Ambassador Camillo Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been selected to co-chair a working group mandated to revitalize the workings of the UN General Assembly.{{more}}

On November 11, President of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Joseph Deiss of Switzerland, invited Ambassador Gonsalves to co-chair the prestigious “Ad hoc working group on the revitalization of the General Assembly.”

The president announced his selection of Gonsalves in a November 19 letter to all UN Permanent Representatives.

As is the practice at the UN, Gonsalves will represent the interests of the “South,” or developing world, on the working Group. He will co-chair the working group with Ambassador Dalius Cekuolis of Lithuania.

Cekuolis, a former president of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), is also a strong advocate for UN revitalization.

In a meeting held November 11, Deiss indicated that he had been impressed by the depth of Ambassador Gonsalves’ commitment to reforming the United Nations, his opinions on the centrality of the global body and its Charter, and his national advocacy for good governance. He also told Gonsalves that he had instructed that his entire staff read and discuss St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ September 2010 address to the United Nations General Assembly.

The Ad hoc working group on the revitalization of the General Assembly is mandated “to identify further ways to enhance the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the Assembly,” and to submit a report of recommendations to the General Assembly at the end of the current Session in September 2011.

Ambassador Gonsalves previously served as co-facilitator of the pivotal United Nations High Level Conference on the Global Economic and Financial Crisis and its Impact on Development. St. Vincent and the Grenadines was widely praised for its leading role in helping the international community arrive at a common roadmap for combating the financial meltdown and its impact on developing countries.