Dennis Francis, President of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, addresses the first plenary meeting of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly Sept. 05, 2023. (UN Photo/Manuel Elías)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK – Dennis Francis, a veteran diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago, was appointed President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly during an official ceremony in New York. Ambassador Francis – who has had a nearly 40-year-career – will take the helm of the UN’s main policy-making body, starting in September. The Caribbean diplomat was elected by acclamation during a ceremony in the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York. Ambassador Francis will take over from the current General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary at start of the 78th session of the UNGA in September. Ambassador Francis said he will prioritize encouraging and facilitating meaningful dialogue.
“I am so proud and gratified to have been born in a country, T&T, that for almost 70 years has ascribed the highest value to education. My Presidency will reflect the values of tolerance, inclusion, cooperation and unwavering respect for human dignity.
-President of UN General Assembly Dennis Francis
Dennis Francis (left at dais, on screen), President of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, chairs the 3rd plenary meeting of the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly on the use of the veto Sept. 11, 2023. (UN Photo/Loey Felipe)
Ambassador Francis said his four priorities during his presidency are: Peace, Prosperity, Progress, and Sustainability.
Dennis Francis, President of the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly. (UN Photo/Manuel Elías)
“I will seek to enhance current approaches and adopt new ones with probable solutions, as we endeavour to deliver or at least to strengthen the bases for delivering Peace, Prosperity, Progress and Sustainability.”
-President of UN General Assembly Dennis Francis
UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that Ambassador Francis’s tenure comes at “a deeply challenging moment”, amidst global conflicts, climate chaos, and escalating poverty, hunger and inequality.
The General Assembly is the U.N.’s most representative body, and is in the international spotlight amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and continued deadly conflicts across Africa and the Middle East with gross human rights violations being committed.
Ambassador Francis, 66-years-old, was previous the Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the UN. During his nearly four decades of diplomacy, he held the rank of Ambassador for 18 consecutive years until his compulsory retirement in 2016, making him the country’s longest serving Ambassador. Francis studied geography at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, and international affairs at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
