Africa

The UN says that at least 32 people have died and more than 40,000 have been forced from their homes.

Officials say those aboard were returning home to Ethiopia from Yemen and some are still missing.

Officials say those aboard were returning home to Ethiopia from Yemen and some are still missing.

Andrew Kamanga is arrested and charged with money laundering offences.

It follows allegations of evictions and other rights abuses during the expansion of a national park.

The consumer protection agency has summoned the owner in its investigation into racism allegations.

The consumer protection agency has summoned the owner in its investigation into racism allegations.

Parliamentary stand-off ends, opening the way for asylum seekers to be sent to the African country.

View of the empty UN General Assembly hall from its main aisle. Credit: UN Photo
 
With current UN Secretary-General António Guterres set to step down in 2026, who is in the running to replace him? In this seven-part series, Felix Dodds and Chris Spence reveal who might be in the running and assess their chances.

By Felix Dodds and Chris Spence
APEX, North Carolina / DUBLIN, Ireland, Apr 23 2024 (IPS)

What makes an effective UN Secretary-General?

In our previous posts, we highlighted six possible candidates: Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), Maria Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador), Alicia Bárcena (Mexico), Mia Mottley (Barbados), and Amina J. Mohammed (Nigeria).

These are names that have come up in conversations with UN insiders and other experts. All six would offer skills and experiences we believe would be valuable in these fast-paced, uncertain times.

With two years to go until the selection process takes place, some might feel it is too early to start this conversation. We disagree. By raising the question of António Guterres’ successor sooner rather than later, we hope to place on record the qualities we believe are needed. Here are the key skills and attributes we hope the next Secretary-General will bring.

A Bridge Builder

First, we believe the UN will need someone who can bridge a fragmented and polarized international landscape. Political divides have become all too evident, not just in the tragedies playing out in Ukraine, Gaza, Syria and elsewhere, but in the wider geopolitical sense.

A multipolar world is emerging from the previous global order. Add to this the growth of political populism, the triple planetary threat of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, and rapid technological change—including AI—and we are without doubt in unprecedented times.

A future Secretary-General will need to find ways to bring the fractured international community back to the table in a meaningful way. In this respect, one of the first tests for any prospective candidate will also be one of the hardest: persuading all five permanent members of the UN Security Council not to veto their candidacy while at the same time presenting a compelling vision that the General Assembly will find inspiring enough to support.

In fact, some are already wondering how the “Big Five” countries on the UN Security Council will find common ground on whom to nominate as their next UN leader when tensions remain so high between Russia and China on the one hand, and the US, UK and France on the other?

One question the Security Council will need to resolve in 2026 is whether it wants more of a “Secretary” than a “General”? Our sense is that they may prefer the former—that is, someone who is more pliable and less strident in their approach.

However, we believe a leader who can move seamlessly between the two roles—letting others lead when needed but stepping up when the time is right—would ultimately be better for the world at large.

In this respect, we may get more clarity on the perspectives of UN member states in the months to come. This year, 64 countries and the European Union are holding elections. This means around 50% of the world’s population is heading to the ballot boxes.

By the end of 2024, with many new leaders elected—or old leaders re-elected—we will have a better idea of how difficult it is going to be to build consensus and trust, both within the Security Council and in the General Assembly.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling

When António Guterres was appointed Secretary-General, many commentators voiced disappointment that the glass ceiling had still not been broken and a first female UN leader had not emerged. We agree. In 2026, the UN will be more than 80 years’ old. It is high time a woman was running the organization.

If our earlier posts show anything at all, it is that there is an abundance of talent waiting to unleashed. If the UN is ever to fully deliver on its vision as a force for global good, it needs to lead the way and shatter its own glass ceiling.

A Leader from the South

As we have already noted, some insiders expect the UN to revert to a rotation system where different regions each have a “turn” at holding the Secretary-Generalship. This system was interrupted last time around, when a Portuguese national was appointed when most expected an Eastern European.

This time, some are saying it is Latin America and the Caribbean’s turn. While we would welcome this, we do not think this should be an absolute rule. Instead, we would like to see the strongest candidate appointed from the widest possible pool.

What we do believe, though, is that a leader from the Global South would be appropriate this time around. With three-quarters of the world’s population living in the South and the last two UN leaders coming from the Global North (Portugal and South Korea), we believe the time is ripe for this change. With six billion people to choose from in the developing world, there is a wealth of talent to choose from.

Other Possible Candidates

While our posts have profiled six candidates we believe could do the job well, there are likely to be many other names arise in the conversation over the next two years. Below are shorter profiles on a few we have already come across.

Kristalina Georgieva (Bulgaria): An economist and current head of the International Monetary Fund, Georgieva has also served as Chief Executive at the World Bank and Vice-President of the European Commission. Those who believe the next Secretary-General should come from Eastern Europe would point to her reputation as a highly competent and effective administrator at the highest international level.

Jacinda Ardern (New Zealand): One of the world’s youngest heads of government when she was elected Prime Minister, Ardern served from 2017 to 2023. Her government was noteworthy for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which contained the virus more successfully than many other countries, with the result that relatively few lives were lost.

Ardern was also praised for her response to a terrorist attack early on in her tenure, which led to rapid reform of her country’s gun laws. Known for her focus on governing with compassion and with a focus on human wellbeing, Ardern left office in 2023.

Since then, she has taken on several projects with an international dimension, including fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School and Center for Public Leadership.

Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia): The former Colombian President and Nobel Peace Prize winner worked hard to end his country’s ongoing civil war. His “peace dividend” may appeal to those looking for a leader with a strong track record on peace and reconciliation. However, he would not be viewed as a change agent for those seeking to break the glass ceiling on women’s leadership (see above).

Achim Steiner (Brazil/Germany): The current head of UNDP can boast a long track record in the UN, the German government, non-profits and academia, although recent allegations of financial irregularities at UNDP may need to be resolved in order for his candidacy to gain traction.

Rafael Grossi (Argentina): The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and former Argentine diplomat has impressed many, although some wonder if his focus on nuclear issues and disarmament, which dates back more than two decades, may be too narrow in scope given the broad demands of the UN Secretary-General’s role?

Prof. Felix Dodds and Chris Spence have participated in United Nations conferences and negotiations since the 1990s. They co-edited Heroes of Environmental Diplomacy: Profiles in Courage (Routledge, 2022), which examines the roles of individuals in inspiring change.

https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/next-un-leaderpart-1/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/next-un-leaderpart-2/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/next-un-leaderpart-3/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/next-un-leaderpart-4/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/lead-united-nationspart-5/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/next-un-leaderpart-6/

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Mahmoud Abbas (centre right), President of the State of Palestine, addresses an event to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Nakba, held by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on 15 May 2023.

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 23 2024 (IPS)

The Biden administration, once again displayed its political hypocrisy by denying UN membership to Palestine, while continuing to advocate a “two-state’ solution” to the crisis in the Middle East.

But one lingering question remains: will the two-state solution include– or exclude– Palestine as a full-fledged UN member state?

Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of the Washington-based Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), told IPS: “That the US has once again resorted to its well-worn veto to block Palestine’s UN membership is all you need to know about why its pretend commitment to a ’two-state solution’ is nothing but empty rhetoric”.

The US has been Israel’s number one weapons supplier in ensuring that a Palestinian state never emerges, both by blocking meaningful action from the international community and providing Israel with a bottomless arsenal of weapons with which to terrorize Palestinians, she pointed out.

Meanwhile, the denial of UN membership to Palestine also underlines the continued abuse of veto powers not only by the US but also China and Russia who use it as a weapon to protect their political and military allies worldwide.

The beneficiaries mostly include Israel, North Korea, Syria and Myanmar.

Since 1992, according to Wikipedia, Russia has been the most frequent user of the veto, followed by the United States and China.

As of March 2024, Russia/USSR has used its veto 128 times, the US 85 times, the UK 29 times, China 19 times, and France 16 times. On 26 April 2022, the General Assembly adopted a resolution mandating a debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council.

Robert A. Wood, deputy permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, vetoes Palestine’s U.N. membership during the Security Council meeting on April 18, 2024. Credit: Manuel Elías/United Nations

Stephen Zunes, professor of Politics and chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco and who has written extensively on the politics of the Security Council, told IPS the US has vetoed no less than 45 resolutions critical of Israel, “thereby rendering the Security Council effectively impotent”.

Norman Solomon, Executive Director, Institute for Public Accuracy and National Director, RootsAction.org told IPS the U.S. solo veto again underscored its chosen isolation from world opinion and governmental lineup about Israel and the human rights of Palestinian people.

Washington’s position is morally untenable, based squarely on “might makes right” geopolitics, he said.

Even inside the United States, the political tide is shifting away from reflexive support for Israel, but — rhetoric aside — the White House remains locked into support for the Israeli system of apartheid and occupation, while a majority of Congress remains willing to fund Israel’s genocidal war on people in Gaza, Solomon pointed out.

“The U.S. government doesn’t want Palestine to have a seat at the U.N. table because the U.S. government actually doesn’t recognize that such an entity as “Palestine” even exists. Nor do top policymakers in the U.S. executive and legislative branches truly proceed as though Palestinian people have legitimate claims on Palestine”.

The tacit U.S. approach, he said, is that history in the region begins whenever convenient for the U.S.-Israeli alliance, whether in 1948 or 1967 or on Oct. 7, 2023.

There are many flaws in the stances and pretensions of members of the Security Council, whether permanent or rotating. The governments they represent vary from having significant elements of democracy to operating as de facto dictatorships.

“Yet, to a notable degree and to a wide extent, on matters involving Israel and Palestinians, the votes cast at the U.N. in both the Security Council and the General Assembly reflect as close to a consensus of governments and peoples as exists in the world today”.

Israel is an apartheid state, its occupation of territories since 1967 is absolutely illegitimate, and its war on the people living and dying in Gaza is mass murder, said Solomon, author of “War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine”

According to an April 22 report on Cable News Network (CNN), Israel’s Foreign Ministry will summon ambassadors from several countries later this week to express its displeasure for their support for Palestinian membership at the UN, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz was quoted as saying.

“The diplomatic push involves countries that have voted in favor of Palestinian membership in the UN and have ambassadors stationed in Israel, including France, Ecuador, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia, China and Russia”.

Algeria, Sierra Leone, Guyana and Mozambique — which also supported the proposal — do not have embassies in Israel, CNN said.

In a statement last week, the Washington, D.C., based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said: “The Biden administration should be ashamed and embarrassed after 12 nations rejected its plea to vote against membership for the State of Palestine, forcing the United States to stand alone with another unjust veto.

“For decades, the UN Security Council has failed to prevent unjust wars and genocide around the world. The world should no longer accept a flawed system in which five nations can exercise veto power over the affairs of more than eight billion people, including nearly two billion Muslims who are not represented among the five permanent members.” CAIR said.

“Nations and people of the world must push for the UN Security Council to be either radically reformed or abolished altogether in the years ahead.”

According to the UN, States are admitted to UN membership by a decision of the 193-member General Assembly upon the recommendation of the 15-member Security Council.

The resolution needs a two-thirds majority (currently 128 votes) in the General Assembly– and no vetoes in the Security Council. The State of Palestine was accepted as “a non-member observer state” of the UN General Assembly in November 2012.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Abubakar Salim set up his own studio to tell a personal tale of grief inspired by his Kenyan heritage.

Abubakar Salim set up his own studio to tell a personal tale of grief inspired by his Kenyan heritage.

How the country's former president is thwarting attempts to bar him from contesting the polls.

How the country's former president is thwarting attempts to bar him from contesting the polls.

Parliamentary stand-off ends, opening the way for asylum seekers to be sent to the African country.

Rwanda is gearing up to welcome deported asylum seekers once the landmark UK bill is passed.

The creatures shed light on how new viruses might spread from animals to humans, researchers say.

The creatures shed light on how new viruses might spread from animals to humans, researchers say.

UN Live’s CEO Katja Iversen at the launch of ‘Sounds Right’. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS

By Naureen Hossain
NEW YORK, Apr 22 2024 (IPS)

UN Live’s CEO, Katja Iversen, says the way to engage people in the environment is through popular culture—film, music, gaming, sports, food, and fashion. She is excited about the Sounds Right project, which puts the sounds of nature—bird songs, waves, wind, and rainfall—at the center of a campaign to support those involved in climate action.

In an exclusive interview with IPS, Iversen shares the motivation behind this innovative project.

The Sounds Right initiative was officially launched on April 18. It established NATURE as an official artist, eligible to earn royalties. Music fans were invited to support nature conservation by listening to NATURE’s recordings or tracks with musicians. This initiative was developed and delivered by the Museum for the United Nations (UN Live) and a broad range of partners in the music and environmental sectors.

IPS: How was the Sounds Right initiative conceived? What is the significance of recognizing NATURE in the same way that we recognize and reward musical artists through royalties?

Katja Iversen: The “Sounds Right” initiative was conceived as a global music movement to prompt conversations about the value of nature, raise innovative financing for conservation, and inspire millions of fans to take action.

The original idea came out of a project called VozTerra in Colombia, which the Museum for the United Nations—UN Live helped initiate. The initiative, as it looks today, has been developed by UN Live in close partnership with musicians, creatives, and nature sound recordists, as well as environmental, campaigning, and global advocacy organizations and VozTerra.

The significance of the initiative is that it treats NATURE as the artist she truly is and nature’s sounds—such as bird songs, waves, wind, and rainfall—as artistic works deserving of royalty payment. It leverages the power of music to connect fans with nature by having artists feature natural sounds in new and existing tracks.

It is going to be really big. To test things out, NATURE was discretely established as an official artist two weeks ago on various streaming platforms, including with some pure nature sounds. As of today, on Spotify alone, NATURE is in the top 10 percent of artists, with over 500k monthly listeners and almost 5 million streams—even before the initiative is officially launched and a playlist with artists featuring nature tracks goes online.

IPS: How was the Museum for the UN—UN Live able to bring together artists, music executives, and environmental groups for this initiative?

Iversen: The Museum for the UN—UN Live, together with EarthPercent, has organized the collaboration between artists, music executives, and environmental groups by leveraging our unique position at the intersection of culture, sustainable development, and diplomacy. We, at UN Live, have a track record of engaging very diverse communities in innovative cultural programmes, and we were able to draw on our extensive networks and entrepreneurial skills to bring together a broad variety of groups around a great idea.

It is a truly unique coalition of partners, including EarthPercent, AKQA, Hempel Foundation, Dalberg, Count Us In, VozTerra, Axum, Music Declares Emergency, Earthrise, Eleutheria Group, The Listening Planet, Biophonica, Community Arts Network, Limbo Music, LD Communications, No. 29, and Rare.  We developed the initiative in consultation with the UN Department of Global Communications, and we’ve also joined forces with The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society, APCO, Riky Rick Foundation, AWorld x ActNow and others to reach the many millions of people.

Sounds Right poster.

IPS: How do you foresee artists and environmental groups from developing countries connecting with this initiative now and in the future?
Iversen: We are very serious about this not being a Global North undertaking. Recognizing that the global majority is often at the forefront of experiencing the impacts of loss of biodiversity and climate change while living in some of the world’s most important ecosystems, this is also where the solutions and the most important voices are found—both the voices of humans and nature. Of the first group of 16 artists on the first Feat Nature playlist, there are musicians from Venezuela, Colombia, Kenya, India, and Indonesia. And on future compilations, more will come.

Just imagine that as NATURE the artist grows and grows, more and more musicians will want to collaborate and feature nature in their music. We are looking forward to working with musicians from across the globe and will, in time, potentially also develop special releases focused on certain geographies, issues, or groups.

The funds raised will be distributed under the guidance of the Sounds Right Expert Advisory Panel, a group of world-leading biologists, environmental activists, representatives of Indigenous Peoples, and experts in conservation funding. The majority of the experts are from the global majority.

IPS: How does ‘Sounds Right’ go toward serving the SDGs?

Iversen: Well, we are the Museum for the United Nations, and we are here to rally the world around the work, values, and goals of the United Nations, so naturally Sounds Right is also aligned with the SDGs.

More particularly, it aligns with the goals related to life on land (SDG 15) and underwater (SDG 14) by funding conservation projects through royalties collected from nature-based recordings. Additionally, by raising awareness and fostering an appreciation for the environment through music, the initiative supports SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals) and also justice.

Importantly, Sounds Right is an example of the power of popular culture and exemplifies how creative industries and popular culture platforms can contribute to achieving the SDGs, including by merging artistic expression with environmental activism.

IPS: How does the Museum for the UN—UN Live leverage culture to promote the SDGs?

Iversen: If we could solve the world’s problems and achieve the SDGs with data, facts, figures, and reports alone, it would have been done. What we also need is to work with culture, norms, opinions, feelings, and hearts. We know that popular culture—film, music, gaming, sports, food, fashion—affects people’s opinions, norms, and actions. So if we really want to change and if we want to reach the many, we go to where the many are. It’s in their earbuds, it’s on their phones, it’s on their screens, and it’s on their sports fields. That’s where you hit both the head and the heart.

That’s what we need, in addition to the facts and the figures. U.N. Live worked with popular culture, unleashed the power of popular culture to reach many people—millions and billions of people—because they use popular culture. So we have to go where the people are with the messages they can understand and the actions they want to take.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');   Related Articles

• ‘Toasting the World’s Most Natural Talent’: UN Museum Campaign Recognizes NATURE’s Contributions to Music
• IPCI 2024: Oslo Commitment Protects Sexual and Reproductive Rights Across All Contexts

The uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party takes its name and logo from the now-disbanded ANC armed wing.