US: Contenders for next UN secretary-general made their case this week for a United Nations more invested in peace, but avoided taking positions that could antagonize the member states who will choose the world body\u2019s next chief.<\/p>\n
Chile\u2019s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina\u2019s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica\u2019s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal\u2019s Macky Sall are all hoping to succeed Antonio Guterres on January 1, 2027, when his second five-year term ends.<\/p>\n
Each candidate spent three hours this week answering wide-ranging questions from the 193 member states and representatives of civil society.<\/p>\n
However, \u201ca lot of diplomats are a bit cynical about the hearings,\u201d Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a widespread suspicion that the US and other vetoes in the Security Council will select a winner in private and minimize the Assembly\u2019s role in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question-and-answer sessions, dubbed \u201cinteractive dialogues,\u201d were introduced in 2016.<\/p>\n
The General Assembly, where every member state has a seat, can only elect the secretary-general upon the recommendation of the Security Council, where the five permanent members \u2014 the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France \u2014 hold veto power.<\/p>\n
Much of what the contenders said was \u201cformulaic\u201d but they did send some \u201cimportant messages,\u201d according to Gowan.<\/p>\n
He said Grossi emphasized \u201chow fragile the UN is today\u201d and appeared more \u201cradical\u201d than Guterres on reform.<\/p>\n
All the candidates stressed the urgent need to restore confidence in a United Nations teetering on the brink of financial collapse. Its relevance has also been called into question in a world facing a level of armed conflict not seen since World War II.<\/p>\n
Chile\u2019s Bachelet, a former UN human rights chief, said the secretary-general should be \u201cphysically present in the field\u201d wherever problems need solving \u2014 a position also taken by Grossi.<\/p>\n
Sall, a former president of Senegal, suggested a \u201creinvented role\u201d so that the UN might \u201cregain its place at the global table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some have criticized Guterres for failing to exert influence over conflicts in Ukraine or the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Grynspan said the next UN chief \u201cneeds to take a risk\u201d and lamented: \u201cWe have become a risk-conservative organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UN only fails when we don\u2019t try, we have to try,\u201d added Grynspan, who as head of UN Trade and Development negotiated a deal that facilitated the export of Ukrainian grain following the 2022 Russian invasion.<\/p>\n
– Waiting in the wings –<\/p>\n
The candidates acknowledged the link between the UN\u2019s three pillars of peace, human rights and development, while emphasizing the organization\u2019s primary role in upholding the first tenet.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has called for the UN to return to its \u201coriginal mission\u201d of peace.<\/p>\n
Very few of the questions focused on specific conflicts, and the candidates largely refrained from answering in concrete terms, preferring instead to invoke a commitment to the UN Charter.<\/p>\n
When asked about Gaza, however, Grynspan urged \u201cunrestricted\u201d entry of humanitarian aid and voiced support for a long-term solution for two states to live side-by-side in \u201cpeace and security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sall highlighted the \u201chuman tragedy\u201d of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n
Candidates\u2019 past stances and actions will undoubtedly influence the final selection.<\/p>\n
Republican lawmakers have already called on Washington to block Bachelet due to her defense of abortion rights.<\/p>\n
Grossi, the current head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is involved in sensitive matters such as the response to Iran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
The five Security Council permanent members remain tight-lipped about their intentions, and other contenders for UN chief might still emerge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that there are still quite a few candidates circling and waiting to see how things play out\u201d before declaring their candidacy, Gowan said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US: Contenders for next UN secretary-general made their case this week for a United Nations more invested in peace, but avoided taking positions that could antagonize the member states who will choose the world body\u2019s next chief. Chile\u2019s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina\u2019s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica\u2019s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal\u2019s Macky Sall are all hoping to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":96766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96767,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96756\/revisions\/96767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}