UN chief says he’d like a woman to be next secretary-general

TIL Desk/World/United Nations-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he would personally like to see a woman lead the United Nations for the first time since it was established more than 70 years ago. As he nears the end of his second five-year term on Dec 31, Ban said that “it’s high time now” for a female secretary-general after eight men at the helm of the world organisation.

There are currently 11 candidates vying to succeed Ban, six men and five women. But he stressed that the decision isn’t up to him, it’s up to the 15-member Security Council which must recommend a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly for its approval.

Sitting on stage in Los Angeles last Wednesday with US Rep Ed Royce, a California Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ban stressed that women comprise half the world’s population and should be empowered and “given equal opportunities.””We have many distinguished and eminent women leaders in national governments or other organisations or even business communities, political communities, and cultural and every aspect of our life,” he said.