{"id":288478,"date":"2026-08-26T12:08:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/81-elect\/?page_id=288478"},"modified":"2026-09-26T11:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T15:30:19","slug":"president","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/pga\/81\/office-of-the-president\/president\/","title":{"rendered":"About the President"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n
\n \"Eighty-first\n
\n
H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman<\/div>\n
President of the eighty-first session of the General Assembly<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n\"H.E.\n
UN Photo\/Mark Garten · 2 June 2026<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n

Key Facts<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
Elected<\/span>2 June 2026<\/span><\/div>\n
Session opens<\/span>8 September 2026<\/span><\/div>\n
Current office<\/span>Foreign Minister of Bangladesh<\/span><\/div>\n
Service with the UN<\/span>Over thirty years<\/span><\/div>\n
Sessions attended<\/span>Sixteen sessions of the General Assembly<\/span><\/div>\n
UN Secretariat<\/span>New York, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva<\/span><\/div>\n
Government of Bangladesh<\/span>Ministerial positions since 2024<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Theme of the eighty-first session: Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations That Delivers for All<\/strong><\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n

Biography<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n

H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, was elected President of the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly in June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to his appointment as Foreign Minister in February 2026, he served as the National Security Adviser and High Representative for Rohingya Affairs in the interim Government of Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Rahman joined the diplomatic service of Bangladesh in 1979 upon securing the first position in the first regular civil service examinations of the country. He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York. He represented Bangladesh at the Economic and Financial Committee of the UN General Assembly and acted as the spokesperson of the Group of Least Developed Countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Rahman joined the United Nations in 1991, serving as Special Adviser at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. Over the course of 25 years he held senior positions in the UN in New York and Geneva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Rahman has published extensively on international trade policy, and has authored or contributed to several UN flagship publications, as well as numerous reports of the UN Secretary-General and the UNCTAD Secretary-General, on issues of trade, finance and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Rahman studied at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University during 1980-83, and earned the degrees of MA in Law and Diplomacy and PhD in Economics. In 1977, he stood first in the first class in MA examinations in Economics at the Dhaka University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Rahman is a founder of the East West University in Dhaka and has served on its Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n
“<\/div>\n
\n

I will be the President of all of you. I will engage all Member States in the course of my work.<\/p>\n

H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman<\/p>\n

Acceptance speech, 2 June 2026<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n

In His Own Words<\/h2>\n
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Three commitments from his address to the General Assembly on the day of his election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
“<\/div>\n

As your President, I will dedicate myself to rebuilding trust, nurturing consensus, and opening space for good faith negotiations that will lead to outcomes for all that are owned by all.<\/p>\n

Acceptance speech, 2 June 2026<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

\n
“<\/div>\n

I will seek common ground without ignoring differences.<\/p>\n

Acceptance speech, 2 June 2026<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

\n
“<\/div>\n

I don’t consider the work of the President as a one-off event, but as a continuum.<\/p>\n

Acceptance speech, 2 June 2026<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n

Documents<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n

The vision statement sets out the six pillars of the President’s programme for the eighty-first session, and is available in the six official languages of the United Nations and in Portuguese. His acceptance speech was delivered on 2 June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Vision Statement<\/a>\n Acceptance Speech PDF<\/span><\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n

Related<\/h2>\n
\n\n →<\/span>\n Priorities of the eighty-first session — the six pillars<\/span>\n<\/a>\n\n →<\/span>\n Meetings and events of the President<\/span>\n<\/a>\n\n →<\/span>\n The General Assembly<\/span>\n<\/a>\n\n →<\/span>\n Office of the President — the team<\/span>\n<\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman President of the eighty-first session of the General Assembly UN Photo\/Mark Garten · 2 June 2026 Key Facts Elected2 June 2026 Session opens8 September 2026 Current […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":379,"featured_media":0,"parent":288527,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-288478","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nAbout the President | General Assembly of the United Nations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"H.E. 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