The United Nations is 70 years old and what kind of person do we like to see as the next Secretary-General?

The UN Charter describes the SG as “chief administrative officer” of the organization and is empowered to “bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.” The UN website describes the role of the SG in the following manner: “Equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant and CEO, the Secretary General is a symbol of United Nations ideals and a spokesperson for the interests of the world’s peoples, in particular the poor and vulnerable among them.”

The Practice until now

According to Article 97 of the UN Charter, “The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.” The Candidates are nominated by the governments, based on a regional rotation. The Security Council agrees on a nominee in private, where a lot of secret bargaining takes place. The Permanent Members of the Council can use their veto power to get their way. The General Assembly merely confirms the final nominee by a majority vote. Often a candidate’s nationality has proven as important as his qualifications.

There is a feeling among the member countries that the current process is unsuited to choose the best possible candidate to lead the UN as the next Secretary-General.

Pressure has been building up for a more open and inclusive selection process from various groups and international institutions. World Bank and International Monetary Fund have taken some steps to bring a certain level of transparency to select their leaders. Within the UN system, the International Labor Organization and the World Health Organization have explicit criteria and candidates are interviewed.

A more inclusive process

A campaign for a better process by 1 for 7 Billion, supported by 750 organizations and individuals from around the world with a reach of 170 million people, is underway to ensure the best candidate is chosen to face the challenges of our times and bring peace, security, dignity and prosperity for the seven billion people – while ensuring sustainability to people and the planet. Up till now, the process for the selection of the SG had been a secretive process. The Security Council played the key role, especially the five permanent countries and the General Assembly accepting the chosen candidate.

The Campaign proposes a more “open and inclusive selection process that engages all Member States, could give future Secretaries-General a stronger mandate…to revitalize the UN, enhance its effectiveness and credibility, as well as reaffirm its global authority and popular appeal.”

In the absence of a job description and comprehensive selection criteria, the Campaign has placed a ten point reform recommendation for the selection process:

• Advertise position and qualification in all countries and call for nominations by Member States
  Publish a formal list of selection criteria – choose the best person, male or female irrespective of their region of origin;
• Clear time table for the selection process;
• Publish the list of the official candidates and their CVs;
• Presidents of the General Assembly and Security Council should update the UN membership and general public on selection process;
• Candidates to make clear their leadership vision and goals for the position;
• General Assembly should organize a series of open sessions to enable Member States as well as the public and media to scrutinize candidates and their platforms;
• General Assembly should request the Security Council to present two or more Secretary-General candidates for the General Assembly to consider;

No backroom deals

The whole process, while promoting equality, diversity and gender parity, should be transparent to the wider UN membership, civil society and the general public. The Campaign wants the term of the Secretary-General limited to a single and non-renewable term of seven years. More on the 1 for 7 billion can be found here: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5399cc0ae4b0705199b37aa3/t/5554bff7e4b031f591128970/1431617527643/1for7billion-policy-platform.pdf

Staff members of UN Departments, Funds, Programs and Agencies have also come forward with an open letter to call for “the very best of candidates” to take the UN top spot. The letter states: “In a world that has changed profoundly since the UN has founded over 70 years ago, the decisions of the next Secretary-General will be fundamental in the life or death of millions of people, and in global peace and security, development and human rights…We need the very best of candidates: Secretary-General who shows leadership in intellect, empathy, and courage; who respects and is respected by all states, from all regions, including the least powerful..”

The Women’s Major Group has initiated a campaign for a woman Secretary-General. They along with women from around the world have been calling for the Security Council to recommend a woman candidate, to bring a feminist perspective to sustainable development, peace and security and “address the global structures, systems and values that undermine gender equality, women’s rights that stand in the way of transformative development justice.” They ask, “How can the UN uphold gender equality when its leadership does not?”

A revised process

In response to the appeals and recommendations from various quarters for an open and inclusive process, the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council took steps to make the process open and transparent. In December 2015 the President of the General Assembly had requested all Member States to present candidates “with proven leadership and managerial abilities, extensive experience in international relations, and strong diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills.” These candidates should be committed to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the UN. In order to guarantee equal opportunities for women and men, he encouraged Member States “to consider presenting women, as well as men” for the position.

From April 12-14, 2016, the world witnessed history being made at the 70 year old organization – Informal Dialogues with candidates for the position of the next Secretary-General of United Nations, open and live telecast for anyone around the world to follow. Each candidate had a two hour period to present their vision statement, which addressed the challenges and opportunities facing the UN, followed by questions from member states and civil society. Civil Society was asked to pose questions in February through Facebook and Twitter and a committee shortlisted 30 questions and each candidate was asked to respond to one or two questions from civil society.

The candidates were asked to respond to a wide variety of questions ranging from the reform of the United Nations System, reform of the Security Council for better representation of the present world scenario, on prevention of war and violence, Peace Building initiatives to prevent armed conflicts, Peace Keeping, Sexual assaults by UN Peace Keepers, Human Rights violations, Humanitarian Assistance, UN Funding system, Gender Parity, Appointment of a woman Secretary-General, Climate Change, Refugee/Migrant Crisis, Corruption, etc. Beyond answering these questions, the candidates have posted their resumes and vision statements online for transparency.

In a way this was a revolutionary move for an organization that is very bureaucratic in its function, and gave the General Assembly an opportunity to assert itself and establish a new standard for transparency and inclusivity in decision making. A small improvement!

There are twelve candidates postulating to be the next Secretaary-General, hoping to replace Ban Ki Moon in January 2017. Of the twelve, 6 are women: Irina Bokova of Bulgaria and Director General of UNESCO, Helen Clark of New Zealand and Administrator of UNDP, Christiana Figures of Costa Rica and former Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, Natalia Gherman of Moldova, former Deputy Prime Minister, Susana Malcora of Argentina, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Vesna Pusic of Croatia, former Deputy Prime Minister. Others are: Antonio Guterres of Portugal, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees and former Prime Minister, Vuk Jeremic of Serbia, former minister of Foreign Affairs and former President of UN General Assembly, Srgjan Kerim of Macedonia, former Foreign Minister and former President of General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak of Slovakia, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Igor Luksic of Montenegro, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Danilo Turk of Slovenia, Former President.

Seven candidates hail from Eastern Europe, a region that has never been represented by a Secretary-General.

The first ‘informal straw poll’ of candidates for the Secretary-General took place on July 21, 2016 in the Security Council. Since it is informal, the outcome will not be communicated. From what has emerged from this straw poll do not give hope to the one half of the world – women – of having a woman Secretary-General; the men have over taken them – Irina Bokova is in third place. The Security Council works by a different criterion.

A few evaluative words

In light of what has taken place, one could say that the ongoing selection process has been the most open and transparent; in a way revolutionary for an organization that is very bureaucratic. It gave the General Assembly an opportunity to assert itself and establish a new standard for transparency and inclusivity in decision making. A small improvement, but it falls short of the aspirations of the member states and civil society – to have had one-country-one-vote. It is to be seen whether the Security Council will agree to present more than one candidate to the General Assembly vote. Still, there is still no deadline for the nomination of new candidates. In the past there have been backdoor politicking and people are afraid that the Security Council could bring in a last minute candidate of their choice.

On Tuesday July 12, 2016, the candidates participated in a debate in the General Assembly Hall moderated by Al Jazeera’s James Bays and Folly Bah Thibault. This UN Debate was live telecast around the world. As representative of the Civil Society, I was privileged to ask a question to the candidates proposed to be the next Secretary-General. You can view the entire debate, which is very educative here (My question is at 1 hour and 25 minutes into the debate.):

Teresa Kotturan SCN
Sisters of Charity Federation UN NGO Representative