About UNCPGA

The Council of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly (UNCPGA) was founded in 1997 with the purpose of supporting the President of the UN General Assembly (PGA), providing institutional memory to the Office of the PGA (OPGA) and advancing multilateralism through a revitalized UN General Assembly.

In accordance with its Charter, the UNCPGA is composed of all living former Presidents of the UN General Assembly and includes each serving President of the UN General Assembly as an ex officio member. The UNCPGA is currently chaired by the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Dr. Han Seung-Soo, who also served as the President of the 56th session of the UN General Assembly. H.E. Mr. Jan Kavan, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and President of the 57th Session of the General Assembly currently serves as the Vice-Chairman. As a preeminent Global Leadership Forum, the UNCPGA serves as a repository of institutional memory, rich diplomatic experience, and a platform of support for the serving President of the UN General Assembly, her/his Office, and the UN General Assembly more broadly. As such, the UNCPGA is a unique Organization composed of leaders who have served at the helm of the UN General Assembly and whose mission is directly relevant to the work of the UN General Assembly itself.

 

Since the UNCPGA Secretariat was established in June 2023 in New York, its Secretary-General, Dr. Jehangir Khan, has been leading a small team in supporting the work of the chairman of the UNCPGA in mutually identified priority areas, and through him, the UNCPGA works toward advancing multilateralism and supporting the revitalization of our General Assembly. The UNCPGA Secretariat has been particularly working to increase its visibility towards the realization of its goals. Its activities range from highly visible diplomatic engagements and the institutionalization of the UNCPGA to the establishment of the ā€œGroup of Friends of the PGAā€ and the UNCPGA Foundation. Other activities include building partnerships with other global leadership forums and special projects.

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Meetings

Since the revitalization of the UNCPGA at its meeting at UN Headquarters in New York in October 2022, the Secretariat has organized formal meetings of the UNCPGA in various host countries such as Bahrain, Republic of Korea, Qatar and Slovakia. These meetings areĀ attended by the current President of the United Nations General Assembly as well as former Presidents of the General Assembly. The agenda for these formalĀ meetings include discussions about active conflicts, artificialĀ intelligence and UNCPGA's institutional matters. These meetings result in concrete Political Declarations on major world issues.

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Activities of the Group of Friends of the President of the General Assembly

In September 2022, the UNCPGA Secretariat established the ā€œGroup of Friends of the PGA,ā€ composed of Ambassadors of all living former PGA member states, in close collaboration with the President of the UN General Assembly and the Ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar who each host working luncheons for the Group of Friends, together with the President of the UN General Assembly. The agenda of the Group of Friends meetings include briefings on the current status of UNCPGA organizational andĀ institutional matters as well as future Council meetings and outcomes.