Justice, Peace, Integrity<br /> of Creation
Justice, Peace, Integrity<br /> of Creation
Justice, Peace, Integrity<br /> of Creation
Justice, Peace, Integrity<br /> of Creation
Justice, Peace, Integrity<br /> of Creation

Are High-Ranking UN Jobs the Political Birthright of Big Powers?

IPS 15.03.2021 Ristampa di Thalif Deen

The United Nations has continued to pursue a notoriously longstanding tradition of doling out some of the highest-ranking jobs either to the five big powers, who are permanent members of the Security Council—namely the US, UK, China, France and Russia – or to Western industrialized nations such as Spain, Italy, Canada, Sweden, Germany, plus Japan.

 

As a result, the world’s developing countries, comprising over two-thirds of the 193 UN member states, have been complaining they are not being adequately represented in the higher echelons of the world body –- despite competent candidates with strong professional and academic qualifications vying for these jobs.

The 134-member Group of 77, the largest single coalition of developing countries, complained last year that “persistent imbalances in equitable geographic representation in the UN Secretariat are a major concern.” Worse still, some of the big powers lobby the Secretary-General recommending their own nationals to succeed to the same post – and, at times, in consecutive years — implicitly claiming that some of the senior positions in the UN hierarchy are their political birthrights.

With Mark Lowcock’s decision to step down as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) last week, there is a guessing game as to which big power or which Western nation will get that job. Lowcock is a British national and there are widespread rumors that the UK has already recommended a Briton as his successor. Since 2007, British nationals have held that post for four consecutive terms: John Holmes, Valerie Amos, Stephen O’Brien and Mark Lowcock.

Over the past decade 20% of roles at Under-Secretary-General or above have gone to nationals of the Permanent Members – nearly 10 times higher than is proportional, said the letter signed by over 52 signatories, including former senior UN officials, members of the House of Lords, academics and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). “Ringfencing” roles excludes a large swathe of global talent and creates a perception of partiality, which can undermine the appointee’s authority and compromise the Secretary-General’s independence.

Meanwhile, since 1997, the post of USG for Peacekeeping Operations has been monopolized by France with five French nationals succeeding each other: Bernard Miyet, Jean-Marie Guehenno, Alain Le Roy, Herve Ladsous and Jean-Pierre Lacroix.

And since 2007, the US has held the position of Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs: Lyn Pascoe, Jeffrey Feltman and Rosemary DiCarlo.

Another permanent member of the Security Council, the then Soviet Union clung to that position no less than 13 times since 1952 when the post was designated USG for Political and Security Council Affairs.

Arpad Bogsch, a U.S. national of Hungarian origin, held the post of director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva for an all-time record: 24 years (1973-1997).

Still, the United States, the largest single donor, continues to unreservedly hold the unique monopoly of nominating its own national as the head of the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, since its inception in 1947.

The seven U.S. nationals who have uninterruptedly headed that agency include Maurice Pate, Henry Labouisse, James Grant, Carol Bellamy, Ann Veneman, Anthony Lake and Henrietta Fore.

No other agency at the United Nations has had a stranglehold on such a senior position in the history of the organization.

The independence of the Secretary-General

The independence of the Secretary-General is a longstanding myth perpetuated mostly outside the UN. As an international civil servant, he is expected to shed his political loyalties when he takes office, and more importantly, never seek or receive instructions from any governments. But virtually every single Secretary-General—nine at the last count– has played second fiddle to the world’s major powers in violation of Article 100 of the UN charter.

Over the last few decades, successive Secretaries-Generals have played ball, particularly with the Big Five – caving in to their demands – in order to avoid a veto, particularly when their re-election comes up before the Security Council.

The current SG Antonio Guterres of Portugal has declared his intention to run for a second term in office, beginning 2022. So, he has to placate the big Five or curry favor with them – whichever comes first—in order to avoid a veto.

Thomas G. Weiss, Distinguished Fellow, Global Governance, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, told IPS the Secretary-General “gave away the store as part of his campaign in 2016. His re-election effort will follow the same path.”

Competence has occasionally been a qualification for the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), but not always. Nationality and the SG’s electoral promises and chits, however, are always the primary consideration, said Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Ramesh Thakur, Emeritus Professor, Senior Research Fellow, Toda Peace Institute, at the Australian National University, told IPS the basic problem is the General Assembly (GA) has deferred too many times, for too long, and on too many issues to the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the five permanent members (P-5).

It is past time for the GA to assert itself, use the power of the purse, and use its universal membership against the self-serving narrow clique of the P-5 dominated UNSC, he pointed out.

“The UN’s unique legitimacy flows from its universal membership, which means the GA, not the UNSC. I would like the GA to adopt a formal censure of the SG for violating the 1992 GA resolution,” he argued.

“In other words, the primary blame for this continued racist domination lies not with the SG, not with the UNSC, but with the GA and its failure to impose standards and accountability,” he declared.

It is understandable that P5 members may wish to maintain their disproportionate advantages, and in some cases, monopoly with respect to USG and higher UN appointments. However, the world has changed markedly over the past 75 years and appointments at those high levels need to take those changes fully into account. In terms of demographics, the P5 members represent substantially less of the world than in the past. In 1950, the P5 countries represented 36 percent of the world’s population; today they represent 26 percent.

In addition, the educational levels, career experiences and professional dedication of men and women in developing countries have also increased markedly over the past seven decades and in most instances are comparable to those in developed countries. The repeated breaches of the 1992 General Assembly resolution concerning no national of a Member State should succeed a national of that state in a senior post show the weakness of the GA.

While it is important to have gender equality at high levels of the UN, it is also important to avoid “ringfencing” roles and posts, which contributes to undermining the credibility, effectiveness and support of the United Nations system.

The Secretary-General’s decisions on future appointments to high-level positions in the Organization would benefit greatly from being transparent, inclusive and merit-based.

See, Are High-Ranking UN Jobs the Political Birthright of Big Powers?

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The comments from our readers (3)

Paul Attard 27.04.2021 Oh dear, the UN. So many changes need to take place within it, but power politics and national interests are so important for its members. We need to move beyond.
Kike Bayo 27.04.2021 El texto … interesante… pero ¿quién te dice a ti que un keniata o un australiano no sea más afín y servicial a una potencia mundial que una persona con nacionalidad de esa potencia?
Margaret Henderson 05.05.2021 Articles like this are very important - but are the right people reading them?