Kuwait- UN holds race for upcoming Secretary General position

4/12/2016 4:13:15 AM

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) NEW YORK April 12 (KUNA) -- The world's top body invited the candidates running to be the next UN Secretary General to present themselves on Tuesday to the member states and civil society.

In the Trusteeship Council the President of the General Assembly along with the President of the Security Council will receive starting today (Tuesday) and for the upcoming three days eight candidates of whom are expected to prepare a vision statement on the challenges and opportunities facing the UN and the next Secretary General.

According to President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft the dialogue is a part of the new process of selecting and appointing the upcoming successor to the current Ban Ki-moon whose tenure ends on the yearend.

In his invitation Lykketoft made it clear that the process was agreed to by all 193 members of the General Assembly and is "a genuine opportunity to make it more transparent more robust more inclusive and ultimately more effective." The position of Secretary General has always been one of great importance that requires the highest standards of efficiency competence and integrity and a firm commitment to the purposes and principles of the organization's Charter. Therefore candidates are expected to present proven leadership and managerial abilities extensive experience in international relations and strong diplomatic communication and multilingual skills.

This step has never happened before and is part of the General Assembly's President's initiative to make the selection process as inclusive and open as possible.

In the past 70 years recommendations negotiated behind closed doors - primarily by the five permanent members of the Security Council; eight Secretaries-General not one of whom has been female; and a mostly symbolic appointment by the UN General Assembly. The Secretary-General's selection is therefore subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

So far four women out of eight are running for the position with two currently being heads of UN bodies Helen Clark of the UNDP and Irina Bokova of the UNICEF. Before the world tomorrow Igor Luksic of Montenegro Irina Bokova of Bulgaria and Antonio Guterres of Portugal are to lead the dialogue in its first day. (end) mao.rk

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