UNITED NATIONS–Suriname’s permanent representative Henry MacDonald has been chosen to lead the United Nations Third Committee dedicated to social, humanitarian and cultural issues. The vice presidents and the rapporteur that will accompany him in that task are still pending.

The work of the Committee will focus on the examination of human rights questions, including reports of the special procedures of the Human Rights Council.  The Committee also discusses the advancement of women, the protection of children, indigenous issues, the treatment of refugees, the promotion of fundamental freedoms through the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and the right to self- determination.  The Committee also addresses important social development questions such as issues related to youth, family, ageing, persons with disabilities, crime prevention, criminal justice, and international drug control.

Mr. Mac-Donald has been the Permanent Representative of Suriname to the United Nations since August 2007.  Prior to that, he served as Deputy Chief of the Permanent Mission of Suriname to the Organization of American States, as well as the Charge d’Affairs ad interim at Suriname’s embassy in Washington, D.C.

The outgoing Chair of the Committee’s sixty-sixth session, Dato’ Hussein Haniff (Malaysia) said that, owing to ongoing consultations on the division of responsibilities of the Bureau, elections for the positions of Vice-Chairs and Rapporteur would be held at a later date.

Guyana ambassador George Wilfred Talbot was chosen as president of the Second Committee, in charge of economic and financial affairs. The vice presidencies of that body went to Italy and Bangladesh. This is the first time that two Caribbean Community (Caricom) representatives will chair Main Committees of the General Assembly during the same session.

Also chosen were representatives from Ukraine, Gabon, Indonesia and Germany. Gabon ambassador Noel Messone Nelson will be in charge of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee), which will feature Thailand, Belize and Greece as vice presidents. Ukraine’s representative Yuri Sergeyev was elected as the head of the Sixth Committee (legal affairs) with Peru, Germany and Morocco as vice presidents.

Indonesia mission chief at the UN Desra Percaya will assume the leadership of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), with Lithuania and Peru as vice presidents. Finally, the Fifth Committee elected German diplomat Miguel Beger as head, and representatives from Brazil, Hungary and Saudi Arabia as vice presidents.