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Essay: Qualities and discipline of a Secretary-General

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32nd EISAKU SATO ESSAY CONTEST – 2016

“Considering the multiple and pressing challenges the United Nations faces today, what is the

proper role of the Secretary-General as top international public servant? Discuss the required

qualities and discipline of a Secretary-General in view of the practices and achievements of

the successive Secretary-Generals.”

Page 1

Abstract

A world without strong security is disturbing the peaceful of international world. Do you

even think about the world should has somebody or any official organisation to keep and

maintain the peace of world from any threats in a good way. There are no biases in protecting

the nations and everything is would be fair and free from repression. No doubts that every

country has their own president or prime minister responsible towards their citizens yet with

the existing of world organisation (world protector) if anything bad happen-war or turbulence

a drastic action would be might resolved the issues. That is one of the reasons United Nations

was established. UN is the masterpiece of institutionalized multilateralism. UN do what they

said as an action. Going through these sections of papers would be explaining more detailed

about implementation of United Nations until today exist celebrated 70th anniversary. It is a

vital and essential part of our world community whose success is a matter not of delegates

and officers but ourselves and attitude. United Nations leads by Secretary-General Ban Ki-

Moon together with permanent members (Big five) vetoes power-China, French, Russia,

United Kingdom and United States. United Nations has developed reforming organisation

during Kofi Annan supervision. Based on this reforming UN becomes more stable and

reorganised systematically. Moreover, maintaining global peace, human rights, protect

civilians from any threats or interference, equality of genders, implementing health awareness

programmes for nations and preventing terrorism are the roles of United Nations towards

international and global world. United Nations under Mr Ban Ki-Moon supervision has going

through a lot achievements towards nations yet even there is still failure in their works-not all

planning meet the objectives and goals. Passing time the 70th of United Nations in 2015, UN

has developed a lot of achievements in terms of humanitarian aid, peace-keeping, helping

refugees and equality of genders and reducing of extreme poverty. Secretary-General Ban Ki-

Moon manages UN organisation by dividing every aspects of UN’s role to United Nations

departments and secretariats. This means that the administration of United Nations is

arranged and delegates through their functions respectively. In this paper would be

elaborates, the discipline and qualities of successcive Secretary-General – what is Mr Ban Ki-

Moon (current Secretary-General) characteristics’ should have. Moreover, this paper

elaborates the issues (constraints) that restraints flow of United Nations organisation. On top

of that, we can see that Mr Ban Ki-Moon has good qualities in leadership- supervise and

committed to the communities’ welfare. He selected to be a Secretary-General due to his

responsive towards his responsibility- he do not neglects the commitment of his role towards

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public. Basically, overall through this essay is all about how is the United Nations Secretary-

General together with the subordinates work by conducting particular actions.

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Abbreviations

United Nation –UN

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees –UNHCR

United Nations Children's Emergency Fund –UNICEF

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Introduction of United Nations

According to Gambhir Bhatta the Assistant Professor Department of Political

Science, National University of Singapore as well as the author of the book “Reforms at

the UN: Contextualising the Annan Agenda-2000” stated the origins of the UN are

grounded in the experiences of the world community in the failed efforts of the League of

Nations and in the horrors of World War Two. The organisation had been conceptualised

since the middle of the World War but only took shape toward the very end of war. In a

series of consultations among the major powers then (in places such as Teheran,Yalta and

Potsdam) the victors hammered out the broad outlines of the kind of an international

organisation that needed to be created in order that world may never have to face another

world war. By the time the signatories to the declaration of war against the axis powers

came for the San Francisco Conference in April 1945, the broad frameworks had been

more or less organised and the nitty-gritty details had to be ironed out. But even that

would require much patience and diplomatic skills of the host nation -USA- which had all

the while taken a lead role in the formulation of the concept.

He also said that there is a basis for the various assumptions that were made in San

Francisco. Primary among them was that nation states had to subsume national

sovereignty to international cooperation if world peace was to be maintained.

International security was also assumed to be safeguarded by the actions of the victors

acting in unison and in mutual understanding. The experiences of the League of Nations

were their salutary reminder that if they did not cooperate, another global war was

entirely possible.

The UN was legally formed on 24th October 1945 after the San Francisco

Conference ratified the Charter. There had been a lot going for the need to have an

international organisation of this sort and the architects this time learnt from their

mistakes with the League of Nations and started work on creating the framework of the

organisation even before the Second World War had come to an end (the League, for its

part , was an integral part of the problem). It was US President Franklin Roosevelt who

suggested the name of United Nations who in turn took it from the Declaration by the

United Nations signed in Washington, DC, on 1st January 1942.

Article 97 of the Charter gives Security Council the powers to nominate the

Secretary-General although it is formally the General Assembly that appoints the

individual. In the Security Council, a veto can be applied in the recruitment process of the

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Secretary-General (as was evident in the American veto of the re-election bid of Boutros-

Ghali in late 1996) (Bhatta, 2000).The leaders of the UN so far have included 7 former

Secretary-General and currently leading is Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. On top of

that, United Nations currently consist of 193 members of countries involve in it. In this

book “Reform at the UN-Contextualising the Annan Agenda page 38”also highlight the

mandates –specific areas where the UN is to function. Wilenski summarises these

numerous functions of the UN into five main significant function –establishment of a

collective security system, prevention or settlement of regional conflicts, promotion of

economic development, spread of human rights, democracy and lastly is dealing with an

emergent international agenda. (Bhatta, 2000)

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Challenges that United Nations faces today

Through the 70years United Nations was established, UN undergoes inner and outer

challenges and constraints from a lot of aspects either in economic, politic or even social

issue. UN was going through the greatest challenge in maintaining international peace

and security of nations. It will be judged by how well it fulfils this goal. However, it is

essential to highlight that UN was created to preserve peace not only by preventing and

resolving military conflict but also by promoting economic and social progress and

development.

As we can see that maintaining and stabilising peace and security of mankind is

one of the UN challenges. Even though the peaceful of any countries are logically depend

on the responsibility of the citizens but then UN play a significant role to help or in other

words to be the third party who would lend hands for helping if any case like war happen

between some of the countries. For example, the Syrian war has created the biggest

refugee crisis in the world: 4.7 million refugees have fled to neighbouring countries.

Inside Syria, 6.5 million residents are internally displaced. Four years of war has taken a

terrible toll on Syria and its people. Within Syria, a quarter of schools have been damaged

or shut down, and more than half of Syria’s hospitals have been destroyed. In January

2015, UNHCR took part in a convoy of aid trucks delivering aid to besieged and rebelheld

cities including Madaya, where more than 40,000 civilians had been trapped without

food and aid for nearly three months.

Outside of Syria, thousands of refugees have now spent years in exile. With their

savings drained and employment opportunities thin on the ground, millions of people are

relying on UNHCR for assistance and protection. UNHCR works to keep refugees safe,

providing them with shelter, sleeping mats, blankets, food, medical care and access to

education.(“Syria Crisis – Donate Now,” n.d.)

While both Jordan and Lebanon have restricted entry to Syrian refugees, the Turkish

government has maintained its generous open-door policy. The cost has been high to

Turkey. Government officials are quick to point out that they have spent over $6 billion

on the refugees and complain about the lack of international support. Nevertheless, since

October 2013 there has been visible improvement in coordination between the Turkish

government and international aid agencies such as the U.N. High Commissioner for

Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Program, UNICEF, and other international nongovernmental

organizations (INGOs).(“What Turkey’s open-door policy means for

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Syrian refugees | Brookings Institution,” n.d.). Turbulence occurred in Syria –in this issue

UN help by providing fund for the refugees and Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has

urged a policy of open door towards neighbourhood countries by providing the refugees

shelter and protection.

Peacekeeping is to maintain the commitment and unity of its constituencies. He said

"Successful peacekeeping demands sustained political and material support from the

Security Council from countries that contribute troops and police personnel and from

those who contribute funds to our operations”. China provides more peacekeepers to the

United Nations than all of the four other permanent members combined. The Secretary-

General said he was deeply grateful for China's support in these important areas,

particularly Beijing's most recent pledge to our operation in Mali.(“Secretary-General

highlights three major challenges facing peacekeeping | United Nations Radio,” 2013)

On top of that United Nations also facing challenges in promoting sustainable

development. Sustainable de
velopment- development that promotes prosperity and

economic opportunity, greater social well-being, and protection of the environment – offers

the best path forward for improving the lives of people everywhere.(“Promote Sustainable

Development | United Nations,” n.d.-a). By improving the lives of people everywhere is can

be harder because not all rich country could avoid poverty issue. Nevertheless, eradicate

extreme poverty might be the best way instead of way to eliminate hunger.

Extreme poverty and hunger is one of the critical issue focused by UN to

eradicate it. Millions of poor people still live in poverty and hunger, without access to basic

services. Despite enormous progress, even today, about 800 million people still live in

extreme poverty and suffer from hunger. Over 160 million children under age five have

inadequate height for their age due to insufficient food. Currently, 57 million children of

primary school age are not in school. Almost half of global workers are still working in

vulnerable conditions, rarely enjoying the benefits associated with decent work. About

16,000 children die each day before celebrating their fifth birthday, mostly from preventable

causes. (“MDG 2015 rev (July 1).pdf,” n.d., p. 8)

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 795 million

people of the 7.3 billion people in the world, or one in nine, were suffering from chronic

undernourishment in 2014-2016. Almost all the hungry people, 780 million, live in

developing countries, representing 12.9%, or one in eight, of the population of developing

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counties. There are 11 million people undernourished in developed countries (FAO 2014; for

individual country estimates, see Annex 1. For other valuable sources, especially if interested

in particular countries or regions, see IFPRI 2015 and Rosen 2014).(“2015 World Hunger and

Poverty Facts and Statistics by WHES,” n.d.)

Source: FAO The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 p. 8

As we can see there is still poverty problem, United Nations concentrate to diminish

extreme poverty which is means to exterminate the excessive poverty even though there

might be less poverty issue. The next section (achievements) would be explained more details

about the progress of eradicating extreme poverty.

Besides, protecting human right also considered as challenges that faces by United

Nations. Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place

of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We

are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all

interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. Universal human rights are often expressed and

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guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law, general principles

and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations

of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and

protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups. (“What are Human

Rights,” n.d.). In this issue, on 24 October 2012 – Protecting human rights during times of

conflict is one of the greatest challenges that the international community faces today as

evidenced by the crises in Syria, Mali and other parts of the world, a senior United Nations

official said today.(“United Nations News Centre – Protecting human rights during conflict

one of world’s greatest challenges, UN official tells General Assembly,” n.d.)

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Proper role of Secretary-General as top of international public servant

Mr Ban Ki-Moon acts as good officer, performing the mediating and diplomatic

functions. He becomes the third party who would resolve conflicts between any other

countries whom facing conflict-Syria faced internal conflicts in its country. Secretary-

General acts as peacemaker to stop wars from they begin, end them if belligerents are

stymied and mediating for the involving countries from confront each other in case they

might fighting or even worst bloodshed. Besides, Secretary-General is needed to perform

peace-keeping to stabilise international world form chaos. Today's multidimensional

peacekeeping operations are called upon not only to maintain peace and security, but also

to facilitate political processes, protect civilians, assist in the disarmament,

demobilization and reintegration of former combatants; support constitutional processes

and the organization of elections, protect and promote human rights and assist in restoring

the rule of law and extending legitimate state authority. (“Maintain International Peace

and Security | United Nations,” n.d.).

Apart from that, Secretary-General implementing humanitarian aid and health

programmes like awareness about HIV,AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Mr Ban Ki-

Moon emphasized the important about taking precaution in any danger diseases that can

causes death.

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Qualities and discipline of a Secretary-General in view of the practices

Biography: Secretary-General

"I grew up in war", the Secretary-General has said, "and saw the United Nations

help my country to recover and rebuild. That experience was a big part of what led

me to pursue a career in public service. As Secretary-General, I am determined to

see this Organization deliver tangible, meaningful results that advance peace,

development and human rights." This quote has been said by the current

Secretary-General which is Ban Ki-Moon.(“Secretary General Ban Ki-moon –

Biography,” n.d.)

He is the eighth Secretary-General of United Nations after Kofi Annan. Mr Ban

Ki-Moon has been announced officially to take a position as a Secretary-General

on 1st January 2007 and on top of that he has been re-elected again by the General

Assembly to carry on with the same position (Secretary-General) till 31st

December 2016. Before he took the position as a Secretary-General of United

Nations he was a foreign ministry of South Korea. Besides, Secretary-General Mr

Ban Ki-Moon is first Asian to be elected as Secretary-General of the United

Nations in more than 30 years

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In order to become a leader of any organisation he or she should has personal qualities

in other words the ability that prove a person qualify and worth to be a leader. The same

thing goes to Secretary-General of United Nations.

One of the most important qualities Secretary-General which is now Mr Ban Ki-Moon

should have is high commitment. In every single works or issues related towards nations

and international citizens, he must put high commitment and prioritised nations first.

Every general assembly of United Nations he must committed to attend or even any

important meeting and programme needs his full of commitment.

Apart from that, responsibility is the crucial quality a Secretary-General must have.

Why we can highlight responsibility as the most important one? It is because if a person

cannot fulfil his or her responsibility how they can handle the others or even an

organisation. There is a proverb said “Responsibility walks hand in hand with capacity

and power”- by Josiah Holland. Responsibility can be divided in a lot of aspects in this

case, for example Mr Ban Ki-Moon has responsibility towards his family, friends,

citizens, organisations and nations. Thus, clearly said that there is wide range of

responsibility Secretary-General needs to have.

For instance, Secretary-General on Monday addressed the General Assembly during an

interactive dialogue on international assistance and the responsibility to protect. “Turning a

blind eye to these acts is no longer tenable. Our responsibility to prevent and protect is

collective and urgent. My latest report offers a series of specific recommendations for

improving international assistance to States seeking to protect their populations.” (0'21")

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also underlined that he has a particular responsibility to act

as a spokesperson for those who are vulnerable and threatened, and to ensure that Member

States hear what he described as the uncomfortable truths about their plight-reported by

Stephanie Coutrix United Nations. (“The responsibility to protect populations is urgent,”

2014)

Besides, leadership also considered as an essential quality for a Secretary-General of

United Nations. To be a leader of an organisation or even small entity leadership skill is

very important otherwise the entity is going to be collapsed if the leader does not have

strong leadership quality.

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Achievements of the successive Secretary-General

Begin from 1January 2007 until now Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon-the eighth

Secretary-general has develop huge and successful achievements under his supervision.

As we can see through the challenges that have been faced by United Nations, Secretary-

General has contributed a lot of success and good performance towards nations.

For instance, in climate change issue Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has launched a

number of initiatives, including Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All), that is working to

help people access clean energy, improve energy efficiency and increase their use of

renewable sources of energy. The UNFCCC Secretariat supported efforts to reach a new

universal climate change agreement in Paris in 2015, providing a pathway forward to

limit temperature rise to well below 2 degrees, maybe even 1.5. The Climate Summit, held

in New York in September 2014, helped raise awareness of the importance of climate

change by mobilizing support for a climate agreement and catalysing action in advance of

the Paris meeting in 2015.(“Promote Sustainable Development | United Nations,” n.d.-b)

The SE4All initiative was launched in 2011 by the UN Secretary-General with the goal

of achieving Sustainable Energy for All by 2030 through the following interlinked targets:

(i) universal access to modern energy services; (ii) a doubling of the global rate of

improvement in energy efficiency; and (iii) a doubling of the share of renewable energy in

the global energy mix. These targets are firmly believed to be achievable only through the

combined efforts of government, business, and civil society. (“se4all-trackingprogress.

pdf,” n.d., p. 1)

Besides, global poverty has declined significantly over the past two decades. The

MDG target of reducing by half the proportion of people living in extreme poverty was

achieved five years ago, ahead of the 2015 deadline. The latest estimates show that the

proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day globally fell from 36% in 1990 to 15% in

2011. Projections indicate that the global extreme poverty rate has fallen further, to 12% as of

2015. The poverty rate in the developing regions has plummeted, from 47% in 1990 to 14%

in 2015, a drop of more than two thirds.(“MDG 2015 rev (July 1).pdf,” n.d., p. 17)

By 2011, all developing regions except sub-Saharan Africa had met the target of

halving the proportion of people who live in extreme poverty (Oceania has insufficient data).

The world’s most populous countries, China and India, played a central role in the global

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reduction of poverty. As a result of progress in China, the extreme poverty rate in Eastern

Asia has dropped from 61% in 1990 to only 4% in 2015. Southern Asia’s progress is almost

as impressive—a decline from 52% to 17% for the same period—and its rate of reduction has

accelerated since 2008. In contrast, sub-Saharan Africa’s poverty rate did not fall below its

1990 level until after 2002. Even though the decline of poverty has accelerated in the past

decade, the region continues to lag behind. More than 40 per cent of the population in sub-

Saharan Africa still lives in extreme poverty in 2015. In Western Asia, the extreme poverty

rate is expected to increase between 2011 and 2015. Figure below shows the data number of

people living on less than $1.25 a day worldwide, 1990-2015(millions) :

The absolute number of people living in extreme poverty globally fell from 1.9 billion in

1990 to 1 billion in 2011. Estimates suggest that another 175 million people have been lifted

out of extreme poverty as of 2015. Thus, the number of people worldwide living on less than

$1.25 a day has also been reduced by half from its 1990 level.(“MDG 2015 rev (July 1).pdf,”

n.d., p. 17). We can see that significant drop of extreme poverty from this data. United

Nations also implementing Zero Hunger Challenge programme.

On top of that, the creating of the entity UN Women in 2010 marked a potentially

significant step forward for the promotion and protection of women's human rights. Their

programmes, which are dedicated to the elimination of violence against women and focus on

the protection of women during armed conflict, are especially relevant in this regard. The

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Secretary-General's appointment of Margot Wallström as Special Representative on Sexual

Violence in Conflict has also strengthened the Organization's capacity to protect women,

notwithstanding criticism of her response to cases of mass rape in the Democratic Republic of

the Congo in 2010. (“Human Rights and the UN: Progress and Challenges | UN Chronicle,”

n.d.).Besides, the United Nations, under the leadership of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,

continued to be a staunch ally in the fight for equality in 2015. In June, the U.N. human rights

office released a landmark report on the state of LGBT rights around the world. The report

noted substantial progress on LGBT equality, while highlighting the violence, criminalization

and discrimination that LGBT people continue to face in every region of the

world.(Campaign, n.d.)

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Conclusion

Overall, United Nations has been experiencing ups and downs through the challenges they

have to overcome it and try to stabilising the world peace. Yet United Nations keep moving

forward without turning to the back. Lesson from this paper, we know that an organisation-

United Nations has develop success step by step to meet happy future life of nations. Thus,

throughout the development of United Nations until today, we as nations should be grateful

to have a unity of world protector from any despotism inner and outside pressure. “One for

all and all for one” is the best description to describe the peace and tranquillity can be

achieved through cooperation of everybody.

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