Background
The election of the President of the General Assembly for the 80th session
The election of the President of the General Assembly for the 80th session will be held on 2 June 2025 at 10 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall, in line with Rule 30 of the Rules of Procedure.
In accordance with the established regional rotation, the President of the eightieth session of the General Assembly was to be elected from the Western European and Other States Group.
H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock nominated by Germany and endorsed by the Western European and Other States Group as the Group’s candidate. was elected as the President of the General Assembly at its 80th Session.
Following the election, a media stakeout was held at approximately 11:45 a.m. in front of the General Assembly Hall.
The informal Interactive Dialogue:
In its resolution 71/323, entitled “Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly”, the Assembly decided to call upon candidates for the position of President of the General Assembly to present their vision statements, and to conduct informal interactive dialogues with Member States, thus contributing to the transparency and inclusivity of the process.
The President of the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Philemon Yang convened the informal interactive dialogue mandated in resolution 71/323 on 15 May 2025 at 10 a.m. The informal interactive dialogue was webcasted on UN Web TV.
Civil society representatives and individuals were invited to submit their questions to the candidate for the position of President of the eightieth session of the General Assembly to be answered during the interactive dialogue. Call for Questions ended on 25 April 2025.
Informal Interactive Dialogue with Ms. Annalena Baerbock, Candidate for the position of President of the General Assembly at its 80th session
Remarks by Ms. Annalena Baerbock, Candidate for the position of President of the General Assembly at its 80th session
Statement of
Ms. Annalena Baerbock
Candidate for the position of President of the General Assembly
at its 80th session
at the Informal interactive dialogue of the General Assembly with the PGA candidate
New York, 15 May 2025
Mr. President of the General Assembly, dear Philemon Yang,
Excellencies,
Distinguished members of civil society,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
EXISTENTIAL – This is the word I have heard most the last few weeks when listening to and discussing with so many of you.
And yes, counting 120 armed conflicts raging worldwide – from Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, to Eastern Congo and Northern Myanmar. With the achievement of the SDGs in peril. With the UN itself under heavy pressure financially and politically. It is fair to say: in its 80th year the UN is going through a time of existential challenges.
However, I am convinced that this is not a moment for despair.
These crises and challenges weigh heavy upon us as the international community.
But they also show: The United Nations is needed more than ever before.
This is the task of our time.
To preserve what the UN has achieved since 1945.
To renew, to refocus OUR United Nations.
To make us, the UN, fit for the future, fit for purpose:
BETTER TOGETHER.
The General Assembly will play a crucial role in this endeavor.
As the most representative body and the beating heart of multilateralism.
I am humbled and deeply grateful to the Group of Western European and Other States for endorsing Germany’s candidacy for President of the General Assembly for the next session.
And I am grateful to you, Excellencies, for the candid conversations with all of you over the past weeks and the support so many have offered.
As President, if elected, I will serve all 193 Member States – large and small. As an honest broker. As a unifier. With an open ear. And an open door.
We all come from different regions, from different backgrounds. But there is something that unites us when we come together at the United Nations: We all strive for peace, for a prosperous future, for a life free from oppression.
The bedrock on which our work is founded is the UN Charter, the cornerstone of the international order.
As President of the General Assembly, I will be committed to defending our Charter, and the principles that are enshrined in it.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
today, I am honored to discuss the priorities of my candidacy, as laid out in my vision statement BETTER TOGETHER.
First, to contribute to a United Nations that is fit for purpose.
With the Pact for the Future, Member States laid the groundwork to revitalize multilateralism, to turbocharge the SDGs and to adapt the UN system to the 21st century´s challenges.
To maximize the Pact’s impact, we must closely link its implementation with the Secretary General’s UN80 Initiative.
Reducing duplications and increasing efficiency and transparency demand hard work. But it is work we must do.
An example from the Secretary General’s presentation on Monday: There are over 3,600 unique mandates for the UN Secretariat alone.
If we want these mandates to be manageable for the UN System and Member States, especially smaller ones, we must review, focus and use our resources efficiently – including in the General Assembly.
As President of the General Assembly, I will place a strong emphasis on ensuring that the perspectives of all regions and groups are heard. Member States are at the heart of this reform process. And I heard many of you underline that it should not be a mere cost-cutting exercise. The goal is a strong, nimble organization, fit for purpose.
BETTER TOGETHER.
A strong United Nations in challenging times requires dedicated leadership. Therefore, it is important to select the next Secretary-General during the 80th session in a transparent and inclusive manner. I will organize the process in line with General Assembly resolutions and build on best practices of my predecessors.
Yet structures and processes do not suffice.
We need a United Nations that delivers results. People must feel that our work makes a real difference in their daily lives.
This brings me to my second priority.
The UN Charter and its three pillars – peace and security, development, and human rights – they are deeply interconnected.
The UN Charter gives the General Assembly a central role to build and sustain lasting peace. It is crucial to further strengthen this role in close cooperation with the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission.
Because you cannot sustain lasting peace without ensuring that there is no shortage of food, that people have jobs, that children go to school, that women are safe – which, by the way, is something that unites all 193 Member States: in every country of the world every 2nd person is a woman.
This is a question of peace and a question of justice.
BETTER TOGETHER.
That is why a key focus of the 80th session will be to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Ten years ago, we committed to building a more just and sustainable world. Yet today, progress has fallen short. We pledged to end extreme poverty by 2030 – and still nearly 700 million people live on less than 1.25 Dollar a day.
I will support the General Assembly in accelerating the achievement of the SDGs, working closely with the Economic and Social Council and other key partners.
The World Summit for Social Development and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development will be crucial cornerstones this year.
I will engage in a dialogue with Member States on how the UN can contribute to the reform of the international financial architecture, as we collectively committed to in the Pact for the Future.
I will also place special emphasis one of the greatest threats of our time: the climate crisis.
No country –– not even the strongest – can escape its devastating effects. It is in our shared interest to act – at the next COP in Belém and here in New York.
My third priority is a United Nations that is truly inclusive, that embraces everyone – that, in the words of the Charter, reaffirms “the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.”
As President of the General Assembly, I aim to ensure that all voices are being heard and all perspectives are fully represented.
I know many of you have ideas for making our debates more effective and lively. These proposals are exactly what we need.
Because the General Assembly will only be as strong as the commitment of its Member States.
BETTER TOGETHER.
This includes the engagement with civil society and especially with young people. The United Nations is there to serve its people. And building a better future is only possible by engaging with the generations to come. Our work does not end in New York, Geneva, Nairobi or Bonn. But we need to bring our discussions and outreach closer to the people.
This is why I would like to take up the call from those who ask to communicate actively.
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I know we will not renew the UN in a single year – especially in these complex times. I see the upcoming presidency as part of a broader process – one that began before my tenure and will continue after with my successors. BETTER TOGETHER – is a team sport.
I would be honored to serve the General Assembly as a team leader – in this phase of renewal.
To build a United Nations that is more effective.
That delivers tangible results.
And that includes everyone.
I thank you.
And I look forward to engaging in this dialogue with you
Photo Assets
Candidate
H.E. Annalena Baerbock
H.E. Annalena Baerbock
Annalena Baerbock has served as Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs since December 2021. In this role, she has been a strong advocate for the multilateral system with the United Nations at its core.
In 2018, she was elected Co-Chairperson of Alliance 90/The Greens and held the position of party leader until 2022. She has been an elected member of the German Bundestag since 2013.
Prior to that, she served as chairperson of her party in the federal state of Brandenburg. Before being elected to the Bundestag herself, Annalena Baerbock advised her party’s parliamentary group in the German Bundestag on matters of foreign and security policy.
From 2005 to 2008, she served as Head of Office and staff member to Member of the European Parliament Elisabeth Schroedter. Annalena Baerbock was born in Hanover on 15 December 1980.
She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Hamburg University.
Acceptance speech
H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock
upon her election as President of the General Assembly for the 80th session
United Nations General Assembly Hall
New York
2 June 2025Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,First of all: My special gratitude to His Excellency, President Philémon Yang, for your kind words and guidance. Your wise, inspiring and unifying leadership of the General Assembly will guide me during my term.
Excellencies, dear colleagues,Thank you for your overwhelming support and your trust.
I am deeply grateful and humbled to have the honor to serve all of you and preside over the General Assembly during its 80th session.
As I emphasized at the informal interactive dialogue, I will serve all 193 Member States as an honest broker and as a unifier.
As the President of the General Assembly, I will engage in a trust-based dialogue with all Member States.
My door will always be open for everyone.BETTER TOGETHER.
This is the theme of my presidency, which will guide my work as President of the General Assembly. And I am grateful to hear it resonates with so many of you.
When visitors come to the General Assembly, they obviously do not enter through these glass doors. Instead, they take a narrow hallway on the third floor. And they stumble over a quote from Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.”
It is a powerful reminder.
This organization was founded on the ashes of the Second World War.
Yet, the response to the horrors of war was a common vision – not heaven, but a hopeful vision. A vision based on human rights, on respect for
international law, on peaceful coexistence and on international cooperation to the benefit of all peoples.Today, we live in challenging times. We are walking on a tightrope of uncertainty. But the birth of the United Nations eighty years ago reminds
us: We have lived through difficult times before. And it is up to us to take on these challenges.We might come from different regions, from different backgrounds. We might see the world differently. And we might even disagree sometimes.
But when we come together at the United Nations, we are all united by this common vision, and by the founding principles of the United Nations.
The Charter is and will remain the irrevocable foundation of our work.
As President of the General Assembly, I will be committed to upholding our Charter, and the purposes and principles enshrined within it.
I will focus on what we can do together instead of asking what divides us. Because we are better together.
The 80th session of the General Assembly will be a crucial moment for our organization.
The United Nations – the center of the multilateral system – is under immense pressure. Politically and financially.
More than 120 armed conflicts remind us that the primary mission of the United Nations – “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” – remains unaccomplished.
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will remain elusive without “bold, ambitious, accelerated, just and transformative actions”, as we committed to in the Pact for the Future.
Yet, nothing would be better without the United Nations.We have achieved much together over the past eighty years.
Just as the founding fathers – and also a few founding mothers of our organization resolved to combine their efforts – we also need to join efforts.
To preserve what the United Nations has achieved since its establishment in 1945.
To address current global crises.
And to adapt to emerging and future challenges.
As President, my first key objective will be to support Member States to renew, to refocus and to make our organization fit for purpose, fit for the 21st century.
This organization requires adequate, reliable funding. And at the same time, we need to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire
system.Mr. Secretary-General, I would like to thank you for your leadership in this respect and for launching the UN80 Initiative. This initiative is an important opportunity to make the United Nations stronger and more effective.
As many delegations, I welcome that you have committed to closely consult with Member States during this process.
As President of the General Assembly, I will place a strong emphasis on ensuring that the perspectives and interests of all Member States are
considered. This means: We as the General Assembly also have to do our homework.While we need to be bold, ambitious and ready to take difficult decisions, the UN80 Initiative should not be a mere cost-cutting exercise.
Our common goal is a strong, focused, nimble and fit-for-purpose organization. One that is capable of realizing its core objectives.
We need a United Nations that delivers on peace, development and justice.
This brings me to the second main task for the upcoming session.
The Pact for the Future is our blueprint for the actions we need to take in order to forge a better future for all.
People around the world must feel that our work makes a real difference in their daily lives.
The General Assembly is the most representative and main deliberative
and policy-making body of the United Nations. It is in our hands to use this
role to its full potential.It is key to further strengthen the role of the General Assembly with regard
to peace and security matters, in close cooperation with the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission.
However, lasting peace will never be reached without sustainable development.
Yet, less than one fifth of the SDG targets are on track.
A key focus of the 80th session will therefore be to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, working closely with the Economic
and Social Council and other relevant partners.The three pillars of the United Nations Charter – peace and security, development, and human rights – are deeply interconnected.
Respect for international law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law are essential for a world in which every
person can live in peace, prosperity and dignity.BETTER TOGETHER is a team sport: My third priority is a United Nations that embraces everyone.
I see the diversity of the General Assembly as our strength. This is the place where all nations come together and where every country has a seat and a voice.
As President, I aim to ensure that this multitude of perspectives is taken into account. That every Member State, region and group is heard.
That the General Assembly is a truly inclusive forum: By activating, for example, the General Committee and by building on the different interactive formats of my predecessors.
This includes the revitalization process as well as the selection of the next Secretary-General which will be at the center of the 80th session.
Transparency and inclusiveness will be key.
I will organize the selection process in line with General Assembly resolutions and build on past best practices.
However, I depend on your support and commitment. Because the General Assembly will only be as strong as the commitment of its
members.As only the fifth woman in this position in 80 years, I am fully aware that peace and development can only be sustained when half of the world’s population, when women have an equal seat at the table.
Inclusive multilateralism also means to engage with civil society and especially with young people. It improves the outcome and the legitimacy
when decisions of the General Assembly are based on a wide range of input and broad consultations.
Active communication and promoting a better understanding of the United Nations will be vital during the 80th session. In particular in these times of disinformation.
To ensure that we foster our understanding and no voice is left unheard, I commit to promoting multilingualism – a core value of the United Nations.
I will embed this principle into the daily work of my Office, building on the great work of my predecessor, and with a truly diverse and multilingual OPGA-team in which all regional groups are represented. This is only possible through your generous contributions to the trust fund and great secondments to my team from all different regional groups, for which I am thankful.
Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 80 years on, the world does not look like heaven. But it is our world. And
this is the task of our time:To make the United Nations fit for purpose, fit for the future.
To uphold the Charter.
To deliver tangible results for everyone.
And I am honored to work with all of you in this challenging endeavor.
BETTER TOGETHER.
I thank you.
Vision Statement
The vision statement of H.E. Annalena Baerbock, candidate for the position of President of the eightieth session of the General Assembly is presented here in six official Languages of the United Nations.
Note: unofficial translations of the vision statement in Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, and French languages, are provided by the candidate.
