A candidate for the post of the United Nations Secretary-General, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Susana Malcorra today shared her vision of “a United Nations which job centres on putting people first, caring for the planet, and of shared prosperity, guided by issues and focused on generating an impact.”
Malcorra said “we must make this organization, the Secretariat, the agencies, the funds and programmes, to work for people and the planet in a way that promotes the most prosperity for all. It must be guided by the need to tackle the current issues, not by organizational arrangements.”
The candidate, who previously served as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, and as chief operating officer and Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, said “it is not enough for the United Nations to effectively respond to existing crises. It must lead with the foresight to anticipate and prevent crises on the horizon.”
“In an era of great interconnectedness” she said, “the problems that confront us transcend borders” an added that it was “vital that we work to implement a viable and robust strategy for zero tolerance to terrorism together with an reinvigorated focus on disarmament and non-proliferation.”
Malcorra said “accountability implies transparency, performance and due diligence, beginning with senior leadership and cascading throughout the organization. It requires an organizational culture that is accountable, action oriented, and focused on impact. Accountability is demonstrated through the effective and efficient delivery of the mandates entrusted to the organization. The Secretary-General must provide a visionary leadership and strong management to steer the organization towards this culture.”
The official candidates for the job of Secretary-General – currently eleven of them – are answering questions related to promoting sustainable development, how to improve efforts to create peace, how to protect human rights, how to deal with huge humanitarian catastrophes, and how to resolve challenges defined by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
As part of the informal dialogues, each candidate has a televised and webcast two-hour timeslot, starting with a short oral presentation. Representatives from Member States will then ask questions, followed by the President of the General Assembly, who will ask a few of the more than 1,000 questions submitted by the general public on social media under the hashtag #UNSGcandidates.