Laos has been elected vice-president of the upcoming 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) from the Asia-Pacific Region for a one-year term starting September this year.
Twenty-one members of the 76th UN General Assembly were elected, representing each region, of which four were from the Asia-Pacific region: Bangladesh, Kuwait, Laos, and the Philippines.
Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid was elected president of the same session of the UNGA.
The presidency and vice presidency of the 76th UN General Assembly will run from September 2021 to September 2022, a significant period amid a rapidly changing and unpredictable international environment.
The assembly comes as the world struggles to recover from the crisis caused by Covid-19, as well as conflicts that continue in some parts of the world amid the economic, social, and environmental upheaval which pose a threat to the global community.
Being elected vice-president enhances the role of Laos in the international arena, particularly in the forum of the United Nations, where Laos will be chairing various international conferences under the framework of the UN General Assembly.
The UN General Assembly is one of the six main organs of the United Nations, established under the UN Charter in 1945, which has the role of deciding and approving major global issues, as well as a policy forum for the 193 UN member states.
In the past, Lao PDR has been elected Vice President of the UN General Assembly once during the 50th session of the UN General Assembly in 1995.
The UN organ meets under its president in annual sessions, which generally start from September at headquarters in New York.
