UN Secretary-General Election

UN Secretary-General Election

About UN

• The United Nations (UN) is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. 
  • The predecessor of the UN was the League of Nations, established in 1919, after World War I, under the Treaty of Versailles. 
• Currently made up of 193 Member States (including India), the UN and its work are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter. 
• The UN has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

Six Principal Organs

• The UN Charter established six principal organs of the United Nations: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat.  
• All were established in 1945 when the UN was founded.

1. General Assembly:
   • The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN.  
   • All 193 Member States of the UN are represented in the General Assembly, making it the only UN body with universal representation.
2. Security Council:
   • The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.  
   • It has 15 Members: 
   • 5 permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States). 
   • 10 non-permanent members, elected for two years by the General Assembly, taking into account a geographical distribution. 
   • Each member of the Council has one vote. Resolutions are adopted when supported by a majority of votes of nine out of fifteen votes.  
   • Permanent members have the right to veto. Any decision of the Council is rejected if one of the permanent members uses it.  
   • Under the UN Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.
3. Economic and Social Council:
   • The Economic and Social Council is the principal body for coordination, policy review and dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as implementation of internationally agreed development goals.  
   • It has 54 Members, elected by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms.
4. Trusteeship Council:
   • The Trusteeship Council was established to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories – areas that at the time were administered by 7 of the UN Member States. 
   • The Council was established to ensure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government and independence. 
   • The Trusteeship Council suspended its operations on 1 November 1994, a month after the independence of Palau, the last remaining United Nations trust territory.
5. International Court of Justice:
   • The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.  
   • Its seat is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).  
     • It is the only one of the six principal organs of the United Nations not located in New York (United States of America).  
   • The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
6. Secretariat:
   • The Secretariat carries out the day-to-day work of the UN as mandated by the General Assembly and the Organization’s other main bodies. 
   • The Secretary-General is the head of the Secretariat, who is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council for a five-year, renewable term.  
     • The Secretary-General, described by the UN Charter as the Organization’s “Chief Administrative Officer,” also serves as a symbol of the UN’s ideals and an advocate for all the world’s people, particularly the poor and vulnerable. 
     • The Charter also empowers the Secretary-General to “bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter, which in his or her opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security“.

Why in News?

• The election of the next UN Secretary-General is underway.

What is the process?

• The 15-member Security Council will formally recommend a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly for election as the 10th U.N. secretary-general later this year. 
• The Security Council will hold secret ballots – referred to as a straw poll – until a consensus is reached on a candidate. The choices council members are given for each candidate in the straw poll are: encourage, discourage or no opinion. 
• The Security Council then adopts a resolution, traditionally behind closed doors, recommending an appointment to the General Assembly. The resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes to pass. 
• Once the General Assembly confirms the choice through a simple majority vote, the new Secretary-General will take office on January 1, 2027. 
  • The General Assembly’s approval of the appointment has long been seen as a rubber stamp.