UN's Baerbock on Selecting New Secretary-General, Funding

Summary

UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock discusses the ongoing selection process for the next UN Secretary-General, emphasizing the historic possibility of the first female leader and the push for greater transparency. She also addresses the UN's financial liquidity crisis, highlighting recent rule changes aimed at securing funding and the tension between necessary reform and destructive austerity narratives.

• Six candidates, including four women, are under consideration for UN Secretary-General, with straw polls beginning.
• Baerbock stresses that a failure to select a qualified woman would damage the UN's credibility on human rights and equality.
• The selection process has become more transparent with livestreamed candidate town halls.
• The UN faces a liquidity crisis, risking its ability to fund peacekeeping operations by mid-year.
• A recent rule change eliminated the obligation to repay uncollected arrears, helping stabilize finances.
• Baerbock warns that some actors seek to weaponize reform efforts to undermine the UN's core pillars.
• The five permanent Security Council members hold disproportionate power in the nomination, but the General Assembly must ultimately approve.