As the U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon steps out of his position by the end of 2016, the search for the new secretary general is on. On Tuesday, the United Nations started the search for the next general secretary. The world body’s 193 members were motivated in considering a woman, for the first time, for the top job.
The job customarily rotates between regions, with Eastern Europe next on the list. The 15-member Security Council, including veto powers China, Russia, the United States, Britain and France, considers an undisclosed list and recommends a candidate to be elected by the General Assembly.
The Presidents of the Security Council and the General Assembly, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power and Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark, on Tuesday, has sent a letter to initiate the search for the next Secretary-General. The letter also outlines the process as well as the soliciting candidates.
The letter states: “Convinced of the need to guarantee equal opportunities for women and men in gaining access to senior decision-making positions, Member States are encouraged to consider presenting women, as well as men, as candidates,”
It simply notes: “the regional diversity in the selection of previous Secretaries-General.”
The U.N. Officials expect that the candidates selection will be done by the month of March. So far, former U.N. General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim of Macedonia and Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic have been considered for the post.
Power and Lykketoft stated in the letter: “We invite candidates to be presented with proven leadership and managerial abilities, extensive experience in international relations and strong diplomatic, communication and multilingual skills.”
Source: New York Post
