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　　UN Seeks New Secretary-General

　　The Secretary-General of the U.N. has always beenchosen in private meetings. But for the first time inits 70-year history, part of the selection process istaking place in public.

　　At least eight countries have nominated candidatesfor the position.

　　Several candidates are women, including Irina Bukova of Bulgaria, Susana Malcorra of Argentinaand Helen Clark from New Zealand.

　　Part of the process of choosing a new United Nations secretary-general is being made publicthis year. Several women are being considered this time.

　　All member states were permitted to ask the candidates questions during two hour-longmeetings last week in the U.N. General Assembly. The candidates were also asked some of the1,000 questions written by people on social media.

　　They were asked questions about development, how they would improve efforts to create peaceand how they would protect human rights.

　　The U.N. Security Council will examine the candidates' backgrounds. Then the 15 members willmark ballots secretly until one person is chosen.

　　The General Assembly will then vote on whether to accept the choice.

　　Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are the five permanent members of theSecurity Council. Experts say they are likely to have more influence on who will be the newsecretary-general than the 10 non-permanent nations on the council.

　　The Security Council will begin to discuss who will be named the next secretary-general in July.A new secretary-general may not be confirmed until as late as November.

　　United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon speaks at the

　　Forced Displacement: A Global Development Challenge panel discussion during the WorldBank/IMF Spring Meetings, April 15, 2016, at the World Bank in Washington. The nextsecretary-general will have to deal with these and other difficult issues.

　　The U.N. has a tradition of choosing its new leader from a part of the world different from itscurrent leader.

　　U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is from Asia. The previous U.N. chief was Kofi Annan, whowas from Africa.

　　Dan Thomas is a spokesman for the president of the General Assembly. He says there is no rulethat says where a new secretary-general must come from. But most observers say the newU.N. chief will not be from Asia or Africa.

　　Ban took office in January, 2007. His first term ended in December, 2011. He was elected to asecond, five-year term, which ends at the end of this year.

　　U.N. chiefs can be reelected for an unlimited number of terms. But no one has ever servedmore than two terms. Annan served for two terms. Before him, Boutros-Boutros Ghali servedfor just one term because the United States vetoed a second term.

　　Eastern European countries want the new U.N. chief to be from their part of the world. Sixcountries from the region have nominated candidates: Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova,Montenegro and Slovenia, and seven of the nine candidates are from Eastern Europe. None ofthe U.N.'s eight leaders has been from Russia or Eastern Europe.

　　A group of 56 countries says the next U.N. chief should be a woman. There have been eightU.N. chiefs. None of them was a woman.

　　The U.N. says the secretary-general is "equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant andCEO."

　　Some experts say it is not clear if the organization needs a good manager or a strong leader.Some diplomats say a strong leader is needed because of the unrest in many parts of theworld. This includes the largest displacement of civilians since World War II, the growing threatof global terrorism and the effects of climate change.

　　I'm Mario Ritter.