Dag Hammarskjold, who understood that the Secretary General was not merely a secretary to governments, but a servant of the Charter and ultimately of the people of the world.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe office of Secretary General was never intended to be merely administrative. It was intended to be moral, political and, when necessary, courageous.<\/p>\n
As Member States consider the appointment of the next Secretary-General, they face a decision that will shape not only the future of the United Nations, but also its credibility. The world today does not suffer from an abundance of institutions; It suffers from lack of confidence in them. <\/p>\n
The next Secretary General must therefore be more than a careful manager of the bureaucracy. The world needs a leader with vision, independence and integrity \u2013 a leader willing to uphold the Charter, even if doing so is inconvenient for powerful member states.<\/p>\n
Often, the selection process produces a candidate who is acceptable to everyone because they are unlikely to be seriously challenged by anyone. This may be politically expedient, but strategically it is short-sighted. An overly cautious Secretary General could maintain short-term diplomatic comfort while presiding over long-term institutional decline. <\/p>\n
The United Nations does not need someone who merely reflects the balance of power within the Security Council; It needs a person who reflects the principles of the Charter.<\/p>\n
The next Secretary-General must be bold enough to articulate a clear vision of the purpose of the United Nations in the twenty-first century. That approach should be rooted in the founding objectives of the Organization: preventing conflict, strengthening respect for international law, protecting human rights, and promoting the conditions under which peace is possible. These goals require not only administrative capacity, but also political courage and moral clarity.<\/p>\n
Equally important is that the next Secretary-General must be strong enough to maintain independence from the influence of any one member state or group of states. The United Nations does not exist to legitimize the actions of the powerful; It exists to ensure that power operates within the rules. <\/p>\n
The Secretary General cannot fulfill this role if it is perceived that the office is being run at the behest of a few influential capitals. Freedom is not a luxury in this role; This is the source of his authority.<\/p>\n
With freedom must come integrity. The UN has little conventional power: it does not command armies, it does not control vast financial resources and it cannot force states to act. Its greatest asset is legitimacy \u2013 the belief that it stands for something bigger than the interests of individual nations. <\/p>\n
That legitimacy depends largely on the personal credibility of the Secretary General. Ethical leadership, transparency, accountability and sustainability must once again become the defining characteristics of the office.<\/p>\n
In this regard, the world would do well to remember Dag Hammarskj\u00f6ld, who understood that the Secretary-General is not merely a secretary to governments, but a servant of the Charter and ultimately of the people of the world. He demonstrated that quiet diplomacy and moral courage are not opposed to each other; They are partners. <\/p>\n
He showed that the authority of the Secretary-General does not come from military or economic power, but from independence, integrity, and willingness to act when action is required.<\/p>\n
Often greater attention is paid to the identity of the next Secretary-General \u2013 nationality, region and increasingly gender. These questions are politically understandable, but they are not the most important questions. The defining question is not where the Secretary General comes from, but what the Secretary General stands for.<\/p>\n
The United Nations is often described as an organization of states. But states exist to serve the people, not the other way around. If that principle is true at the national level, it should also be true at the international level. Therefore, the United Nations ultimately does not belong to governments. It belongs to the people in whose name its charter was written. Member states are not the owners of the United Nations; He is its trustee. And the purpose of trustees is not to serve themselves, but to serve those on whose behalf they hold responsibilities.<\/em><\/p>\nThis understanding should guide the selection of the next Secretary-General. This position requires someone who understands that the Office is not merely administrative, but custodial \u2013 the guardian of the Charter, international law and the trust that the people of the world place in the United Nations, even if imperfectly.<\/p>\n
However, the selection process itself raises a final and somewhat uncomfortable question. The Secretary-General is often described as the world’s top diplomat, and yet the people of the world have no direct voice in choosing this person. <\/p>\n
As everyone knows, the decision depends on a few states having veto power. This may be politically realistic, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to convince a global public that is more educated, more connected and more aware than at any time in history.<\/p>\n
Perhaps, then, one day the world might experiment with something new \u2013 global consultations, or even worldwide elections \u2013 allowing the people of the world to express their preference as to who should occupy this specific global office. <\/p>\n
It’s a slightly amusing idea, perhaps even unrealistic for now, but it contains a serious point: If the UN truly begins with “we the people”, then their voices should be heard more clearly in choosing their leader.<\/p>\n
Until that day comes, the responsibility lies with the member states. They should choose neither the safest candidate, nor the most convenient candidate, nor the one least likely to upset powerful governments. They should select the candidate most likely to uphold the Charter, speak freely, act with courage, and restore integrity to office.<\/p>\n
The world doesn’t need a careful manager.
naima abdelaoui<\/strong>UNOG \u2013 UNISON Staff Representative, international civil servant since 2004.<\/em><\/p>\nIPS UN Bureau<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Inter Press Service (20260330175103) – All rights reserved<\/em>. Original source: Inter Press Service<\/a><\/cite><\/p>\n\nWhere next?<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
related news<\/h3>\n Browse related news topics:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
latest news<\/h3>\n Read latest news stories:<\/p>\n
\nThe United Nations needs a Secretary General with courage, not convenience.<\/span> Monday, March 30, 2026<\/span><\/li>\nFailing to learn: Afghan girls repeat grades to avoid ostracism<\/span> Monday, March 30, 2026<\/span><\/li>\nExperts, rights groups warn of crisis of maternity violence<\/span> Monday, March 30, 2026<\/span><\/li>\nCSW70: Women’s equality under siege<\/span> Monday, March 30, 2026<\/span><\/li>\nMiddle East Live March 30: UN peacekeeper killed amid Israel-Hezbollah conflict<\/span> Monday, March 30, 2026<\/span><\/li>\nUN peacekeeper killed, another seriously injured in southern Lebanon<\/span> Sunday, March 29, 2026<\/span><\/li>\nMiddle East war: UN initiative supports mediation efforts, ‘lifesaving’ fertilizer shipments<\/span> Saturday, March 28, 2026<\/span><\/li>\nKidnapped and tortured on Saudi Arabia’s notorious migration route<\/span> Saturday, March 28, 2026<\/span><\/li>\nIncreasing violence and influx of returnees in DRC fuel regional instability.<\/span> Friday, March 27, 2026<\/span><\/li>\n“Extremely dangerous and unpredictable” situation in the Middle East and beyond<\/span> Friday, March 27, 2026<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
depth in<\/h3>\n Learn more about related issues:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n
share this<\/h2>\n\nBookmark it or share it with others using some popular social bookmarking web sites:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\nLink this page to your site\/blog<\/h2>\n<\/summary>\n\nAdd the following HTML code to your page:<\/p>\n
The United Nations Needs a Secretary-General of Courage, Not Convenience, Inter Press Service<\/cite>, Monday, March 30, 2026 (posted by Global Issues)<\/p><\/code><\/pre>\n…to produce it:<\/p>\n
The United Nations needs a Secretary General with courage, not convenience. inter press service<\/cite>Monday, March 30, 2026 (Posted by Global Issues)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/details>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opinion By Naima Abdelaoui (geneva) Monday, March 30, 2026 inter press service GENEVA, March 30 (IPS) – The United Nations was not founded to be comfortable; It was established to be necessary. Created after the disaster, its purpose was clear: to maintain international peace and security, uphold international law, protect human rights, and promote human<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[12982,713,99,2256,12507],"class_list":{"0":"post-30030","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bible-news","8":"tag-convenience","9":"tag-courage","10":"tag-global","11":"tag-issues","12":"tag-secretarygeneral"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30032,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30030\/revisions\/30032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}