Past Presidents

71st Session: Peter Thomson

Portrait of H. E. Peter Thomson, President of the United Nations General Assembly’s 71st session. UN Photo/Mark Garten

Peter Thomson was elected President of the 71st session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 13 June 2016. At the time of his election, he was Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (since February 2010), and was serving concurrently as Fiji’s Ambassador to Cuba (since 2011).

Mr. Peter Thomson presided the General Assembly’s 71st session from 13 September 2016 to 11 September 2017.

Also on 13 June 2016, the General Assembly elected 21 Vice-Presidents for the 71st session:

Priorities

H.E. Peter Thomson, as President of the 71st session of the General Assembly, had the following four key priorities:

 

  • Inspiring initiatives, partnerships and action to drive the SDGs implementation
  • Advancing an integrated approach to peace, human rights and sustainable development
  • Fostering a UN General Assembly based on ethics, transparency, inclusiveness and effectiveness
  • Facilitating a smooth transition and a strong start for the next UN Secretary-General

Statements

Note: All statements below are in .PDF

February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
June 2016

Letters

April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016

Team

  • H.E. Peter Thomson, President PDF
  • H.E. Tomas Anker Christensen, Chef de Cabinet
  • Ms. Sofia Borges, Special Adviser (Strategic Engagement and Transparency)
  • Mr. Ioannis Vrailas, Special Adviser (Political Issues)
  • Ms. Dessima Williams, Special Adviser(Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals)
  • Mr. Francis Akali Oloo, Team support (Political issues) - [December 2016 – May 2017]
  • Mr. Kamal Amakrane, Director
  • Mr. Manoj Basnyat, Senior Adviser (Sustainable Development Goals)
  • Mr. Mohammed Al-Buainain, Adviser (Sustainable Development Goals)
  • Mr. Ammar Al-Durra, Senior Adviser (Humanitarian Issues)
  • Ms. Joyce Fan, Administrative Assistant
  • Ms. Tanisha Hewanpola, Speechwriter
  • Ms. Ambreen Husain, Team Support (Political Issues)
  • Ms. Katharina Kandt, Adviser (Communications and Digital Media)
  • Ms. Elina Lemmetty-Hartoneva, Senior Adviser (Stakeholder participation and Fifth Committee)
  • Mr. Mateus Luemba, Senior Adviser (Indigenous Peoples and Fourth Committee
  • Ms. Giovanna Maselli, Team Support (Sustainable Development)
  • Mr. Michael McManus, Special Assistant to the Chef de Cabinet
  • Ms. Albena Melin, Senior Adviser (SDG Finance)
  • Mr. Abdelghani Merabet, Senior Adviser (Sustainable Development Goals and Second Committee)
  • Mr. Oyama Mgobozi, Senior Adviser (Peace and Security)
  • Ms. Lenka Miháliková, Senior Adviser (Peace and Security and First Committee)
  • Ms. Sonja Niehoff, Adviser (Sustainable Development Goals)
  • Ms. Evelyne Ojwang, Administrative Assistant
  • Ms. Harriet Osias, Personal Assistant to the President
  • Mr. Tomás Pico, Deputy-Communications Director and Deputy-Spokesperson - [September 2016 – June 2017]
  • Ms. Naomi Parekh, Adviser on Communications
  • Ms. Signe Schelde Poulsen, Special Assistant to the President
  • Mr. Stefan Quiroga Fajardo, Consultant
  • Ms. Tracy Raczek, Senior Adviser (Partnerships and Outreach)
  • Mr. Danny Rahdiansyah, Senior Adviser (Peace and Security, GA Revitalization and First Committee)
  • Ms. Gabrielle Rajkumar, Staff Assistant - [September – December 2016]
  • Mr. Ramis Şen, Senior Adviser (Human rights & humanitarian issues)
  • Mr. Sergio Shcherbakov, Adviser, Sustainable Development Goals - [September 2016 – March 2017]
  • Ms. Francella Strickland, Senior Adviser (Sustainable Development Goals)
  • Mr. Alejandro Sousa, Senior Legal Adviser
  • Ms. Meena Syed, Senior Adviser (SG Selection and Security Council Reform) - [September – December 2016]
  • Mr. Suljuk Mustansar Tarar, Senior Adviser (Sustainable Development Goals)
  • Mr. Dan Thomas, Communications Director and Spokesperson
  • Ms. Jullyette Ukabiala, Senior Adviser (Political Affairs)
  • Mr. Zhang Yi, Senior Adviser (Sustainable Development Goals)
  • Mr. Fernando Zelner, Senior Adviser (SDG Finance and Fifth Committee)
  • Ms. Jessica Zheng, Team Support (Sustainable Development Goals) - [September 2016 – February 2017]

Multimedia

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