UN General Assembly president‑elect Annalena Baerbock pledges unity, SDG focus and stronger GA role on peace

Annalena Baerbock, president‑elect of the United Nations General Assembly for its upcoming 80th session, said she will prioritize defending multilateralism, strengthening peace and security and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals while serving as “an honest broker and as a unifier.”

Baerbock made the remarks after being introduced to assembled journalists and then answered questions about the General Assembly’s role in the selection of a new secretary‑general and how the Assembly can act when the Security Council is deadlocked. “The General Assembly is a place that gives an equal voice and vote to each member state, large and small,” she said. “I commit to all 193 member states to serve as an honest broker and as a unifier.”

Why it matters: the president of the General Assembly sets the session’s informal priorities and agenda and can shape how member states approach contested issues in the Assembly’s plenary and committees. Baerbock framed her priorities as a defense of the multilateral system and a push to make the United Nations “fit for the 21st century,” placing funding, efficiency and the Sustainable Development Goals at the center of her stated agenda.

Baerbock said the U.N. Charter provides the Assembly’s common compass and cited its 80‑year history as the foundation for current work. “This foundational document was written 80 years ago after the end of the second world war,” she said, and argued that peace, development and human rights are interconnected: “peace and security is not an isolated pillar of the United Nations, but peace and security, development, and human rights are interconnected.”

On funding and system reform, Baerbock told reporters the organization “needs adequate, reliable funding, and at the same time we must increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire system.” She said she would “do my utmost to strengthen peace and security and to help accelerate achievements of the sustainable development goals” and emphasized engaging civil society and young people.

Asked whether the presidency could serve as a springboard for a candidacy to become secretary‑general, reporter Stefano asked, “Do you see, your presidency as a potential launchpad for a candidacy as a next secretary general or at least as a next woman secretary general?” Baerbock replied that the Assembly’s main task in the upcoming session will be to select the next secretary‑general and described existing procedures and a “revitalization process” that gives guidance for that selection. “The role of the member states, the role of the General Assembly will be crucial like in the past,” she said.

A reporter from China Central Television, Xiuhdezhen, asked how the General Assembly could shoulder responsibility for peace and security when the Security Council is unable to act on many issues. Baerbock replied that member states, in her hearings, had underlined that the Assembly plays a “crucial role for peace and security” and that she plans to work “closely with the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission also on peace and security.”

She also noted a representation point about gender: “as only the fifth woman in this position within 80 years, I’m aware that peace and development can only be sustained when half of the population, which is in every country, women, have an equal seat at the table.”

Baerbock said she received an overwhelming majority of member‑state support for her candidacy and reiterated her intent to work with all 193 member states during the session, which she said begins in September.

No formal decisions or votes were taken during this press event; Baerbock’s remarks set priorities and framed plans for cooperation with member states and other U.N. bodies in the coming session.