Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser was elected President of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly on 22 June 2011. A veteran diplomat, Mr. Al-Nasser has contributed to advancing the multilateral agenda in the realms of peace and security, sustainable development and South-South cooperation over a career spanning nearly four decades.

“We come together at a critical juncture,” said the incoming General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser, as he opened the 193‑member body’s sixty-sixth session with a call to action on the United Nations to rethink the way it did business in the wake of ongoing global economic turmoil, popular protests that were upending once-stable Governments and the seemingly unending raft of natural hazards and man-made disasters.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the General Assembly tribute to the memory of late Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld on the fiftieth anniversary of his death, in New York, today, 13 September:

The free, fair and peaceful holding of upcoming elections was critical for Liberia’s emergence from its brutal civil war, but even if they succeeded, joint Liberian and international rebuilding efforts were not yet finished, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country told the Security Council today.

The new Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations, Luis Alfonso de Alba Góngora, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.

The new Permanent Representative of Bahrain to the United Nations, Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.

Emphasizing the importance of international support to Sierra Leone during the 2012 elections and its quest for long-term peace, security and development, the Security Council decided this morning to extend the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in that country for one year, until 15 September 2012.

The Security Council this morning decided to reappoint Hassan Bubacar Jallow as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda until 31 December 2014.

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks at the special event to launch the “7 Billion Actions” initiative in New York today, 14 September:

The Security Council this morning decided to reappoint Serge Brammertz as Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia until 31 December 2014.