Ugandan Diplomat Olara Otunnu Calls for UN Reform in Secretary-General Race
- Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu addressed UN member states on August 19 as one of eight candidates vying to replace Antonio Guterres
- Otunnu, 75, is among the oldest candidates in the race and warned the UN faces grave risk without meaningful reform
- A second informal Security Council poll among the 15 members is scheduled for August 21 to narrow down the field of candidates
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Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu joined seven other candidates on August 19 in addressing UN member states and civil society groups, making his case to succeed Secretary-General António Guterres when his tenure ends at the close of the year.
Otunnu, a former UN under-secretary-general who previously served as the body's special representative for children and armed conflict, framed his pitch around moral renewal and structural reform of the United Nations. Drawing on the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, he spoke of the UN's role in healing a world increasingly pulled apart.
Source: Getty Images
"Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy," he said.
Reform at the centre of Otunnu's campaign
According to Reuters, beyond the spiritual appeal, Otunnu was direct about the institutional challenges facing the UN, which critics have long accused of running a bloated and costly bureaucracy with significant duplication across its agencies.
"Reform is no longer an optional choice. It is an imperative. Without it, the institution is at grave risk. We cannot continue to do business as usual," he said.
At 75, Otunnu is one of the oldest candidates in the race, alongside Ecuadorean diplomat Ivonne Baki, who entered the contest on August 18 and was born several months after him.
Second straw poll set for August 21
Denmark, which currently chairs the 15-member UN Security Council, is scheduled to conduct a second informal poll among council members on August 21, continuing the process of identifying a consensus successor to Guterres, who steps down after completing two five-year terms.
An earlier straw poll held at the end of July placed former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan in a narrow lead, with former Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Argentina's Rafael Grossi, head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, close behind.
The other candidates in contention include former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, former Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, and former Senegalese President Macky Sall.
Multiple polling rounds are expected to continue through late September or early October, though the process could extend further if no clear consensus emerges. Any candidate must also avoid a veto from one of the Security Council's five permanent members, namely China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, whose positions on global affairs differ widely.
Source: Getty Images
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