UNITED NATIONS, 3 December 2006 -- As the first Arab woman to preside over the United Nations General Assembly of 192 countries, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain has already made history. But she is also revitalizing the General Assembly by holding groundbreaking events that will continue to have an impact on the future of the world body.

Sheikha Haya who was legal adviser to Bahrain's Royal Court before becoming General Assembly president in September 2006, is only the third woman ever to hold this position. The other two have been Angie Brooks of Liberia in 1969 and Vijaya Lakhsmi Pandit of India in 1953. No other woman has held the General Assembly presidency in the last 37 years.

Asked to assess the significance of her role as president of the United Nations General Assembly, particularly for women in Arab and developing countries, Haya said she is "very proud to be the first woman from an Arab background to hold this position". She expressed the hope that in coming years women will increasingly assume positions of leadership at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations.

She elaborated that such a change could only come about if women leaders of today consciously pave the way for future generations.

For the first time in history, under Sheikha Haya's presidency, the General Assembly last month held a thematic debate on the subject of partnerships toward achieving Millennium Development Goals of the UN.

As the General Assembly has been somewhat sidelined in recent years by the Security Council, how does the thematic debate on partnerships for development contribute toward revitalizing the UN Assembly? This was the question put to Sheikha Haya and her senior adviser Yasser Al-Naggar.

"This event is unprecedented, a landmark," was Sheikha Haya's reply. "We are holding it to make a real impact on the lives of the poor, because world leaders have affirmed the central position of the General Assembly as the chief deliberative and policymaking organ of the UN."

A highlight of the General Assembly thematic debate on partnerships for achieving UN Millennium Development Goals was an initial pledge of $10 billion by the Islamic Development Bank for a proposed Poverty Alleviation Fund to become operational by mid-2007. The money would be spent on a 10-year program for eradicating poverty and fighting disease. Amadou Boubacar Cisse, the bank's vice president made the pledge on behalf of Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, president of bank. Cisse also reported at the UN event in New York that Saudi Arabia has already pledged an initial contribution of $1 billion, and Kuwait $300 million. 15 other countries have also made pledges.

As the Islamic Development Bank observes Shariah and Zakah laws, could its partnership and development goals be affected by misperceptions related to the so-called "clash of civilizations"?

"The General Assembly will organize another major thematic event in May 2007,on the subject of Dialogue Among Civilizations, to address this issue of misperceptions," Sheikha Haya said. "Informal thematic debates have been agreed upon by the General Assembly as a way to revitalize its work." Haya has planned a series of three thematic debates during her one-year presidency. The next debate in February 2007 will be on a theme close to her heart -- gender and development issues, especially regarding injustices and suppression of human rights of women.

A unique feature of the partnership for Millennium Development Goals thematic debate was a "town hall" UN interactive session. Dressed in chocolate brown Western business attire, Sheikha Haya who is a member of the Bahrain Royal Family informally talked at the UN "town hall" meeting to representatives from the public and private sector. The "town hall" speakers in the interactive event included Hisham Alwugayan of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, George Soros of the Soros Foundation and Jeffrey Sachs, special adviser to the UN secretary-general.

Another significant event during the General Assembly presidency of Sheikha Haya, was the Tenth Emergency Special Session that voted overwhelmingly for the UN secretary-general to establish a fact-finding mission into the massacre of Palestinians in Beit Hanoun, Gaza last month. The secretary-general is to report to the General Assembly in 30 days. Sheikha Haya was challenged by the voting deadlock for a Latin American seat on the UN Security Council, only a few weeks after the current General Assembly session started in September. Guatemala and Venezuela both fell short of the two-thirds majority to win. But Sheikha Haya rose swiftly to the challenge by calling for additional rounds of voting.

After 47 rounds of balloting in the General Assembly, both Guatemala and Venezuela gave up, thus paving the way for Panama to be elected on Nov. 7 to a two-year term to the 15-member UN Security Council.

Sheikha Haya's unassuming demeanor and soft voice may give a wrong image about her career and achievements. But she has many firsts to her credit and has a distinguished career spanning over three decades. She was one of the first two Bahraini women to practice law in her country, and was Bahrain's first woman ambassador to France from 2000-2004. She holds an LLB from the University of Kuwait, two postgraduate law degrees from Egypt, and has studied international law at the University of Paris.

By Farida Ghani Burtis

© Arab News 2006