Why I am suited
I believe that I am especially well suited to fulfil the functions of Secretary-General of the United Nations with the highest level of competence, efficiency, integrity and distinction. I have been closely associated with the work of the United Nations, at both the intergovernmental and Secretariat levels, for over four decades, most of it in, but not limited to, the economic and social development fields. I know the Organization well, with all its strengths and weaknesses and its potential for success, as well as the great duties and responsibilities that fall upon the Secretary-General.
Before joining the United Nations in 1999, I served for 27 years in the Venezuelan Foreign and Civil Services, attaining the rank of Ambassador and holding senior posts in Venezuela’s diplomatic missions at UN Headquarters in New York, in Geneva and in Paris, as well as in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Caracas, all of that time specializing in multilateral diplomacy.
I then had the privilege of serving for ten years (1999–2009) as Director of the new Financing for Development Office of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. I was Executive Coordinator of the International Conference on Financing for Development held in Monterrey, Mexico, in March 2002, and Executive Secretary of the Follow-up Conference held in Doha, Qatar, in 2008. Both involved delicate negotiations among governments and intense, complex consensus-building with specialized agencies, business and civil society. My leadership, managerial and diplomatic skills were put to the test on both occasions and proved very effective.
I have thereby demonstrated strong managerial and leadership abilities, always keeping a strategic and integrated vision, including providing direction, when appropriate, in intergovernmental processes, with knowledge of the issues across the three main pillars of the United Nations. I have also shown a keen ability to promote the participation of, and build consensus with, non-governmental stakeholders, and to take responsibility for large, multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.
Former Secretaries-General and senior UN officials know my work well. Throughout my UN career I believe I gained the respect and trust of delegations from all regions and groups because of my transparent style, impartiality and integrity, my effective interpersonal and negotiating skills, and my ability to address especially complex and demanding situations.
What I see and hope for the future
I see an organization that works much better, more effectively and more efficiently, in all three of its main pillars: peace and security, development, and human rights. I see a United Nations that never loses sight of the founding principles that inspired its creation and were enshrined in the Charter, and in later landmark agreements such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Great efforts have been devoted over the years to the reform and revitalization of the United Nations, its bodies, agencies and Secretariat departments. Having been a senior official of the Organization and dealt with these issues for a long time, I know its weaknesses and challenges, and its great potential for improvement. This applies first at the intergovernmental level, to the many bodies the Secretariat must regularly support. We need to keep revisiting these bodies and mechanisms and strengthen or streamline them as appropriate. One must never be afraid of change, and when necessary of simplification or outright elimination, with a view to rationalizing costs and avoiding unnecessary overlap and duplication.
The main intergovernmental bodies, the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council, all require continuing review and adaptation to current realities and needs. Much has been done in this regard, and much more can and should be done, as General Assembly resolution 79/327 has done, without necessarily resorting to amendments of the Charter, which can be controversial and time-consuming.
Just as intergovernmental bodies need continuous review and reform, so do the Secretariat departments and the multitude of UN bodies, agencies and programmes. The Secretary-General’s “Leadership Team” web page lists up to 180 positions: Under-Secretaries-General, Assistant Secretaries-General, heads and deputy heads of UN agencies, programmes and institutes, Special Envoys, Special Advisers and others. From this large group a smaller executive group of 45 of the most senior officials is drawn, the Senior Management Group. Many of these positions were established by intergovernmental mandates; others possibly were not. There should therefore be room to review these posts in light of present needs and constraints, while strengthening geographical, gender and linguistic balance. The work of all UN officials should be evaluated regularly, rigorously and transparently.
Mobilizing political will
No attempt at UN reform, whether of its intergovernmental bodies or of its Secretariat structure, will be possible without political will on the part of Member States. Like many of you, I have heard remarks from people unfamiliar with how the UN really works: “The UN has done nothing to prevent war in such and such a place,” or “The UN just stands by while human rights are blatantly violated in such and such a country,” or “The UN does nothing to prevent malnutrition and end poverty in the poorest countries.” And we always reply:
The UN does only as much as its Member States want it to do, not more, not less.
The UN and its Secretary-General do not, by themselves, have the authority or the means to stop wars, punish human rights abusers or eliminate dire poverty. Those actions can only be the result of concerted, willful action, and the allocation of the necessary resources, by Member States. We need more political will from all in order to arrive at the kind of UN that most of us wish to have.
And what kind of UN is that? We need look no further than the Charter for our bearings. The drafters in San Francisco were still recovering from the shock of two world wars that in their lifetime had brought “untold sorrow to mankind,” and they had witnessed the most barbaric violations of human rights. They were determined that such things should never happen again, and designed an organization to help prevent them. They and their governments had political will.
It is now up to us, a few generations later, to decide whether we want to keep, update and strengthen this organization, or condemn it to irrelevance and perhaps replace it with something else. In the final analysis, it is a clear choice.
The importance of an ethical approach
I strongly believe that everything the United Nations and its officials do must be grounded in an ethical, values-based approach. Again, to find those values we need look no further than the Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the other resolutions, declarations and programmes adopted by the UN since 1945. What do we see there? A fundamental belief in the dignity of the human person and the inviolable rights that derive from that dignity. We also see an aspiration for nations to cooperate in promoting the common good of all humanity, upholding timeless values such as justice, freedom and solidarity.
I am convinced that true peace is not possible unless it is built on those basic values. It is good to be pragmatic in addressing the many challenges the world faces, but we should never lose our measure of idealism.
Oscar R. de Rojas
