Lebanon diplomat elected as vice president of UN General Assembly

Lebanese diplomat, Amal Mudallali, has been elected as one of the vice presidents of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in a vote yesterday, the National reports.

Mudallali is Lebanon’s top diplomat and has been the country’s permanent envoy to the UN since January 2018, when she was appointed to the position by then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Before her appointment, Mudallali worked as a journalist, writing for Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar, among others, served as a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, focusing on Arab-American relations, and worked as a foreign policy advisor for Rafic Hariri’s government.

The Lebanese diplomat’s new appointment was announced in a letter to all UN General Assembly members, send by the current President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.

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He was quoted by the National as having written: “I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to all Vice Presidents of the General Assembly at its seventy-fifth session.”

Adding, “I avail of this opportunity to express my solidarity with Member States who are fighting Covid-19 and extend my sincere condolences for their loss.”

In response to her election, Mudallali said she was looking forward to her role as a vice president in a “historic session”, writing on Twitter:  “I am proud to announce that Lebanon was elected Vice President of the UNGA 75 th session. Being one of the VPs of this historic session makes me so hopeful that our country and people will always prevail no matter what the challenges are.”

I am proud to announce that Lebanon was elected Vice President of the UNGA 75 th session. Being one of the VPs of this historic session makes me so hopeful that our country and people will always prevail no matter what the challenges are. One of founders of UN will be VP 4 UNGA75 pic.twitter.com/rTHrcbrThI

— Amal Mudallali (@AmbMudallali) June 29, 2020

Alongside Lebanon, representatives from Libya, Somalia, Jordan and Afghanistan were elected among the 21 vice presidents voted in for the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. The session, which is set to run from 15 September, will be headed by Turkey’s Volkan Bozkir.

In a statement detailing his vision, Bozkir eyed progress on the UN Development Goals, and cited plans to work to “ensure impartial and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance and full respect for international humanitarian law in conflicts and crises”.

According to Bozkir’s vision statement, the UN General Assembly’s 75th session will be convened under the theme: “The future we want, the United Nations we need; reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism.”

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