As the UN General Assembly prepares to approve the Security Council's nomination of António Guterres as UN Secretary-General, the 1 for 7 Billion campaign is encouraging UN member states to assert greater ownership over the appointment.
The General Assembly's formal acceptance of Mr Guterres will come in the form of a resolution, due to be adopted on Thursday. The resolution is expected to approve the Security Council's choice of leader and determine the terms of the future Secretary-General’s job.
Hours after the Security Council recommended the appointment of Mr Guterres, delegates of the 1 for 7 Billion campaign - of which UNA-UK is co-founder - met with the new President of the General Assembly, Peter Thomson, in an effort to push forward its proposals for the upcoming resolution.
The President expressed appreciation for the role that 1 for 7 Billion had played in opening up the selection process and making it more transparent and inclusive. In turn, 1 for 7 Billion welcomed the President’s assurances that he was committed to building on the new standards of transparency and inclusivity set by his predecessor, Mogens Lykketoft.
During the meeting, 1 for 7 Billion stressed that the resolution was a crucial opportunity for the General Assembly not to simply 'rubber-stamp' the recommendation made by the Security Council. Instead, the delegation stressed that the resolution should:
- reaffirm and specify the historic advances in the election process that have been achieved, ensuring that they will be applied and strengthened in future processes to select the Secretary-General;
- welcome the role played by civil society in enhancing transparency of the selection process;
- affirm the authority of the General Assembly to set the term of appointment of the Secretary-General, preferably for a longer, non-renewable term;
- stress the obligations of all states under the UN Charter not to influence the Secretary-General in the exercise of his duties - a matter of particular importance since the permanent five veto-carrying members of the Security Council have in the past used their powerful position to extract promises from candidates in exchange for support;
- and affirm that there should be no monopoly on senior posts by nationals of any state or group of states.
View the full text of 1 for 7 Billion's Proposed Elements for inclusion in the General Assembly resolution appointing the UN Secretary-General.
The delegation consisted of 1 for 7 Billion Steering Committee members William Pace (WFM/IGP), Yvonne Terlingen (IGP) and Volker Lehman (FES), as well as Antonia Kirkland (Equality Now) and Renzo Pomi (Amnesty International).
Photo: (from left to right) Volker Lehman, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Ambassador Peter Thomson, President of 71st session of the General Assembly, Yvonne Terlingen, Institute for Global Policy, William Pace, World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy, Antonia Kirkland, Equality Now and Renzo Pomi, Amnesty International.
