At the end of December this year, the United Nations should be under new leadership, with the exit of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The lacklustre Guterres, in the face of the onslaught of Trump against multilateralism and the rules-based international order, has watched the United Nations become a pale shadow of itself.
Unlike the late Kofi Annan, who stood up against the Bush Administration’s aggression against Iraq by wrapping himself in the UN Charter, Mr Guterres has stood by helplessly, as a number of UN Member States have followed the terrible examples of the US, Russia and Israel in defying the Charter and international law.
In the coming days and weeks, world leaders have the best chance to reverse course.
Restoring effective leadership
Electing a strong, principled and effective leader offers the best chance in a decade of restoring the leadership of the United Nations and its galvanising role for sustainable development, peace and the needed climate actions required to ensure the health of our planet.
At a time when the majority of people in both the north and the south face the greatest uncertainty, with increasing poverty, high cost of living, deteriorating social protection systems and a climate emergency, world leaders cannot afford to make another wrong call in the selection of the next Secretary-General.
Yet, that is what they are about to do.
Given the twists and turns of the selection process, with polling essentially focused on likability, there is no indication that the choice about to unfold reflects the serious need for a candidate tested by experience and equipped with the steely spine our times require.
Leaders have a last-minute chance to end this process that sounds more like putting a finger in the wind to see where the wind is blowing, rather than a deliberate, deliberative process aimed at making the best recruitment for an organisation on its last legs.
Time for change
It is likely that when the United Nations Security Council conducts its poll this week, that will be its most important.
It should respect the desires of the international public for a female candidate.
The Council should also reaffirm the importance of regional rotation, as any deviation from that tradition would weaken the rights of regions like Africa, which benefit from respect for convention and not from might or influence.
For that reason, it is time for the two African male candidates to be discouraged by all five permanent members of the Security Council.
Likely candidates
Of the four Latin American and Caribbean candidates, the candidate considered the frontrunner is the one whose credentials are most troublesome.
Rebecca Grynspan of Costa Rica, who holds multiple citizenships, including Israeli citizenship, would become a lightning rod on the most intractable issue on the UN’s agenda, the Middle East peace process, if she were to become Secretary-General.
It would be hard to imagine her as an honest broker when her parents are settlers in the West Bank.
Her native country joined the vote to keep out the President of the Palestinian Authority from the ongoing General Debate of the United Nations.
Grynspan is also being portrayed as a supporter of Africa’s development.
Senior Africans at UNCTAD, including some known to this author, believe that characterisation is far from the truth. Instead, Grynspan is reported to have spent her time at UNCTAD on her campaign.
In fact, it is said that after she announced her candidature, she spent seven months still at post using the resources of UNCTAD to campaign.
It is understood that some European countries see her as the best candidate to carry forward the legacy of Guterres.
If that is so, that would be the best indication that the situation of the United Nations would get worse.
Arguably, Guterres is one of the worst-performing SGs in the history of the UN. Any candidate that aims for his legacy should be disqualified. Fortunately, Grynspan herself has not made that claim.
Needed: visionary leader
Africa has a lot to gain from a strong United Nations. If it wishes to play a role in how the election turns out, it has to begin strategising in favour of the candidate that meets the needs of the times.
Not because of what the candidates say about Africa but what they have done for Africa; not because they are personable or are nominated by friendly countries but by looking at their records of achievement in the face of tough political conditions.
Only a strong, effective and visionary leader can turn the fortunes of the United Nations around and position all countries to benefit from a functioning global economy, international peace and security and a healthy and restored planet we all call home.
The author is a Political Scientist
