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United
Nations Gets New Leadership |
Posted:
01.04.07
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New leadership at the United Nations could bring new energy to
efforts to end the Middle East and Sudan crises.
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South Korea's Ban Ki-moon, who assumed the United Nations' top
leadership position in January, is the international organization's
eighth secretary-general since it was founded in 1945.
 During
his swearing-in ceremony on Dec. 14, the 62-year-old former minister
of foreign affairs in South Korea laid out an ambitious agenda,
including efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East
and Sudan's Darfur region.
"I will do everything in my power to ensure that our United
Nations can live up to its name, and be truly united, so that
we can live up to the hopes that so many people around the world
place in this institution, which is unique in the annals of human
history," he said.
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The secretary-general |
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The secretary-general is
the spokesman and leader of the United Nations.
He (or she, although there has yet to be a female secretary-general)
is a diplomat, advocate, civil servant and chief executive officer.
Kofi Annan, who is stepping down from this position after 10
years, describes it as "the world's most impossible job."
Because the secretary-general is seen as an independent and impartial
figure he can have great influence on world events.
 According
to Article 99 in the UN Charter, the secretary-general has the
authority "to bring to the attention of the Security Council
any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of
international peace and security."
But the secretary-general needs member states to give him the
money, manpower and expertise to make change happen.
According to David Grubin, who produced a documentary about Annan,
the secretary-general has the "excruciating position of speaking
the language of moral obligation without the authority to act."
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Who is Ban
Ki-moon? |
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While lacking Annan's high
profile, Ban Ki-moon said about himself: "I may look soft from
the outside, but I have inner strength when it's really necessary."
He defeated six other candidates for the job and will be first
Asian to lead the United Nations in 35 years.
 But
even before he started, the new secretary-general's effectiveness
has come into question in part because of South Korea's slide
into diplomatic disorder since he assumed the role of foreign
minister in 2004.
"He is competent, clean and careful, and these are all qualities
you want as a secretary-general, but he has not done anything
to distinguish himself either as foreign minister or before,"
said Peter Beck, the head of the International Crisis Group's
Seoul office.
Yet his supporters see him as a mediator and a world-class administrator,
pointing to his ability to get China's support even with its rough
political history with South Korea.
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A tough organization
to run |
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The current United Nations
has 92,000 peacekeepers, a $5 billion annual budget, and a reputation
for being unable to deal with the world's toughest challenges.
 According
to Stephen Schlesinger, author of "Act of Creation: the Founding
of the United Nations," Ban's top priorities include handling
the situation in Darfur, the nuclear issue with North Korea and
Iran, resolving the crisis of global terrorism and failed states.
Two new programs also require oversight -- the Democracy Fund
and the Peacebuilding Commission, which could become powerful
tools in the UN mission to end genocide and injustice.
In addition, Ban has emphasized his resolve to repair relations
between the United Nations' rich and poor member states, who have
fought bitterly over parts of an organizational reform program
proposed by Annan.
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Repairing
relations with the United States |
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Another issue remains --
of repairing relations damaged by President Bush's unsuccessful
attempt to get UN support for the invasion of Iraq.
Ban has said he will personally work to resolve the differences
of opinion between the United States and the world body and ensure
constructive U.S. participation in all UN activities.
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Ban Ki-moon:
diplomat since high school |
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The eldest of six children, Ban first aspired to become a diplomat
when, as an 18-year-old student in 1962, he met President Kennedy
at the White House while participating in an American Red Cross
program.
He later studied international relations at Seoul National University
and earned a master's degree in public administration from the
John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Ban and his wife have two daughters and one son.
--
Compiled by Sehrish Shaban for NewsHour Extra
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