President of the United Nations General Assembly facts for kids
Quick facts for kids President of theUnited Nations General Assembly |
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United Nations General Assembly | |
Style | His Excellency |
Member of | General Assembly |
Residence | New York City (International Territory) |
Seat | United Nations Headquarters |
Appointer | Member states of General Assembly |
Term length | One year |
Constituting instrument | Charter of the United Nations |
Inaugural holder | Paul-Henri Spaak |
Formation | 1946 |
Website | un.org/en/ga/ |
The President of the United Nations General Assembly is a very important leader chosen each year by countries that are part of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). This person acts as the main leader and chairperson for all the big meetings of the General Assembly.
How the President is Chosen
The General Assembly holds its main meeting every year, starting in September. The President leads these yearly meetings. They also lead any special or emergency meetings that might happen during their year in charge.
The job of President rotates each year among five different geographic groups of countries. This makes sure that leaders from all over the world get a chance to be President. The groups are:
- African States
- Asia-Pacific States
- Eastern European States
- Latin American and Caribbean States
- Western European and other States
Even though some countries are very powerful, like the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, they have never held the presidency. This includes countries like Japan as well.
A few countries have had someone elected as President twice. These include Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Hungary, and Nigeria. Most other countries have had a President only once.
Besides the President, 21 Vice-Presidents are also chosen for each session. These Vice-Presidents have similar powers and duties. The President can ask one of them to lead a meeting if they are not there.
List of Presidents
Here is a list of the people who have served as President of the United Nations General Assembly:
Year elected | Image | Name of president (Birth–Death) |
UN member state | Region | Sessions |
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1946 | ![]() |
Paul-Henri Spaak (1889–1972) |
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WES | First |
1947 | ![]() |
Oswaldo Aranha (1894–1960) |
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LAS | First special Second |
1948 | ![]() |
José Arce (1881–1968) |
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LAS | Second special |
1948 | ![]() |
Herbert Vere Evatt (1894–1965) |
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COS | Third |
1949 | ![]() |
Carlos P. Romulo (1898–1985) |
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EAS | Fourth, First Asian president |
1950 | ![]() |
Nasrollah Entezam (1900–1980) |
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EAS | Fifth |
1951 | ![]() |
Luis Padilla Nervo (1894–1985) |
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LAS | Sixth |
1952 | ![]() |
Lester B. Pearson (1897–1972) |
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COS | Seventh |
1953 | ![]() |
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900–1990) |
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COS | Eighth, First woman president |
1954 | ![]() |
Eelco van Kleffens (1894–1983) |
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WES | Ninth |
1955 | ![]() |
José Maza Fernández (1889–1964) |
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LAS | Tenth |
1956 | ![]() |
Rudecindo Ortega Mason (1896–1962) |
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LAS | First emergency special Second emergency special |
1956 | ![]() |
Wan Waithayakon (1891–1976) |
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EAS | Eleventh |
1957 | ![]() |
Leslie Munro (1901–1974) |
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COS | Twelfth Third emergency special |
1958 | ![]() |
Charles Malik (1906–1987) |
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MES | Thirteenth |
1959 | ![]() |
Víctor Andrés Belaúnde (1893–1966) |
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LAS | Fourteenth Fourth emergency special |
1960 | ![]() |
Frederick Boland (1904–1985) |
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WES | Fifteenth Third special |
1961 | ![]() |
Mongi Slim (1908–1969) |
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MES | Sixteenth, First African president |
1962 | ![]() |
Muhammad Zafarullah Khan (1893–1985) |
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COS | Seventeenth Fourth special |
1963 | ![]() |
Carlos Sosa Rodríguez (1912–1997) |
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LAS | Eighteenth |
1964 | ![]() |
Alex Quaison-Sackey (1924–1992) |
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COS | Nineteenth |
1965 | ![]() |
Amintore Fanfani (1908–1999) |
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WES | Twentieth |
1966 | Abdul Rahman Pazhwak (1919–1995) |
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Asia | Twenty-first Fifth special Fifth emergency special |
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1967 | ![]() |
Corneliu Mănescu (1916–2000) |
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EEG | Twenty-second |
1968 | ![]() |
Emilio Arenales Catalán (1922–1969) |
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GRULAC | Twenty-third |
1969 | ![]() |
Angie Brooks (1928–2007) |
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Africa | Twenty-fourth |
1970 | ![]() |
Edvard Hambro (1911–1977) |
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WEOG | Twenty-fifth |
1971 | ![]() |
Adam Malik (1917–1984) |
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Asia | Twenty-sixth |
1972 | ![]() |
Stanisław Trepczyński (1924–2002) |
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EEG | Twenty-seventh |
1973 | ![]() |
Leopoldo Benites (1905–1996) |
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GRULAC | Twenty-eighth Sixth special |
1974 | ![]() |
Abdelaziz Bouteflika (1937–2021) |
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Africa | Twenty-ninth Seventh special |
1975 | ![]() |
Gaston Thorn (1928–2007) |
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WEOG | Thirtieth |
1976 | ![]() |
Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe (1913–1980) |
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Asia | Thirty-first |
1977 | ![]() |
Lazar Mojsov (1920–2011) |
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EEG | Thirty-second Eighth special Ninth special Tenth special |
1978 | ![]() |
Indalecio Liévano (1917–1982) |
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GRULAC | Thirty-third |
1979 | Salim Ahmed Salim (born 1942) |
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Africa | Thirty-fourth Sixth emergency special Seventh emergency special Eleventh special |
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1980 | ![]() |
Rüdiger von Wechmar (1923–2007) |
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WEOG | Thirty-fifth Eighth emergency special |
1981 | ![]() |
Ismat T. Kittani (1929–2001) |
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Asia | Thirty-sixth Seventh emergency special—Continuation Ninth emergency special Twelfth special |
1982 | ![]() |
Imre Hollai (1925–2017) |
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EEG | Thirty-seventh |
1983 | ![]() |
Jorge Illueca (1918–2012) |
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GRULAC | Thirty-eighth |
1984 | Paul J. F. Lusaka (1935–1996) |
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Africa | Thirty-ninth | |
1985 | ![]() |
Jaime de Piniés (1917–2003) |
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WEOG | Fortieth Thirteenth special |
1986 | Humayun Rashid Choudhury (1928–2001) |
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Asia | Forty-first Fourteenth special |
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1987 | ![]() |
Peter Florin (1921–2014) |
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EEG | Forty-second Fifteenth special |
1988 | ![]() |
Dante Caputo (1943–2018) |
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GRULAC | Forty-third |
1989 | ![]() |
Joseph Nanven Garba (1943–2002) |
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Africa | Forty-fourth Sixteenth special Seventeenth special Eighteenth special |
1990 | ![]() |
Guido de Marco (1931–2010) |
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WEOG | Forty-fifth |
1991 | ![]() |
Samir Shihabi (1925–2010) |
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Asia | Forty-sixth |
1992 | ![]() |
Stoyan Ganev (1955–2013) |
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EEG | Forty-seventh |
1993 | ![]() |
Rudy Insanally (1936–2023) |
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GRULAC | Forty-eighth |
1994 | ![]() |
Amara Essy (1944–2025) |
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Africa | Forty-ninth |
1995 | ![]() |
Diogo de Freitas do Amaral (1941–2019) |
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WEOG | Fiftieth |
1996 | ![]() |
Razali Ismail (born 1939) |
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Asia | Fifty-first Tenth emergency special Nineteenth special |
1997 | ![]() |
Hennadiy Udovenko (1931–2013) |
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EEG | Fifty-second Tenth emergency special—Continuation Twentieth special |
1998 | ![]() |
Didier Opertti (born 1937) |
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GRULAC | Fifty-third Tenth emergency special—Continuation Twenty-first special |
1999 | ![]() |
Theo-Ben Gurirab (1938–2018) |
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Africa | Fifty-fourth Twenty-second special Twenty-third special Twenty-fourth special |
2000 | ![]() |
Harri Holkeri (1937–2011) |
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WEOG | Fifty-fifth Tenth emergency special—Continuation Twenty-fifth special Twenty-sixth special |
2001 | ![]() |
Han Seung-soo (born 1936) |
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Asia | Fifty-sixth Tenth emergency special—Continuation Twenty-seventh special |
2002 | ![]() |
Jan Kavan (born 1946) |
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EEG | Fifty-seventh Tenth emergency special—Continuation |
2003 | ![]() |
Julian Hunte (born 1940) |
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GRULAC | Fifty-eighth Tenth emergency special—Continuation |
2004 | ![]() |
Jean Ping (born 1942) |
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Africa | Fifty-ninth Twenty-eighth special |
2005 | ![]() |
Jan Eliasson (born 1940) |
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WEOG | Sixtieth |
2006 | ![]() |
Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa (born 1952) |
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Asia | Sixty-first Tenth emergency special—Continuation |
2007 | ![]() |
Srgjan Kerim (born 1948) |
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EEG | Sixty-second |
2008 | ![]() |
Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann (1933–2017) |
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GRULAC | Sixty-third |
2009 | Ali Treki (1937–2015) |
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Africa | Sixty-fourth | |
2010 | ![]() |
Joseph Deiss (born 1946) |
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WEOG | Sixty-fifth |
2011 | ![]() |
Nassir Al-Nasser (born 1952) |
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Asia-Pacific | Sixty-sixth |
2012 | ![]() |
Vuk Jeremić (born 1975) |
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EEG | Sixty-seventh (election) |
2013 | ![]() |
John William Ashe (1954–2016) |
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GRULAC | Sixty-eighth |
2014 | ![]() |
Sam Kutesa (born 1949) |
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Africa | Sixty-ninth Twenty-ninth special |
2015 | ![]() |
Mogens Lykketoft (born 1946) |
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WEOG | Seventieth Thirtieth special |
2016 | ![]() |
Peter Thomson (born 1948) |
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Asia-Pacific | Seventy-first (election) |
2017 | ![]() |
Miroslav Lajčák (born 1963) |
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EEG | Seventy-second Tenth emergency special—Continuation |
2018 | ![]() |
María Fernanda Espinosa (born 1964) |
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GRULAC | Seventy-third |
2019 | ![]() |
Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (born 1957) |
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Africa | Seventy-fourth |
2020 | ![]() |
Volkan Bozkır (born 1950) |
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WEOG | Seventy-fifth |
2021 | ![]() |
Abdulla Shahid (born 1962) |
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Asia-Pacific | Seventy-sixth Eleventh emergency special |
2022 | ![]() |
Csaba Kőrösi (born 1958) |
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EEG | Seventy-seventh |
2023 | ![]() |
Dennis Francis (born 1956) |
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GRULAC | Seventy-eighth |
2024 | ![]() |
Philémon Yang (born 1947) |
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Africa | Seventy-ninth |
2025 | ![]() |
Annalena Baerbock (born 1980) |
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WEOG | Eightieth |
Region Abbreviations
Here are the meanings of the region codes used in the table:
- Before 1966
- COS: Countries from the Commonwealth of Nations
- EAS: Countries from Eastern Europe and Asia
- LAS: Countries from Latin America
- MES: Countries from the Middle East
- WES: Countries from Western Europe
- Since 1966
- Africa: The African Group of countries
- Asia-Pacific: The Asia-Pacific Group (called the Asian Group before 2011)
- EEG: The Eastern European Group
- GRULAC: The Latin American and Caribbean Group
- WEOG: The Western European and Others Group
See also
In Spanish: Presidente de la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas para niños
- President of the United Nations Security Council
- President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council
- Vice-President of the United Nations General Assembly