Press Release

Philémon Yang of the Republic of Cameroon becomes President of the 79^th session of the UN General Assembly

New York, 10 September 2024 – Philémon Yang, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Cameroon, took office today as President of the 79^th session of the UN General Assembly at a time when the urgent need to strengthen multilateralism respond to new and emerging challenges is increasingly acute.

The theme of President Yang’s mandate is “Unity in diversity, for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for everyone, everywhere”.  His priorities range from boosting gender equality, advancing multilingualism to combatting terrorism. Under his leadership, efforts will focus on fostering more effective collaboration and finding effective solutions to global challenges.

“We must demonstrate that international cooperation remains the most effective tool at our disposal for addressing the profound and borderless issues we confront,” President Yang stated in his inaugural address.

“For multilateralism is what allows us to harness our collective resources and ingenuity to realize humanity’s greatest aspirations: peace, justice and sustainable development among them.”

President Yang is also fervently committed to humanitarian issues, respect for human rights and dignity, the rule of law, respect for nature and the environment, the fight against climate change and the reform and renewal of the United Nations.

At the national level, he served as Prime Minister and Head of Government from 2009 to 2019. In this capacity, he represented the Head of State at important high-level regional and international meetings.

His team will be led by his Chef de Cabinet Ivor Fung.

President Yang replaces Mr. Dennis Francis who was the President of the 78^th session of the UN General Assembly.

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