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The Chronicle interview.

Article Excerpt
SHEIKHA HAYA RASHED AL KHALIFA of Bahrain was unanimously elected President of the sixty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly on 8 June 2006, taking over from Jan Eliasson of Sweden when the Assembly opened on 12 September. She is the first female to hold such position since 1969, when Angie Elisabeth Brooks of Liberia was appointed to the presidency, and one of only three women to ever serve as Assembly President--the first was Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India in 1953 (see page 6).

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The new President has had a long and illustrious career in both Bahraini national law and international diplomacy. From 1999 to 2004, she served as Ambassador to France, becoming the first woman to serve in this capacity for her country. A legal pioneer, she was one of the first two women in Bahrain to be admitted to practice law in 1979. She later set up her own law firm. She has since served in numerous capacities in the interest of international justice and diplomacy, including as Vice Chairwoman of the International Bar Association, a permanent delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and a legal advisor to Bahrain's Royal Court.

Sheikha Haya's most significant task as General Assembly President will likely involve the appointment of a new Secretary-General, as Kofi Annan's second and final term will expire at the end of December 2006. Customarily, following the Security Council's choice of a UN chief, the Assembly approves the decision.

The Assembly President spoke with Horst Rutsch, Pureterrah Witcher and Amy Pont of the UN Chronicle on 1 August 2006.

On priorities for the sixty-first Assembly session

During the past two months, since my election, I stayed in New York and met with many Ambassadors. I completed my meetings with the regional groups yesterday. And I can now say that I understand the point of view of most of the Member States with respect to the issues that will be on our agenda during the sixty-first session.

The question of the reform of the Organization is important to everybody. As is to be expected, every one looks at reform from their own perspective or point of view. I think my role as President of the General Assembly will be to look at all the different views and to try to arrive at compromise outcomes that will be acceptable to everyone. I also believe my first task is to listen and work closely with Member States so that together we can set priorities. Even before the beginning of the sixty-first session, we know that the Assembly will need to continue work on important priority matters that were agreed upon at the 2005 World Summit, many of which have been taken up or implemented during the sixtieth session. These include management and Secretariat reform, fighting international terrorism and reforming the Security Council. We will also have to proceed with the review of mandates, another important issue...