Mogens Lykketoft

Where Are the Female Leaders at the UN? Gender Bias Persists

August 28, 2017

The exhibition “HERStory: A Celebration of Leading Women in the United Nations” was held at the Unesco headquarters in Paris this summer, after it made its debut in New York last year. Designed to showcase the contributions of female leaders throughout the UN’s history, it featured such high-profile personalities as Margaret Anstee, the first …

Secretary-General, Women

Leave a Comment

A New Year at the UN: Getting Serious About Global Disorder?

September 12, 2016

by Barbara Crossette

Government leaders from around the world are gathering in New York for the opening on Tuesday of the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, an event haunted by momentous crises demanding undivided attention and action from all member countries. Responses in both the General Assembly (whose powers are limited) and the Security Council …

General Assembly, Migration, Refugees, UN-NY Relations, US-UN Relations

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

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

August 16, 2016

by Ingvild Bode

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

3 Comments

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

August 5, 2016

by Lori Silberman Brauner

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

2 Comments

The only talk show of its kind in the world

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

July 21, 2016

by Dulcie Leimbach

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

3 Comments

Less Politics and More Transparency: What New Leadership Will Mean for the UN

July 6, 2016

by Barbara Crossette

In a year when people who follow the United Nations are focusing on the election of the next secretary-general, the center of early action in that election has moved for the first time in history from the secretive deliberations of the Security Council to an unprecedented open campaign in the General Assembly, which normally …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, UN Diplomats

Leave a Comment

Italy and Netherlands to Share a UN Security Council Seat Over Two-Year Term

June 28, 2016

by Dulcie Leimbach

In a narrow vote conducted over seven hours amid five rounds of inconclusive balloting between Italy and the Netherlands for an elected seat on the United Nations Security Council, the two nations decided to split the two-year term. Italy will get one year, as of January 2017; and the Netherlands will take the seat …

Security Council

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

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

June 20, 2016

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

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

Leave a Comment

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

June 7, 2016

by Barbara Crossette

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

Leave a Comment

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

June 1, 2016

by Barbara Crossette

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 …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

Leave a Comment

Civil and Polite, Nations Participate in First-Ever UN Security Council Election Hearings

May 25, 2016

by Vesna Jaksic Lowe

Thailand said it had no enemies, while Kazakhstan pointed out it had voluntarily given up the fourth-largest nuclear arsenal in the world more than two decades ago. Sweden emphasized it was militarily nonaligned. Italy, the only Mediterranean candidate, said it could ensure geographic balance because it sits at the crossroads of the east and …

General Assembly, Security Council

One Comment

Another First for Candidates for UN Secretary-General? Tweeting

April 19, 2016

by Laura E. Kirkpatrick

This is not your grandfather’s election cycle. Will this be the year a woman is elected to one of the highest political positions in the world? What’s up with the surprise candidate gaining unexpected momentum? Can any candidate truly blend the need for the best-qualified administration with gender parity? It is unequivocal that this …

Secretary-General

Leave a Comment

A UN First After 70 Years: Open Campaigning for Secretary-General

April 17, 2016

by Barbara Crossette

It was a week unprecedented in the history of the United Nations. From April 12 to 14, nine candidates for the office of secretary-general were put on a public stage in front of the world to make their cases as to why they should be elected to follow Ban-Ki-moon when his term ends this …

Secretary-General

Leave a Comment

After Corruption Charges, UN Panel Recommends Major Changes to General Assembly Presidency

March 29, 2016

by Dulcie Leimbach

The presidency of the United Nations General Assembly, a ceremonial position filled annually by the organization’s 193 member nations, needs to fling open its doors to basic transparency on its financing and staffing operations, says a new report commissioned by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The office of the presidency of the UN General Assembly …

General Assembly

One Comment

A New Plan to Recruit Candidates for UN Secretary-General Emerges

March 3, 2016

by Dulcie Leimbach

For the first time in United Nations history, officially announced candidates for the secretary-general race, underway this year, will be interviewed publicly in the General Assembly along the lines of a standard democratic election. Mogens Lykketoft, the Assembly president and a Dane, is pushing the “unprecedented transparent process,” as he put it, in selecting …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

2 Comments

Support Independent Journalism - Support PassBlue - Find out how →

Mogens Lykketoft

Where Are the Female Leaders at the UN? Gender Bias Persists

A New Year at the UN: Getting Serious About Global Disorder?

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

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

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

Less Politics and More Transparency: What New Leadership Will Mean for the UN

Italy and Netherlands to Share a UN Security Council Seat Over Two-Year Term

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

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

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

Civil and Polite, Nations Participate in First-Ever UN Security Council Election Hearings

Another First for Candidates for UN Secretary-General? Tweeting

A UN First After 70 Years: Open Campaigning for Secretary-General

After Corruption Charges, UN Panel Recommends Major Changes to General Assembly Presidency

A New Plan to Recruit Candidates for UN Secretary-General Emerges

This Week's Most Popular

The Dos and Don’ts of Digital Diplomacy in the Covid-19 World

Trump’s Foreign Policy Brilliance? Let Me Count the Disasters

Finally, a Woman Leader Speaks at the UN General Assembly Debate: Slovakia

The UNFPA Is Thriving as It Praises an American Who Kept US Interest Alive

How Long Do You Have to Wait to Hear a Woman at the UNGA? 53 Speakers, to Be Exact

UN-Scripted, the Passblue UN podcast series

PassBlue is a partner with the New School - Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs