Secretary-General Says He Is Counting on New General Assembly President to Help Implement 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, Paris Climate Change Accord

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks on the election of the President of the seventy-first session of the General Assembly, in New York today:

I am delighted to offer my warmest congratulations to the new President-elect of the General Assembly, Peter Thomson, Permanent Representative of Fiji.  He will have an opportunity to build on the extraordinary progress we have seen under the able leadership of the current President, Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark.

At the same time, I would like to thank and appreciate the leadership of Andreas Mavroyiannis for his spirit of fair competition and his commitment to democratic principles.  I wish him continuing success.  At this time, I would like to take this opportunity to particularly commend Mr. Lykketoft for his many important initiatives.

Already this month, the Assembly has adopted an action-oriented political declaration on ending AIDS.  He has convened thematic debates on pressing global challenges and he has travelled to the frontlines of crisis.  He also brought new transparency to the selection process for the next Secretary-General.  This has drawn unprecedented and very welcome attention around the world.  Thank you for your outstanding contributions.

President-elect Thomson brings a broad perspective to his new post.  He has years of experience in the international arena, both working for his Government and in the private sector.

During his posting as Permanent Representative, he made his mark as Chairman of the “Group of 77” [developing countries] and China.  He also gained extensive knowledge of the United Nations development system as Chair of the Executive Board of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).  And he was a Vice-President of this Assembly from 2010 to 2011.

In addition to his staunch commitment to development, the new President-elect brings the very valuable perspective of a small island developing State to this post.  He is a staunch advocate of both sustainable development and climate action.  I count on him to help us carry out both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

I am confident that he will seek the views of others to forge consensus.  As the new President-elect once said:  “Progress at the United Nations does not emanate from adversarial corners, but from cooperation by those who meet in the middle.”

Please join me in congratulating the new President-elect and wishing him all success in the important year ahead.