TRUTH ABOUT T&T UNGA PRESIDENCY

TRINIDAD and Tobago is not the first Caricom country to lead the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

In fact, since 1993, the UNGA presidency has been given once a decade to a representative of a Caricom country.

Thirty years before T&T’s Dennis Francis was elected as president of UNGA, Guyanese Rudy Insanally had that honour.

Insanally, who was then 57, led the UNGA in 1993, for its 48^th session.

The presidency of the General Assembly rotates each year among five geographic groups.

Insanally represented the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Ten years later, in 2003, St. Lucia’s Julian Hunte headed the UNGA for its 58^th session.

At other times in his career, Hunte also served as St. Lucia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and as an administrator of West Indies cricket.

A further 10 years ahead, in 2013, Antigua and Barbuda’s John William Ashe was named to lead the UNGA for its 68^th session.

Now, after another decade, Ambassador Francis is to preside over the one-year 78^th session, which begins in September.

Francis had a 40-year diplomatic career, serving in UN agencies in Vienna, Paris, and Geneva, and as ambassador to Jamaica.

He came out of retirement in 2021 to become T&T’s UN Ambassador.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs touted Francis’ candidacy as “one of Trinidad and Tobago’s key foreign policy objectives,” but his election was assured once he received Caricom’s support.

It is the custom that regional countries back a single candidate for the prestigious position.

Although there is a formal vote for the position, there is usually consensus each year about who would occupy the president’s chair for the next 12 months.

Francis’ term is expected to be highlighted by the on-going Russian-Ukrainian war.

He said: “I believe the will and the capacity exist to think and act globally beyond the limits of the war and .. I will be seeking to encourage in various ways…”

He has chosen “Peace, Prosperity, Progress, and Sustainability” as his theme.

They constitute “the four supreme objectives before the international community,” Francis said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Francis will take over the presidency “at a deeply challenging moment for the human family.”

Guterres said that the UN’s 2030 goals are “in danger” of “slipping out of reach.”