Past Presidents
72nd Session: Miroslav Lajčák
Portrait of Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the United Nations General Assembly’s 72nd Session. UN Photo
Miroslav Lajčák was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly’s 72nd session on 31 May 2017. At the time of his election, he was the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, a position he has held since 2012.
Mr. Miroslav Lajčák presided the General Assembly’s 72nd session from 12 September 2017 to 13 September 2017.
Also on 31 May 2017, the General Assembly elected 21 Vice-Presidents for the 72nd session:
- from the African States: Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Morocco and Zimbabwe;
- from the Asian-Pacific States: Afghanistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu;
- from the Latin American and Caribbean States: Plurinational State of Bolivia, Chile and Guatemala;
- from the Western European and Other States: Finland and Israel
- the five permanent members of the Security Council: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America.
Priorities
H.E. Miroslav Lajčák’s goal, as President of the 72nd session of the General Assembly, was to advance global understanding of the critical role of multilateralism in our modern world and in serving the needs of all people as follows:
Peace
- Strengthening the role and performance of the UN in conflict prevention and sustaining peace
Migration
- Driving the process to develop a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration
Sustainable Planet
- Maintaining the momentum to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement
Human Dignity
- Promoting and protecting the human rights of all people
Modern UN
- Playing a leading role in driving forward UN processes on General Assembly revitalization, Security Council reform and ECOSOC review
Team
- H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President
- Mr. František Ružička, Chef de Cabinet
- Ms. Sofia Borges, Deputy Chef de Cabinet
- Ms. Lenka Miháliková, Special Assistant and Political Coordinator
- Amena Yassine, Team Coordinator(Peace and Security, Humanitarian and Legal Issues)
- Mr. Brenden Varma, Spokesperson and Team Coordinator (Communications and Outreach)
- Ms. Elina Lemmetty, Team Coordinator (Budget and Administration)
- Mr. Abdelghani Merabet, Team Coordinator (Development, Climate and Migration)
- Ms. Sharifa A-lNesf, Adviser
- M. Thiago Alves Ferreira, Team Support [Since Jan 18]
- Ms. Elif Çalışkan, Senior Adviser
- Mr. Kurt Davis, Senior Adviser
- Ms. Margo Deiye, Senior Adviser
- Ms. Joyce Fan, Administrative Assistant [Sep 17 – Feb 18]
- Ms. Isis Gonsalves, Adviser
- Mr. Nikola Ivezaj, Adviser
- Ms.Inga Kanchaveli, Legal Adviser
- Ms. Katharina Kandt, Adviser
- Ms. Denise Kling, Team Support [Since Jan 18]
- Mr. Michal Komada, Senior Adviser
- Mr. Mateus Luemba, Senior Adviser
- Ms. Lea Matheson, Senior Adviser
- Ms. Nichola Sabelo, Senior Adviser
- Ms. Cianna O’Connell, Speechwriter
- Ms. Evelyne Ojwang, Senior Administrative Assistant
- Ms. Harriet Osias, Personal Assistant
- Ms. Thanavon Pamaranon, Adviser
- Ms. Gabrielle Rajkumar, Staff Assistant [Since Jan 18]
- Ms. Eva Schäfer, Adviser
- Ms. Laura Schweizer, Adviser
- Ms. Vanda Šipošová, Personal Assistant
- Mr. Zhang Yi, Senior Adviser
