9 September - As the UN General Assembly opened its 80th session on Tuesday, new President Annalena Baerbock called on Member States to unite in addressing global crises – from war and poverty to climate change – taking her oath on the original 1945 Charter and pledging to lead with courage and inclusiveness.
This will be “no ordinary session,” she pledged, with the multilateral system beset by overlapping crises and heightened disunity.
A former foreign minister of Germany, Ms. Baerbock becomes only the fifth woman in history to preside over the General Assembly.
In a symbolic gesture linking past to present, she swore her oath on the UN’s founding Charter from the San Francisco Conference in 1945 – and accepted the Assembly’s ornate gavel from her predecessor, Philémon Yang of Cameroon.
The Charter itself, preserved by the US National Archives, has returned to UN Headquarters for the first time in decades.
Source: Access the full story on UN News