Although the United Nations as an organization often faces criticism with regards its effectiveness — particularly over its failure to prevent a number of high profile conflicts — the UN Secretary General is still considered one of the most influential positions in global politics.
The inability to prevent a war in Iraq in 2003, a perceived failure to act against human rights abuses in Darfur, and more recently, accusations of inaction regarding Syria represent a catalog of criticism leveled against the UN, which leaves many arguing that the organization often falls short in meeting its responsibilities to the international community.
The current Secretary General — South Korea's former Foreign Affairs & Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon — will step down at the end of this year, following a decade as the de facto leader of the United Nations, though the likely front-runner to replace him is still up for debate.
Eight candidates have so far thrown their hats into the ring: Srgjan Kerim (former Macedonian Foreign Minister); Vesna Pucic (former Croatian Foreign Minister); Igor Luksic (former Montenegro Prime Minister and current Foreign Minister); Danilo Turk (former Slovenian President); Irina Bokova from Bulgaria (UNESCO Director-General); Natalia Gherman (former Moldovan Foreign Minister); Antonio Guterres (former UN refugee chief and ex-Portuguese Prime Minister); and the head of the UN Development Program, Helen Clark (former New Zealand Prime Minister).
One of these Ladies/Gentlemen is likely to be the next UN Secretary General. It's 2016 it's time the UNSG is a Lady. pic.twitter.com/hOnmsnpVUi
— Hanna Tetteh (@HannaTetteh) April 13, 2016
Throughout its 70 year history, the UN has never once had a female Secretary General, and many now believe the time has come for a woman to be elected to the job — whether this will actually happen though, is not clear.
The two women touted as most likely candidates include the German Chancellor Angela Merkel — though she is said to be reluctant — and Bulgaria's Irina Bokova. Bokova is a more likely candidate, given that the job has traditionally tended to rotate between regions and there has never yet been an Eastern European/Russian Secretary General.
.@UN: Informal briefings continue for next #UNSG — Watch live at @UNwebcast — More here: https://t.co/Xo7ip9oMD8 pic.twitter.com/5RN50zdBqP
— UN News Centre (@UN_News_Centre) April 13, 2016
In the end, the decision will still be taken behind closed doors, and will essentially represent the will of the UN's five permanent veto holding members: China, France, Russia, the UK and the USA. It is for this reason perhaps, that Natalie Samarasinghe (UN Association UK) has said that the deciding factor has always been "who's not going to rock the boat, and who's going to cause the least trouble for us."
Live back now: @UN_PGA #UNSGcandidates informal dialogues @UN — follow @UNwebcast: https://t.co/zLuzZgYY1F #UNSG pic.twitter.com/Yq4jfvLrbO
— UN-NGLS (@unngls) April 12, 2016
Whilst the public nature of the hustings event brings a fascinating new dimension to the selection process, it is unlikely to meaningfully change the way in which the next Secretary General is chosen, or indeed, the structure of the UN as a whole.