UN Secretary-General candidate Bachelet to ‘push as much as possible’ for UNSC reforms

United Nations, April 22 (IANS) Michelle Bachelet Jeria, who is running to be the next secretary-general, has declared she would “push as much as possible” to have the member states reform the Security Council.

“There’s a huge movement that they (UN members) understand that the Security Council needs to be reformed, (but) in which way will depend on how members decide”, she said on Tuesday at a news conference following a candidates’ forum.

The Council needs to have representation of those who are under-represented as permanent members or non-permanent members, she said.

If it is not reformed, there is not much hope for the multilateral system, she added, emphasising the need for change.

Bachelet said that while the secretary-general doesn’t have the mandate to reform the Council, she will do her best to convince member nations to act on reforming it.

A pediatric doctor by profession, Bachelet is a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and was the president of Chile, which nominated her along with Mexico and Brazil.

During the candidate’s forum, on behalf of G4 Germany’s Permanent Representative, Thomas Hans Ossowski asked her what role she would see for the Secretary-General in reforming the Security Council that “does not reflect today’s geopolitical realities”, and its relevance and effectiveness are questioned.

G4, a group of India, Germany, Japan, and Brazil, lobbies for Council reform, and they mutually support each other for permanent seats on a reformed Council.

Bachelet said that there is a need for making the Council reflect the world as it is today, so it can be more efficient and effective with better geographic representation with permanent members from certain regions, and the secretary-general can play a role in bringing this about.

India’s External Ministry Secretary Shibi George asked her about her approach to achieving the developmental goals of the Global South.

Bachelet said the member states should make achieving the development goals a political priority and ensure finances are available for it.

It will also have to be ensured that the Global South is well represented in the different decision-making positions at the UN agencies and the Secretariat, she said.

This is to make sure their voices are really heard, not only in particular group meetings like those on the situation of the least developed countries, but on a daily basis, she said.

There are three other candidates competing to succeed Antonio Guterres, whose second term ends this year.

The Security Council will select the winner and recommend its choice to the General Assembly for approval.

–IANS

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