Christiana Figueres, Costa Rican nominee to be the next UN Secretary-General.
The United Nations Security Council meets this week to discuss its top picks for next UN Secretary-General (UNSG). There are currently 12 candidates for the job - one of the longest lists of official nominees ever, and the only one in history that is completely gender-equal: six women and six men. The question of the top-pick is highly contested. This was evident following the first-ever Presidential-style debate with UNSG candidates hosted by Al Jazeera at the UN last week. There, popular “frontrunner” - former New Zealand Prime Minister and head of the United Nations Development Program, Helen Clark - appeared up-ended by newcomer, Costa Rican nominee, Christiana Figueres. Despite this turn of events, the tables continue to shift, and new candidates such as Kevin Rudd are still requesting to join the process - suggesting that when the Security Council meets on Thursday, there’s no telling who will come out on top.
Two hours into “The UN Debate,” moderator James Bay, Diplomatic Editor of Al Jazeera English, requested a “show of hands” for candidates, who, “as Secretary-General, would admit responsibility and apologize to the people of Haiti.” One of the most controversial efforts of the United Nations today is its stabilization mission in Haiti, where studies have traced the cholera outbreak and epidemic, to UN Peacekeepers. Official records show that 9,202 people have died, but a more recent study by Médecins sans Frontières found that this official count - by ignoring thousands of deaths that occurred in rural areas - is likely to be a gross understatement.
