UN: A Riddle
Ashutosh K.
Ex banker, Now self-employed, MD &CEO of Kumar Group of companies, Author of many books.
WHAT IS THE PRIME REASON BEHIND FOR NON ELECTION OF ANY WOMAN ELECTED AS UN SECRETARY-GENERAL and many more aspects of UN?
?INTRODUCTION
?We cannot comprehend the reason for the above question, we must have to look at the history of the formation of the UN, from its root, its purpose the important historic dates which outline step by step development of its official recognition of its formation in crisp.
?ORIGIN OF THE UN
?The origin of the Charter of the United Nations can be traced back to the Atlantic Charter, signed on 14 August 1941, by which Franklin D. Roosevelt, President, of the USA, and Winston Churchill, PM, the UK. Twenty-six countries at war with the Axis Powers, inter alia, the USA, the UK, China, and the USSR, pledged to the common program of purposes and principles enshrined in the Atlantic Charter in a document, which became known as the 'Declaration by the UN’ issued in Washington, DC, on 01 January 1942. The use of term 'United Nations was coined by the USA, President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
?A Conference was held at the Soviet embassy in Tehran, Iran on 28 November 1943, ?participated by the US, the UK, the USSR, and China. The Conference concluded by adopting a Joint Four-Nation Declaration, inter alia, they “recognized the necessity of establishing at the earliest practicable date a general international organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving States, and open to membership by all such States, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security.” The seed of establishing an international organization to keep the peace after the bed in an official document. President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and the Premier of the USSR, Joseph Stalin, met at a conference in Tehran which continued ?from 28 November to 1 December 1943, and proclaimed an ?intention to “seek the cooperation and active participation of all nations, large and small, whose peoples in heart and mind are dedicated, as are our own peoples, to the elimination of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance” within a “world family of Democratic Nations.” It was called Declaration of the Three Powers, Tehran, 1 December 1943. One more conference took place at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC, from 21 August to 7 October 1944, participated by representatives of the US, the UK, the USSR, and China in the context of the “Washington Conversations on International Peace and Security Organization” (or Dumbarton Oaks Conference). The final document prepared at the Conference, issued on 9 October 1944, became known as the “Proposals for the Establishment of a General International Organization”, which constituted the initial working document at the San Francisco Conference, in 1945. The Protocol of Proceedings of this Conference included a section devoted to the “World Organization”, which contained, inter alia, the decision of summoning a “United Nations conference on the proposed world organization” in the United States on 25 April 1945. But, after the sudden demise on 12 April, 1945 of the USA, President, Roosevelt, and the incoming President Truman resolved to complete the pending formalities to convene the conference on a pre-decided schedule. In this way, the formation of the UN doing, by founding countries who won the war by alliances countries USSR, USA, UK, and China. The UN thus became the most powerful organization in the world. However, five countries except for permanent countries, which are the USA, USSR, UK, China, and France have been authorized to use veto power, this means that all the five members' consent and vote are compulsory to pass a resolution.
?In nutshell, the winner of the Second War was USSR with the USA and UK have played a key role in the formation and its charter. The veto power given to show five security council members clearly indicates supremacy in the UN. At that time, women's equality and empowerment were not very crucial subjects.
?The job of Secretary General of the UN
The?secretary-general of the United Nations?(UNSG?or?SG) is the?Chief Administrative Officer?of the?UN?and head of the?UN Secretariat, one of the?six principal organs of the UN. The role of the secretary-general and of the secretariat is laid out by?Chapter XV?(Articles?97 to 101) of the UN Charter. However, the office's qualifications, selection process, and tenure are open to interpretation; they have been established by custom. The secretary-general is appointed by the?General Assembly?upon the recommendation of the?Security Council. As the recommendation must come from the Security Council, any of the five?permanent members of the council can veto?a nomination. Most secretaries-general are compromise candidates from middle power?and have little prior fame.
Unofficial qualifications for the job have been set by precedent in previous selections. The appointee may not be a citizen of any of the Security Council's five permanent members.?The General Assembly resolution 51/241 in 1997 stated that in the appointment of "the best candidate", due regard should be given to region tees to date have been?career diplomats. The length of the term is discretionary but all secretaries-general since 1971 have been appointed for five years. The role of the secretary-general is described as combining the functions and responsibilities of an advocate, diplomat, civil servant, and chief executive officer.?The?UN Charter?designates the secretary-general as the "chief administrative officer" of the UN and allows them to perform "such other functions as are entrusted" by other United Nations organs. The Charter also empowers the secretary-general to inform the Security Council of "any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security". ?
The secretary-general's routine duties include overseeing the activities and duties of the secretariat; attending sessions with United Nations bodies; consulting with world leaders, government officials, and other stakeholders; and traveling the world to engage with global constituents and bring attention to certain international issues. The secretary-general publishes an annual report on the work of the UN, which includes an assessment of its activities and an outline of future priorities. The secretary-general is also the chairman of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), a body composed of the heads of all UN funds, programs, and specialized agencies, which meets twice a year to discuss substantive and management issues facing the?UN Systems. The secretary-general is often reliant upon the use of their "good offices", described as "stamen publicly and in private, drawing upon his independence, impartiality, and integrity, to prevent international disputes from arising, escalating, or spreading".
After?the culmination of World War II, The UN, Secretary General, Gladwyn Jebb, a resident of the UK. The served as executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations in August 1945, being appointed Acting United Nations secretary-general from October 1945 to February 1946 until the appointment of the first secretary-general, Trygve Lie.
UN SECRETARY-GENERAL: THE TOUGHEST JOB IN THE WORLD
The First Secretary General
Trygve Lie, a foreign minister, and former labor leader was recommended by the Soviet Union to fill the post. After the UN involvement in the Korean War. The USA skirted the Soviet Union's veto and recommended reappointment directly to the General Assembly. The lie was reappointed by a vote of 46 to 5, with eight abstentions. The Soviet Union remained hostile to Lie, and he resigned in 1952.
The Second Secretary General
Dag Hammaskjold, (From 10 April 1953 to 18 September 1961, Sweden.) ?After a series of candidates were vetoed, Hammarskj?ld emerged as an option that was acceptable to the Security Council. He was re-elected unanimously to a second term in 1957. The USSR was angered by his leadership of the UN during the Congo Crisis and suggested that the position of secretary-general be replaced by a troika or three-man executive. Facing great opposition from the Western nations, the Soviet Union gave up on its suggestion. Hammarskj?ld?died in a plane crash?in?Northern Rhodesia?(now?Zambia) in 1961.?U.S.?President?John F. Kennedy?called him "the greatest statesman of our century" and he was posthumously awarded the 1961?Nobel Prize for Peace.
The Third Secretary General
U. Thant, Burma, From 03.11.1961 to 31.12.1971. Initially, served as acting?secretary-general after Hammarskj?ld's death until Thant's election as secretary-general. Before the election, the developing world insisted on a non-European and non-American secretary-general. U?Thant was nominated. However, due to opposition from the French (Thant had chaired a committee on Algerian Independence)?and the Arabs (Myanmar?supported?Israel), Thant was only appointed for the remainder of Hammarskj?ld's term. He was the first Asian secretary-general. The following year, on 30 November, Thant was unanimously re-elected to a full term ending on 3 November 1966. At the General Assembly session on 2 December 1966, Thant was reappointed as secretary-general by a unanimous vote of the Security Council. His five-year term ended on 31 December 1971. Thant did not seek a third election.?Thant is the only former secretary-general whose home country had not been in the Security Council in his term. He declined for the third election.
The Fourth Secretary General
Kurt Waldheim, Austria, From 01.01.1972 to 31.12.1981. ?China vetoes his third term. Waldheim launched a discreet but effective campaign to become the secretary-general. Despite initial vetoes from China and the United Kingdom, in the third round, Waldheim was selected to become the new secretary-general. In 1976, China initially blocked Waldheim's re-election, but it relented on the second ballot. In 1981, Waldheim's re-election for a third term was blocked by China, which vetoed his selection through 15 rounds; although the official reasons by the Chinese government for the veto of Waldheim remain unclear, some estimates from the time believe it to be in part due to China's belief that a?Third World,?country should give a nomination, particularly from the Americas;?however, there also remained the question of his possible involvement in?Nazi war crimes.?From 1986 to 1992, Waldheim served as?President of Austria, making him the first former secretary-general to rise to the position of head of state.1985, it was revealed that a post-World War II?UN War Crimes Commission?had labeled Waldheim as a suspected?war criminal—based on his involvement with the army of Nazi Germany. The files had been stored in the UN archive.
The Five Secretary General
Javier Perez de Cuellar, Peru, From 01.01.1982 to 31.12. 1991. He was selected after a five-week deadlock between the re-election of Waldheim and China's candidate, Salim Ahmed Salim?of?Tanzania. As a Peruvian diplomat who a decade earlier had served as President of the UN Security Council during his time as Peruvian Ambassador to the UN, was a compromise candidate. He became the first and thus far only secretary-general from the Americas. He was re-elected unanimously in 1986. ?Did not stand for a third term.
The Six Secretary General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egypt, From 01.01.1992 to 31.12.1996. The 102-member Non-Aligned Movement insisted that the next secretary-general come from Africa. With a majority in the General Assembly and the support of China, the "Non-Aligned Movement had the votes necessary to block any unfavorable candidate". The Security Council conducted five anonymous?straw polls—a first for the council—and Boutros-Ghali emerged with 11 votes in the fifth round. In 1996, the United States vetoed the re-appointment of Boutros-Ghali, claiming he had failed in implementing necessary reforms to the UN. The?US?vetoed his Third term.
The Seven Secretary General
Kofi Annan, Ghana, From 01.01.1997 to 31.12.2006. Retired after two full terms, On 13 December 1996, the Security Council recommended Annan. He was confirmed four days later by the vote of the General Assembly.]?He started his second term as secretary-general on 1 January 2002. Kofi Annan and the United Nations were the recipients of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Peace.
?The Eight Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon, South Korea, From 01.01.2007 to 31.12.2016, Retired after two full terms. Ban became the first East Asian to be selected as the secretary-general and the second Asian overall after U Thant, He was unanimously elected to a second term by the General Assembly on 21 June 2011. His second term began on 1 January 2012.?Prior to his selection, he was the Foreign Minister of South Korea?from January 2004 to November 2006.
The Nine Secretary General
Antonio Guterres, Portugal, From 01.01.2017 till date. He is the first former head of government to become secretary-general, and the first secretary-general born after the establishment of the United Nations. He was the?Prime Minister?of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. He has also been president of the Socialist International (1999–2005) and?the UN High Commissioner for Refugees?(2005–2015). His second term began on 1 January 2022.
Analysis of the above election of the Secretary-General
?1.???This appears ninth but as selected for more than one term, if by one term, it is more than nine.
2.???Many like to serve the third term but the veto is not allowed, some declined the third term, and some retired. It shows in deep no country try to take risk of new if everything is going well.
?3.???Security Council played an important role, in fact, they must be consented to by them. Two times, they vetoed. ??
?4.???There was no vociferous demand for women's representation in the Secretary-General till the last few years.
?5.???Since the establishment of the UN, all nine United Nations secretaries-general over the past 76 years, from all corners of the earth but are men
CONCLUSION
It is said that irrespective of gender, lobbying, and so-called backroom deals are the chief decisive factors for final nomination. The Woman SG Campaign said in its statement that this week's result "represents the usual backroom deals that still prevail at the UN". The UN Association, based in the UK detailed on its website some of the closed-door deals that go on in the UN Security Council. “One of the most visible types of backroom deals was articulated by UN inspectors in 2011 when they wrote that 'no Secretary-General had been immune to political pressure' to reserve certain top UN jobs for certain member states. "This refers to the unfortunate practice of major powers extracting promises from candidates in return for their support," Politico?emphasized the importance of these dealings as heavyweights like Russia and the US hold immense power to stop a candidacy. "Whoever wins the race will have had to carefully negotiate the support (or at least avoid the opposition) of both the United States and Russia."
?There is no suggestion that any backroom deals were made over the election of Mr. Guterres. Indeed, Samantha Power, the US representative to the UN, described the result as "remarkably" uncontroversial, calling him a candidate "whose experience, vision, and versatility across a range of areas proved compelling".
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?HOW DID WOMEN'S ELECTION TO SECRETARY-GENERAL GAIN IMPETUS?
?In the last United Nations Secretary General, even though the election Candidates Women were Irina Bokova (l), UNESCO Chief; Helen Clark(c), former New Zealand PM; Kristalina Georgieva (r), European commissioner for budget and human resources. But Mr. Antonio Guterres, a former Portuguese?Prime Minister?and head of the UN refugee agency, has won the UN Secretary-General as he was the Security Council's consensus candidate. A final decision was taken by a formal vote at the council before going to the General Assembly. But despite Mr. Guterres' breadth of appeal and experience, many had hoped the top job would go to a woman. Out of 13 candidates, seven were women: some arguably even more experienced than Mr. Guterres. Female contenders in the race included the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, the director general of the cultural agency UNESCO, the Moldovan deputy prime minister, and a senior EU official.
?In August, The outgoing UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, in August 2021, said it was "high time" for a female head, after more than 70 years of the UN and eight male leaders. But those who wanted to see a woman elected were disappointed by the result, calling it a "disaster for gender equality". The Campaign to Elect a Woman UN Secretary-General, a group of mostly academics who supported the female candidates up for nomination, called it an "outrage". "There were seven outstanding female candidates, and, in the end, it appears they were never seriously considered," the campaigners said in a?statement. One of the contenders, Christiana Figueres, a key architect of the global climate change agreement signed in Paris last year, called the result "bittersweet". She twitted sarcastically: Bitter: not a woman. Sweet: by far the best man in the race. Some of the candidates have said gender was a factor. Susana Malcorra, Argentina's foreign minister, even complained last month that women did not have a chance in the Security Council. "It's not a glass ceiling; it's a steel ceiling," she said. After wishing good luck to Mr. Buttress on his winning, on Twitter, she said that gender remains an issue in the election of a secretary general. "It remains a pending issue with respect to gender"
?But rest women candidates moderated the role of sexism or gender in the race. Helen Clark, New Zealand's former prime minister, told the?Guardian: "If you're asking whether women are being discriminated against - no. "There are a lot of factors swirling around. It is east-west, it is north-south, and there is the style of what is wanted in the job. Do they want strong leadership? Do they want malleable? It's all cross-cutting and we don't know what will come in the wash." But, if a woman is to be elected to the UN's top job next time, it is not just sexism she will have to overcome.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Five: “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.” That is the first target for Goal Five. The UN is responsible for helping every country achieve that target by 2030. But that effort has not yet started in the UN’s own house. It is time to elect the next “SG.” António Guterres, a veteran diplomat, former UN high commissioner for refugees, and ex-prime minister of Portugal has been in the job since 2017 and seeks a second term. The process for selecting the SG changed in 2015, becoming more transparent and inclusive. Campaigns including 1 for Billion, of which Human Rights Watch is a member, want further reforms.
?Several countries — China, Germany, and the United Kingdom — endorsed a second term for Guterres before more candidates emerged. In 2015, the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council?called?for member states to nominate women; this year they did not. But because of the 2015 changes, it is more likely candidates can come forward to run against the incumbent. A woman working for the UN,?Arora Akanksha?proclaimed her candidacy in February, drawing attention, again, to the lack of women in the role. In 2016, there were seven women candidates and six men. Human Rights Watch is calling for competition?and gender diversity in the candidate pool. Both Guterres and the General Assembly president voiced support for a transparent selection process this year. All UN member states committed to gender equity should consider presenting and supporting strong female candidates, an approach?of 1 to 7 billion?supports. With a diverse candidate pool in place, member states should select the most qualified candidate.
We are facing a crisis in women’s rights. The Covid-19 pandemic disproportionately affects women; the UN predicts it will push?47?million more women and girls into poverty, and drive13 million?additional child marriages over the next 10 years. We need SDG Goal Five to be a reality, and the UN’s ability to help lead the world out of this crisis is undermined if gender equity is missing.??Human Rights Watch?is a 501(C)(3)?nonprofit registered in the US under EIN: 13-2875808
?A female Secretary-General will not change how the UN works
?Women say it is their turn to lead the United Nations. But can a female head of the UN change the organization’s work culture and correct the power imbalances among UN member states? There has been a lot of talk within civil society organizations about why the next Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) should be a woman. Their argument is that since the UN was formed 75 years ago, and there has not been a single female Secretary-General, it does not augur well for an organization that is committed to gender equality and that purports to represent all the world’s people. The first term of the current Secretary-General, António Guterres, ends this year. Simone Filippini, the president of the Netherlands-based non-profit Leadership 4SDGs, who has been campaigning for a woman to succeed Guterres, says that the race to have a female at the helm of the UN “is not about achievements or the possible lack thereof of Guterres” but is about “the principle that deep into the 21st century, Filippini is referring to the fact that the selection of the UN Secretary-General is carried out by only the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: the US, Britain, France, Russia, and China. This means that the person chosen as Secretary-General is usually one who will serve the interests of these five permanent members—someone who will not openly defy their policies, even if they go against the ideals of the UN or if they contravene international law. This explains, for example, why the UN Security Council can impose sanctions on a tiny country like Eritrea but did not impose any sanctions on the US or Britain for waging a war in Iraq in 2003.
?UN Secretaries-General are characteristically nominated from countries that are viewed as economically or politically weak—countries that do not have a big say in the running or funding of the UN and that will not pose a significant threat to the US, the biggest contributor (22 percent) to the UN’s budget, or to the four other permanent members of the UN Security Council and their allies.?Naturally, they come from small countries with little political muscle or military might. The current UN Secretary-General is from Portugal; his two predecessors were from South Korea and Ghana. Hence no probability found that we will see any time soon a UN Secretary-General from a country like Iran or even from the world’s second most populous country, India. Even if a woman is nominated and appointed as the UN Secretary-General, we are not likely to see significant reforms in the gender arena because such a woman would be reluctant to bring about major reforms for fear of being labeled too feminist or losing the support of influential UN member states. Being a political appointee, she is not likely to offend her own government or governments that supported her appointment. She is not likely to introduce major shifts in the work culture of the organization either. Hence, the mere presence of more women at the top of the UN hierarchy will not automatically make the UN a more woman-friendly environment. Most female UN bosses do not come into the organization with strong activist or feminist credentials; most are selected because they appeal to certain member states of the UN, particularly the five permanent members of the Security Council.?These “political appointments,” like that of the former head of the UN Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), Anna Tibaijuka, an agricultural economist whose appointment was supported by Sweden and other Northern European countries (even though she is Tanzanian), are, therefore, constrained by how many feathers they can ruffle within and outside the UN, where consensus is often required to bring about change, and where taking hard-line positions is viewed as undiplomatic. It would, for example, be considered extremely undiplomatic and impolite for a female head of a UN agency to urge a Saudi Arabian leader to give women in his country more freedom or to remind the president of the US, the so-called “leader of the free world,” that weapons he sold to a certain country had been used to kill innocent women and children.
Secretaries-General who take strong positions on certain issues do so only after they have the nod and approval of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. One would be hard-pressed to find a UN Secretary-General condemning Russia or China for human rights violations or condemning the US for failing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. To survive in this male-dominated bureaucracy, female heads of agencies try hard not to be seen as having an agenda or to be too vocal about issues that might offend certain powerful or influential countries.
Many have worked as hard to ensure gender equality globally. After the UN was founded, it established a Commission on the Status of Women that is dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the advancement of women. And in 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The UN also has an entire agency—UN Women—devoted to women. UN Secretaries-General have also pushed the gender agenda on the world stage. In 2008, at the launch of a global UN campaign to end violence against women, the then Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, stated: “There is one universal truth, applicable in all countries, cultures, and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable.”
?Yet, despite the gender-sensitive rhetoric, gender equality within the corridors of the UN remains a mirage, and sexual and other types of harassment of women are rampant. An internal UN survey in 2018 found that one-third of the UN staff members surveyed had been sexually harassed, and only one out of every three employees who were harassed took any action against the perpetrator for fear of retaliation. About one in 10 women reported being touched inappropriately; a similar number said they had witnessed crude sexual overtures.
Despite anti-sexual harassment and whistleblower protection policies, the UN does little to protect victims of sexual harassment or those who blow the whistle on wrongdoing. In a recent case at UNAIDS, a woman was fired after she went public with her sexual harassment case against the deputy head of the organization. In her case, the head of the UN agency failed to protect her. My own experience at UN-Habitat showed me that it matters little in the UN if the head of an agency is a woman; The UN need not be a hostile place for women, but given its structural inadequacies, including an all-powerful Security Council that makes decisions based on the whims of its permanent members, and its misogynistic work culture that punishes competent and diligent women.
Felipe Ms. Espinosa was elected by the 193 Member States of the UN ahead of the only other candidate, Mary Flores Flake of Honduras. Speaking to delegates, she dedicated her election to “all women in the world of politics” who face attacks by the media and other politicians, “marked by discrimination and machismo.” ?
?There have been only three previous women General Assembly Presidents or PGAs as they are known. In 1953, in India’s Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, 1953, a recital was held by the UN Metropolitan Opera of New York. Liberia’s Angie Brooks became the second female PGA in 1969. ?UN before she was elected, she discusses the issue of self-governing territories in Southwest Africa with a Haitian colleague. ?Ms. Brooks died in 2007, but her memory lives on in the Angie Brooks International Centre established in the Liberian capital Monrovia to promote women’s empowerment, leadership development, international peace, and security. A young Liberian woman takes notes at a 2010 meeting at the center on women, peace, and security. ?R. Winter Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain became the third woman PGA in the 61st session of the General Assembly in 2006. Paulo Filgueiras was only the third woman in six decades to preside over the General Assembly.
??All 193 Member States of the UN have equal representation in the General Assembly and work together on a wide range of international issues. Ms. Espinosa will assume her role in September 2018.” Rick Bajornas global perspective Human stories Woman elected as head of UN General Assembly for the fourth time in 73 years Loey Felipe Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés of Ecuador, newly elected President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, addresses the Member States.
??María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés is only the fourth woman in the 73-year history of the United Nations to be elected President of the General Assembly, the UN’s main deliberative and policy-making body. She is the Foreign Minister of Ecuador. ?Ms. Espinosa was elected by the 193 Member States of the UN ahead of the only other candidate, UN secretary-general should be a woman. More than that, a feminist.
?THE DISCUSSION OF WOMEN'S ELECTION TO THE SECRETARY GENERAL
The process for possibly the top political job on the planet is well underway and the time is right for a woman and a feminist to take the controls. The United Nations Security Council is continuing its consideration of candidates for the next UN Secretary-General, with the next “straw poll” taking place on 5 August. Backed by public debates and online campaigns, this selection process has been the most transparent and accessible yet – driven in part by tireless efforts from civil society. But the decision to appoint essentially rests with the Security Council’s five permanent members in what has been, since 1946, a remarkably secretive selection procedure, one which has given us three Europeans, two Africans, two Asians, and one Latin American – all men – in 70 years. This process has never produced a female secretary general.
?In 2006 the selection process included only one woman in seven candidates. This time round, half the current candidates are women. ?The Security Council’s first straw poll?on 21 July saw only one woman among the top five. ?The absurd male monopoly on the UN’s top job must come to an end. The next secretary-general must be?both?a woman and a feminist, with the determination and leadership to promote women’s rights and gender equality. For me, growing up as an activist under an oppressive dictatorship in Uganda, the UN was a friend to those of us who fought our way to freedom, as it was for the millions who joined decolonization struggles in the African continent. Today, the Sustainable Development Goals?(SDGs) and Paris Climate Agreement?agreed upon in 2015 are testament to the UN’s global role and reach, and a legacy of Ban Ki-Moon’s outstanding leadership.
Yet the UN is failing to meet its founding tenets to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”?and uphold human rights for those who are powerless. For the UN’s new leader, reversing this sounds near-impossible amid protracted conflicts, a lack of respect for international humanitarian law, and a massive global displacement crisis. Fulfilling the pledge to “leave no one behind” is perhaps the biggest political challenge. The new secretary-general must grapple with the spiraling crisis of extreme economic inequality that keeps people poor, undermines economic growth, and threatens the health of democracies. And a low-carbon pathway will not happen without strong UN leadership to drive drastic reductions from the richest in our societies, whose lifestyles are responsible for most of them. Choosing a woman goes far beyond symbolism and political correctness. The discrimination of women and girls goes to the core of all analyses of the world’s economic, political, and environmental problems.
?A CHAMPION FOR EQUALITY
A feminist woman secretary-general would, by definition and action, ensure gender equality is put at the heart of peace, security, and development. In doing so, she could truly champion the UN’s core values of human rights, equality, and justice. Such an appointment – far too long in coming – would fulfill promises given by world leaders 21 years ago, at the historic UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, to nominate more women to senior posts in the UN. In the past decade, women have filled less than a quarter of senior roles at the organization, according to UN Women. Shockingly, as recently as last year, women made up less than 17% of under and assistant secretary general appointments.
FROM POVERTY TO POWER
A new feminist UN chief will ensure that more women serve as heads of UN agencies, peacekeeping missions, diplomatic envoys, and senior mediators who collectively can strengthen the global peace and security agenda. Without women’s equal access to positions of decision-making power and a clear process to get there, gender equality, global security, and peace will never be realized. And it will take a female feminist secretary-general to advance the bold, comprehensive women’s human rights agenda in intergovernmental forums, which is needed to address the multiple and intertwined challenges facing us in the 21st century. Only a woman feminist secretary-general can ensure financial support reaches women’s rights movements – proven to have made progress on addressing the challenges of violence against women and girls, climate change, conflict, and economic inequality. They can ensure that feminist and civil society movements are not just observers in policymaking, but active and equal participants.
She should, too, boost international efforts to empower women economically – thus strengthening national economies and prosperity for all – and tackling the harmful social norms that trap women in poverty and powerlessness. She must also reimagine the role of the UN in a world radically different from the one it was set up to serve and be bold in leading its reform. The UN must be made more inclusive, accountable, democratic, effective, and reflective of a world in which political and economic power has shifted. ?The Security Council, particularly the five permanent members, must choose change and progress over continuity. They must have the foresight to ensure they listen to the voices of the public and select the secretary-general that the world and the UN need today.
Women and girls must lead the battle against ‘widespread and interlinked crises’
Hawa Games Dahab Gabjenda has extensive experience as a gender specialist, having worked on women’s empowerment, development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding initiatives. To forge a sustainable future for us all, “women and girls must be front and center, leading the way.” Secretary-General António Guterres told the opening session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on 14.03.2022. He?described the climate and environmental crises, coupled with the ongoing economic and social fallout of the Covid-19?pandemic, as “the defining issues of our time,” reminding us that “our collective response will chart our course for decades to come”. ?“Everywhere, women and girls face the greatest threats and the deepest harm.” while they are taking action to confront the climate and environmental crises, they continue to be largely excluded from the rooms where decisions are taken. Women and girls living in small island nations, least developed countries, and places affected by conflict, are impacted most of all, the UN chief said.
?‘MILLENNIUM OF PATRIARCHY’
?Mr. Guterres expressed his deep apprehension over the increase in violence and threats against women human rights defenders and environmental activists. “Gender discrimination means just a tiny proportion of landowners and leaders are women,” he explained, saying that their needs and interests are “often ignored and pushed aside” in policies and decisions on land use, pollution, conservation, and climate action. He informed the participants that just one-third of decision-making roles under the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol,?and Paris Agreement?are occupied by women, while they account for only 15 percent of environment ministers. Moreover, only one-third of 192 national energy frameworks include gender considerations, and they are rarely considered in climate financing. “This demonstrates once more that we live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture,” the UN chief spelled out highlighting “a millennium of patriarchy that excludes women and prevents their voices from being heard.” “We cannot realize any of our goals without the contributions of all...including men and boys…working for women’s rights and gender equality”.
The?Paris Agreement?addresses biodiversity loss, land degradation, and pollution –vital to creating lives of dignity for all on a healthy planet. Women and girl leaders, farmers, policymakers, economists, lawyers, and climate activists are vital to building the sustainable economies and resilient societies of tomorrow. “But we will not get there without women’s full and equal participation and leadership,” he stressed.
Gender inequity is the heart of a rebate the injustices have been highlighted and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. ” The UN is working to support the participation and leadership of women at every stage of building and maintaining peace. Mr. Guterres added that gender advisers in UN Special Political Missions promote women’s participation and ensure that their priorities are “integral” to all political efforts, describing women’s equal leadership as “not only a matter of justice…[but] vital to create peaceful resilient communities and societies.” UN Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC) President, Collen Vixen Kelapile, reminded me that as a subsidiary body, CSW continues to provide oversight and monitor the implementation of the?2030 Agenda particularly?SDG 5?on Gender Equality.
General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid?said that in the UN’s 76 years, just four women have been elected Assembly President and no woman has ever been chosen as Secretary-General. “This needs to be corrected,” he asserted. The Executive Director of?UN Women, Sima Bahous, opened?her address?by drawing attention to “all crises and conflicts,” reminding us that they “exact their highest price from women and girls” – from Myanmar to Afghanistan, the Sahel to Haiti, Syria to Somalia and Yemen to Ethiopia and Palestine, with “the horrifying war in Ukraine,” Executive Director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) Inger Andersen said the world had had “enough of male-dominated solutions”.
In refreshing environmental multilateralism, she said that?it is “critical” that women be put “at the heart of decision-making.” Mathu Joyini?called young women “the drivers of change for climate action and awareness.” “Women and girls across the world are looking up to the Commission as the leading body on gender equality and empowerment of women for guidance.”
8 March 2022: ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow is the theme for the UN’s commemoration of?International Women’s Days on Tuesday, celebrating the work of women and girls in fighting climate changes to create peaceful, resilient communities and societies”.tation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the development goals, particularly SDG 5 on Gender Equality. ” Implementing ‘gold standards’ General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid?pointed out that in the UN’s 76 years, just four women have been elected Assembly President and no woman has ever been chosen as Secretary-General. And that their leadership and meaningful contributions in these areas are included in decision-making processes.”