United Nations published this video item, entitled “Newly elected 78th President of the UN General Assembly – Dennis Francis | United Nations” – below is their description.
Statement by H.E. Mr.Dennis Francis, 78th President of the General Assembly, at Election of the President of the General Assembly.
Member States today (1 June) elected Ambassador Dennis Francis from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago as the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly.
He was elected by acclamation by the General Assembly, which comprises all 193 UN Member States.
After his election, Francis said that “the pursuit of policies that support and encourage investing in people and therefore, in the creation of social capital, in the medium and long term, is arguably among the most effective strategies for promoting and achieving sustainable development.”
“It is education that brought me to this place, and ultimately to this podium, and I am so proud and gratified to have been born in a country, Trinidad and Tobago, that for almost 70 years has ascribed the highest value to education,” the President-elect added.
Addressing Member States, Francis said, ““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.”
The President-elect also said that he “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.”
The President of the General Assembly is elected in accordance with the principle of rotation among the five regional groups. The forthcoming session was to be chaired by a representative from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States. The group agreed on the only candidate.
Ambassador Dennis Francis has had a career spanning approximately 40 years in the Diplomatic Service of Trinidad and Tobago.
For eighteen of those years, he held the rank of Ambassador until his compulsory retirement from the career service in 2016, awarding him the distinction of being the longest serving Ambassador of his country.
Before demitting office as the Director of Multilateral Relations, he functioned as Senior Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on all multilateral matters including Climate Change and the negotiations for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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