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June 22, 2011

Ban Ki-moon was unanimously chosen for a second term as UN secretary- general. But DW's Daniel Scheschkewitz explains that while Ban led the UN flawlessly in his first term, he failed to provide much new impetus.

https://p.dw.com/p/11hj7

During his first term as UN secretary-general, career diplomat Ban Ki-moon managed to please everybody - above all the permanent members of the Security Council - while he affronted hardly anybody. He was a flawless secretary-general who managed to steer the cumbersome ship of the United Nations through many a crisis in difficult times.

Daniel Scheschkewitz
DW's Daniel ScheschkewitzImage: DW

Whether in natural disasters in Haiti, Pakistan or Myanmar, the UN was omnipresent when it came to humanitarian aid missions. Leaving no one stuck for help, it boosted the professional level of cooperation with numerous NGOs. And Ban Ki-moon recognized the sign of the times, setting up UN Women, a United Nations entity that deals with gender equality and women's empowerment, especially regarding humane living standards for women in developing countries.

A few flaws

As secretary-general, Ban stepped in wherever human rights were being trod upon, and raised his voice to see that they were upheld. He started important initiatives when it came to climate protection and disarmament, and kept those topics on the international agenda. Not a bad record for a first term.

But there are other areas where Ban was lacking in momentum and assertiveness. Unlike his predecessor, Kofi Annan, he never dared to affront the USA - not even when it came to putting the subject of globalization's effects on the poorest people of the world on to the UN agenda. And in the Security Council debate over a resolution against the brutal actions of the Syrian regime, he seemed not to want to risk hurting ties with China and Russia. This sent a signal that is truly difficult to understand, considering the UN's valiant intervention in Libya.

Democratic processes questionable

Under Ban, the world body also made too few strides towards reaching the Millennium Goals set for 2015. And his reaction to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, was particularly marked by indecision - as was that of the International Atomic Energy Agency. (In any case, the topic of nuclear security has always played a remarkably minor role on the UN stage.) The career diplomat completely failed when it came to the topic of UN reform, dropping the ball on the work begun by his charismatic predecessor, Annan.

Finally, Ban won re-election as secretary-general without an opposition candidate and without making a speech in the General Assembly - not a good report card on the health of democratic processes within the UN. In Ban Ki-moon, the strong powers of the General Assembly have once more chosen a weak secretary-general who will make life easy for them - but who doesn't do much to advance the cause of the UN.

Author: Daniel Scheschkewitz / jen
Editor: Michael Knigge