Fortieth Regular Session of the UN General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly commenced its fortieth regular session on the afternoon of 17 September and elected Don Jaime de Pinies (Spain) as its President. A total of 147 items are on the agenda for the session which is due to conclude on 17 December. At the time of the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945, the world Organization had 51 Member States. Today it has 159 Member States. Six other States and thirteen Organizations have Observer status.
Mohamed Hosni Mubarek, President of Egypt (left), listening as King Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan addresses the 12th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on 27 September. With him are Ahmed Esmat Abdel Meguid, Minister for Foreign Affairs (centre) and Ahmed Tawfik Khalil, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations.