NEW YORK, Dec 5 (IPS) – From its inception, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has been improving its working methods, taking into account as early as 1949 “… the increasing length of the sessions of the General Assembly, and the growing tendency towards protracted debates”.
Since the leadership of legendary Ambassador Samir Shihabi of Saudi Arabia as Speaker of the General Assembly (PGA) during its 46th session in 1991 and thereafter, the Assembly’s agenda has included a special item on the revitalization of the work of the Assembly and its key committees.
Since its 60th session in 2005, the Assembly, under the leadership of its eloquent and forward-looking President, Ambassador Jan Eliasson of Sweden, has Ad hoc working group for the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly. Its mandate was to “identify ways to further strengthen the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the General Assembly.”
So far, more than 200 results have been recorded in 30 different areas. The incumbent President of the historic 80th session, Annalena Baerbock of Germany, has now taken the initiative to make substantive progress in this eternal exercise of the world’s most universal multilateral body.
Election of a woman as the next Secretary General
I would strongly suggest that her forward-looking leadership restore the operational credibility of the United Nations by including in its revitalization exercise the role of the Secretary-General, facilitating the election of a woman as the next Secretary-General, the transparency of the UN budget processes, addressing current and future liquidity crises, and meaningful inclusivity of civil society in the work of the Assembly.
The role, functions and leadership of the Secretary-General require special attention from the Assembly as the appointing authority. The 75th PGA in 2020, Volkan Bozkir, rightly stated that “the Secretary General is the engine and transmission system”.
It is unfortunate that questions have been raised about the Secretary-General’s reluctance to get his hands dirty and to more proactively engage and mobilize his senior management team in ending the ongoing global conflicts and wars and promoting peace and reconciliation.
In a recent op-ed, former UNICEF Deputy Director and long-time UN observer Kul Chandra Gautam even urged the SG “not to hide behind the Turtle Bay coffers and move beyond invisible subtle diplomacy to more visible shuttle diplomacy.”
After choosing nine men in succession to become the world’s best diplomat, I am convinced that the United Nations must have the common sense and acumen to choose a woman as its next Secretary General.
In its resolution A/79/372, recently adopted on September 5 this year, the General Assembly says in paragraph 42(c) that “noting with regret that no woman has ever held the office of Secretary General, encourages Member States to strongly consider nominating women as candidates” and also states in paragraph 42(k) that “the Secretary General shall be appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council, in accordance with Article 97 of the Charter”.
The same resolution (79/327) committed the UNGA “… to continuing the implementation of… its resolution 76/262 of 26 April 2022 on the veto initiative, in order to strengthen the work of the General Assembly, taking into account its role in matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security….”. In the current exercise, this area obviously requires further attention and elaboration.
Transparency and accountability are essential in the UN budget processes.
Two other areas that require greater monitoring are the additional budgetary resources received from Member States and advisory practices, including the Organization’s budgetary allocations for this purpose. Special attention in these areas is needed to restore the UN’s credibility and thus its effectiveness and efficiency for the benefit of humanity as a whole.
Future financial and liquidity crises
Difficult decisions needed to prevent future financial and liquidity crises required genuine involvement from all parties, yes, ALL parties, especially the key “rated” contributors.
Peacekeeping operations are also facing increasing liquidity pressure, as outstanding contributions for that area are reported to be $3.16 billion. These accumulations have been building up for several years. Why did not all parties make additional efforts well in advance to prevent the recurring panic over the Organization’s liquidity crises?
The current financial and liquidity crisis is not caused by the recent withholding of payments by a few major financiers for political reasons. Outstanding contributions to the UN’s regular budget last month amounted to $2.27 billion.
Although the process at the UN is “intergovernmental and therefore driven by Member States”, the absence of civil society involvement would seriously undermine the role and contribution of “We the People…”. PGA Bozkir claimed that “civil society is the pillar of democracy, and after some time we have to find a way to (re)present civil society here.”
Increasing the credibility of the UN
I also believe that formalized and mandatory involvement and genuine consultation with civil society would enhance the UN’s credibility. The UN leadership and member states must work diligently on this without fail so that a decision can be reached during the ongoing 80th session of the General Assembly.
Under the bold, optimistic and clear-sighted leadership of the incumbent PGA Annalena Baerbock, whose proactive and forward-looking role has already attracted wide appreciation, the international community must wish her every success in this very important effort to positively revitalize the apex body of the most universal multilateral entity – the UN General Assembly.
Therefore, now is the time to discuss and decide on the urgent, targeted and meaningful areas of action. In reality, the UN’s long-term revitalization efforts should not end again in the repetitive regularity of an omnibus of redundancy.
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is a former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations; Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN; Initiator of UNSCR 1325 as President of the UN Security Council in March 2000; Chairman of the Main Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs of the UN General Assembly and founder of the Global Movement for The Cultural of Peace (GMCoP)
IPS UN Office
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