The August issue of Blue Smoke, entitled “‘It’s Scandalous'”, underscores that there has still been no appointment to the post of Emergency Relief Coordinator, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It seems that UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is waiting for the UK to nominate its candidates, which does not seem to be a priority for the British government. The delay in choosing a new coordinator shows an insistence on maintaining the UK’s unjustifiable monopoly over the organization.
This edition also highlights the choice of Letícia Carvalho, a black and Brazilian environmentalist elected to lead the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in place of Michael Lodge, from the UK. Other high-profile appointments included the Advisory Group of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), and the presidency of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
Also noteworthy was a second draft of the Pact for the Future, now 82 paragraphs long, which retains some of the more strong language on senior appointments advocated by Blue Smoke.
Regarding the upcoming SG election, the August issue of Blue Smoke invited everyone to take part in the online consultation to support the 1 for 8 Billion campaign.
Blue Smoke also announced that the next newsletter will be a special edition on racial representation and equality in the UN system, due to be launched in September. You can read the complete newsletter here.
Blue Smoke, an initiative spearheaded by UNA-UK, Plataforma CIPÓ, and a consultant from Strategy for Humanity, aims to enhance accountability and transparency within the United Nations, particularly concerning elections and senior appointments. This monthly newsletter is published in collaboration with Pass Blue.
