Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly

Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly
President of the 66th General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
Host country	United Nations
Dates	13 September 2011 – 18 September 2012
Venue(s)	United Nations Headquarters
Cities	New York City

The sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 13 September 2011 at 15:00 and is presided over by former Qatari permanent representative to the UN Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser. The session ended on 18 September as al-Nasser symbolically passed the gavel to the president of the next session, Vuk Jeremic.

On 23 June 2011, Qatar's Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser was elected president of the General Assembly after beating Nepal's Kul Chandra Gautam in an election. He said that his focus would on "Bridging Differences, Building Consensus". He also added that world faces "enormous political, social, economic and environmental challenges...people still were living under occupation, while other crucial questions of human rights, sustainable development and poverty eradication, among many others, persisted." He further said that "respect for diversity and pluralism – regardless of religion, race or ethnicity – was a principle on which the United Nations was founded, and he pledged to undertake his role as President in a spirit of constructive cooperation and mutual respect."

He also responded to questions about what he would do about supporting the Arab Spring in saying that "I hope as an Arab that it will be dealt with through the Arab League," which, according to Reuters, contrasted with his predecessor's statement in praising Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's support for the wave of protests. Ban Ki-moon said of Al-Nasser that he had already shown his ability after presiding over the Security Council, Chairman of the Fourth Committee and Chairman of the Group of 77 developing countries and China; that he led efforts to deal with autism; and that with Qatar's increasing emergence as a player in the field of international relations, as in the facilitation of the Darfur peace talks, he was grateful for such support. He also emphasised that he would work to ensure the partnership with the Secretariat remained strong. Outgoing president Joseph Deiss congratulated Al-Nasser and said service at the UN had earned him respect and esteem from his colleagues. He was also congratulated by representatives of the various regional groupings at the UN: Senegal (African Group), Kuwait (Asian Group), Moldova (Eastern European Group), Bolivia (Latin American and Caribbean Group), Israel (Western European and Other Group) and the United States (host country).