Khalilur Rahman opens the UN General Assembly's 81st session in New York

The 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly opens in New York on 8 September under Khalilur Rahman of Bangladesh. He takes over from Annalena Baerbock of Germany. The Assembly's morning is reserved for closing the 80th session, a wreath for Dag Hammarskjöld, and the oath of the president-elect. The 81st session itself begins at 3 p.m. local time with the credentials committee and the agenda.

Rahman won a secret ballot on 2 June, 99 votes to 91 for Andreas S. Kakouris of Cyprus, on a turnout of 190 of 193 members. The presidency rotated to the Asia-Pacific group. Bangladesh has held the gavel once before, when Humayun Rashid Choudhury presided over the 41st session in 1986-87.

The Bangladeshi diplomat, born 1 April 1954, studied economics at the University of Dhaka. He is foreign minister, in office since 17 February 2026, and earlier served as national security adviser and as high representative on the Rohingya file. António Guterres met him in New York in the days before the opening.

His published priorities are peace and security, the Sustainable Development Goals, climate, human rights, governance of new technology including artificial intelligence, and UN reform. In his acceptance remarks he said multilateralism is under pressure and that the Organisation faces financial stress that can erode public confidence. The calendar makes that more than a phrase. Guterres's term ends on 31 December 2026. The Assembly president runs the process that produces the next Secretary-General.

High-level week, when heads of government speak in the hall, follows two weeks later. Between those speeches the 81st session will handle a budget that member states have not fully paid and a reform file that every incoming president inherits. Rahman has said he will work with all members to keep the institution useful. That is the standard promise. The measurable work is the Secretary-General race and whether the dues come in.

For Dhaka the presidency is a year of protocol and a year of risk. A contested election in June already showed that the Asia-Pacific slot was not a courtesy. Cyprus's campaign won 91 votes. Rahman will need those 91 back if a close vote appears on reform or on the next chief of the house.