H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman, President of the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, addressing the Assembly on 2 June 2026
Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations That Delivers for All
UN Photo/Mark Garten · 2 June 2026
“

We must collectively demonstrate that the UN can adapt, reform and better deliver in order to restore trust in our Organization.

H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman

Acceptance speech, 2 June 2026

About the President →

Priorities

The President’s programme for the eighty-first session is organised around six interlocking pillars, set out in full in his vision statement.

Two United Nations peacekeepers, one in a blue helmet and one in a blue beret, shake hands on a grass field in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a white armoured personnel carrier behind them.
UN Photo/Jorkim Jotham Pituwa
I

Silence the Guns, Amplify the Voices

Peace, Security and Justice

A holistic approach to peace that prioritises prevention and political solutions, strengthens peacebuilding and protects civilians.

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A schoolgirl in South Sudan holds a banner reading “I never miss a day at school” at the launch of the Back to Learning campaign.
UN Photo/JC McIlwaine
II

No One Left Behind, No Country Left Out

Sustainable Development

Making the General Assembly a driver of course correction on the Sustainable Development Goals, not a witness to missed opportunities.

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Sea ice and icebergs drift down Cañon Fiord in the Canadian Arctic, below bare mountains and a distant glacier.
UN Photo/G. Hunter
III

Our Planet, Our Pact

Climate and Environment

Climate resilience and environmental sustainability running through all relevant deliberations as cross-cutting issues.

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A staff member of the United Nations refugee agency sits on the floor with a notebook, listening to a family who fled violence in Libya.
UN Photo/UNHCR/P. Moore
IV

Rights and Protection

Human Rights and Humanitarian Action

Upholding the Assembly’s normative work on human rights, unimpeded humanitarian access, and the rights of refugees and migrants.

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A woman works at a desktop computer in a row of machines at a United Nations training centre in Juba, South Sudan.
UN Photo/JC McIlwaine
V

Innovation with Inclusion

Digital Governance and Technology

Governing artificial intelligence and digital technologies wisely and fairly, so innovation narrows inequality rather than widening it.

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The empty rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly Hall, its gold emblem lit against the green marble wall.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
VI

We the Peoples, Reimagined

Multilateralism and UN80 Reform

Demonstrating that the United Nations can adapt, reform and deliver, making the Assembly the engine of member-driven reform.

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All six priorities in full →

Meet the President

Remarks by H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman on his election as President of the eighty-first session, United Nations General Assembly, 2 June 2026.

H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, was elected President of the eighty-first session on 2 June 2026. He brings more than thirty years of experience with the United Nations, as a representative of Bangladesh to the General Assembly and as a senior official of the UN Secretariat in New York and at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva.

Vision Statement

The vision statement sets out the six pillars in full. It is available in the six official languages of the United Nations and in Portuguese.

[Disclaimer: these translations have been conducted through various country missions during the Presidency campaign period of Dr Khalilur Rahman. UN official translations were not involved at the time of the campaign.]

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Follow the Presidency

Accounts of the Office of the President of the General Assembly.