Considering The Multiple And Pressing Challenges The United Nations Faces Today, What Is The Proper Role Of The Secretary-general As Top International Public Servant?
Considering The Multiple And Pressing Challenges The United Nations Faces Today, What Is The Proper Role Of The Secretary-general As Top International Public Servant?

Summary/Abstract: As the successor of the failed League of Nations, the United Nations was established at the end of World War II to ensure International Peace and Security; and promote Human Rights and Development amongst other imperatives. The UN is headed by a Secretary-General who supervises the operations of the International Organization. There has been a significant correlation between the qualities and roles of each UN Secretary-General and achieving these UN Core. The disorderly state of the International System and the actuality that states are driven by their national interests make this job one of the most difficult on earth. This paper critically examines the requisite role of the UN Secretary-General in addressing United Nations’ pressing internal and external challenges. Despite the challenges and failures of the UN since 1945, significant achievements have been made especially in the areas of Human Rights Promotion, Refugees Management, Gender Equality, Peacekeeping, Poverty Eradication, Trade Liberalization, Securing Debt Relief, Facilitating Transitional Justice, Conflict Mediation, Combating Diseases and Managing the Effects and Adaptation of Climate Change. The UN Secretaries-General have played greater roles in the progress made in these areas through shaping the Global Agenda and constantly hammering on and lobbying the world about assorted key concerns. Through their roles many Treaties, Protocols and Institutions have been established to address various global concerns. The qualities and roles of UN Secretaries-General since 1945 were critically analyzed, bringing out the correlation between these qualities and roles, and their achievements – overall achievements of the UN. The frustrations of UN Secretaries-General especially those necessitated by the UN Security Council’s internal politics were also brought to light. The needful qualities and qualifications of a UN Secretary-General were critically highlighted, dissected, pairing them with past successes and failures. Some of these qualities range from qualities of Resilience, Moral Courage, and the personality to coax the most powerful world leaders towards an agreement, Impartiality, Persuasive Powers and Charm, to Wisdom. This work is segmented into the Cold War and Post-Cold War Eras Secretaries-General, the UN Challenges and the achievements and failures of these UN Chiefs. Finally, is the analysis of the present challenges of the UN and what are required of the coming UN Secretary-General in addressing them, as Ban leaves next year.

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