Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser

Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office 14 September 2011 – 18 September 2012
Vice President	Mohammad Khazaee
Preceded by	Joseph Deiss
Succeeded by	Vuk Jeremić
Ambassador of Qatar to the United Nations
In office 11 September 1988 – 2 August 2011
Monarch	Hamad Al Thani
Prime Minister	Abdullah bin Khalifa Hamad bin Jassim
Preceded by	Ali Hamad
Succeeded by	Meshal Hamad Al-Thani
Personal details
Born	(1952-09-15) 15 September 1952 Doha, Qatar
Nationality	Qatari
Political party	Independent
Profession	Diplomat, Politician

Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser (Arabic: ناصر عبد العزيز النصر‎; born 15 September 1952)^[1] is a Qatari diplomat and the former permanent representative of Qatar to the United Nations, appointed on 11 September 1998. Prior to this office at the United Nations, Al-Nasser had served as the ambassador to Jordan from 1993.^[1] He worked for his country's foreign affairs department beginning in November 1972.^[2] He was the President of the Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly from 14 September 2011 to 18 September 2012.

Early life

Al-Nasser was born on 15 September 1952 in Doha, Qatar. He graduated with degrees in political science and diplomacy in 1979. He is married to Muna Rihani, and has one son, Abdulaziz.

Diplomatic career

He was entered to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1971 and became Attaché at the embassy of Qatar in Beirut, Lebanon and was in office until 1974, when he became a member of Qatar's delegation to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. He resigned in 1975 to become attaché at the Qatari embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan for a short time. Then, he was conseiller général at Qatar's embassy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 1975 to 1981. He returned to Doha and was a senior employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1981 to 1985 as well as Deputy Foreign Minister from 1984 to 1985. He was ambassador of Qatar to Jordan from 1993 to 1998.

United Nations career

In 1986 he was appointed minister to Qatar's permanent mission to the United Nations. He left office in 1993 to become ambassador to Jordan. On 11 September 1998, he was appointed as ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations by Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, then foreign minister. During his office at the United Nations, Al-Nasser has served as chairman of the delegation of Group of 77 and China, Vice-President of the General Assembly in 2002, and President of the Security Council in December 2006.^[2]

President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser presiding over the United Nations General Assembly at the General Assembly Hall.

He was appointed as High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations of the United Nations by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon on 28 September 2012.^[3]

In June 2011 he was elected to serve as President of the General Assembly for its 66th session, beginning 13 September 2011.^[4] He took office on 13 September, saying at his opening speech that the international community had an opportunity to "define our place in this decisive moment in history" and to "prove that we have the courage, wisdom and tenacity to seek creative and visionary solutions." He also added that he was "deeply committed" to working with every member state to "build bridges for a united global partnership" citing "strong collaboration and consensus-building [as...] essential for successfully moving forward the Assembly's agenda [in] this session." As is customary for all UNGA president, Al-Nasser suggested the theme "The role of mediation in the settlement of disputes" for the General Debate during the opening session of the General Assembly. He said that "this theme has a broad and multi-faceted nature. I expect member states to touch upon different aspects of this matter through their own experience and perspective. [The UN is currently at a] critical juncture in the history of nations."^[5]

In December 2013, Al-Nasser received the Global Thinkers Forum 2013 Award for Excellence in Leadership.

References

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