71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York (Source: ArmRadio)

NEW YORK (United Nations)—Armenia was elected by secret ballot as one of the 21 Vice-Presidents of the 71^st United Nations General Assembly, representing the Eastern European States.

By secret ballot, the General Assembly elected by a margin of four votes Peter Thomson of Fiji as President of its seventy-first session, also selecting, in consecutive meetings, Bureaux members of its six Main Committees.

The General Assembly elected by secret ballot 20 other Vice-Presidents of its plenary, including Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Mauritania, Nigeria and Zambia from the African States; Bangladesh, Nepal, Solomon Islands and Turkmenistan from the Asia-Pacific States, Belize and El Salvador from the Latin American and Caribbean States; and Belgium and Germany from the Western European and other States. The five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States) serve as Vice-Presidents, as well.

During the UN General Assembly’s 70^th session, Armenia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Zohrab Mnatskanyan, co-hosted the first ever observance of the International Day of Remembrance of Genocide, an effort which was successfully adopted by international body due to the efforts of Armenia.

Mnatsakanyan had noted that the International Day would render dignity to the victims of past inaction and would help reclaim justice. He noted that the December 9, 2015 General Assembly session would not merely mark the adoption of a landmark international legal instrument, but also send a powerful message to ignite political, legal and moral responsibility “for defying and ultimately halting the repetitive nature of this crime.”

In early 2016, Mnatskanyan was elected President of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Office for Project Service (UNOPS), for a one-year term.