[topposts]

Voting on voting, or afterthoughts about the ITTO's No. 1 election

2007-08-08T19:56:00.000-04:00

Although I marked the election of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) ED as "past" in my calendar, I never mentioned neither the winner, nor the election process. Now, thanks to the IISD's Earh Negotiations Bulletin, here it is.

The contenders included Efransjah Efransjah of Indonesia, Juan Sève of the United States, Jürgen Blaser of Switzerland, Ricardo M. Umali of the Philippines and Joachim Müller of Germany, with the latter absent during the election (?).

I did previously mention the first candidate, Emmanuel Ze Meka of Cameroon; he remained a favourite throughout the election and eventually was elected.

The ENB's detailed coverage of the ITTO session, including the candidates' presentations and elections deliberations, can be found here.

Several observations should be emphasized.

Probably, the ITTO's ED election process should be called one of the most transparent in the global leadership selection, ever (perhaps, partly due to the nature and number of members of the body, distribution of votes, etc.).

The tension between the developed and developing countries (or in this case, timber consumers and producers) - as well as division over the candidates representing them and debates on the rules of procedure - was again strikingly evident, with the victory of the South. Compensation for "defeats" in elections of top posts in WB-IMF?

The demand to modernize rules of procedure was obvious here, too - leading to exhausting discussions on a special vote (a vote on whether to vote on candidates) and a straw poll and even to disassociation by some delegations from the election.

Is the UNSG election's straw poll - while not having been applied this time - becoming a bon ton in top international elections?

Another, funny, similarities with the UNSG contest: absence of the German candidate at the ITTO elections reminds Hammarskjöld and de Cuellar - who didn't know about their elections as UNSGs until after the elections.

Also, does the name Efransjah Efransjah ring the bells, compare to UNSGs? :)

[update] Changes in the races: "-1" for Commonwealth, "+1" for UNESCO

2007-08-08T19:21:00.000-04:00

While Malaysia's prime-minister is still "considering" the withdrawal from the contest for the Commonwealth's top post, Rais Yatim made his choice. He's out.

With this, bets on Sharma get stronger.

New hat in the UNESCO's ring. Egypt nominated Culture minister Farouk Hosni, the longest serving member of Mubarak's cabinet and an abstract painter who has exhibited his work around the world.

Egypt's foreign minister has already met with the "working group that ran the support campaign for Hosni" (I guess, just the Foreign Ministry's experts - as of now).

Considering Egypt's previous successful campaigns, Oman obviously faces a tough challenge.

So, what's up with the Commonwealth SG race?

2007-07-19T20:47:00.000-04:00

The election of McKinnon's successor is due in November during the Commonwealth summit in Kampala, Uganda.

As in the last year's contest for the UNSG post, Asia again demands its turn for "Sec-Gen" - contrary to McKinnon's statement that his successor need not be Asian:

"There is an assumption that it could be an Asian candidate because Asia has not had a secretary-general,'' he told The Associated Press. "The message will be, sure put up an Asian candidate ... but Commonwealth leaders would want to ensure that he or she is a credible and good candidate,'' he said.

As if responding to him, the news portal malaysiakini.com (see here and here) is laconic and firm about the credits of Malaysian candidate, Culture, Arts and Heritage minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim:

A very good candidate;
Interact with world leaders;
Former foreign minister;
Asia's turn to hold post

Looks like Malaysia is progressing in lobbying activities; so far, Rais Yatim's candidature was already endorsed by Brunei and Singapore. The election campaign fortunately coincides with two others - A Day in the Life of Malaysia dedicated to Malaysia's 50th anniversary and Our Vision For The Nation with the backing of 38 corporations including Maybank ($100,000 donation) and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

Rais Yatim is facing a rather heavy-weight rival, India's current ambassador to UK and former representative to the UN and UNSG's envoy to East Timor Kamalesh Sharma. Apparently, Sharma was among the short-listed candidates for the foreign minister's portfolio. Sharma is said to be close to Sonia Gandhi’s family and to have an advance support from the British government.

There was a word that before the final decision on Sharma, as India's choice the candidatures of prime-minister's envoy Shyam Saran and - who else?! - Shashi Tharoor (now chairman of Dubai-based Afras Venture) were under consideration. If the latter went again anyway to the races, I highly doubt that the UK's support - with Shashi's friend at high position in the cabinet - would so easily go to the actual nominee.

Oddly enough, another official candidate for the Commonwealth SG post is also an Indian. And also claims to have obtained the Brits' endorsement (most probably, because he's "a very popular British non-resident Indian"). However, Mohan Kaul is not contesting on India's behalf, but rather as an ex officio DG of the Commonwealth Business Council.

Finally, we have the only non-Asian contester, Malta's foreign minister Michael Frendo. Can't say much neither about him, nor about his country's ambitions on top international posts; might just mention De Marco as PGA-45 or Zammit Cutajar as former ASG and chief of the Climate Change Convention.

Well-placed sources indicate the probability of having additional nominees, including the recently retired Bangladesh's UN permanent representative, "architect" of the WTO's shared DG-ship, Iftekhar Chowdhury.

Early bird for UNESCO top job

2007-07-17T14:12:00.000-04:00

Just got a word: Oman has officially nominated her ambassador to UNESCO, Musa Bin Jaafar Bin Hassan for the UNESCO DG.

Considering that the incumbent DG, Koïchiro Matsuura of Japan, was reappointed just less than two years ago (his term expires in late 2009), such a move by the Sultanate of Oman might seem to be really premature.

On the other hand, Bin Hassan has some credits, no least of which is his presidency over the 33rd UNESCO General Conference in 2005 - and at that time the Organization celebrated - at the highest level - its 60th anniversary.

Headhunters' role in global leadership selection

2007-07-15T12:59:00.000-04:00

I always wondered how – in the process of looking for leaders "to champion" and "to galvanize the world and the United Nations system" – the tandem of UN body and headhunting agency is working, especially as the price for services of the latter is far from modest.

The story (actually, just email exchange provided by the diplomat who initiated it) below is about a rather evidential aspect of such cooperation.

Last November, one of the UN funds (named here as UNfund) announced a vacancy of its Deputy Executive Director with the rank of ASG. The fund emphasized it was looking for a next DED with such competencies as "commitment to the fund's values", "leadership", "management abilities, strong interpersonal and communication skills", etc.

Following the announcement, the diplomat made a simple request on the document the UNfund was referring to.

Here's what the request developed into.

Note: it's pretty clear that neither "Jan Eliasson of Swedish mission", nor "M. Malloch Brown of Malloch Brown Associates" are real characters.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Subject: Request on UNfund DED vacancy
From: JanEliasson@SwedishMission.org
Date: Tue, November 28, 2006 9:05 pm
To: ded@UNunfund.org

Dear Madam/Sir,

In the UNfund information note of 20 November 2006 on the vacancy of Deputy Executive Director in
the UNfund, the reference is made to "the current UN guidelines for an open and transparent recruitment
process".

Upon the instruction from my capital, I would like to request the UNfund Department of Human Resources
to advise on the document containing the above guidelines.

Respectfully,

Jan Eliasson

Subject:   RE: Request on UNfund DED vacancy
From:       ded@UNfund.org
Date:        Wed, January 3, 2007 1:43 pm
To:            JanEliasson@SwedishMission.org
Cc:            UNfund@MallochBrownAssoc.com

Thank you for this expression of interest in the position of Deputy Executive Director (Assistant
Secretary-General) of UNfund.

Malloch Brown Associates is assisting UNfund in conducting the search for suitable candidates and
all candidatures submitted will be forwarded to them.

Malloch Brown Associates will be following up with all applicants directly.



Subject:   RE: Request on UNfund DED vacancy
From:      MMB@ MallochBrownAssoc.com
Date:       Thu, January 25, 2007 12:55 pm
To:           JanEliasson@SwedishMission.org

Thank you for your expression of interest in the position of Deputy Executive Director (Assistant Secretary-General) of UNfund.

UNfund has forwarded Malloch Brown Associates your materials as we are assisting them in this search.

We expect a strong applicant pool and will be in touch with you once we have determined next steps.

Best regards,

M. Malloch Brown
Malloch Brown Associates

Subject: RE: Request on UNfund DED vacancy
From: MMB@MallochBrownAssoc.com
Date: Tue, April 3, 2007 10:01 am
To: JanEliasson@SwedishMission.org

Dear Mr. Eliasson,

On behalf of UNfund, we appreciate your expression of interest in the Deputy Executive Director position.

This opportunity has generated an enormous amount of interest and we have an exceptionally qualified
candidate pool.

While you would have much to bring to UNfund, I am sorry to advise that you have not been selected as
a finalist.

We wish you every success in the future.

Sincerely,

M. Malloch Brown

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NO COMMENTS.

TOP 5 MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN WORLD LEADERSHIP SELECTION 2006, according to TAA

2007-03-06T17:29:00.000-05:00

As it can be seen from below, the list is pretty conditional, as these people are picked by me. And it's expandable – so, as usual, I welcome the additions through the comments page or via email.

Ironically but not coincidentally, these persons are closely interconnected and practically represent a monolith influence group. Most of them were present at the infamous and supposedly "secret" meeting in December 2005 in Manhattan which was aimed at "saving Kofi and rescuing the UN". Although the meeting was held before 2006, it actually laid grounds for and further shaped the following year's UN and other intergovernmental bodies selection process.

#5. Robert ("Bob") C. Orr. Along with #2 of this list, this person is more of a "strategist"-type (kind of a given, since Orr's post is ASG for policy coordination and strategic planning). An academician turned diplomat turned NSC adviser turned UN official, Bob brought some really interesting ideas on reforming the UN. Accordingly, his impact on the selection of top functionaries in the UN system should be viewed only as part of this reform. In fact, Bob is a good guy. He just chose wrong partners.

#4. Richard C. Holbrooke. Clearly, his UN ambassadorial job in the past (with Orr serving as his deputy) affects his present. Some say it was him who arranged the above meeting in Manhattan that resulted in installment of #2 as DSG. Others nod on his information network (if I'm not mistaken, he was among the first to mention Ban and Zeid as potential candidates for UNSG). Almost never he was seen behind the selection of new international leaders, yet it's like secret de Polichinel that he was consulted on every other appointment in the Secretariat, especially when it concerned the US nationals. With luck in his second bid for Secretary of State's post, his UN appointments policy might be even more aggressive, and there's no foreseen ground for the chairman of the Asia Society and the Asian to disagree.

#3. Kofi Atta Annan. Well… You know… He was Secretary-General, anyway.

#2. Mark Malloch Brown. A PR manager by God (and to some extent, by career), the Briton has repeatedly stumbled once he became Annan's deputy – but not in terms of selecting the members of the "UN team". Known in the UN community as His Eminence Grise, Malloch Brown had a strong hand in the senior-level UN selection process mainly through his child – the Senior Appointment Group – that was responsible for all the last year's appointments, including his own and his protégé's.

#1. It's really amazing how a man, after having disappeared from the international political surface quite a time ago, can still be so much discussed and highlighted in media! Maurice Strong, "international man of mystery", "Godfather of the international environmental movement", or just Godfather…

His shadow was noted behind the appointments of USG Bárcena Ibarra and ASG McAskie, he is associated with the Htun's bid for WHO DG, his blessing for installment of Steiner as UNEP Executive Director is to be discovered. That's just from the top of my head.

Also, I did raise the question about the intrigue around the selection of Marton-Lefèvre as IUCN DG, given her Costa Rican background and that this body is in the orbit of the Godfather. The truth turned out to be much simpler: she is sister-in-law of # 4 of this list. It will not be hard to find out what other strings are attached here...

Looking through what I've written, I am having hard time to explain even to myself why my list looks more like a conspiracy theory, which I just hate (actually, the enthusiasts could go even further, exploiting the connections of Malloch Brown - Soros, Malloch Brown – Dervis – Wolfensohn – Strong, Holbrooke – the Rockefeller family, etc.), but apparently that's how it is. To my credit, I am not stating anything…

I purposely did not mention the governments of the UN members-states which, given the specifics, are the actual players of the inter-governmental leadership selection. Still, two persons should not be omitted: the US president meddling into the WFP Executive Director appointment (well, how would you feel – having the questionable third term as FAO DG – when you're asked by phone about your plans for the future?!) and the president of France with the rumoured interest in the results of the Global Fund's Executive Director. Chirac however, lately seems to be more interested in the movies casting…

The history of national leaderships teaches that the bold moves traditionally are being made after re-election. But the tendency is already visible during the first year of reigning. I think this is totally applicable to the UN with its current head Ban.

Of this list, one person is still on the 38th floor. During the next 10 months we'll see the force of influence over the UN leadership selection by this person (and perhaps through him, by the rest of the list) as well as that "mysterious" Kim.

Kim, by the by, will be discussed here soon…

Kazatchkine election afterthoughts

2007-02-22T00:51:00.000-05:00

It's not about the candidature of Michel Kazatchkine, with him it was clear in early January, when the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced a new shortlist in its second attempt to elect an Executive Director (actually, already in late October I found very interesting the observation of the Boston Globe (oh, this Boston Globe!) that "Kazatchkine has been the most aggressive in seeking the post").

So, once the new shortlist appeared with Kazatchkine's name – the only name from the previous runners-up – it was really easy to get who would be a No.1, despite the rumors on David Nabarro that were spread right before the Fund's Board's final decision. Check out the shortlist-2006 and shortlist-2007.

Some observations are proffered.

It was indeed interesting to watch how simultaneous races for the top leadership posts in the Global Fund and WHO developed and mutually influenced, thus providing certain transparency in these processes. You could compare the selections and see their advantages/disadvantages (like the WHO's very politicized choosing of the DG and a sort of inclusive – in terms of composition of the Fund's Board – selection of the Executive Director. On the other hand, while they were free to choose, all WHO contenders agreed to publicly provide their platforms; and certain candidates for the Fund's top post rejected this idea). Discussions on that can be found in the blogs of the Center for Global Development.

The race for Global Fund's top post was explicitly peppered by the Boston Globe allegation in inappropriate expenditures by the Fund's current head. And though the Fund's vigorous responses practically nailed the accusation, suspicions arose on whether the article had a practical aim about the election. The same idea seems to take place with regard to the incumbent WMO SG who is to be re-elected in May in Geneva.

A curious pattern has been made by the participation of at least two contenders, Julio Frenk and Bernard Kouchner, in both elections (although, in the top international elections you find familiar names here and there, e.g. Global Fund contender Hilde Johnson also was running for UNDP Administrator in 2005 and quite recently, for WFP Executive Director or again, Kouchner who previously competed for the post of the UNHCR). I'd say, when the related bodies are concerned and the elections happen to be at the same time, the loss in one race almost automatically means a defeat in another. So, Bernard, why bother? – Look what great job your countryman did, just focusing on one thing!

Actually, the case of the two Frenchmen (the outsider and the winner), both coming from an international humanitarian movement, makes you think about real intentions of the Quai d'Orsay. Big deal in answering this naturally lies in the French politics. But you can have a clue, if you find out what's behind the "aggressive" campaign of Kazatchkine.

One more question, apparently rhetorical. Who among the candidates for Global Fund were John Donnelly and boston.com really behind?

P.S. I can't help posting the commentary on the Global Fund selection that I received the other day by email from a much respected international lawyer who asked not to be identified. To see his view, go to comments.

Common African candidate for top ITTO post

2007-02-19T19:01:00.000-05:00

Some interesting news comes from Addis Ababa where the African Union recently held its eighth summit.

First, there's a decision of the AU Assembly to "approve and invite" the members' support of the candidature of Libya – no name so far – for the presidency of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly in 2009 (actually, I prefer not to cover this kind of elections, as it's just about regional groups' endorsed turn for a seat, still it's good to know). Since it's only an "invitation to support", not a "decision to endorse", I assume the door is being kept open for other candidates. We'll see.

And second, in view of the forthcoming elections of a new Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) – an UN-sponsored Yokohama-headquartered forum for consultation on tropical timber – the AU Executive Council has endorsed the candidature of Emmanuel Ze Meka (Cameroon), currently ITTO Deputy Director for reforestation and forest regeneration as a common African candidate for this post.

The ITTO No.1 post (see the vacancy announcement here), in terms of salary equaling to the post of UN ASG, is to be vacated by Manoel Sobral Filho of Brazil.

The Brazilian was elected by consensus in December 1999, after 5-days consultations of the Council (all 59 ITTO members). Other candidates for the position were Ram Prasad of India, Claude René Heimo of Switzerland and Don Dayapala Wijewardana of New Zealand.

As for this year's elections, Ze Meka is currently the only candidate.

UN "grand shuffle": pay-off continues

2007-02-16T22:18:00.000-05:00

Another bunch of top UN posts was officially granted last Friday. Among the new faces there is Japanese OECD senior official Kiyotaka Akasaka as USG for PI (which presumably means no USG for DA – or whatever comes, should the Ban's restructuring proposals succeed – for Japan; it may also be the case with the post of either Toshiyuki Niwa or Kunio Waki).

Also, there is previously known designation of B. Lynn Pascoe, an US career diplomat, as USG for PA (chances still are there will be another American at the post of USG level) and the exchange of the Chinese – ambassador Sha Zukang from Geneva will replace USG for GACM Chen Jiang, although at another position, USG for ESA.

The above, plus an earlier appointment of UK's John Holmes as USG for Humanitarian Affairs, as well as re-appointments of Russia's Sergei Ordzhonikidze as USG/DG of UN Geneva Office and France's Jean-Marie Guéhenno as USG for PKO, are quite understandable, "geopolitics-wise": P5 and major donors first (well, with regard to Germany, some moves should be expected soon on Angela Kane).

The most curious here is the appointment of Egypt's S. Muhammad Shaaban as USG for GACM. In particular, questions arise with regard to the appointee's personality, country and timing.

Unfortunately, the questions like "who is…?" about the first wave of Ban's senior appointments are totally rhetorical, as it was already shown in the case of new DSG or USG for Humanitarian Affairs. Whatever, this blog is not about it.

It's quite clear that Egypt had all the reasons to expect a top position within the UN system, thanks to President Mubarak's very prompt indication of preference on the candidate in the race for UNSG post. But how come it's Egypt now? What about other governments that obviously should have been granted an USG post? What about, say, Qatar who could have indulged by the price of sacrificing her ties with Jordan?

I guess the answer here might be that these countries were satisfied with the pay-off in the form of SRSGs/envoys at the USG rank. Or, perhaps, graciously declined it, just as the Slovakia's foreign minister did…

Anyway, the whole picture, as of today, would look like this:

USGs

DSG Asha-Rose Migiro
USG, Chef de Cabinet Vijay Nambiar
USG for Management Alicia Bárcena Ibarra
USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes
USG for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Management (GACM) S. Muhammad Shaaban
USG, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (~~Anwarul Karim Chowdhury~~)
USG for Political Affairs (PA) B. Lynn Pascoe
USG for Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) Jean-Marie Guéhenno
USG, Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ad Melkert
USG for Legal Affairs, Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel
USG, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Thoraya Ahmed Obaid
USG for Economic and Social Affairs (ESA) Sha Zukang
USG for Disarmament Affairs (DA) (~~Nobuaki Tanaka~~)
USG for Communication and Public Information (PI) Kiyotaka Akasaka
USG for Safety and Security David Veness
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Marek Belka
USG, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV)/ Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Antonio Maria Costa
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Abdoulie Janneh
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) (~~Kim Hak-su~~)
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) José Luis Machinea
USG, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) Sergei Ordzhonikidze
USG, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Peter Piot
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) (~~Mervat Tallawy~~)
USG for Internal Oversight Services (IOS) Inga-Britt Ahlenius

ASGs

ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Arab States (UNDP) (Amat Al Alim Alsoswa)
ASG (PKO) (~~Hédi Annabi~~)
ASG for Human Resources Management (OHRM) (Jan Beagle)
ASG for Policy Coordination and Inter-agency Affairs (ESA) (~~Patrizio Civili~~)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Director, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (UNDP) (Kathleen Cravero-Kristoffersson)
ASG, United Nations Ombudsman (Mignonette Patricia Durrant)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Kul Chandra Gautam)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNDP) (Rebeca Grynspan)
ASG, New York Pandemic Preparedness Coordinator (Imelda Henkin)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Africa (UNDP) (Gilbert Houngbo)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Director of the Bureau for Resources and Strategic Partnerships (UNDP) (Bruce Jenks)
ASG for Legal Affairs (Larry D. Johnson)
ASG for Economic Affairs (ESA) (Kwame S. Jomo)
ASG (PA) (Tuliameni Kalomoh)
ASG (PA) (Angela Kane)
ASG, Director for Political Affairs (EOSG) (~~Carlos Lopes~~)
ASG (PKO) (Jane Holl Lute)
ASG, Executive Director, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) (Jan Mattsson)
ASG for peacebuilding support (PBSO) (Carolyn McAskie)
ASG (GACM) (Yohannes Mengesha)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (UNDP) (vacant)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Director, Bureau for Development Policy(UNDP) (Shoji Nishimoto)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director (UNICEF) (~~Toshiyuki Niwa~~)
ASG for Policy Planning (EOSG) (Robert C. Orr)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific (UNDP) (Hafiz Ahmed Pasha)
ASG, Executive Director of the Office of the Capital Master Plan (OCMP) (vacant)
ASG, Executive Director, Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) (Javier Rupérez)
ASG for Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts (Controller) (Department of Management) (Warren Sach)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director for Operations (UNICEF) (~~Rima Salah~~)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director for External Relations (UNFPA) (Mari Simonen)
ASG for Central Support Services (Andrew Toh)
ASG, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA) (Eva Margareta Wahlström)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director (UNFPA) (~~Kunio Waki~~)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Director of the Bureau of Management (UNDP) (Akiko Yuge)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) (Inga Bjork-Klevby)
ASG, Executive Director, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) (Marcel Boisard)
ASG, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (Dirk Jan Bruinsma)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (Shafqat Kakakhel)
ASG, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) (Rolf Knutsson)

Two remarks should be made here.

The Secretariat definitely lied by having stated the retaining of Ahlenius: that's not a sole prerogative of Ban to remove/appoint the USG for IOS, there must be an approval of the General Assembly. So, let's just say that with the current mess around his restructuring proposals, Ban wisely decided not to irritate the UN delegations by firing the Swede.

And the last but not least. When is Ban actually going to announce the formal status of his loyal lieutenant Kim Won-soo, whom he did appoint as his Deputy Chef de Cabinet?

"There seem to be some misunderstandings on the review or selection process of senior management officials of the United Nations…" [Ban Ki-moon]

2007-02-02T00:04:00.000-05:00

Dynamics of the official position on USGs and ASGs or how it’s being made up.

Relevant excerpts from the transcript of the briefings by the UN spokesperson.

1 February
Spokesperson: I’d like to apologise to all of you for giving unclear and imprecise information yesterday about the resignations offered by senior officials; I was speaking on the basis of information that was incomplete.
I have now received the full, and updated, facts about the resignations. The Secretary-General, at the start of January, had sent out letters to 55 Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General, asking them to offer their resignations in order to give him flexibility in filling senior posts.
As of today, he is satisfied to note that all 55 have responded to his letters. In one case, one of the officials did not actually turn in a response letter, citing compelling health reasons. The Secretary-General can now move ahead with the process of determining how those posts can be filled.
[…]
Question: For the record, what is the rationale of asking all USGs and ASGs to resign but not Andrew Toh, who is under investigation?
Spokesperson: Well, as I said, because he’s under investigation.
Question: So, in order not to be asked to resign, all I need to be is suspected of corruption and I’m fine, right? Is that how it works?
Spokesperson: No, the process is going to be carried through all the way. But as you know, the process is ongoing.
Question: Isn’t it prejudicial to his case if he’s treated differently than all other USGs and ASGs?
Spokesperson: Well, not all USGs received letters, you know that. I mean, we had said that before – that there were USGs that were under the purview of the Secretary-General. In the case of Mr. Toh, he has an ongoing case against him and he has to clear that up first, before a decision is taken on his case.
[…]
Question: Would you know off the top of your head, so I don’t have to go in the book account, how many ASGs there are and how many USGs there are?
Spokesperson: The total number I don’t know, because the number I have, the 55 are the number of people who are under the purview of the Secretary-General and not whose nomination did not depend on another body -- like WFP or… So, the 55 I gave are the number of USGs [and ASGs] who received those letters.
Question: USGs?
Spokesperson: USGs and ASGs, both.
Question: Could you break that down – how many…
Spokesperson: I have 20 USGs…
(The Spokesperson’s Office later announced that there were 19 USGs and 36 ASGs.)
Question: There are others but they’re not under the Secretary-General.
Spokesperson: No. There have to be consultations with the body -- the other bodies that they depend on.
[…]
Question: You mentioned yesterday that the appointments would come after restructuring. Does that also apply to the Secretary-General’s team on the thirty-eighth floor? When are we likely to see some more clarity on who is actually advising the Secretary-General -- who has what position there?
Spokesperson: I don’t have an answer for you today, but the Secretary-General is coming back to Headquarters, so we should know more about plans of when he is going to announce new appointments.
Question: Is there a time line or deadline for when the Secretary-General wants to complete the appointment process? We hear in February, or sometime in February?
Spokesperson: That is going to depend on how the restructuring consultations go on.
Question: But does it have to be completed in February, because that is when the contracts expire?
Spokesperson: Not necessarily. The two processes are not necessarily linked. That was a general timetable we had. But it is possible that the Secretary-General will announce other appointments before the whole restructuring process is finished. We don’t know at this point.

31 January
Question: It now appears as if the consultations on restructuring will take some time, especially if the Sectary-General presents a written plan and Governments may want to refer to their Foreign Ministry for instructions. What in this case would happen to the case of senior officials whose contracts expire or are about to expire?
Spokesperson: Well most of the contracts will expire in February, as you know. The Secretary-General will take decisions as the consultations develop. As you know, the consultations did not start with that meeting that will take place on Monday. Consultations have been taking place since the Secretary-General started, which means 2 January, he has been consulting member States about the issue of restructuring. So it’s not a new thing. Some exchanges have already taken place on this issue and there has been some give and take on both sides on the issue.
Question: Did some contracts of senior officials expire at this stage?
Spokesperson: Not that I know of. But as you know, the Secretary-General asked that ASG’s submit their resignations, which a number of them have done. What will be…they will stay on until they are replaced.
Question: Have some not tendered their resignations?
Spokesperson: Some of the people in the field have not, yes.
Question: Who were asked by the Secretary-General to do so? Have not?
Spokesperson: Everyone was asked, but they might not have yet done it even though the deadline is passed. But, so far, as far as I know, we have about [53 offers of resignation from Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General].
Question: You said earlier there were about 60 I think?
Spokesperson: [55.]
Question: Can we get the names of the people who haven’t submitted their resignation?
Spokesperson: No I don’t think you can. We cannot give the names. I mean they submit their resignations, but the Secretary-General is not going to give the list of the people who actually resigned and those who did not resign.
Question: Those contracts were expiring anyway, why did he bother making this an issue of having some people submit their resignations. He could choose to let those contracts expire and not rehire them, which he’s probably going to do… Why did he feel it necessary to make it a public issue of them submitting resignations?
Spokesperson: Because he felt that there needed to be some changes and he wanted all of them to be part of that change by voluntarily offering their own resignations.
Question: Rather than quietly doing it when the contracts expired?
Spokesperson: Yes.
[…]
Question: Has Andrew Toh, who is an ASG, submitted his resignation or was he asked to submit his resignation?
Spokesperson: I don’t think he was asked because as you know there was an ongoing investigation. I can ask about this case specifically for you. But I do know that since his case was ongoing, in terms of audit and everything else, I think, I can check for you. I will check for you on that, whether or not he was asked to resign. And if so, whether he did. Yes.

26 January
Question: Continuing, the point here -- in some of the discussions, we understand, I’m referring only to disarmament affairs at the moment, that there could be the replacement of the USG [Under-Secretary-General] with an SRSG [Special Representative of the Secretary-
General] for disarmament. I was under the impression, and believe I’m wrong that the SRSG is the same diplomatic rank as the USG but could you clarify what the status is of the SRSGs?
Associate Spokesperson: Most of the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General are employed at the rank of Under-Secretary-General. That’s not always the case. There have been a few, I think about a year or so, for example, there had been 30 SRSGs who were at the Under-Secretary-General level and another I think four or five who were at the Assistant Secretary-General level. It depends upon circumstance but, in most cases, you’re right those titles are equivalent. That’s not always the case.
Question: So then if it were to be an SRSG, there’s no guarantee that this would in fact be…
Associate Spokesperson: I have no comment about any specific proposals such as the disarmament (inaudible).
Question: One very quick thing…very quick… Is it your understanding that an “office” is a downgrading from a “department”? Or is an “office” the same as a “department”…
Associate Spokesperson: I think that this is one of the topics on which Member States will continue to be discussing, so I don’t want to get in front of that.

24 January
Question: Farhan, is the Secretary-General concerned about anxiety among the senior staff -- ASGs [Assistant Secretaries-General] or USGs [Under-Secretaries-General] -- may feel as a result of the delay in announcing new appointments?
Associate Spokesperson: He is trying to have these appointments made as soon as possible. But as you know, part of what he is also doing is trying to see ways to restructure the UN departments and make them more efficient. That is part of a continuing dialogue with the Member States. Until that’s resolved, we won’t expect a large number of appointments to be announced. But certainly he is aware of people’s feelings and we do try to get this done as quickly as we can.
I’ve just been passed a note, by the way. Tomorrow on the Middle East, the Security Council will have an open meeting in the formal Chamber on the Middle East, including a briefing by Ibrahim Gambari, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. Countries directly involved in the Middle East will be allowed to speak and consultations on the Middle East will follow. So that’s the Security Council’s agenda for tomorrow.
Question: On the resignation letters, first of all did the Secretary-General receive all the resignation letters he ordered people to voluntarily provide, and secondly, did he accept any of those letters, i.e., have any resignations been accepted?
Associate Spokesperson: At this stage, we won’t have any announcements to make of either resignations or new appointments, until we are able to get together a large number of letters. As I mentioned to Mr. Abbadi, first there will be the discussion with Member States on the restructuring. Once that is done, we expect to have some appointments to announce in short
order after that. But in terms of resignations, those issues would be dealt with and announced at that point.

23 January
Question: In terms of new appointments or reappointments under Ban Ki-moon, has anything been done about the post of Special Envoy on UN Reform, held by Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga under Secretary-General Kofi Annan?
Spokesperson: No. There have been no appointments announced for the different SRSG [Special Representative of the Secretary-General] posts, or the USG [Under-Secretary-General], ASG [Assistant Secretary-General] posts. As you know the restructuring project is now in front of different members of the General Assembly. As long as this has not passed, there won’t be any further appointments, I don’t think. We might have some, but at this point. I don’t think we’ll have any major appointments right now.

19 January
Question: There’s a story out by our colleague Edie Lederer that it’s been decided that the Department of Disarmament will not be merged into DPA [Department of Political Affairs], but maybe downgraded from a USG (Under-Secretary-General) to an ASG (Assistant Secretary-General] position. Can you confirm that? Do you have any comment on the article?
Spokesperson: The restructuring project has not been abandoned. Edie said it, and it’s true, that there were consultations with the Non-Aligned Movement. Those consultations took place several times during the last few days. Restructuring is still pretty much part of the agenda. It is still being discussed and no decisions have been taken yet.
[…]
Question: On the appointment process. Now that 60 or so UN officials have presumably turned in their resignations, as the Secretary-General had requested, is it generally understood or assumed that he is going to make announcements concerning new appointments in one big wave?
Spokesperson: Yes, probably.
Question: What is the timeline for that?
Spokesperson: Well, I think the issues concerning the restructuring of some departments have to be settled first before you get all the names. And it won’t be done until he returns from his trip to Africa and the Quartet meeting, which is going to be the 2nd of February.
Question: So sometime in February is what you’re looking at right now?
Spokesperson: Yes, it should be sometime in February, but I cannot give you a deadline right now.

18 January
Question: I believe you were in the Oval Office on Tuesday. Did you hear any talk about appointments at the United Nations?
Spokesperson: No. That was not discussed.
[…]
Question: Apart from the Deputy Secretary-General and the Chef de Cabinet, who have already been appointed, what new faces have appeared on the 38th floor as advisers to the Secretary-General?
Spokesperson: Well, I don’t think there are any new faces, for the time being. There are people who have been previously involved in decision-making in the house still around and working with the Secretary-General. Don’t forget that when the Secretary-General was proposing changes and reform, he said he also wanted continuity.

17 January
Question: How close is the Secretary-General to making any announcements about the appointments of new Under-Secretaries-General or other department heads in the Secretariat?
Associate Spokesperson:
In terms of how close the Secretary-General is to making announcements, as soon as he makes them, we will certainly put them out. But, at this stage, there are quite a number of posts that he is reviewing. As you know, there are about 60 Under-Secretary-General (USG) and Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) –level posts that are being looked at. And meanwhile, he is also looking at restructuring various departments to make them more efficient. So, we’ll have to see how that whole process plays out. Certainly, there’s nothing to announce today.
Question: Follow-up on that: I understand that the 60 or so USG’s and ASG’s who resigned…their resignation takes effect today, or took effect on the 15th?
Associate Spokesperson: I believe it’s a question of whether or not the resignations will be accepted. They’ve turned them in, and he has them in hand. That gives him the flexibility to determine how those posts should be filled. Those resignations only become effective once they are accepted though.
Question: So, wait a second. They become effective only when a decision is taken so that means this could last months…?
Associate Spokesperson: We don’t expect this to take months. The entire point of asking that many senior level officials to turn in their resignations this early was to give the Secretary-General the needed flexibility to make a number of decisions very quickly.
Question: So is this going to effectively accelerate the decision-making process on the 38th floor regarding appointments?
Associate Spokesperson: Well, certainly it should make the process a bit easier.
Question: Has every one of the 60-odd officials that this letter was requested of handed it in?
Associate Spokesperson: I don’t know. Like I said, this was a voluntary request. I haven’t checked to see whether or not all of them have turned them in. Certainly, it was up to them, whether to do that. I might add that because most of the contracts of senior appointments go through, I believe, the end of February, it’s not a major difference one way or another how long they would be at their posts.
Question: So is there a deadline for the end of this process?
Associate Spokesperson: For the appointment process? The Secretary-General is trying to get this done as quickly as possible.
[…]
Question: A quick follow-up question and maybe Pedersen is part of it. Is there any movement towards applying the same rules that apply to USG’s and ASG’s to their corresponding people in the field?
Associate Spokesperson: Not at this point. That may be for later, but not at this stage.
Question: So how does this process affect Special Representatives of the Secretary-General? Are their posts also being reviewed?
Associate Spokesperson: As you know, a lot of the Special Representatives have mandates that exist as a result of an exchange of letters between the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council. So, those mandates are dealt with between the Secretary-General and the Security Council.

15 January
Question: Now, a question of policy. With regard to the personnel shift now, what is the Secretary-General’s policy going to be on the existing network of Special Representatives? I don’t know if you’ve addressed this before, but is there going to be a refreshing or changing of Special Representatives?
Spokesperson: Well, there is going to be a review of all those posts, yes. As we have said, all the USGs [Under-Secretaries-General] and ASGs [Assistant Secretaries-General] will eventually be reviewed…
Question: Well, this may be a technicality, but are all the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General (SRSG), either USGs or ASGs? I’m not sure that they are.
Spokesperson: Most of them are, yes. And all those will be reviewed.
[…]
Question: Secondly, since you mentioned General Lamine Cissé, what about the other, what about the other Lamin Sise? Is he still on the thirty-eighth floor? Will he continue to advise Ban Ki-moon as he did Kofi Annan?
Spokesperson: Yes, presently he is working on the thirty-eighth floor.
Question: Is he staying or is he…?
Spokesperson: I don’t know. We don’t have that information.
Correspondent: The thirty-eighth floor isn’t like the rest of the building, which, you know…I mean anybody on the thirty-eighth floor is either a USG or an ASG and anybody up there, we need to know who they are and what their status is.
[…]
Question: How many of the new posts have to be approved by the General Assembly? Is there an attempt to not add to the number of USG posts so the Assembly will not have to approve extra funds?
Spokesperson: Well, restructuring initiatives have to go through the General Assembly. But there are some specific areas where the Secretary-General does not need approval from the General Assembly for nominations and appointments.
Question: Well, in an imaginary scenario, let’s just say that DPKO would be split into two departments. Would that have to be approved by the General Assembly, because it would require another USG?
Spokesperson: No, the General Assembly would have to approve the actual restructuring, not the nominations.
Question: The General Assembly would also have to approve the budget for that?
Spokesperson: And the budget, yes.
Question: So the Secretary-General has the power like a “general manager” to pick his…?
Spokesperson:…to appoint his top posts, yes.

12 January
Question: Michèle, in considering who the Secretary-General is going to appoint as the head of political affairs, is he taking into consideration choosing someone who will not create an impression of implementing their own nation’s policy, rather than the United Nations policy? And in case you don’t know what nation I am talking about, is he going to bring this up with President Bush on Tuesday?
Spokesperson: Well, I don’t know whether they will be discussing appointments at that meeting. I think the Secretary-General is very aware of the impact of any choices he would make.
Question: No, I know that every UN official pledges to not listen to their own Governments, but we also know that that’s routinely -– at least, that’s the perception -– that it’s routinely ignored. UNSCOM weapons inspectors were found to be spying for the United States; the KGB was long suspected of running the Library here. So there is a growing perception here that whoever runs political affairs -– even if he never talks to the State Department -– will not be neutral. And the United Nations neutrality is, of course, essential to its work, and if the United States is not perceived as neutral in certain regions, like the Middle East, for example -- and it
could hurt. Isn’t there concern that the perceptions are problematic –- is this something he is considering?
Spokesperson: He is definitely considering the perception, but as you know, we are not yet on the agenda of having someone named in the Department of Political Affairs, because at this time, they are talking about the restructuring, which the Secretary-General mentioned yesterday.
Question: But he has interviewed an American.
Spokesperson: He has interviewed a lot of people for the job. Or talked to a lot of people, or about a lot of people.
[…]
Question: I have a question -– if you could maybe give me the same answer in English and French -– because I need it in both languages. There is a rumour in Canada this afternoon that the UN is going to nominate Jean Pierre Kingsley, who is an election official, very respected in Canada, to run all UN election programmes –- can you tell me if it’s true or false?
Spokesperson: I cannot confirm it, because none of those appointments have been revealed yet. So… Je ne peux pas confirmer cette information.

10 January
Question: Michèle, can I ask you a question I asked on Monday? How many USGs and ASGs have submitted their resignation voluntarily and is there a list of them?
Spokesperson: Well, there is no list at this point. As you know, they have until the 15th to submit their resignations, so we won’t have a definite number and definite information for you until that process is finished. So let’s wait for the 15th.
[…]
Question: One more on the resignation of USGs and ASGs. Is there any plan, if not many of them will resign, to enforce their resignation?
Spokesperson: Well, I don’t know if there is a plan B, but for the time being we are expecting… We are going to respect that date of the 15th and the Secretary-General will act from there.

9 January
Question: What’s the status of all the Special Representatives? Do they fall within the same category as ASGs and USGs who have to tend their resignations? How is this transition going to be handled?
Spokesperson: Well, as I mentioned yesterday, only 60 people received –- actually, 58 people received the letters, and most of them are from Headquarters. The missions in the field are not touched by this request. I think, this is a second step –- reviewing the missions at a later date.
Question: Because you were asked at that time on the dollar-a-year people -– where are they at?
Spokesperson: Same answer as for the heads of missions.

8 January
Question: As of noon today, how many USGs and ASGs have voluntarily submitted their resignation?
Spokesperson: That I can check for you. I don’t have an exact number as of today, but I can give you an answer later on today.

5 January
Spokesperson:
Another statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, on the formation of the new team:
“In continuing the process he began a few days ago regarding the formation of his new team of senior Secretariat officials, the Secretary-General, yesterday, requested all Assistant and Under-Secretaries-General, except those whose appointments are subject to action/consultation by or with the appropriate intergovernmental bodies, to voluntarily offer their resignation from the appointments they are holding. This would allow the Secretary-General the flexibility he needs in forming his new team. He will review the offers of resignation and may decide to retain the experience of some senior officials to assist him in the discharge of his responsibilities.”
For your information, about 60 USGs and ASGs under the Secretary-General’s direct authority have received that letter. All those officials who turn in their resignations will continue to serve in their current positions until the Secretary-General has completed his review and has taken a decision on each specific case.
[…]
Question: Do these resignation letters apply to Special Representatives of the Secretary-General, as well?
Spokesperson: No, they do not.
Question: What is going to be done with them? Do they just go on?
Spokesperson: Well, for the time being, yes. For the time being, what is being aimed at is restructuring the Secretariat, and decisions are going to be made first on the Secretariat.
[…]
Question: I think, you might have partially answered Matthew’s question on this, but are you saying that the one dollar year salaried Special Envoy group -- will they still keep their jobs?
Spokesperson: For the time being, yes.
Question: And then…
Spokesperson: This is a process that will take some time. Right now, we are dealing with the USGs and ASGs, who are most of them here in the building, right here in the Secretariat. And it’s a process that will take some time. As you know, there are more than a hundred USGs and ASGs, and it will take some time.
Question: But why wouldn’t they fall under the same category as the USGs?
Spokesperson: Because you have missions in the field that have to continue functioning, and you have a number of things that have to continue to function in the field. It’s one step at a time.

4 January
Question: Can you, I think Mark asked a question on this Tuesday and you had said you would get a response, but there was a question as to whether the new Secretary-General… There was a series of policies concerning increased transparency in the hiring for senior posts, publication of a shortlist -– like in the case of the WFP, they advertised jobs in The Economist. The idea was to try and broaden the field for the most talented possible candidates. And, it’s looking a little bit like they’re primarily going to Government candidates. So, I’m just curious to see what the policy on that is, and has he scrapped some of these procedures that had been, that had evolved out of the reform process?
Spokesperson: No. I think those procedures are still there and there is a very wide-ranging attempt on the part of the Secretary-General, and he underlined this, to reach the most, you know, the people that are the most competent for any given job. And, I think this is why it is taking a little time for the senior posts to be announced.
Question: We haven’t seen a single shortlist yet and there’ve been a number of appointments. And, also, I’m not aware -– maybe I’m wrong –- that any of these key posts have been published in any international publication. I mean, am I wrong, or is…?
Spokesperson: In that case of what you’re talking about, the WFP publicizing posts, this is done at all levels, but I don’t know whether this is done at the senior- or very senior-level posts.
Question: Right, but I’m asking… There was a clear set of procedures put in place that made it possible for us to sort of have some clarity as to the process, and I’m not seeing any of those now. If I’m missing them… [talkover].
Spokesperson: Okay, we’ll try to get more transparency and clarity for you.
Question: Okay, because it sounds like there hasn’t been a shortlist, so we’ll probably be writing stories saying that you scrapped this policy… [talkover].
Spokesperson: No, no. The policy has not been scrapped and there are lists. Yes, I can confirm that.
Question: The whole point is that there were public shortlists and nothing has been made public.
Spokesperson: Okay, so we’ll inquire about the process.
[The Spokesperson later clarified that the policy remained that shortlists were made public in cases of agency heads. Internal Secretariat appointments remained the Secretary-General’s choice and those lists were not made public.]

USGs and ASGs à la carte. Complete list of vacant top UN posts

2007-01-17T01:22:00.000-05:00

Comments, views and ideas on candidates later.

At the moment – to end the buzz of "what USG and ASG posts they're talking about?" – here it is. The complete list of Under-Secretary-General and Assistant-Secretary-General posts to be filled by Ban Ki-moon.

Under-Secretaries-General

USG for Management (Christopher B. Burnham)
USG for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Management (GACM) (Chen Jian)
USG, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (Anwarul Karim Chowdhury)
USG for Political Affairs (DPA) (Ibrahim A. Gambari)
USG for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) (Jean-Marie Guéhenno)
USG, Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (Ad Melkert)
USG for Legal Affairs, Legal Counsel (Nicolas Michel)
USG, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) (Thoraya Ahmed Obaid)
USG for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (José Antonio Ocampo)
USG for Disarmament Affairs (DDA) (Nobuaki Tanaka)
USG for Communication and Public Information (DPI) (Shashi Tharoor)
USG for Safety and Security (David Veness)
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) (Marek Belka)
USG, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV)/ Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (Antonio Maria Costa)
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) (Abdoulie Janneh)
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) (Kim Hak-su)
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) (José Luis Machinea)
USG, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) (Sergei Ordzhonikidze)
USG, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (Peter Piot)
USG, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) (Mervat Tallawy)

Assistant-Secretaries-General

ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Arab States (UNDP) (Amat Al Alim Alsoswa)
ASG (DPKO) (Hédi Annabi)
ASG for Human Resources Management (OHRM) (Jan Beagle)
ASG for Policy Coordination and Inter-agency Affairs (DESA) (Patrizio Civili)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Director, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (UNDP) (Kathleen Cravero-Kristoffersson)
ASG, United Nations Ombudsman (Mignonette Patricia Durrant)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Kul Chandra Gautam)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNDP) (Rebeca Grynspan)
ASG, New York Pandemic Preparedness Coordinator (Imelda Henkin)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Africa (UNDP) (Gilbert Houngbo)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Director of the Bureau for Resources and Strategic Partnerships (UNDP) (Bruce Jenks)
ASG for Legal Affairs (Larry D. Johnson)
ASG for Economic Affairs (DESA) (Kwame S. Jomo)
ASG (DPA) (Tuliameni Kalomoh)
ASG (DPA) (Angela Kane)
ASG, Director for Political Affairs (EOSG) (Carlos Lopes)
ASG (DPKO) (Jane Holl Lute)
ASG, Executive Director, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) (Jan Mattsson)
ASG for peacebuilding support (PBSO) (Carolyn McAskie)
ASG (GACM) (Yohannes Mengesha)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (UNDP) (vacant)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Director, Bureau for Development Policy(UNDP) (Shoji Nishimoto)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director (UNICEF) (Toshiyuki Niwa)
ASG for Policy Planning (EOSG) (Robert C. Orr)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific (UNDP) (Hafiz Ahmed Pasha)
ASG, Executive Director of the Office of the Capital Master Plan (OCMP) (vacant)
ASG, Executive Director, Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) (Javier Rupérez)
ASG for Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts (Controller) (Department of Management) (Warren Sach)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director for Operations (UNICEF) (Rima Salah)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director for External Relations (UNFPA) (Mari Simonen)
ASG for Central Support Services (Andrew Toh)
ASG, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA) (Eva Margareta Wahlström)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director (UNFPA) (Kunio Waki)
ASG, Assistant Administrator, Director of the Bureau of Management (UNDP) (Akiko Yuge)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) (Inga Bjork-Klevby)
ASG, Executive Director, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) (Marcel Boisard)
ASG, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (Dirk Jan Bruinsma)
ASG, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (Shafqat Kakakhel)
ASG, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) (Rolf Knutsson)

Start digging!

Results of 2006. Expectations for 2007

2007-01-15T03:52:00.000-05:00

Indeed, 2006 was a very good year, elections and appointments-wise. Primarily, due to the UN Secretary-General elections, but not only because of that. 2006 impressed with number of elections and candidates, campaign tricks and scandals, blogs and NGO actions…

The year started with the rather awkward and controversial appointments by the then UNSG of Mark Malloch Brown and Alicia Bárcena Ibarra as his Deputy and Chef de Cabinet, respectively. As it appears, the latter, being part of the incumbent UNSG's transition team, survived the UN "grand shuffle" with her no less controversial recent appointment as ASG for management; the former has already vacated his post and is biting his boss' successor on his recruitment policies…

Throughout the year the appointments were made at the UN lower level, like ASG for PA and ASG for GACM and a bunch of special representatives and envoys (the most curious would be the last-minute call of Annan in fixing poor former GA President Jan Eliasson – whose tenure as Swedish foreign minister lasted just a few months (and he chose that instead of running for UNSG!) – as his/Ban's envoy for Darfur).

Appointments and elections were especially noticeable in the environment domain.

In the UN system, first, it was Achim Steiner as UNEP Executive Director, then Yvo de Boer as UNFCCC Executive Secretary – and Richard Kinley (who failed to get this post) - as his Deputy. Loïc Fauchon of France has been re-elected as president of the Board of Governors of the World Water Council, his country-fellow Monique Barbut has got the seat of GEF CEO. Finally, the new Director General of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has infamously become Julia Marton-Lefèvre, succeeding abovementioned Achim Steiner.

The UN General Assembly re-elected Anna Tibajuka as UN-HABITAT Executive Director and "appointed" Ban Ki-moon as the UN’s next Secretary-General. Ban is expected to bring a new vision of the Secretariat with the USGs and ASGs appointments during the next three months…

The November elections of the International Telecommunication Union displayed the majority support for Hamadoun TOURE as the new Secretary-General. The World Health Organization, from among 13 contenders, chose Margaret CHAN as its new Director-General.

Josette SHEERAN was appointed the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, having caused the debates on what the new UNSG's top posts recruitment actually would be...

Two correlated bodies had their own elections, consequently having obtained Esteban PACHA VICENTE as Director of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) and having reappointed Efthimios Mitropoulos as Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization.

On the regional level, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) received new leadership with Kåre BRYN as No. 1 and a newly-created body – Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM – appointed its first Secretary-General, Valeri CHECHELASHVILI. The Arab League chose to continue with its incumbent Secretary-General, Amr MOUSSA.

Intern ational Organization of the Vine and Wine (OIV) too, obtained a new head, Peter HAYES.

Among the failures, we have to state the long-run processes of appointing the heads of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Thanks to e-mails of the insiders and (many!) enthusiasts, we will be keeping an eye on these appointments (of course, we'll get back to the Appointments-2006, they're just the best food-for-thought before the upcoming stuff!) .

It must be natural that after so many events the world will have a rest with filling in the top posts. In fact, even two of them scheduled for 2007 – No.1 of the IMO (see above) and the Secretary-General of the NATO were made beforehand (funny enough, the latter re-appointment of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was actually made "to enable him to prepare and preside over the events marking the 60th anniversary of the Alliance in 2009". So, it's like for the next two years the anniversary is going to be NATO's primary concern... Yeah, and who else could prepare it except the Dutchman?:)

So, what's left? There's going to be regular appointments in some intergovernmental bodies (like that of the President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)) and regional organizations and fora (e.g., Director of the Balkan Regional Center for Combating Trans-Border Crime).

The largest deals, however, are expected to take place in New York, at the UN Secretariat (although, part of them will surely concern the UN bodies elsewhere). The process has already started, with Ban's first five appointments, but the puzzle's going to be made beginning today…

Prepare for entertainment!

UNSG contest done. Epilogue in la Minore

2006-10-17T01:46:00.000-04:00

Greetings. To the Chinese and Russians (but mostly to the Chinese). For China this election was a question of honour. For Russia it turned be the matter of principle, self-efficiency, and also giving a lesson to the disloyal Eastern Europeans and an act of revenge to the amerikosy (is it Russian for gringos?).

Brits. Obviously, tried to play open-mindedly. Tried hard. – Not enough.

French. Hah?

Americans. First impression: what kind of comedy was that? Last impression: this ambassador didn't make any better than his earlier predecessor, Bush, during the infamous selection of Kurt Waldheim.

We admit, we failed. Failed to provide our readers with the detailed reports (though it wasn't necessary - Tony at UNSG.org and Chapter15 did a marvelous job), failed to produce an analysis of these races (it's not over) and, what's important, failed to post out our scenario on a frontrunner.

Perhaps, this is not only our fault. Perhaps, we failed because... the election failed?

We have nothing to say about the "winner", or "his" victory – we're sort of inclined to the Qui sunt iudici? approach. The views on Ban are being spread everywhere in the Web now. The point is how soon these views will change after the Korean takes up to his post. – In this regard, the Economist's article seems to be very symptomatic (though the opinion of the well-respected magazine is totally neglected by its rather insipid conclusion "He deserves to be given a chance" - Of all seven contenders, who doesn't?). Another question is what's going to push the media to get back on the Seoul's campaign methods and for the NGOs to dig on the possible chain Ban-Park-Strong.

A few words on outsiders.

THAROOR. Not for a single moment, since his nomination till the last straw poll, no one thought of this candidate as a serious one. People acquainted with the way-too-ambitious Indian, clearly knew about his reasons to push the Prime Minister, omitting the Foreign Minister, for his nomination. It is not clear, however yet, whether author Shashi Tharoor will be able to find a place in the UN system under Ban, at least as an SG's envoy. We'll see.

VAIRA. The case of the outgoing and thus having-nothing-to-loose Baltic president was a copy of the Mary Robinson scenario in all aspects. Including the failure. Kudos is and will be expressed from the Eastern Europeans and women’s empowerment activists.

SURAKIART. The solidness and persistence of his campaign through the dire straits was indeed remarkable. We don't believe Surakiart will be part of the Thai provisional administration, he would rather become the leader of the body that was consistently endorsing him, especially as the next turn for ASEAN SG goes to Thailand.

Prince ZEID. The heir to the Iraqi throne is young and might have another chance. Still, no guarantee can be given that he (as one of our readers quite interestingly observed) would not duplicate the fate of another prince, who also failed, twice.

GHANI. The dark horse wasn't able to come out of darkness. Ghani's destiny is of concern for his devoted fans.

DHANAPALA. The whole story with the Sri Lanka ambitions for the UN top job was just a mess – first, Tyronne Fernando, then Dhanapala. To the loss of this post we would add the Lankans' defeats at the races for Commonwealth SG-2004, UNESCO DG-1999 and IAEA DG-1997. So, may be the problem is in these ambitions?.. As to Dhanapala himself, chances are he will return the UN system. Probably, the post won't be that high - for that he should have withdrawn in favour of Ban at least after the second straw poll.

As the appointment ceremony is being passed over, everyone is preparing. Coyly. UN senior staff is thinking of the ways to avoid the resign (or to be re-appointed). Asians are thinking over the recommendations for "their" SG, including on the UN senior staff. Eastern Europeans are drafting awkward letters for the SG-designate to recognize their turn for his successor and to accommodate their nationals (practically, the current and former heads of New York missions) within the UN senior staff, targeting at no less than the post of DSG. Everyone is keen to meet Ban who "will listen attentively to your concerns, expectations and admonitions". P5 are waiting...

And us? We are going to look back and analyze these campaigns, and will try to come up with the best practices in running for UNSG.

We trust that having such guidelines is a good idea. After all, the elections for the top international posts have indeed transformed into a major business…

[updated] Puska on lobbying tour. Analysis favours Frenk as frontrunner for WHO DG

2006-10-13T02:21:00.000-04:00

Media report on an intensive global tour of Pekka PUSKA as she campaigns for WHO DG. The candidate held talks with the health officials of Thailand, Bahrain, Kenya and US (current members of the WHO Executive Board) and is now in New York to meet the delegations in the UN.

The prestigious and influential British medical journal The Lancet (yet known for its controversial and scandalous publications) has an excellent coverage of this election of WHO DG, as it did of the previous one.

Our readers may be interested in the analysis by the editor Richard Horton of the candidates’ profiles. Assessing the technical (click on the table) and administrative skills of contestants, the author makes a conclusion:

The Executive Board of WHO has resolved (EB 97. R10) that the Director-General should have “a strong technical and public health background and extensive experience in international health”, “competency in organisational management”, and “proven historical evidence for public health leadership”. By these criteria, and by the technical, administrative, and programmatic measures set out above, the selection of WHO's next Director-General is not as difficult as it might at first have seemed. Julio FRENK must surely be the objective front-runner for Director-General of WHO.

Well, he is. As he was four years ago…

[postfactum] Capitán Pacha is new IMSO Director

2006-10-13T00:51:00.000-04:00

The newly-elected Director of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) is Esteban PACHA VICENTE (see the official announcement of the Spanish Ministry of industry, tourism and trade).

No detailed information is available yet about the election per se except that the voting took five rounds during which the European votes were split between the winner and Richard VOS of UK, while the Latin Americans supported Martha Inés ORTEGON-CERVERA of Colombia.

Capitán Pacha will take the 4-year term from the incumbent Director Jerzy Vonau (Poland) on 15 April 2007.

[updated] Kouchner programme cited as WHO DG campaign is underway. Another guess on a frontrunner

2006-10-07T01:48:00.000-04:00

Those following the campaigning for the post of WHO DG may be interested in the views on the body's future by one of the contenders, Bernard KOUCHNER.

Also, the idea of "WHO FOR W.H.O.?" is being ventured by unforum.com. Basing his theory mostly on the geographic representation in the UN system, the author is assuming that the WHO top post will go to Icelandic health minister David GUNNARSSON.

[postfactum] New leadership of EFTA: Switzerland unhappy about top appointments

2006-10-07T01:16:00.000-04:00

Recently, after quite extensive negotiations (the deal was scheduled by 1 April), the secretariat of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) obtained its new leadership.

For the next four years the body comprising Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland (the talks are reportedly being held on a sort of arrangement for the membership of the Faroes which in fact, are part of Denmark) will be headed by Norwegian ambassador Kåre BRYN, once a WTO General Council chairman. Bryn is to be assisted by two DSGs, one at headquarters in Geneva, the other in Brussels.

Interestingly, at the moment of appointment of EFTA SG and his deputies, Switzerland suspended her nomination. The reason? Sources indicate that her target was namely the Brussels office which deals with the European Economic Area (EEA). A high percentage of the staff at the headquarters in Geneva is Swiss, but this is not enough for the Swiss government, which also wants more its nationals in key positions in Brussels. Because Switzerland is not part of the EEA, her insistence was vigorously opposed by the other EFTA members who partake in the Agreement.

In order to calm the tension with Iceland and Norway and to avoid the lose of the post, two weeks ago Switzerland made the headquarters nomination.

[updated] WFP: 67 candidates for top post

2006-10-04T20:45:00.000-04:00

Soon after we informed about the early bird, Josette SHEERAN, entering the races for the post of the World Food Programme (WFP) ED, reports appeared about her rivals.

Canada is promoting the Prime Minister's personal representative for Africa, former ambassador to the UN Robert FOWLER. Another candidate is director of the Swiss agency for development and cooperation Walter FUST.

Interestingly enough, the info about Fust's nomination states:

According to the Swiss daily, there are some 67 (!) candidates to succeed Morris after the American's term ends in April. WFP officials refused to say how many people have applied for the post, citing the confidentiality of the procedure.

Meanwhile, the UN spokesman reports that

... the process to find a successor to the current Executive Director of the World Food Programme is underway. A short list of candidates is expected to be made available soon.

An exicting investigation is being made by Inner City Press on the American candidate and the US controversial position with regard to the top appointments by the outgoing UNSG.

Update: we're adding to the list the name of former Norwegian international development minister (since she is an "ex", only her then-ministerial bio is available, in Norwegian). Hilde Frafjord JOHNSON 's international employment seems to be l'idée fixe of her Government: last year she was nominated and then even short-listed during the selection of UN Development Programme Administrator. The prize at those races was given to Kemal Derviş (who later was truly considered as a best-suitable candidate for the UN top post but – having been approached twice by his country-fellows – refused from partaking in another competition). Whether Johnson is in the short-list this time, we'll see in about a month.

More to come…

[updated] First bird in the WFP races

2006-09-26T12:38:00.000-04:00

According to our sources, the first nominee for the post of the World Food Programme (WFP) ED is under secretary for economic, business and agricultural affairs of the US Department of State Josette SHEERAN (formerly Shiner, and before Sheeran).

Frankly, we trust she will get the job – no matter, who her opponents are going to be. Primarily, because of the nation she is representing, which contributes almost half of the WFP budget. Another argument would be an US claim, and not a groundless one, that their national didn't finish the job, as the incumbent WFP ED James T. Morris had only one term.

Last, but not least. Josette Sheeran is not a dark horse: her qualities and ambitions are being discussed at a number of blogs. So, we're inclined to think that the current nomination was part of her long-shot plan to get a top international post. It is probably in this context we should regard her inclusion into the UN High-level panel on system-wide coherence, created earlier this year.

More to come…

[postfactum] IUCN: DG appointed

2006-09-24T16:31:00.000-04:00

This week the Council of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), after "a 3-month worldwide search process" announced its decision to appoint Julia MARTON-LEFÈVRE as the next DG of IUCN.

The post has been vacated after a rather questionable appointment of the then IUCN DG Achim Steiner (Germany) as No.1 in the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) where the latter replaced his country-fellow Klaus Töpfer (we hope to cover this affair later).

Marton-Lefèvre, a Hungarian-born US/French citizen, has quite a reputation of environmentalist. However, her background – or the "Costa Rican" period of it – surprisingly resembles one of the UNSG's Chef de Cabinet Alicia Bárcena Ibarra (Mexico), presumably "recommended" for this high post by the almighty Canadian tycoon Maurice Strong.

Whether we should presume the same connection between Strong and the newly-appointed IUCN DG, is yet to be revealed…

[breaking news] GUAM: new body, new SG

2006-09-22T11:49:00.000-04:00

An entity, formerly known as GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova), then GUAM (after Uzbekistan's withdrawal) and finally, as the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM has been established as a regional organization with its headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine.

The members of GUAM are going to meet at the ministerial level with the appointment of the first SG on their agenda.

Our sources report that the head of the new body – apparently, to be appointed by consensus – will be Georgian deputy foreign minister Valeri CHECHELASHVILI. With this selection, Chechelashvili's experience must have been taken into account, as he previously headed the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS).

The decision of the GUAM foreign minister is expectedly to be taken on 25 September in New York.

[updated] OPEC: no agreement on SG, again

2006-09-15T18:37:00.000-04:00

Once again, we have to state the failure of the 3-years-long talks on OPEC SG.

Despite the fact that last time three candidates were nominated, the delegations to the 142nd Meeting of the OPEC Conference did not reach a consensus over who will be dealing with the oil prices for the next three years. OPEC's press-release on the Meeting doesn't even mention the subject.

Chances are that it will be at the next, 143rd Extraordinary Meeting scheduled for mid-December in Nigeria when we hear again the claims on the "right to OPEC SG post".

[updated] WHO: media aspects of campaign for DG

2006-09-15T18:22:00.000-04:00

For those following the races for WHO Director-Generalship, here's an example of a media campaign. According to some of our readers, this is a first disguised attack on the contender.

Whom is this edition behind? Well, look at our previous posts on these races, it's pretty clear...

[updated] IMSO: candidates for Director announced

2006-09-11T18:26:00.000-04:00

We have got the list of the official nominees for the post of the IMSO Director.

It consists of 9 candidates representing 7 nations:

Moin AHMED (Bangladesh);
Martha Inés ORTEGON-CERVERA (Colombia);
Herdy Rosadi HARMAN (Indonesia);
Andy REVERA (Indonesia);
B.M. SANI (Nigeria);
Haru ALHASSAN (Nigeria);
Esteban PACHA VICENTE (Spain);
Richard VOS (United Kingdom);
Steven LETT (US).

Not all of the above candidates are known, for the moment.

Bangladesh presented a head of IMO's Asia and Pacific technical cooperation section, the US is promoting her Department of State communications functionary, Spain is behind her representative to IMO.

Sani is deputy director for standards at the Nigerian communications commission, Harman is vice president for legal and compliance at the PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk. (TELKOM Indonesia). Colombia OK'd the campaign for the second secretary of her embassy in London.

The most notable pretender would be the Englishman, who previously led Inmarsat, was head of BT's satellite investment, served as UK governor on the board of Intelsat and currently is chairman of the UK Telecommunications and Navigation Advisory Board.

The election of IMSO Director is scheduled for 25-29 September at its Assembly of Parties, with the appointment effect from 15 April 2007.

[breaking news] OPEC: tomorrow might bring a new head (after three years of deadlock)

2006-09-11T02:01:00.000-04:00

Monday, the oil ministers of the OPEC member states will meet in Vienna to try once again and agree on its SG that has been vacated since December 2003, when the term of Venezuela’s Alvaro Silva ended.

The main pretender for the post is Iran’s deputy minister of petroleum for international affairs Mohammad-Hadi NEJAD-HUSSEINIAN (see his outdated bio here).

Another candidate is Kuwait’s Adnan SHIHAB-ELDIN (bio, again outdated one), Acting for SG in 2005 under Kuwait’s presidency.

Iran and Kuwait are long-time racers for the post. Their nationals only once occupied the post since OPEC creation: Iran provided OPEC's first SG in 1961 and Kuwait the third, in 1965.
Both Nejad-Husseinian and Shihab-Eldin competed at the last election in 2003.

Still, namely Iran seems to have put a lot at stake, especially as this country has been banned the position of OPEC head since the Islamic Revolution took over the country in 1979. Under today’s political circumstances and with the challenge of having OPEC head approved by a consensus decision, it is most believable that Iran is trying to convince Kuwait on agreeing to share the 6-year SG term, the maneuver she already persuaded Saudi Arabia with in 1999.

Having said that, we have to admit a smart move from Nigeria to bring on its own nomination, almost at the last minute. Tomorrow we’ll know whether Acting for SG Mohammed Sanusi BARKINDO will be permitted to continue at his current post full time.

[s.p.] UNSG race: stay tuned

2006-09-07T21:23:00.000-04:00

Our sincere apologies to the devoted readers of this blog.

Our analysis and forecast of the ongoing election of the UNSG is under elaboration and will be posted shortly.

Please, check topposts.blogspot.com later.

WHO: list of 13. Campaigns went official

2006-09-07T21:14:00.000-04:00

Upon yesterday's deadline the WHO announced the official list of candidates for the post of DG.

The candidates are:

Ecuador's president, Dr. Luis Alfredo PALACIO GONZALEZ (Wikipedia profile);
WHO ADG for external relations and governing bodies Kazem BEHBEHANI (Kuwait);
WHO ADG for communicable diseases Margaret CHAN (SARS/China);
WHO regional director for the Western Pacific Shigeru OMI (Japan);
WHO's High Representative of the European and developing countries clinical trials partnership Pascoal Manuel MOCUMBI (Mozambique);
WHO ED for family and community health Tomris TURMEN (Turkey);
former WHO ED for evidence and information policy Julio FRENK MORA (Mexico);
co-founder of "Médecins sans Frontières", former head of UNMIK Bernard KOUCHNER (France);
professor at the UN-sponsored University for Peace, former UNDP ASG/regional director for Asia and the Pacific Nay HTUN (Myanmar);
Spain's minister of health and consumers Elena Salgado MENDEZ (Spain);
Lebanon's minister of tourism and health Karam KARAM(proposed by Syria (sic!);
permanent secretary of the Ministry of health and social security David GUNNARSSON (Iceland);
director general of the public health institute Pekka PUSKA (Finland).

So, among the candidates we can see a current president, a former prime-minister and five WHO insiders (plus a former Organization's servant). Three of them – Frenk, Mocumbi and Karam – run for DG for the second time.

Also, Kouchner previously competed for the post of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, unsuccessfully.

Surprisingly, the final list does not contain the name of UNAIDS ED Peter Piot (Belgium, again).

As was previously posted, only one of the contenders - Frenk - so far was declared as a frontrunner.

We will try to closely follow the campaigns and deliberations on the selection process, as it promises to be very intriguing this time…

[updated] WHO DG: up to a dozen names in the hat (and about 100 candidates for the Global Fund's head)

2006-09-04T13:03:00.000-04:00

Up to a dozen candidates - most of them are WHO insiders (and two racing for the second time) - are reportedly participating in the campaign for the next Director-General of the World Health Organization following J.W. Lee's (South Korea) death earlier this year.

Among them are:

permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Security David GUNARSSON (Iceland);
UNAIDS Executive Director Peter PIOT (Belgium) - should we expect that his current post is going to be vacant?;
director general of the National Public Health Institute Pekka PUSKA (Finland);
former WHO executive director for evidence and information policy Julio FRENK MORA (Mexico);
WHO regional director for the Western Pacific Shigeru OMI (Japan);
WHO ADG for external relations and governing bodies Kazem BEHBEHANI (Kuwait) and
WHO ADG for communicable diseases (on a leave during the campaign) Margaret CHANG (SARS/China).

WHO ADG for HIV/AIDS, TB & Malaria Anarfi ASAMOA-BAAH (Ghana), so far the only African representative, is also mentioned as a possible candidate. Finally, acting WHO DG and ADG for general management Anders NORDSTRÖM (Sweden) namely by his denial of intentions to run for the post gives the food-for-thought contrariwise.

For the moment, only the Financial Times risked to declare one of the contenders, Julio Frenk, as "frontrunner" (?!).

5 September is the final date for receipt of proposals. Candidates will be considered by the WHO Executive Board on 6-8 November. The appointment is scheduled for 9 November at the special session of the WHA.

It's worth mentioning that the above will be preceded by the appointment of the ED of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. According to FT, about 100 (!) candidates have already registered for the post (see the job announcement here).

For those following the race, below are some links.

CGD's blog "Running for Director-General"

The Scientist's analysis of the nomination and selection process for the next WHO DG.

Also, if you are interested in the arrangements of the nomination and appointment, look at the WHO section of "Arrangements for appointing the FAO DG. Practice in other UN System agencies" at our links.

WHO Executive Board resolution "Consideration of the acceleration of the procedure to elect the next Director-General of the World Health Organization" is here.

And an excellent exposé of the previous election of the WHO DG is given in this research paper by the Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Update: another Latin American candidate has been brought into the list. Ecuador officially nominates no less than her president, Dr. Luis Alfredo Palacio González. Alfredo Palacio (see his Wikipedia profile here), an educated cardiologist and former health minister, has been roughly a year at his current post and presumably, has no interest in a consequent term (the Ecuadoran presidential elections are scheduled for October).

WFP: races for top job began

2006-08-31T15:46:00.000-04:00

Following the current Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) James T. Morris' wish to step down, the process of submitting the names for the post is underway (see the announcement here). Morris' term expires on 4 April 2007.

In accordance with the UN "new policy" practice, the real contenders will be included into the short list and hold interviews with the "selection panel" (we assume, in this case it will definitely consist of DSG Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator Kemal Derviş and USG for Economic and Social Affairs José Antonio Ocampo, and most probably, UNSG's Chef de Cabinet Alicia Bárcena Ibarra. Of course, EOSG Director for Legal Affairs, Human Rights and Special Assignments Lamin Sise will function as panel secretary). The successful candidate will be appointed by the UNSG and FAO DG Jacques Diouf, in "consultation" with the WFP Executive Board.

As the nomination process is still on (deadline is 15 September), the names of the candidates should be announced no earlier than the late October.

It would be logical, however, to expect that at least two of the current Morris' deputies (D-EDs) will run for the job. In our view these are going to be Senior D-ED Jean-Jacques GRAISSE (Belgium), a long-time UN servant, and D-ED for Policy and External Affairs Sheila SISULU, former South Africa’s Ambassador to the US. It's also possible that the candidacy of the latter will be endorsed by the African Union while the former will not be even nominated by his own nation's government (it's not Belgium's first time, actually) ...

More on this to come.

6 candidates for ITU SG. Good chances for a Tunisian?

2006-08-29T21:38:00.000-04:00

6 candidates so far (9 October is the deadline for submission of candidatues) are registered for the post of Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union at the elections scheduled for November at the Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey.

The contenders - whose bios are already posted on the ITU's website (currently password protected) - are:

president of the German Federal Network Agency Matthias KURTH;
president of the Swiss Federal Communications Commission Marc Furrer;
current ITU DSG Roberto BLOIS MONTES DE SOUZA (Brazil);
chairman of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Jordan Muna NIJEM (Jordan);
director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau Hamadoun TOURE (Mali) and
Tunisian Minister of Communication Technologies Montasser OUAILI (Tunisia).

While a German on his website claims to be a "European" candidate (we believe, it means a single candidate from Europe rather than a candidate endorsed by the EU), Nijem, Toure and Ouaili indeed received the endorsement. Quite oddly, all the three contenders for one post were supported by the OIC (as long as their nations belong to the African group, we should probably soon expect the same decision by the AU).

However, namely a Tunisian - whose enormous campaign is being held in many capitals and UN offices - might be a frontrunner, not least due to the Tunisia's arrengements for the World Summit on the Information Society held in Tunis last year. The man himself also seems to be supported by the web community (to see this, just put his name into the Google search...)

The ITU's information on the previous elections of its leadership is mostly dull, as in fact it concerns the re-election of SG (Yoshio Utsumi, single candidate) and DSG Roberto Blois (yes, the pupil wants to become a master), still it's worth checking out.

[postfactum] New presidency of OIV

2006-08-28T20:05:00.000-04:00

Almost two months ago, on 1 July, the International Organization of the Vine and Wine (OIV) obtained a new head for a three-year term.

Australian viticulturalist Peter HAYES was elected "unopposed" (presumably, meaning a single candidate) as President of the world's major intergovernmental body that sets technical standards for wine (see the candidate statement here).

The media marks Hayes' election as the introduction of the "New World perspective", referring to his statement in the new capacity: 'I think the Old World recognises that the world has changed radically since 1924 and that there needs to be a change. Maybe a New World perspective can assist with that'.

More on the subject: "OIV gets 'New World perspective' as Australian appointed top job" Decanter, July 6, 2006

IMSO Director: 9 nominations

2006-08-28T12:36:00.000-04:00

With the approach of the 18th session of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) the race for the post of its Director is heating up.

The leading post of IMSO - a watchdog on Inmarsat's safety performance and delivery of its public service obligations - is to be vacated by Jerzy Vonau of Poland, first IMSO Director (1999).

Nine candidates - representing 7 states - have been reportedly nominated so far, among them head of IMO's Asia and Pacific section for technical cooperation Moin AHMED (Bangladesh) and U.S. Department of State's deputy coordinator for international communications and information policy Steven W. LETT (information on his official nomination can be found here).

A new head of the IMSO's low-budget and 3-staff secretariat is expected to face the major changes in the organization's activities, including the EU's proposed expansion of its mandate, i.e. "assume any other functions or duties related to mobile satellite services".