General Assembly elects John William Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda as President of 68th session

The General Assembly today elected by acclamation John William Ashe, the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations, as President of its sixty-eighth session. Following his election, the incoming President said that no undertaking, since the Organization’s founding 68 years ago, had been more fundamental than addressing the relationship “between us human beings and this planet we inhabit”. In eighteen months, the post-2015 development agenda, one of the United Nations’ most ambitious projects, would be launched. If “we are to rise to the task”, he said, the General Assembly must to be equally as bold, ambitious and collaborative. “Failure is not an option,” he stated. Highlighting the goals of overcoming poverty and ensuring sustainable development, he emphasized that renewed partnerships were paramount in integrating economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The post-2015 development agenda must represent the “evolution in the thinking of the international community”. Announcing the sixty-eighth session’s theme, “Post-2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage!” Mr. Ashe called on Member States to “forge ahead with dogged determination”. Three high-level events on the agenda would be held to discuss contributions of women, youth, and civil society; human rights and the rule of law; and South-South and Triangular Cooperation. In addition, three thematic debates would take place on the role of partnerships; ensuring stable and peaceful societies; and water, sanitation and sustainable energy in the development agenda. “We cannot afford to be indifferent and immune to the changing world around us” and “stand idly while millions struggle or merely settle for surviving where there are opportunities for all to thrive”, he said.