you will give us from time to time your time to meet with our group, the Forum of Small states.
Let me move to my question, which relates to the implementation of the SDGs and the Pact of the future, particularly as it relates to the implementation of the Global Digital Compact.
You've touched on it to some extent, but I'd like to have greater details if you are able to share on how we can use digital technology to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs and whether you would consider, for example, convening a special meeting of the General Assembly to focus on how we can collectively leverage a elaborate the technology.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Singapore, please, Mr.
Raman.
Thank you very much for your question.
As I said in a previous comment, you got to feel the shoe pinching and then you'll be able to act.
Like yours, our delegation is also small exactly your size and the shoe pinches for us.
I'll make sure that the PGA reaches out to small delegations in particular.
It's very difficult to wade through 4,000 mandates.
Thousands and thousands of pages of papers.
Many of them, you miss out because you don't have the capacity to deal with them and the meetings, so many of them.
We have to rationalize all of these things, but we have to try to make sense of all of these two smaller delegations.
You have my full support in terms of the access of smaller delegations about technology.
Let's take the case of AI, and This global digital compact, there has been some very welcoming development.
The establishing global AI governance, the process has started.
International Scientific panel has been appointed by the Secretary-General, I believe, and it's I'll facilitate more of dedicated discussions on AI governance in particular and emerging technologies in general.
I mean, these The technologies, as we have seen in the previous round of Internet based technologies, are going to reshape our life in ways that we cannot even predict.
It's very important for all of us to get a handle on this, and I will work very hard to make sure that we all have an opportunity to discuss this matter and understand it better and make sure that these technologies are available to all in a fair, inclusive and safe manner.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Malawi, speaking on behalf of a group, speaking on behalf of the least developed countries.
Therefore, if you would like, you have 3 minutes for the questions and then it would be also 3 minutes for the answer.
Thank you, PGA for convening this session and I thank Excellency Rachman for sharing your vision and your priority areas.
I have few questions.
First, in relation to the UN AA initiative that is going on, and that has so far produced proposals to make UN women and UNFPA as well as maging UNDP and UNPs.
In view of the perception that after eight years of UN in existence and supporting countries in special situations like my country, Malawi and other LDCs and ADCs and seeds, poverty levels and gender inequality remain high and industrialization is still low.
Thus low job creation rate to absorb the youthful population.
With the challenges we are facing to mobilize development finances, how do you intend to engage international financing institutions, including multilateral banks and private capital investors to ensure that countries in special situations are supported as per UN mandate related to the pillar on development of the UN charter? Second, due to competing priorities and the impact of the conflicts in Europe and in Middle East and climate induced disasters on the fiscal space and capabilities of our vulnerable countries, implementation of the SDGs and LDC Doha P of action and their WASA program of action has been slowed down.
If you get elected, midterm review of the Doha P of action will take place during your tenure.
What strategies will you adopt to accelerate the implementation of these critical commitments, including the civil commitment? Third, how would you ensure that UNO HRI LAS and other UN agencies and departments that directly support LDCs, OLDCs and SIDS, including countries in post conflict situations are secured and strengthened to continue supporting the countries in vulnerable populations without disruptions.
I thank you, PJ.
I thank the distinguished representative of Malawi on behalf of the least developed countries, please, Mr.
Roman.
Thank you very much.
You mentioned OHRLLS when it was established prior to its establishment, the Secretary-General asked me to help him in preparing the proposal for establishment of OHRLLS.
I had a big hand in doing this and I have followed since the growth of this office and the very good work that the office is doing and All right.
I'm aware that the midterm review of the program of action for LDCs will happen in 2027 during the presidency of 81st session.
This is a process that I'm pretty familiar with.
I will try to work very closely with the LDC groups, as well as the larger membership of the United Nations to set the agenda and to get the maximum amount of convergence, we'll have to see how we have performed in terms of our national action, whether there are areas where the countries themselves can advance the implementation of the action program.
But at the same time, as I mentioned, there has been a precipitated drop in the ODA, 25% in 2025.
So that's one area that we need to address.
Then many of the country LDCs facing the issue of debt sustainability.
So that will also be quite high on my agenda.
I will be working with your group very intensely, and I'll have a focal point for that.
But I will also try to engage very seriously the rest of the membership.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Angola, followed by the next Civil Society organization in Romania.
Thank you, Madam President.
We thank you doctor Kalu Rahman.
For presenting your vision.
I'm going to note the importance you attach to the distinctive role of General Assembly in shaping norms, promoting a culture of prevention, and working in constructive cooperation with the Security Council, the Secretariat, and other relevant organs so that peace efforts remains people centered and anchored in human dignity, human rights, and fundamental freedoms.
In this context, we would like to ask two questions.
First, if elected, how do you intend to translate your commitments into concrete initiatives of the agenda of the General Assembly particularly in peace and security.
Second, how do you plan to ensure stronger coordination between the General Assembly and other main organs, namely the Security Council, EcoSc and the Secretariat, to make the UN more effective in responding to today's international challenges and opportunities? I thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Angola, please, Mr.
Rahman.
Thank you for your very important question.
As I told you before, I don't view the presidency of a particular session as a one off event.
I want to see presidencies as continuum.
A our current president is doing very good work in connecting with Ecosoc presidency the Security Council, peace Building Commission.
I'll build on this work.
There's no need to start from scratch.
Good work has been done.
Good results have been there and you build on this.
I congratulate our president for hard work, which will immensely benefit if you when I take over.
As I said, I want her promise to work with me beyond her term.
That is one thing that will ensure the continuum.
It's very important that we are clear about the respective mandates of the various organs and you respect them.
Otherwise, you will not be able to function.
Yes, the General Assembly has a very important role in peace and security, but we don't have the role in terms of enforcing Chapter seven actions.
We've got to know that what we can bring to bear on any situation of conflict is the moral force.
The universal view.
That I will continue to do.
I will maintain my consultations regularly with the presidency of the main organs of the United Nations and I will keep you fully briefed on what transpired during those consultations.
Many a time with the Security Council, you'll be able to get some advanced warnings of things might happen and I'll bring Thank you.
I now give the floor to the next civil society organization and invite the assembly to view a prerecorded video by the group of the European youth for change.
Your Excellency, my name is Gabriel Brazoo representing GIC from Romania and Prisma European Network.
This question is coming from the concerns raised by the young people.
The Declaration on future generations commits us to safeguarding the interests of those to come.
However, as the UN physical footprint receeds to the 2026 budget crisis, our representation gap threatens to exclude youth and civil society from global governance.
How will you, as the president of the General Assembly, build a digitally resilient United Nations that derives its mandate from direct virtual engagement? Specifically, would you scale proven models like the European Digital Citizenship Education Week to ensure the UN remains an accessible, accountable partner regardless of geographical or budgetary barriers? Thank you.
I thank the Swedish representative of the Group of the European youth for change, please, Mr.
Ram.
Thank you very much.
I can tell you my own recent experience about the role of young people in making huge changes.
Two years ago in my own country, it was young people in high school and university who took to the street to unseat a terribly bad dictatorial regime.
Following that, for the first time, we had student leaders in the cabinet.
And in the decision making positions.
They were in the driver's seat and they did a wonderful job.
The thing is, it's very important to keep this connection with the youth because the future trust in our organization will depend very much on how they perceive the functioning of the United Nations.
Whether we have any utility or not in 2050 years from now will depend on how we reach out to our young people and how they perceive our organization.
During one of the interactions for the SG, one of the candidates said that young people don't care about our organization.
It's not fully true.
I've seen in my own country people are doing modeling and other things.
But the thing is that we may not necessarily have the same appeal that we had 20 or 30 years ago to our young people.
So it's very important that we not only reach out to them, but also make them an integral part of our deliberations.
Thank you.
Thank you, coming from the civil society in Romania, where our colleague was based now to the permanent representative of Romania in the room.
I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Romania, followed by Equatorial Guinea and Namibia.
Thank you very much, Madam President.
Minister Rachman, we are very grateful for your presence and engagement with member states this afternoon.
Romania is deeply invested in the efforts aimed at strengthening the General Assembly and making its work more efficient and impactful.
As co chair of the process of the revitalization of the General Assembly, I would like to focus on the implementation of Resolution 70 9327 during the 81st session of the General Assembly.
I have two questions for you.
The first one relates to paragraph 42 of the S resolution, which is outlining and sets the contours of the process for the selection and appointment process of the SG, and if elected, I would like to know what your role would be next to the Security Council or in relation to the Security Council into finalizing this important process of selection.
My second question relates to paragraph seven of the same resolution where the membership made a collective commitment for the first time and I will quote.
Decides to support credible, timely, and decisive action by the Security Council in exercise of its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and in this regard, calls upon member states to refrain from measures impeding action to prevent or end the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.
I would like to know if you see a role for the PGA in ensuring the full implementation of this commitment, and if so, if you could elaborate on concrete measures that the PGA would be entitled to take to support this decision by the member states.
I thank you very much.
I thank the distinguished representative of Romania, please, Mr.
Roman.
You see, as I mentioned, we have more than 4,000 mandates and it's very difficult to the mandate review is one of the critical areas of enhancing the effectiveness of General Assembly.
The issue of mandate was taken up the within three to four years of the birth of this organization.
I believe it was in the 40s when there was this first resolution on inviting member states to refrain from generating increasing number of mandates.
But here we are with so many of these mandates that it's very difficult for uh, even a medium sized organization to navigate.
So this is an area that I'll certainly keep my attention.
There is this a second stream of work that is outlined by agenda E 80.
I will be working very closely with both Secretary-General and member states in ensuring that we're able to make progress in this area.
And And could you repeat your second point? Go ahead.
Please.
Thank you.
If I'm given the time, of course.
Resolution 70 9327 on the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly.
In OP seven, member states decided to support credible, timely, and decisive action by the Security Council in exercise of its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and in this regard, called upon member states to refrain from measures impeding action to prevent or end the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.
My specific question was, what role do you foresee for the PGA in ensuring the full and timely implementation of this commitment and if so, whether you can elaborate on concrete measures that the PGA would be entitled to take to support this decision of the General Assembly.
Thank you.
Please.
Thank you very much.
Yeah.
So on this matter, as I see it, it's very important to know that the General Assembly operates within a certain mandate given by the charter.
So division of the work between General Assembly and Security Council is something that I will respect fully, but at the same time, it's important that we make progress on this and we have to define the role of the General Assembly on these matters.
So, uh If a member state raises questions about it in the form of a proposal, I will discuss immediately with the president of the General Assembly on the question of jurisdiction.
Secondly, if the General Assembly is able to discuss and deliberate on this matter, I will make sure that these deliberations are respectful, these deliberations are constructive, and the rules of procedure are fully applied.
I'll make sure that the PGA plays his intended role in the fullest way possible.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We still have a couple of questions.
If your microphone is green, you're on the speaker's list.
If anybody else wishes to take the floor, please press the button now.
Otherwise, we will close the list of speakers.
I will now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Equatorial Guinea, followed by Namibia.
Thank you very much.
Madam President, Ambassador Rahman.
I'm going to put two questions to you.
The first.
Okay.
Is that we know that Security Council reform is relevant to a lot of regions and you want to defend the rights of member states.
But when it comes specifically to the African continent, we think there's a historic injustice, 1.5 million people in Africa and 54 54 members in the UN, we're still not represented in the permanent category of the Security Council.
On the 15th of December of 2008, We began the intergovernmental dialogue at the 72nd session of the General Assembly and since then, there haven't been positive developments on this front.
As president of the 81st session of the General Assembly, I'd like to know whether you have any initiatives in mind to breathe life into this process.
Africa has already submitted its reform model.
The second question is, In 2018, as a non permanent member of the Security Council, we were part of a visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh and particularly in Cox’s Bazar, I had the opportunity to see the immense suffering of the Rohingyas microphone has been cut off.
It's because the speaking time is coming to an end.
The situation in Coxpa.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Equatorial Guinea.
Please, Mr.
Rahman, you have the floor.
Thank you.
You raised two very important points.
I'll be brief.
I've only 2 minutes and I tend to respect the time limits.
You'll give me a score on this at the end.
You see, when the UN was founded in 1945, many of our countries are present at the table.
The architecture that was constructed was constructed by those who were there.
It is quite glaring that a whole continent, uh, Africa, another Latin American Caribbean, they're excluded from the permanent membership.
The IGN is working on a Security Council reform.
I'm not in favor of creating additional processes or structures.
As PGA, if you elect me, I'll be working closely with IGN and I will also be closely working with the president of the Ecosoc.
I will try to advance the reform of Security Council, especially the kind of points that you have raised.
Now, I feel very emotional when you mention Rohingya refugees.
I was in my previous capacity, high representative for Rohingya issues for 1.2 million people rendered stateless after a Ethnic cleansing and genocidal actions by the Myanmar army.
If you have seen the trauma that they have, you've seen the plight they suffered and we are making every effort to resolve this issue.
But importantly, I would ask all members of this assembly to appeal to the international community that the support to Rohingyas remain unaffected.
We see a decline in financial support.
Please advocate for making sure that the support is there.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Namibia, followed by the Philippines and the Republic of Korea.
Pink, Madam President, at a time of profound global uncertainty, the UN faces growing expectations from member states and peoples around the world.
The international community must reaffirm its commitment to multilateralism, solidarity, and the principles of the UN Charter.
Implementation of the Pact for the future and acceleration of 2030 agenda requires renewed political will.
Many developing countries remain off track in achieving the SDGs due to debt distress, insufficient climate finance, and unequal economic systems.
Honorable Minister, what are your proposals to strengthening global efforts towards the reform of the international financial architecture to better reflect current global realities and the needs of the developing nations.
Second question is on the reform which was just touched on now.
The credibility of the UN depends on meaningful progress in the reform of the UNSC, including correcting the historical injustice against Africa.
How would you go about ensuring ongoing support to the common African position as reflected in Asoini consensus in the SEPTA declaration, noting Africa's special case, which must be treated as a priority in accordance with the Pact for the future.
Lastly, Namibia attaches great importance to transparency and accountability in the work of the PGA.
What ideas do you have in mind for continued engagement with all regional groups and equitable participation of developing countries? In decision making processes.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of Namibia, please, Mr.
Rahman.
Thank you, Representative of Namibia.
I should mention that my brother was a peacekeeper in your great country once upon a time.
And First of all, the work on reform of IFIs is on, and the ESC remains in consultations with the IFIs and that's a work that EcoS does.
In my interactions with the president of the EcoSc, this will feature very prominently I already see that many countries are suffering from serious declines in their external reserves and in ODA.
That's something that we need to respond in the context of the implementation of SDGs, as well as the upcoming review of action programs like LDCs program of action.
So these issues will be considered I will keep my a keep these issues high on my agenda.
In terms of interactions with the African states, in general, I will make sure that there is an equitable axis of countries, especially smaller countries and countries which are not well represented.
They have an equitable access to the PGA and PGA office will proactively reach out to these delegations to make sure that our work remains our work is to make sure that they're fully informed of our work and are able to participate in meetings that are relevant to them.
That is something that I will try to do right from the beginning.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Philippines, followed by the Republic of Korea and the next Civil Society organization.
Okay.
Thank you, Madam President and thank you Excellency for sharing your vision and priorities.
The Philippines has two questions.
First, we note your reference to the middle income countries in your opening statement, including your plan to convene a meeting to support the mix.
As the chair of the like minded group for MIX, the Philippines is interested to hear a little bit more about your ideas on this and how such meeting can produce concrete outcomes in support of mix.
And second, what practical reforms or adjustments do you intend to undertake within the power of the PGE to improve the efficiency of the conduct of meetings and sessions of the General Assembly and its main committees.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of the Philippines, please, Mr.
Ran.
A couple of things about mix.
First of all, two thirds of world poor live in mix, but oftentimes their plight is obscured.
This is something I will bring forward in the meeting that I intend to convene on mix.
It's a mandated meeting.
The second thing is that many of your countries are caught in middle income trap.
You may have a transition from production of low wage items, but lack capital, technology, and skills to move to the next stage of production, which a few countries have done, including, for example, Republic of Korea.
So that's a problem that needs to be comprehensively addressed.
This is not a simple issue.
When you look at making a transition from a low wage country into a country that produces goods and services intensive of high skill and high levels of technology.
This requires a very solid plan and by the constant governments, with the help of the international community and follow through.
These are the two things that you need to do, but there's no one size fits all.
One of the things that I will try to do in this consultation is to raise the issue of poverty and your transition into higher income groups.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Republic of Korea, followed by the Civil Society Organization World Development Foundation.
Thank you, Madam President.
Warm welcome, Foreign Minister Raman, to join us today.
We pay tribute to Bangladesh's commitment to multilateralism from the late Foreign Minister Choes presidency of the 41st session, to which standing as one of the largest contributor to UN peacekeeping.
I have one comments and one question.
We continue to experience a series of challenges that threaten the peace and security of the international community, including protected situation on the Korean Peninsula.
In light of your statement on the role of the PGA regarding the security challenges, we look to your role on this issue.
Second, regarding the AI governance, AI governance discussions are beginning momentum recently at the United Nations and the inaugural global dialogue on AI governance is scheduled to be held in July in neber.
However, the pace of these governance discussions cannot keep up with the rapid advancement of AI technology and even deepening views persist within our community on whether and how to govern it.
You already addressed this issue briefly, but I would appreciate if you could elaborate more on SP, your view on the AI governance issue.
Thank you.
Thank the distinguished representative of the Republic of Korea, please, Mr.
Rahman.
Thank you.
On the first question, peace and security, role of the assembly role of PGA.
Probably you may recall in your history, is the first time uniting for peace was probably used in the case of Korea during the Korean War.
If I remember correctly, it was Dean Acheson was Secretary of State of the US who promoted this idea to avoid the Soviet to.
So that's how the General Assembly started the Uniting for peace, and then you had measures like special sessions and now this voting review, the voting initiative, to initiative.
So these are the three things that are available, but more than that, Another strand that is available is consultation between the PGA and the Security Council President.
As your president, if you so elect me, first of all, I will respect the mandates of General Assembly and the Security Council in the area of peace and security.
The extent that the charter has given space for the General Assembly, we will use that space to advance the cause of peace and security and the four processes that I mentioned uniting for peace, special sessions and to initiative and consultations between the two bodies.
I will use them judiciously, sparingly at times because you don't want to duplicate efforts or create expectations that will not be met and then have a problem of trust.
I will do all of these during my presidency.
About AI, once the Geneva process is over, it will be on the current president and later on the next PGA to carry it forward into the New York process.
We'll have to go through this in order to get a handle on the matter.
Technology always progresses faster than public policy.
We know this.
We deal with this in our governments.
But the important thing is that we get a handle on this so that we can have safe, equitable and the greater use of these technologies to improve our livelihoods and our future well being.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now invite the distinguished representative of the World Development Foundation to take the floor, followed by the final questions, El Salvador and Yemen.
Thank you very much, Madam President.
I'm Christina Afan, NGO representative from the World Development Foundation.
Your Excellency Raman, I first want to appreciate in your previous answer to member states, you have highlighted the importance for the inclusion and participation of civil society at this United Nations platform.
As you mentioned in your opening vision statement, one of the six major focus is emerging technology.
My question is still on artificial intelligence from a different perspective.
So AI is called by some the Next Industrial Revolution.
It's very important.
However, today, many developing nations are short of the compute workforce, and governance voice to shape the global AI landscape.
So my question, Your Excellency, if elected, could you please further elaborate what specific initiative would you convey under the global dialogue on AI governance to make sure this technology actually narrow but not widen the development gap between nations and specifically, how can we hold the ordinary workers, the people from the global south, their benefits and centrality of your initiative? And I want to thank you in advance for your reflection to my questions.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of the World Development Foundation, please, Mr.
Raham.
Thank you so much.
You see Oftentimes, when new technologies come, they give us an opportunity to leapfrog because it's a new way of doing things.
If we are properly mobilized, we'll be able to escape a transition period.
That's why an AI is a transformative technology.
We had seen that in the 90s when computers Internet became available and it changed the way we live.
Important thing is access.
This is why the role of the United Nations is very important because we advocate access of safe and productive AI technology to the developing countries and especially the youth.
The other challenge that we face is with the new technologies, be it invention of machines or Internet, it will destroy old jobs, it will create new jobs.
It's some creative destruction.
That will happen with AI as well.
How do you protect people from that? One of the surest way is that you make these technologies available as widely as possible.
There is no easy answer.
The answer cannot be on the shoulders of a single person.
We have to work very closely and collectively on this.
As I said, we have a process that will be there next in a couple of months in Geneva, and then it will be carried forward to New York the We will work very hard to make sure that access to these technologies, AI related technologies are as wide as possible.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the Distinguished representative of El Salvador followed as a final speaker, Yemen.
Thank you, Madam President.
We thank you for convening this interactive debate and we are very glad to have this interactive debate and hear Mr.
Rachman's perspectives.
We take note of your comments on AI, particularly your reference to strengthening capacity for developing countries and the need for there to be global dialogue on AI and that be inclusive, transparent, and participatory.
Um, we currently with Estonia, co chair the preparatory process for the first global dialogue on AI in the United Nations that will take place in July of this year in Geneva, Switzerland.
According to that there's another dialogue planned for May here in 2027, and it will be up to the next president of the General Assembly to design the new vice chairs that will be leading this process.
Given the role that you give to AI and emerging technologies as tools to speed up development and reduce gaps, we'd like to know how you see leadership and assistance that could be provided by the next president of the General Assembly for the preparations for the global AI dialogue, particularly to ensure that there is significant participation of developing countries and promote concrete results with regard to strengthening of capacity, digital inclusion, and technological cooperation.
Finally, We would stress the importance of an adequate preparatory process for the second dialogue and that there be strong support and coordination that is effective with the Office of the President of the General Assembly and the various parts of the Secretariat and other areas of the United Nations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I thank the distinguished representative of El Salvador, please, Mr.
Raman.
Thank you.
I just said in a previous comment that I build on the Geneva process in order to, I see them as a continuum.
I'll build on the Geneva process when I if you elect me to take the responsibility of designing the New York process.
Digital inclusion will be an extremely important point because without that, there will be a global inequity in terms of access to the emerging technologies including AI, which will again in the next round of effects create inequalities among haves and have nots.
This is a question that will be forefront in our mind.
Member States, their own experts in this area, plus the technology community and the civil society must be together in this discussion.
We want to have a plan, an action plan that will ensure the highest amount of benefits for the mankind.
This AI technology will be there for years to come.
They will create jobs, they will destroy jobs.
We have to be very careful in terms of designing an action program for the whole world.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Yemen.
A said, this will be the last question and therefore also the last answer and you could also use it to conclude.
Thank you.
Please, Distinguished representative of Yemen.
Thank you, President.
We would like to thank His Excellency, Mr.
Kidor Rahman, for presenting his vision.
Mr.
Rahman, At the UN, we are now observing growing challenges in the field, challenges that are linked to relations between UN agencies and non state actors in certain conflict areas.
This sometimes is justified by the need for humanitarian access.
This collaboration sometimes goes beyond mandates.
This gives these rebel groups a legitimacy that are fait accompli and that violates many UN resolutions.
The UN recognizes governments as the only legitimate representative of the people.
My question is, if you are elected as PGA, how will you establish necessary guidelines in order to meet humanitarian needs without undermining the sovereignty of states and legitimacy of governments.
How can you guarantee that UN agencies respect their mandates without providing political shelter to rebel groups when these agencies are carrying out their tasks on the ground.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I thank the Distinguished representative of Yemen, please, Mr.
Rahman.
Thank you.
You have raised a very important question that I very recently dealt with when it came to the question of rowing refugees in Bangladesh.
They came from an area which is engulfed in major stripes.
The central government of Myanmar lost control of much of the territory physically, and there are armed groups roaming around.
This is basically a situation where the state has effectively disappeared.
It's very difficult to work in these circumstances.
But the UN agencies that I worked with always made an effort to avoid these armed gangs and work through their own networks of civil society to provide support.
We have examples of doing it in a correct way.
I believe that the UN systems in the field, resident coordinator system and other arrangements to provide humanitarian support.
I don't think we will necessarily get entangled with armed groups or bandits.
That's not what we do in the UN.
So what I'm saying is that first of all, the UN will not deny legitimacy or sovereignty of states.
Secondly, in my own handling of circumstances such as this, I've not seen even getting entangled with this kind of band Aid groups.
Thank you.
Do you want to say? Final words, thank you very much for all your time listening to me.
As I said, I want to be a president of all of you and I want to be a president who will do his work in a most transparent and open way involving all member states.
But I'll keep special attention to smaller, delegations that are underrepresented.
My office, as I said, will be inclusive of all types of delegations, represent the six languages that are official languages here represent all continents and all groups of countries.
I pledged that I will see these General Assembly presidency as a continuum.
And if you let me when I take over from our current president, I will also inherit and continue some of our very important initiatives.
That's how we continue the work of the assembly into the future.
I'll I'll adhere to the charter to the letter without fail, and I will implement the rules and procedures in the most correct way.
So these are my pledges.
I want your support, I want your vote, and I want to be a president.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We have now come to the end of this informal interactive dialogue.
I would like to thank His Excellency, Mr.
Rahman, for his participation over almost 3 hours and I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to all of you, the participants for contributing to this dialogue.
Also for almost 3 hours.
The meeting is adjourned.
I wish you all a good evening.