Irina Bokova

The UN’s Guterres, an Incumbent With Strong Backing by Europe, Is Bound to Win Another Term

• May 9, 2021

It was all over in one crucial week. Barring an unforeseen hitch, António Guterres is the clear winner of a second, five-year term as secretary-general of the United Nations, beginning on Jan.1, 2022. This was not a surprise: he had no major competition and the process moved faster than expected. A three-hour question-and-answer session …

Latin America, Secretary-General, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US-UN Relations

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On the Campaign Trail for the World’s ‘Most Impossible’ Job

Dali ten Hove

• May 3, 2021

The job of United Nations secretary-general is the “most impossible on earth,” as the first postholder, Trygve Lie, famously told his successor, Dag Hammarskjold. Though Lie spoke partly in jest to amuse the assembled reporters, the remark has stuck with UN observers for its eerie insightfulness. After all, the UN chief is charged with …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Three Ex-UN Leaders Form a Women’s Group to Save the World

Dulcie Leimbach

• February 21, 2019

As multilateralism takes a beating from President Trump amid the “new world disorder,” as one European diplomat put it, three women who know the United Nations inside and out through previous top leadership jobs have originated a Group of Women Leaders for Change and Inclusion. The goal is to bring together former UN female …

US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, Women

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NIKKI HALEY WATCH

Once Again, Haley Accuses Others for US Failure at Rights Council Reform

Barbara Crossette

• July 22, 2018

In the middle of last week, when the Trump administration was still unable to say how it “lost” more than 2,500 children torn from their asylum-seeking parents at the border with Mexico, Nikki Haley, the United States envoy to the United Nations, was telling a different story to a sympathetic group in Washington, D.C. …

General Assembly, Human Rights, Nikki Haley Watch

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Murders of Journalists by Militants Just Keep Coming, a Report Finds

Barbara Crossette

• November 2, 2016

Somalia, Iraq and Syria lead the world in the killing of journalists by Islamic extremists who get away with their crimes, but militants also continue to target the media with impunity in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan, according to the latest report from the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit group based in New …

Journalists, Unesco

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TOPIC: WOMEN

Yikes Again! UN Staffers Protest Wonder Woman’s Role at the UN

Dulcie Leimbach

• October 20, 2016

Wonder Woman is not so wonderful in the eyes of hundreds of United Nations staff members around the world. Earlier this week, a petition began circulating among personnel to ask their boss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to rescind the choice of the cartoon character, whose main uniform is a bustier and high heels, as an …

Gender Violence, Women

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UN’s Newest Vote to Pick the Next Secretary-General? Guterres Wins Again

Dulcie Leimbach

• September 26, 2016

António Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal who most recently was the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, once more dominated the latest straw poll held by the UN Security Council on selecting the next secretary-general. The five-year term starts Jan. 1, 2017, when Ban Ki-moon, a Korean, leaves office. The fifth poll, …

Secretary-General

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Guterres Leads Latest Poll for UN Secretary-General Again, but It May Not Matter

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• September 9, 2016

The latest Security Council straw poll pointing to the selection of the next secretary-general of the United Nations happened on Sept. 9, with the results leaving António Guterres of Portugal still the front-runner ever since the informal, anonymous balloting began in the Security Council in July. The latest poll is the fourth such vote; …

Secretary-General, Security Council, US-UN Relations, Women

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WORLDVIEWS

Personalities Can’t Be Ignored in Candidacies for UN Secretary-General

Ingvild Bode

• August 16, 2016

What personal qualities are needed to become a successful United Nations secretary-general? The 2016 campaign to select a new leader features many novelties in the UN’s history: an official list of candidates, public job interviews by the General Assembly and informal panel debates in London and New York. Civil society coalitions and the current …

WORLDVIEWS

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Only 1 Woman in Top-3 Winners Again in UN Secretary-General Vote

Lori Silberman Brauner

• August 5, 2016

With 11 candidates left in the race this year for United Nations secretary-general, the Security Council held its second straw poll on Aug. 5, showing a slight shift in levels of support by the council’s 15 members, but placing António Guterres of Portugal at the top again. Yet once more, only one woman, this …

Secretary-General

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Men Voting for Men: UN Security Council Holds Its First Straw Poll to Pick a Secretary-General

Dulcie Leimbach

• July 21, 2016

The first straw poll to test the support of Security Council members for candidates vying to become the next United Nations secretary-general occurred Thursday morning. The vote took place amid strong interest by global media who report on the world body as well as the dozen candidates, the UN’s 193 member states and people …

Secretary-General, US-UN Relations, Women

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Getting to Know the UN Secretary-General Candidates Better: A Wrap-Up of Two New York Forums

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• July 14, 2016

When it comes to the United Nations, the word “debate” takes on a civilized bearing, with no relation to heated contests among many sides. Over two nights this week at different settings in New York, UN secretary-general candidates campaigning to fill the shoes of Ban Ki-moon in January 2017 debated publicly. One event, held …

Secretary-General

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WORLDVIEWS

A Woman, a Bombast and a Socialist: The UN and US Elections

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• June 20, 2016

The major contenders for one of the highest public offices in the world include the first possible female candidate for the position; a slightly aggressive (and that’s what his friends say about him) surprise candidate; and a socialist who’s not really supposed to be there but has garnered enough support to possibly be a …

Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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New Candidates for Secretary-General Make Their Cases at the UN

Barbara Crossette

• June 7, 2016

The field of nine candidates campaigning formally to become the next United Nations secretary-general grew by two on June 7, when Miroslav Lajcak, Slovakia’s foreign minister, and Susana Malcorra, who holds the same position in Argentina, spoke in public sessions lasting more than two hours each, taking questions from UN member delegates and civil …

Secretary-General

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The Field Grows and Shifts in the Race for UN Secretary-General

Barbara Crossette

• June 1, 2016

The second crop of campaigners making a pitch to replace Ban Ki-moon in January is now being assembled, and it looks like the first declared candidate on the list may well shake up the race. She is Susana Malcorra, Argentina’s foreign minister and a well-respected, internationally known former United Nations official. The next round …