Past Presidents
59th Session: Jean Ping
Portrait of Mr. Jean Ping, President of the United Nations General Assembly’s 59th session. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Jean Ping was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly’s 59th session on 10 June 2004. At the time of his election, he was serving as Ministre d’Etat, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and la Francophonie of the Gabonese Republic.
Jean Ping presided the General Assembly’s 59th session from 14 September 2004 to 12 September 2005.
Also on 10 June 2004, the General Assembly elected 21 Vice-Presidents for the 59th session:
- from the African States: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Ghana and Zambia;
- from the Asian-Pacific States: Bangladesh, Iran, Kazakhstan, Syria and Uzbekistan;
- from the Eastern European States: Azerbaijan;
- from the Latin American and Caribbean States: Antigua and Barbuda, El Salvador and Nicaragua;
- from the Western European and Other States: Australia and Belgium;
- the five permanent members of the Security Council: China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.
Priorities
“We are facing many complex international challenges, and no organization is better suited than the United Nations to address and resolve them”, President Ping said, as he opened the Assembly’s fifty-ninth session this afternoon.
Prevailing over poverty, infringements in the rule of law, conflict, and HIV/AIDS, or effectively tackling environmental issues or the ethical aspects of human cloning required a “harmonious international environment”. And that could only be ensured if the major organs of the United Nations -- the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) -- worked in harmony and fulfilled their prerogatives under the Charter, said Mr. Ping.
He urged delegations, in that regard, to continue to press ahead with the Assembly reform initiatives that had been approved late last year. “Every effort must be made to halt the erosion of the Assembly’s strengths” as the major United Nations forum for debating international issues, he said, adding that during this session, momentum must also be maintained in pursuit of long-sought reform of the Security Council.
When faced with ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Africa, the spread of small arms and weapons of mass destruction, and deepening unrest in the Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan, “We have no other alternative”, Mr. Ping said, urging delegations to remain vigilant and work hard to ensure genuine peace and security, as well as the overall achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. With the United Nations celebrating its sixtieth anniversary next year, he also urged delegations to work together to adapt the Organization to the needs of the times.
Statements and Messages
June 2005
- Message on the Occasion of Interfaith Cooperation for Peace
(22 June 2005)
May 2005
- Message on the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers (29 May 2005)
- Message on the Occasion of World Press Freedom Day (3 May 2005)
April 2005
- Message on the Occasion of the World Health Day (7 April 2005)
- Tribute to the Memory of His Serene Highness Prince Rainier III (6 April 2005)
- Tribute to the Memory of His Holiness Pope John Paul II (6 April 2005)
March 2005
- Message on the Occasion of World Water Day (21 March 2005)
- Message on the Occasion of the International Day against Racial Discrimination (18 March 2005)
- Message on the Occasion of International Women's Day (8 March 2005)
January 2005
- Statement on the Occasion of the Ceremony of the Change of Presidency of teh Group of 77 and China (25 January 2005)
- Statement on the Occasion of the Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps (24 January 2005)
- Statement on the Occasion of the Reopening of the Proceedings of the Session (18 January 2005)
December 2004
- Statement on the Occasion of the Recess of the General Assembly (23 December 2004)
- Statement at the Opening of the Plenary Session Commemorating the Decade of Human Rights Education (10 December 2004)
- Message on the Occasion of the International Year of the Family (6 December 2004)
- Message on the Occasion of World AIDS Day (1 December 2004)
November 2004
- Message on the Occasion of Africa Industrialization Day (22 November 2004)
September 2004
- Concluding Statement at the End of the General Debate of the 59th Session of the General Assembly (30 September 2004)
- Message at the High-level Meeting on the Social Dimension of Globalization (20 September 2004)
- Speech Address at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine (19 September 2004)
- Opening of the 59th Session of the General Assembly (14 September 2004)
Events
No events listed
Team
- H.E. Jean Ping, President
- H.E. Mr. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Chef de Cabinet
- H.E. Mrs. Marianne Bibalou, Deputy Chef de Cabinet
- H.E. Mr. Guy Marcel Eboumy, Ambassador (Administrative, Budgetary and Financial Affairs)
- H.E. Mr. Tommo Monthe, Ambassador (United Nations Reform)
- Mr. Djibril Diallo, Spokesperson
- Mrs. Alba Biffot Sales, Minister Counsellor (Economic Affairs)
- Mr. Tete Antonio, Minister Counsellor (Relations with the Security Council and ECOSOC)
- Mr. Michel Regis Onang M. Ndiaye, Counsellor (Political Affairs)
- Mr. Michel-Xavier Biang, Counsellor (Legal Affairs)
- Mr. Saturnin Epié, Counsellor (Social Affairs)
- Mrs. Catherine Boivin, Chargée de mission
- Ms. Audrey Apfeldorfer, Chargée d'études
