UN secretary general Antonio Guterres has congratulated Bangladeshi foreign minister Khalilur Rahman on his election as president of the 81st session of the UNGA.
In Yemen alone, 73 UN staff remain detained by the de facto Houthi authorities.
The president of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, made the call on Monday at an event at UN Headquarters in New York.
Mr Guterres on Monday urged countries to “work together” and eradicate a rising tide of anti-Muslim hate, calling for a rejection of “the narratives of fear and exclusion”.
UN agencies have warned that rising hunger and displacement are not only humanitarian emergencies but growing threats to global economic stability.
Ms Baerbock said the selection process was underway, with interactive dialogues scheduled for the week of April 20.
The UN secretary-general said that peace “is within our grasp – if we choose it.”
Ms Baerbock, 44, who ran unopposed, will be the fifth woman to lead the UN’s main policy-making organ, which turns 80 this year.
Annalena Baerbock presented her priorities during an informal dialogue with member states held on Thursday at Headquarters in New York.
South Sudan secured its independence from Sudan in 2011 but soon fell into a brutal civil war.
