The Philippines was elected as one of the Vice-Presidents of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for the period 2021-2022 during a vote by acclamation on Monday, June 7, 2021.
A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs said the election for the Vice-Presidents was held following the election for President of the UNGA of the 76th session, in which Minister Abdullah Shahid of the Maldives was also elected after a secret ballot in view of the seat being contested, with Dr. Zalmai Rassoul of Afghanistan as the other PGA candidate.
Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Enrique Manalo will represent the Philippines at the said session.
“I look forward to working with the President of the General Assembly and representing the Philippines as Vice-President of the 76th Session. Together with the other Vice-Presidents, I will work collaboratively with colleagues to contribute efficiently towards addressing the complex issues the UN faces,” Manalo said.
It was learned that the Philippine nomination as Vice-President was endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) through a silence procedure held on May 2021, along with the other three (3) VP candidates to represent the 54-Member States of the Asia-Pacific Group: Bangladesh, Kuwait, and Laos PDR. There are 18 vice presidents across all regions, which include the African Group (AG), Group of the Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC), Western European and Other States Group (WEOG), Eastern European Group (EEG), also elected by acclamation.
Established in 1945, the General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations comprising of all 193 Members of the United Nations.
It provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter. It also plays a significant role in the process of standard-setting and the codification of international law.