(MENAFN- AzerNews) Trinidad and Tobago's permanent representative to the United
Nations, Dennis Francis, has been elected the president of the
upcoming 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Azernews reports
via xinhua .
Francis was elected by acclamation at a General Assembly plenary
session, as his candidacy was not contended.
He will take up the new post in September 2023, to succeed
current General Assembly President Csaba Korosi, a Hungarian
diplomat.
"I commit to discharge the responsibilities of the office with
transparency, accountability, vigor, and dedication, bearing in
mind that all members have equal rights," Francis told the General
Assembly after his election.
Francis said he will prioritize encouraging and facilitating
meaningful dialogue in various formats in order to ensure that
there is clarity of priorities and the strengthening of common
purpose in the interests of coherence.
"It is my hope to bring forward, with your help and support, a
renewed atmosphere of conciliation, cooperation and shared
commitment in addressing the many challenges and seizing every
opportunity, however nascent, before the General Assembly. I will
seek to enhance current approaches and adopt new ones with probable
solutions as we endeavor to deliver, or at least to strengthen, the
basis for delivering peace, prosperity, progress, and
sustainability," he said.
Francis asked for the support and engagement of the member
states in efforts to accelerate action toward the achievement of
sustainable development.
Korosi congratulated Francis on his election.
Francis' vision for the 78th session of the General Assembly --
peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability -- offers a
comprehensive view of the work of the assembly as the institution
rebuilds trust, tackles climate change and strives to get the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track, said
Korosi.
"With his extensive experience and his unique perspective coming
from a small island developing state, I am confident that the
General Assembly will be in capable hands during the next session,"
he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his remarks, said
Francis arrives at a deeply challenging moment for the human family
with conflicts and climate chaos; escalating poverty, hunger and
inequality; mistrust and division.
Meanwhile, the roadmap to a better future -- Agenda 2030 -- is
in danger, and the SDGs are slipping out of reach, he said. "Across
all of these issues, the world looks to this assembly to unite
member states around common solutions."
In addition to his years working closely with multilateral
agencies, Francis is also a respected negotiator and long-serving
diplomat, including as his country's longest-serving ambassador
ever. Coming from Trinidad and Tobago, he brings a critical
perspective to this assembly, said Guterres.
"So many of the issues we address here hit small island
developing states like his the hardest. This includes the
disastrous impacts of climate change, and the effects of a deeply
unjust global financial system that routinely denies developing
countries the debt relief and restructuring as well as financing
they need to invest in their people," said the UN chief.
"The United Nations General Assembly stands as a beacon of hope
and unity in a world that so often lacks both. Through dialogue and
consensus-building, you are all demonstrating that we can gather
around shared solutions to the challenges facing our world," he
said.
Francis, the longest-serving ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago
by 2016, has had a career spanning 40 years in the country's
diplomatic service.
He became the permanent representative of Trinidad and Tobago to
the United Nations in September 2021.
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