UN General Assembly
2006

Few women before you, Madam, have been elected to the presidency of the General Assembly, despite the fact that, as the Chinese proverb states, women hold up half the sky. We are delighted by your election and congratulate you and your country, Bahrain. Our congratulations go also to the Group of Asian States, which, happily, put your name forward. You can rest assured that our delegation will always be ready to support you as you carry out you lofty and challenging task. We would also like to congratulate your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Jan Eliasson, on having so successfully guided the work of the General Assembly during the previous session, as well as for his understanding of the capacity of Member States to overcome their differences. Because of his perseverance, the majority of the reforms resulting from the commitments entered into at the 2005 World Summit have been implemented. At the beginning of this debate we heard Mr. Kofi Annan present his report on the work of the Organization (A/61/1) for the last time. He clearly set