Muhammad Bande has been elected as the next President of the 74th session UN General Assembly

Nigeria’s Ambassador to the UN Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, elected as the next President of the 74th session UN General Assembly. He will succeed Maria Fernanda Espinosa. The next General Assembly session will commence in September 2019.

Elected as per the rule:
UNGA rule states that the President of the 74th session of the General Assembly should be elected from among the African States. In accordance with the rule, Muhammad-Bande has been elected.
He assumes charge as UNGA prepares to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its creation in 2020. India offered its support to Muhammad-Bande’s candidature.

Focus:
Muhammad-Bande, a former University professor, said that his presidency will focus on peace and security, poverty eradication, zero hunger, quality education, climate action.
The 74th session of UNGA will focus on high-level meetings which include the High-level Political Forum, the Secretary-General’s Climate Summit, the high-level events on Universal Health Coverage, Financing for Development and the commemoration of Beijing+25, providing major opportunities to promote the implementation of the goals and targets.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA):
Formed on: 1945
Headquarters: New York, United States
Members: 193
President: Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN is Syed Akbaruddin

Note: Maria Fernanda Espinosa was only the fourth woman to be elected President of the General Assembly in the world organization’s 73-year-old history and the first woman president of the world body ever from Latin America and the Caribbean region.