2016 will be a year of historic votes. The most important of all, perhaps, will be the election of the next Secretary General to the United Nations.
For the first time in history, candidates are competing openly for the job and taking part in unprecedented public debates. As part of this historic shift, thousands of global citizens voted on the most important questions to ask the contenders. In response, three out the 11 candidates shared their ideals and intentions in a hustings co-hosted by The Guardian, the United Nations Association-UK and the Future of the UN Development System on Friday 3 June.
The candidates in the spotlight for this debate were: Vuk Jeremic, former foreign minister of Serbia; Igor Luksic, foreign minister of Montenegro; and António Guterres, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees and former Prime Minister of Portugal.
As the questions began, one elephant in the room couldn’t be ignored: where were all the female candidates? Due to unfortunate scheduling constraints, the only candidates that could attend turned out to be male. The night’s moderator, Mark Oxley joked: "What can I say, never work with children, animals or candidates for high office.”
Still, questions on the rights of girls and women were central to the discussion. All three candidates declared themselves to be feminists and committed to champion gender equality:
So glad that I was able to ask my question & that the candidates responded with a resounding yes! #SGdebate#NextSGpic.twitter.com/zOi9YH0P6A
— Mafalda Dâmaso (@Mafalda_Damaso) June 3, 2016
One good thing about having all male panel could be getting them to say they're feminist & committing to do more #SGdebate#HeForShe@UNAUK
— Natalie Samarasinghe (@Natalie_UNA) June 3, 2016
The candidates were also asked to define the biggest challenge of the next 10 years.
Gutteres pointed to the challenge of avoiding conflict, whilst Luksic highlighted the risk of a lack of development to global peace and security.
"If we fail to tackle climate change in nxt 10 yrs it may become too late to do anything" - @jeremic_vuk#SGdebatepic.twitter.com/yoMtGwGfrE
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) June 3, 2016
For Jeremic, climate change poses the biggest threat:
"If we fail to tackle climate change in nxt 10 yrs it may become too late to do anything" - @jeremic_vuk#SGdebatepic.twitter.com/yoMtGwGfrE
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) June 3, 2016
The hustings ended on an optimistic note, as the candidates responded to the question: “Do you have hope for the future?”
Luksic emphasised the importance of involving young people in efforts to make the world a better place, whilst Jeremic’s response focussed on transforming the UN to deal with new challenges.
Basing his answer on his experience of the refugee crisis, Gutteres left the audience with the powerful example of refugees pursuing a better life:
Powerful answer from António Guterres. When you see Syrian refugee family's hope for the future how can you not believe with them? #SGdebate
— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) June 3, 2016
Following the first ever UNSG debate hosted earlier this year in New York, the London debate was a powerful movement towards greater transparency in a process that has until now taken place behind closed doors. Representing 7 billion people, the post of UN Secretary General will affect every single person on the planet, so the decision should not be made in secret. While decision-making power still rests in the hands of the UN Security Council, the public debates were a chance for individuals to hear the ideals and intentions of the candidates - equipping global citizens to hold the winner of the world’s most important election to account.
For a full picture of the UNSG debate, watch the hustings here: