New York: The United Nations kicked off the selection of its next secretary-general on Friday, asking the 193 U.N. member states to submit candidates to be the world organization’s chief diplomat and operating officer.
The process officially began with a joint letter signed virtually by General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir and Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward, this month’s president of the Security Council opening the nomination of candidates.
Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, whose current term expires on Dec. 31, announced last month that he is seeking a second five-year term.
Honduras’ U.N. Ambassador Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake also sent a letter to all U.N. member nations saying there has never been a female secretary-general and asking them to “present women candidates.”
A 2015 General Assembly resolution, which was adopted by consensus, changed the previously largely secretive selection of the secretary-general to a more open and transparent process. It allowed the world body’s member states for the first time to see basic information about all candidates, including their resumes, and to meet and question them at open sessions.
In the 2016 race, there were 13 candidates vying to be secretary-general, seven women and six men, and the General Assembly held open interviews for each of them, where ambassadors from all countries could ask questions. Six straw polls were held in the Security Council between July and October, and Guterres led in all of them.
