On 7 June, the UN General Assembly under the presidency of Mogens Lykketoft, former speaker of the Danish parliament, held hearings with the latest of 11 officially nominated candidates for the post of secretary-general of the UN to start on 1 January 2017. For UN watchers, these hearings, with the first round held in April, have been a long-awaited change to a more transparent, open process for selection of the secretary-general. Past precedence has been a closed-door election by a majority vote of the UN Security Council's (UNSC) 15 members, with the loaded dice pitched by the P-5 (permanent members) with a right of veto. The late UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali was unable to win a traditional second term due to the implacable opposition of a key P-5 country. Civil society has long pushed for an open nomination process, along with transparency, in the final decision-making. Under General Assembly President Lykketoft we now have it. At his insistence, supported by the United Kingdom, both the Russian Federation and the United States agreed to allow an “only one door in” process through the UN General Assembly (UNGA). It will no longer be possible to “slip in” a name in a closed-door session. Countries were informed by a joint letter of the UNGA and UNSC presidents in December 2015 that nominations had to be sent formally to the UNGA president with CVs and vision statements put on the UNGA president's website. The UNGA president also insisted that all nominees must appear in person for special hearings with UNGA member states, which were live-streamed so the entire globe could watch. Candidates answered questions from member states, regional groups, the gender group and pre-recorded video questions from individuals. An array of foreign ministers, prime ministers, former heads of government and heads of UN agencies presented themselves. For the first time in the UN's history there are five women candidates: Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO; Helen Clark, UNDP administrator; Susana Malcorra, foreign minister of Argentina and former UN chef de cabinet; and Vesna Pusic and Natalia Gherman, former foreign ministers of Croatia and Moldova respectively. Campaigning since spring 2014 for a woman as the 9th secretary-general are two groups: 56 member states led by Colombia and a civil society campaign of UN experts, WomanSG, with the twitter hashtag #She4SG. The campaigns, working in tandem, have succeeded in changing the language of commentators — where once they referred to a future secretary-general as “he” they now use “she or he”. They have also encouraged experienced women to stand for election, and are working with women candidates through the election process. There are still a few weeks before the Security Council begins the first straw polls to winnow the candidates down to an “acceptable” shortlist. A few more candidates may be nominated before then. The UNGA president made clear at the conclusion of the 7 June hearings that he expects the UNSC to respect the UNGA process, and that he will hold another hearing with new candidates if necessary. After July the focus will shift to the UNSC, where the mood — according to Egyptian Ambassador Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta — is one that supports openness and transparency. Egypt is an important member of the UN with a longstanding record of work on the UN's entire agenda, including peacebuilding, peacekeeping, disarmament, development and leadership within regional bodies (the African Union, Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation). The Middle East and North Africa are embroiled in the main conflicts on the UNSC's agenda. Since Egypt is at the centre of both regions it is seen as having influence at the UNSC in the selection of the next secretary-general. Ambassador Aboulatta, who still lapses into “he” and then corrects himself, clarified that no candidate from the Arab group is expected as the region is split between Africa, which had one of its own as secretary-general for 15 years, and Asia, which is just ending 10 years. The region up for rotation by tradition — not because of a rule in the UN Charter — is Eastern Europe. The door has, however, been opened to others with candidates from New Zealand, Portugal and most recently Argentina. Russia will hold the crucial presidency of the UNSC in October when the final decision is expected to be reached. One question raised by civil society is whether the UNSC will send one name, as traditionally done, to the UNGA or support the UNGA's new role as the informal parliament of the UN by sending more names. On 13 June 2016, the UNGA elected the 71st UNGA president, Ambassador Peter Thompson, who takes over from Lykketoft in September 2016. Much will depend on whether he continues the effective pressure of his predecessor. On the issue of gender, Egypt has a particular role. No UN conference was as pivotal to women's lives around the world as the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo 1994. Despite enormous pressure from conservatives of all religions, Egypt boldly pushed through a progressive agenda for a global agreement on reproductive health with gender equality as a governing principle. This new definition of reproductive health empowered women in planning their families, freeing them for economic opportunities outside the home. Two decades later, Egypt will have the opportunity for a similar bold move to choose a woman to lead the UN. Having a woman at the top would strengthen, in both visibility and budget terms, the UN's work on conflict prevention, early warning and early action, and allow more long-term funding for development. What is keeping the gender statistics of UN senior positions well below parity is a recruitment habit that defaults to the male. The women nominated for secretary-general bring a wealth of experience on crucial issues for Egypt and the world. Ranging from preservation of heritage and cultural diversity, sustainable development, to peace and security, they have run nations and major UN institutions. As part of the implementation of the 20-year-old Cairo Programme of Action, Egypt should cast the decisive vote within the UNSC to choose a new Madam Secretary-General. The writer is managing director, Global Parliamentary Services.
