The eighty-first session of the General Assembly opens at a historic crossroads. Eight decades after the Charter was signed in San Francisco, our shared system of multilateral cooperation faces profound challenges: brutal conflicts, widening inequalities, unpredictable climate emergencies, an erosion of trust, and an information sphere flooded with hate and disinformation. It is precisely in such times, the President writes, that the United Nations is most needed, and precisely in such times that its promise can be renewed.
His programme for the session is organised around six interlocking pillars. They interlock by design: peace cannot hold where development fails, development cannot hold on a destabilised planet, and neither holds without rights, protection and a multilateral system that Member States trust. Each pillar carries its own commitments while reinforcing the other five, and each is pursued through the working methods the President set out on his election: open consultation, geographical, gender and linguistic balance, and outcomes owned by all.
The UN80 Initiative, the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations have already charted an ambitious course for renewal, and the Secretary-General’s report Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver calls for bold shifts in every pillar of the Organization’s work. The President intends to treat this moment not only as an anniversary but as a mandate: to translate that reform agenda, with all Member States, into concrete and member-driven decisions that make the United Nations more coherent, more effective and more accountable to the people it serves.
I am convinced that world now needs a more effective and responsive multilateralism. By working together, we can build a more robust multilateral system that commands the trust of the Member States and delivers concrete benefits for all.
H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman
Vision statement
The Six Pillars
Each pillar has its own page setting out the President’s commitments in detail, together with the mandates, summits and reviews that fall within the eighty-first session.
Silence the Guns, Amplify the Voices
Peace, security and justice for all
Peace is the founding promise of the United Nations, yet conflicts and arms races continue to devastate lives, with civilians, especially women and children, bearing the heaviest burdens. The President will champion a holistic approach to peace that prioritises prevention and political solutions, strengthens peacebuilding and protects civilians.
No One Left Behind, No Country Left Out
Sustainable development, SDG acceleration and countries in special situations
The 2030 Agenda is a shared promise to leave no one behind, yet the Sustainable Development Goals are off track and the session will be shaped by the SDG Summit 2027 and the Global Sustainable Development Report. The President will work to make the General Assembly a driver of course correction, not a witness to missed opportunities.
Our Planet, Our Pact
Climate resilience and environmental sustainability
Climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation threaten the foundations of peace, security and development. Climate resilience and environmental sustainability will run through all relevant deliberations as cross-cutting issues, from delivery on the Paris Agreement to operationalising the Loss and Damage Fund and early warning for all.
Rights and Protection: Freedom from Fear and Want
Human rights, humanitarian action, refugees and migrants
Human rights remain the bedrock of the Organization’s core functions, yet there is backsliding on certain rights and freedoms, a shrinking humanitarian space and disregard for the protection of refugees and migrants. The President will uphold the Assembly’s normative work and press for efficient and unimpeded humanitarian access.
Innovation with Inclusion
Digital governance, artificial intelligence (AI), science and technology, and the next generation
Artificial intelligence, big data and digital platforms bring immense opportunities alongside serious risks of inequality, bias, surveillance and misuse. Building on the Global Digital Compact and the United Nations International Independent Scientific Panel on AI, the President will press for governance that is evidence-based and inclusive, and for investment that closes the digital divide.
We the Peoples, Reimagined
Renewed multilateralism, UN80 reform and inclusive global governance
To restore trust in multilateralism, the United Nations must demonstrate that it can adapt, reform and deliver. The UN80 Initiative and the mandate implementation review offer a roadmap towards a more agile and integrated system, and the President will make the General Assembly the engine of member-driven reform.
The Vision Statement in Full
The six pillars summarised above are drawn from Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations That Delivers for All, the vision statement of H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman. It sets out, pillar by pillar, the commitments he has made to Member States, together with the working methods he intends to bring to the presidency. The statement is published in the six official languages of the United Nations and in Portuguese.
Related
01About the President02Vision statement — full text03Documents of the Office of the President04Meetings and events of the eighty-first session