Bangladesh FM elected president of 81st UNGA

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman was elected President of the UN General Assembly’s 81st session this week after defeating Andreas Kakouris of Cyprus in a closely-contested vote.

In a secret-ballot election, Rahman secured 99 votes to Kakouris’s 91. A total of 190 ballots were cast, with no invalid votes or abstentions. The presidency rotates among the UN’s five regional groups, and the 81st session falls to the Asia-Pacific group. Rahman will serve a one-year term starting on September 8.  

Accepting the position, Rahman said he was taking on the role “with humility and respect” at a moment when confidence in the international system was under strain. “The UN will commence its ninth decade at a time when trust in our organization is being tested on multiple fronts,” he told Member States.

Rahman said his presidency would focus on six broad priorities: peace and security; accelerating progress on the SDGs; climate action and environmental protection; human rights; governance of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and UN reform. Drawing on Bangladesh's experience in peacekeeping, he pledged to support preventive diplomacy, peacebuilding and civilian protection.

Rahman's presidency will coincide with one of the most consequential processes on the UN calendar: the selection of Secretary-General António Guterres’s successor, whose term ends on 31 December 2026.

Rahman brings more than four decades of diplomatic and multilateral experience to the role. Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister since February, he previously served as National Security Adviser and High Representative on the Rohingya Issue.