New York: Maldives’ Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has been elected President of Seventy-Sixth General Assembly Session on June 7, 2021. He succeeds Turkey’s Volkan Bozkir and will assume his duties in September 2021.
59-year-old Shahid has a long-standing diplomatic experience, including in his current role as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He had also served as the Speaker of the People’s Majlis (Unicameral Legislative body) of the Maldives from 2009 to 2014. He has a deep understanding of the importance of multilateralism in addressing today’s global challenges. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, while congratulating Shahid for his election, commended him for his selection of hope as the central theme in his vision statement.
As the UN’s most representative organ, the General Assembly is the foundation of all the work at the United Nations, and essential to its effectiveness as an Organization. “In 2021, the world needs that effectiveness more than ever,” Guterres said while pointing out that “We are a world in mourning for the millions of people we have lost to the COVID-19 pandemic”.
The pandemic has dealt a body blow to communities, societies and economies, and Guterres said until everyone, everywhere has access to vaccines, it continues to pose an enormous threat. “The seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly will grapple with the impact of the pandemic across the three pillars of our work: peace, sustainable development, and human rights. I wish Mr. Shahid every success in his task,”he added.
Coming from a small island developing State, Shahid is expected to bring unique insights to the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly, at a time when the United Nations prepares for COP26 in Glasgow in November. Shahid holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Science (Politics) from the Canberra College of Advanced Education, and a master’s degree in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
– global bihari bureau
