The Five Female Presidents

The President of the UN General Assembly is elected for a year based on geographical rotation and heads the UN General Assembly for the duration of a session, from September to September. Since 1945 a total of five women have been heading the UN body. 

The first female President was Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit from India. She presided over the Eight Session of the General Assembly from 1953 – 1954. She was also the first woman from India to hold a cabinet position in pre-independent India. 

Left: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, President of UN General Assembly, with Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld in September 1953. Right: The same year on 24th October Eleanor Roosevelt, member of the United States delegation, presents a gavel to Ms Pandit.  

Ms. Pandit had earlier attended the 1945 San Francisco Conference (United Nations Conference on International Organization) as an unofficial representative of India, advocating for Indian independence. 

Left: Ms. Pandit speaks at a meeting of the National Committee for India's Freedom during the San Francisco Conference. Right: A Free India sign hangs at the Campaign Headquarters Office in San Francisco. 


The second female President of the General Assembly was Angie E. Brooks from Liberia. She presided over the 24th Session of the Assembly from 1969 – 1970. She had been her country's delegate to the General Assembly since 1954 and had served in several capacities in different United Nations bodies.

Left: Angie E. Brooks, Representative of Liberia, and Laili Roesad, Representative of Indonesia, speak before a Fourth Committee meeting in October 1957. Right: Ms. Brooks chairs a Fourth Committee meeting, with her vice-chair; Hylvi Lulo from Albania, and D. Protitch, Under-Secretary for the Department of Trusteeship and Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories, in October 1961.

Above: Angie Brooks, President of the General Assembly, participates in a radio hook-up between New York, Paris and London in February 1970. Below Left: Ms. Brooks with Secretary-General U Thant and Constantin A. Stavropoulos, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs, in December 1969. Centre: Ms. Brooks shows visiting members of the United States Peace Corps, enroute to Liberia, how to shake hands the Liberian way. Right: Ms Brooks makes a closing statement in December 1969. 
 

After Ms. Brooks it would take 36 years before the third woman, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa from Bahrain, was elected President of the 61st Session in 2006. At the time, she was serving as Legal Adviser to the Royal Court in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Left: Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, President of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, chairs the resumed tenth emergency special session on illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory, in November 2006. Right: The President addresses a press conference in December 2006.

Ms. Rashed Al Khalifa speaks at a concert in honour of outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan in December 2006. 


Twelve years later, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés from Ecuador presided over the 73rd Session (2018 – 2019). She had earlier served twice as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, as well as Minister of National Defence, and Coordinating Minister of Natural and Cultural Heritage. In 2008, she was the first woman to become Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations in New York.

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly, holds the gavel after the handover from Miroslav Lajcák, President of the seventy-second session of the General Assembly. 

Left: Ms. Espinosa Garcés on her way to the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit in September 2018. Right: Ms. Espinosa Garcés speaks with Secretary-General António Guterres during the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit.

Ms. Espinosa Garcés receives a hug from Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed at the closing of the Assembly’s seventy-third general debate in October 2018. 


The fifth female President is Annalena Baerbock from Germany, serving as President of the 80th Session of the General Assembly (2025 – 2026). Ms. Baerbock served as Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from December 2021 until May 2025. 

Annalena Baerbock, President of the eightieth session of the General Assembly, arrives to take the oath of office during the closing meeting of the seventy-ninth session in September 2025.

Left: Ms. Baerbock at the first Biennial Summit for a sustainable, inclusive and resilient global economy: Implementing commitments on financing the SDGs in September 2025. Right: Ms. Baerbock chairs a meeting on strengthening the UN System in March 2026.
 

The UN Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council, per Article 97 of the UN Charter.  The UN General Assembly, led by President Annalena Baerbock, is actively engaged in selecting the next Secretary-General for the 2027–2031 term.

Left: Ms. Baerbock meets with Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (left), and Michelle Bachelet Jeria (right), both candidates for the position of the next Secretary-General.

“The General Assembly is the place where all nations come together, where every country has a seat and a voice. These diverse perspectives are our strength.” 

– Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly

Ms. Baerbock addresses the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the UN in September 2025.
 

The election of the President of the eighty-first session of the UN General Assembly will be held on 2 June 2026 in the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters. In accordance with the established regional rotation, the President of the eighty first session of the General Assembly will be elected from the Asia Pacific Group. 
 

The UN Photo Library holds an extensive collection of images documenting the work of the United Nations. For detailed information on the images in this photo essay, follow the links below. Images are listed in order of appearance.

UN Photo/Cia Pak: UN731693, UN Photo/Albert Fox: UN7459828, UN Photo/Marvin Bolotsky: UN7486469, UN Photo/McCreary: UN7687826, UN Photo/Rosenberg: UN7703595, UN Photo: UN7752639, UN Photo/MB: UN7691004, UN Photo/Teddy Chen: UN7692659, UN Photo/Yutaka Nagata: UN7630169, UN Photo/Teddy Chen: UN7630523, UN Photo/Marie Gandois: UN7709128, UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe: UN7712545, UN Photo/Mark Garten: UN7711958, UN Photo/Manuel Elías: UN774821, UN Photo/Ariana Lindquist: UN776730, UN Photo/Ariana Lindquist: UN776452, UN Photo/Ariana Lindquist: UN762826, UN Photo/Manuel Elías: UN71115507, UN Photo/Evan Schneider: UN71119175, UN Photo/Manuel Elías: UN71134693, UN Photo/Manuel Elías: UN71136939, UN Photo/Mark Garten: UN71136873, UN Photo/Mark Garten: UN71117356