The United Nations' White Chair

 

János Áder, President of Hungary is waiting to speak at the General Assembly. An interesting protocol rule, tradition is established at the General Assembly: a White chair is placed on the podium for the honour of a high dignitary guest. 

A Glimpse into the Protocol of the United Nations' General Assembly

Order of Precedence


Every year during the session of the General Assembly, the seating order between the Member States is changed by drawing a name of a country. That lucky state has the right to precede the other Member States during the General Assembly meetings. The precedence of countries is followed by the designated state in English language, alphabetical order. Member states have to seat the Heads of States or Prime Ministers first, then the Ministers, and then on the last row, their Permanent Representatives.


Official Visits of Dignitaries


When a Head of State or Government visits the Secretary-General, the Chief of Protocol greets the Head of State as he or she alights from his or her vehicle and escorts him or her to the office of the Secretary-General. At the end of the meeting, the Secretary-General will bid farewell to the Head of State or Government. 

Brazilian President Michel Temer addresses the opening of the 73rd General Assembly of the United Nations in 2018. 

The Chief of Protocol escorts the Head of State or Government either to the General Assembly Hall or to another designated area. During the general debate, seats are reserved in the VIP area of the General Assembly Hall for the spouses of the Heads of State or Government, Vice-Presidents, Crown Princes or Princesses participating in the general debate, provided that the Chief of Protocol is notified in advance of their attendance at the Session. (Reference: https://protocol.un.org/dgacm/pls/site.nsf/xpManual.xsp)

When a Head of State or Government speaks on the podium at the General Assembly, he or she always has to be accompanied by the Chief of Protocol of the United Nations, who waits for the high ranking person to finish the speech.

The chair itself had its own wait backstage with a cautionary sign, before the opening of the General Assembly.

The White Chair

An interesting protocol rule, tradition is established at the General Assembly: a White chair is placed on the podium for the honour of a high dignitary guest. When Royalty, Prime Minister, or a President, etc... attends the General Assembly meeting by entering the Assembly, he or she goes — in the company of the Head of Protocol of the United Nations— directly to the podium and sits on the White Chair.


The White Chair, right next to the podium of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City is reserved for world leaders waiting to speak at the annual meeting, which is a very interesting tradition of the UN.

Gabriella Kanyok is a diplomatic protocol, etiquette and communication expert with more than 10 years' experience in working with EU institutes, NGOs, internaionalorganisations, and supporting professionals. She not only advises and trains government- and EU officials, and businessmen in the field of diplomatic protocol and business etiquette, but she leads the communication department of an international organisation. Gabriella holds a Master’s degree in International Studies, and a Master’s in Protocol, Diplomacy and Cross Cultural Relations. She speaks Hungarian, English and French, and is currently learning Mandarin Chinese.

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