UN Affairs

Mogens Lykketoft, President of the seventieth session of the General Assembly, gives an interview for the UN News on the Assembly’s work during its current session.
UN Photo/JC McIlwaine

INTERVIEW: Selection of next UN Secretary-General has been game-changing process, says outgoing General Assembly President

8 September 2016
Global

On 15 June 2015, the United Nations General Assembly elected Mogens Lykketoft – a Danish national – to serve as the President of its seventieth session. At the time of his election, Mr. Lykketoft was the Speaker (President) of the Danish Parliament, a position he had held since 2011. Born on 9 January 1946, it was a fitting coincidence that he would turn 70 during his term as President of the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly– a personal fact he highlighted during his acceptance speech to the world body upon his election.

General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft, briefs journalists following informal dialogues on 12-14 April with nine candidates for the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.
UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

The next UN Secretary-General: Assembly President says ‘new standard of transparency’ established

15 April 2016
Global

Three days of informal briefings came to an end yesterday, after nine candidates for the position of the next United Nations Secretary-General answered all together some 800 questions from the UN membership and the public on how, if selected, they would lead the world body.

UN Photo/John Isaac
UN Photo/John Isaac

The next UN Secretary-General: last day of informal briefings

14 April 2016
Global

The third and final session of informal briefings to hear the views of three more candidates for the position of the next United Nations Secretary-General is taking place at UN Headquarters in New York today, focusing on how they would tackle some of the world’s most urgent issues should they be selected to replace current UN chief Ban Ki-moon in January 2017.

The General Assembly holds informal dialogues with candidates for the position of the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.
UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

The next UN Secretary-General: informal briefings continue

13 April 2016

Three more candidates for the position of the next United Nations Secretary-General will be heard today, answering questions on how they would promote sustainable development, improve efforts to create peace, protect human rights, and deal with huge humanitarian catastrophes should they be selected to lead the 193-member Organization.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon bows to the General Assembly after his re-appointment in 2011 as the eighth Secretary-General (top). The first Secretary-General Trygve Lie speaks at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, 1950.
UN Photo

Selecting a new UN Secretary-General: a job interview in front of the whole world

8 April 2016

The selection process for a new United Nations Secretary-General, traditionally decided behind closed-doors by a few powerful countries, will for the first time in history involve public discussions with each candidate campaigning for the world’s top diplomatic post.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is shown addressing a press conference at United Nations Headquarters on 1 February 1994.
UN Photo/Milton Grant

UN honours memory of former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali

18 February 2016
Global

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly today honoured the memory of former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 93, recalling his legacy in helping the world body find its footing in a new global landscape during the tumultuous early 1990s.

On 2 January 1992, Boutros Boutros-Ghali (right), Secretary-General of the United Nations, arrives at UN Headquarters for his first working day at the United Nations. Aly Teymour, Chief of Protocol, escorts him into the building.
UN Photo/John Isaac

UN mourns death of former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali

16 February 2016

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, veteran Egyptian diplomat and the first United Nations Secretary-General from Africa, passed away today at the age of 93. He is being praised for guiding the Organization through the tumultuous early 1990s and for helping shape the UN's response to post-Cold War realities, drafting a seminal report on preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping.

UN Chief Information Technology Officer Atefeh Riazi sits down for an interview with the UN News Centre in New York. (Video screen grab)

INTERVIEW: UN information technology chief believes all girls should aspire to be ‘geeks’

10 February 2016
Global

Atefah “Atti” Riazi, the Chief Information Technology Officer of the United Nations, carries the following items in her handbag at all times – a screwdriver set, a Swiss Army knife and an iPhone.

Jean Gazarian at the commemoration of UNITAR’s 50th anniversary.
UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

FEATURE: Remembering Jean Gazarian, a witness to UN history

28 January 2016
Global

The United Nations mourns the loss of Jean Gazarian, a staff member whose six-decade career offered him a rare opportunity to witness the various moments and milestones along the path that saw a nascent 51-member Organization develop into the 193-strong world body it is today.

A view of the delegations gathered for the first session of the UN General Assembly when it opened on 10 January 1946 at Central Hall in London, United Kingdom.
UN Photo/Marcel Bolomey

FEATURE: From misplaced emblem in London to iconic hall – the UN General Assembly across 70 years

11 January 2016

Before there was a United Nations Secretary-General, a Security Council or an iconic Headquarters in New York, there was the General Assembly, the most representative body ever of world nations, meeting for the first time in a London hall facing Westminster Abbey, the 1,000-year-old coronation site of Britain’s kings and queens.