1 for 7 Billion has written to all member states with a briefing ahead of today’s meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly (AHWG), calling for progress on important outstanding reforms which are needed to strengthen future Secretary-General selection processes.
While we are pleased that the historic improvements made to the Secretary-General selection process in 2015/16 were consolidated and applied to the process that took place this year, we share the view of many Member States that these improvements should represent the floor, not the ceiling, for this crucial appointment.
After COVID-19 derailed substantive discussions on this topic last year, the 2021 AHWG resolution offers a much-needed opportunity for Member States to make headway on unresolved matters while interest in the selection process is still high. Progress this year is the best way to ensure clarity ahead of the next appointment, especially if resolutions will only be adopted every other year in future.
We therefore urge Member States to address five key issues detailed in our full briefing and summarised below:
1: Clarity on the requirements for nomination
This year, we have seen some confusion as a result of individuals putting themselves forward without nomination by a Member State (see 1 for 7 Billion’s discussion paper).
We recommend that the General Assembly makes clear that applicants need to be nominated by one or more Member States to become official candidates. To encourage diversity of nominations, we recommend that in their joint letter to launch the next selection process, the PGA and PUNSC explicitly encourage Member States to work with civil society and other stakeholders in a timely manner to identify potential candidates and bring them into the official process.
2: A longer, non-renewable term for future Secretaries-General
The current practice whereby Secretaries-General are appointed for a five-year term once renewable has created dependency on the veto-carrying members of the Security Council. A longer non-renewable term would strengthen the hand of future postholders, giving them the necessary political space and freeing them from the distraction of re-appointment. She or he would also be perceived as more independent, for example, when undertaking mediation.
We propose the term of the Secretary-General should be limited to a single, non-renewable period of seven years. A significant number of Member States already support this proposal. See here for more info.
3: Multiple candidates to be put to the General Assembly
In 1946, the General Assembly agreed in Resolution 11(1) that it would be “desirable for the Security Council to proffer only one candidate for the consideration of the General Assembly”. Many Member States believe that this 75-year-old resolution is outdated and that the Assembly should not just rubber stamp a single candidate.
We recommend the General Assembly asks the Security Council to honour the spirit of Article 97 of the UN Charter, as well as established best practice for senior appointments, by recommending a shortlist of at least two candidates, at least half of whom should be women.
4: An end to back room deals and monopolies on top jobs
The process of “ringfencing” certain senior roles for nationals of certain Member States is incredibly damaging to perceptions - internal and external - of the Organisation and is contrary to General Assembly resolution 46/232. Yet at present, six members of the Senior Management Group are of the same nationality as their predecessor.
Given the strength of feeling that exists within the UN membership on this issue, we encourage the General Assembly to reiterate the importance of resolution 46/232 and call for it to be observed.
5. The oath of office
The oath of office is an important symbolic step for all appointments and re-appointments of Secretaries-General. We are concerned that references to the oath were deleted from the zero draft of the AHWG’s resolution, which appears inconsistent with past resolutions and could put at risk this important aspect of the process.
We call on Member States to reinsert the original language on the oath, upholding the tradition that all Secretary-General appointments, whether ahead of their first or second term, must take an oath of office.
Click here to read the full briefing
Image: General Assembly Elects President of 76th Session of General Assembly, credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe