The buzz in New York is growing at the prospect of ending the 80 year wait and finally appointing a woman Secretary-General.
Today world leaders gathered at UN headquarters to adopt the Pact for the Future. The outcome of months of negotiations and years of consultations, the Pact is meant to identify the global governance upgrades required to transform the UN and address a sweep of pressing global challenges (we’ll let other groups appraise the overall Pact).
1 for 8 Billion welcomes the Pact for the Future’s commitment to run a transparent, inclusive selection process and its support for a woman Secretary-General:
“We decide to: [...] Stress the need for the selection and appointment process of the Secretary-General to be guided by the principles of merit, transparency and inclusiveness and with due regard to gender balance and regional rotation and take into account during the next and in subsequent selection and appointment processes the regrettable fact that there has never been a woman Secretary-General, and we encourage Member States to consider nominating women as candidates.”
The Pact’s modest call encouraging member states to consider nominating women as candidates belies a more strident undercurrent that in their national capacity they intend to go much further and call for their peers to only consider nominating women candidates. Despite the timidity of the call, the Pact marks the first time the need for a woman Secretary-General has been raised at the level of world leaders and provides a useful platform to build on. Over the coming months 1 for 8 Billion will be launching research mapping state positions on their commitment for a woman Secretary-General - watch this space.
We also welcome the Pact’s inclusion of language on the related issue of senior appointments:
“We decide to: [...] Stress the need for the selection and appointment process of United Nations executive heads and senior positions to be guided by the principles of transparency and inclusiveness, and carried out in accordance with all the provisions of Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations, with due regard for recruiting staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible and gender balance, and adhere to the general rule that there should be no monopoly on senior posts in the United Nations system by nationals of any State or group of States.”
Senior appointments have repeatedly been shown to be inextricably linked to selection processes for Secretary-General. 1 for 8 Billion has consistently campaigned against the damaging practice of powerful states extracting promises from candidates in return for that country’s support for their candidacy. Under the heading “campaigning with integrity” our policy platform asks states and candidates to commit not to cut backroom deals on senior appointments.
The selection process is due to start around a year from now but the next 12 months will be crucial to lay the ground for a fair, inclusive appointment process geared towards finding the candidate best able to rise to the momentous challenges facing humanity.
1 for 8 Billion launched its policy platform on the fringes of the summit at our event: “madame Secretary-General: one year left to build a fair, inclusive appointment process to select the UN’s next leader” to highlight our headline policy calling for a feminist woman Secretary-General. Costa Rica’s first female UN Ambassador, Maritza Chan, The Elders’ Helen Clark, GWL Voices’ Susana Malcorra and Security Council Report’s Shamala Kandiah Thompson joined moderator Natalie Samarasinghe to help launch the report.
Click here for 1 for 8 Billion’s policy platform
TAKE ACTION: write to your government and ask them to support a woman Secretary-General