Selecting the New UN Secretary General

With the end of Ban Ki-Moon’s term on the horizon, discussions about the next UN Secretary General, and more importantly how that person should be chosen, have moved front and center. A joint letter by the Presidents of the GA and Security Council was released on December 15, which sets forth a slightly new process.  It states:  “[The Presidents] will offer candidates opportunities for informal dialogues or meetings with the members of their respective bodies, while noting that any such interaction will be without prejudice to those who do not participate.”   These dialogues would take place before July 2016.

As the New York Times reported yesterday the letter remains vague on 2 points. First, on the question of whether a woman should lead the organization for the first time in 70 years it encourages nations to nominate “women as well as men” … second, on the tradition whereby each region gets a shot at the top job (with Eastern Europe being next in line) the language gave a nod to Russia’s concerns that “we note the regional diversity in the selection of previous secretaries general.”  Note the reference to past practices:  previous secretaries general.

Differences of opinion between the UK and Russia on the process held up the finalization of this letter for some time. The backstory can be found here.

This letter was issued pursuant to GA resolution 69/321 of 11 September 2015 provided a mandate for the GA on the issue, and “Requested the Presidents of the General Assembly and of the Security Council to start the process of soliciting candidates for the position of Secretary-General through a joint letter; to jointly circulate on an ongoing basis the names of individuals that have been submitted for consideration as candidates; and decided to conduct informal dialogues or meetings with candidates, without prejudice to any candidate who does not participate.”

To date, the campaign 1 for 7 billion reports 27 confirmed or prospective candidates including Angela Merkel, Helen Clark, and Danilo Turk. (Click on the candidates tab for more information).  General background on the efforts to change the appointments process is available here and here.