Three of the four women contesting for the post of the next UN Secretary-General have said key issues to be tackled when elected will be Peace and Security, Development, Human Rights and gender equality.
This was contained in their Vision Statements made available to UN correspondents on Monday in New York, United States of America.
The four are Dr. Vesna Pusic of Croatia, Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, Natalia Gherman of the Republic of Moldova and Helen Clark, former Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme.
In her statement, Pusic described the role of the post of Secretary-General as “the servant of the Security Council when it comes to threats to international peace and security”.
The next Secretary-General, she said, should focus on maintaining and enhancing the quality of the UN diplomacy.
She said she would like to see some women on the list of those maintaining and enhancing the quality of the UN diplomacy.
She said: “It means maintaining a superb professional staff that can work with our top diplomats.
“And, the Secretary-General should always be concerned personally about the safety of UN staff when so much of the UN’s work is in the world’s most dangerous places.
“In short, running the UN is a management challenge unlike any other in the world.
“To make matters worse, the position is inevitably pulled away from the task of running the UN into dealing with the crisis of the day, as well as the many protocol and ceremonial functions that go with the job.”
In her statement, Bokova said if elected, she would spare no effort in deploying the good offices of the Secretary-General and all relevant mechanisms to strengthen the Organisation’s preventive role.
She said, as reported by the High-Level Independent Panel on UN Peace Operations, the prevention of armed conflicts and violence is “perhaps the greatest responsibility of the international community”.
Bokova said the UN system needs to “pull together in a more integrated manner in the service of conflict prevention and peace.
“We need to strengthen societies today to stand against all threats to peace, violent extremism, intolerance, discrimination and conflict.
“Development is the most powerful resilience-builder and this is the historic opportunity opened by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“This new agenda embodies a global, comprehensive transformative vision to advance human rights and dignity and to empower societies everywhere with specific tools for their own development.”
The UN, Bokova said, should live up to the expectations of all Member States as being the unique and common ground where they can meet to discuss issues leaving their prejudices behind.
Women’s empowerment, she added, is a breakthrough strategy for reaching the sustainable development goals.
She said: “I see promoting gender equality as one of the steepest challenges of the 21st century, part and parcel of the struggle for human and civil rights across the world.
“This is also one of the greatest opportunities to achieve sustainable development and lasting peace.
“I believe that empowering women cannot be reached without ending violence against them, including sexual violence and rape, which is a grave violation of human rights.
“I am determined to work with governments and the civil society to combat any kind of violence against women and girls. Violence has multiple physical, sexual and mental consequences for millions of women and girls, preventing them from participating fully in social life and equally affecting their families, communities and societies at large.
“We have to make a difference. There can be no excuse for the appalling crimes of sexual violence and I consider that the UN, has to take the lead in showing strong commitment to ending impunity for violence against women and girls.”
Gherman said women’s and girls’ rights are central.
Gherman said women and girls have displayed courage and commitment to peace, sustainable development and human dignity.
She said: “Efforts shall be redoubled to empower their contribution and participation as well as protect their rights and ensure their representation.
“No tangible progress can be achieved and no sustainable peace can be attained, if women and girls, over half of the world’s population, are left behind.
“Prevention remains key to avoiding large-scale violations of human rights.
“This is particularly the case in conflict and war,; she said.”
The UN, Gherman added, has a unique responsibility to prevent mass atrocities and genocide and to protect vulnerable populations when threats arise.
She said the UN cannot be a credible proponent of universal human rights if it does not abide by those rights itself in its internal organisation and in the performance of the tasks assigned to it.
The principle of non-discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion or culture, Gherman added, should guide the UN’s administrative decisions and be strictly respected in our operations, in close cooperation with Member States.
The global humanitarian crisis, she added, calls for an urgent, collective and comprehensive response from the international community, requiring short, medium and long-term action across a number of areas.
She said: “First, we will need to redouble efforts to finding political solutions to conflicts and address the other drivers of forced displacement.
“Second, the international community will need to provide protection for refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as develop protection mechanisms and durable solutions for internally displaced persons.
“Third, we need to increase the impact and effectiveness of the humanitarian response, while ensuring adequate and predictable financing for humanitarian action.”
NAN.
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