Past Presidents

62nd Session: Srgjan Kerim

Portrait of Mr. Srgjan Kerim, President of the United Nations General Assembly’s 62nd session. UN Photo/Mark Garten

Srgjan Kerim was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly’s 62nd session on 24 May 2007. Before his election, he was serving as Foreign Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Srgjan Kerim presided the General Assembly’s 62nd session from 18 September 2007 to 15 September 2008.

On 24 July 2007, the General Assembly elected 21 Vice-Presidents for the 62nd session:

Priorities

During its 62nd session, the General Assembly continued efforts to make its work more focused and relevant by streamlining its agenda, improving the working methods of its Main Committees and strengthening the role and authority of the President. This “revitalization” process will strengthen the ability of the Assembly to advance its work on major global challenges. During the 62nd session, the Assembly focused on the following key issues:

Responding to climate change was the main theme of the Assembly’s annual General Debate which featured statements by Heads of State and Government as well as Ministers. Preceding that debate, there was a High-level event, organized by the Secretary-General also focusing on climate change. In December 2007, Member States held a world conference on climate change in Bali. Following this the General Assembly held a special two day meeting on 11 and 12 February 2008, involving the private sector, civil society and Member States.

The High-Level Dialogue of Financing for Development was held on 23 and 24 October 2007. The Dialogue and additional consultations formed a part of the preparatory process for the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to take place in late 2008, in Doha, Qatar. The Conference reviewed the implementation of the 2002 Monterrey Consensus.

In September 2006 all 192 Member States agreed on a global strategy to counter terrorism. While a full review of the implementation of the strategy is set for late 2008, Member States decided to hold a mid-term stocktaking in late 2007.

The reform agenda was aimed at improving the efficiency, accountability, representativeness and transparency of the United Nations. Member States were expected to put forward further recommendations to improve governance and management of the UN Secretariat. The reform process also included efforts to advance System-wide Coherence, Revitalize the General Assembly, and reform the Security Council.

Member States also reviewed progress made to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with the aim of recommitting efforts and resources to reach them by the target date of 2015.

Some of the other issues on the agenda of the 62nd session included:

  • High-level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace
  • Commemorative High-level plenary meeting devoted to the follow-up to the outcome of the twenty-seventh special session on children
  • International Environmental Governance
  • 2008 High-level meeting on HIV/AIDS

In dealing with these issues the Assembly’s work was guided by the values and recommendation agreed by leaders at the 2005 World Summit and contained in the Summit’s Outcome Document. The General Assembly continued to monitor implementation of these recommendations and agree further follow-up actions to the Summit during the 62nd session and beyond.

Statements and Messages

September 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
May 2007

Letters

September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007

Team

  • H.E. Srgjan Kerim, President PDF
  • H.E. Mr. Igor Dzundev, Chef de Cabinet
  • Mr. Nikolaus Lutterotti, Deputy Chef de Cabinet
  • H.E. Mr. Alpo Rusi, Ambassador (First Committee, Security Council Reform)
  • Ms. Melita Gabric, Minister Plenipotentiary (Human Rights, Gender, Dialogue Civilizations, Third Committee)
  • Mr. Igor Popovski, Minister Counsellor (Security Council, Peace Building Commission)
  • Mr. Nicholas Shalita, First Counsellor (Development of Africa, MDGs, HIV/AIDS)
  • Ms. Emmanuelle Müllenhöver, First Counsellor (Sustainable Development, Environment)
  • Mr. Robert Pollock, Special Adviser, Speechwriter
  • Mr. Nazif Xhaferi, Counsellor (ECOSOC, Humanitarian Affairs, Second Committee)
  • Mr. Kenji Nakano, Counsellor (GA Affairs, GA Revitalization, Fourth Committee)
  • Mr. Stefan Delfs, Counsellor (Climate Change, System-wide Coherence)
  • Ms. Eli Bojadjieska, Second Secretary, Special Assistant to the President
  • Mr. Bruno Brant, Second Secretary (Management Reform, Mandate Review, Fifth Committee)
  • Ms. Shamina de Gonzaga, Special Adviser (NGO Relations)
  • Mr. Martin Roger, Second Secretary (Legal Affairs, Counter-Terrorism, Sixth Committee)
  • Mr. Janos Tisovszky, Spokesperson
  • Ms. Brenda Vongova, Assistant to the Spokesperson
  • Mr. Yeasin Arafat, Web master
  • Ms. Alice Farhat, Administrative Assistant to the President

Quick Links

Key Documents

Resources