APEX, North Carolina / DUBLIN, Eire, Apr 22 (IPS) – Michelle Bachelet is a formidable candidate to be the subsequent UN Secretary-Common. Some would even make her the frontrunner, ought to she select to face. Bachelet was the primary feminine head of state in Chile, having served as president on two separate events: 2006 to 2010, and 2014 to 2018. Bachelet may boast a protracted pedigree in the case of human rights.
“Violence in opposition to ladies in all its varieties is a human rights violation. It isn’t one thing that any tradition, faith or custom propagates.”
Bachelet lived in exile in Australia and Germany throughout the early a part of Augusto Pinochet’s interval as dictator, though not earlier than being tortured by Pinochet’s secret police. She studied drugs and, on returning to Chile a number of years later, started to marketing campaign for restoring democracy.
In 2000, she was appointed as Minister of Well being by then-President Ricardo Lagos, introducing a number of main reforms and decreasing hospital ready lists. In 2002, she was appointed Minister of Nationwide Protection—a primary for a lady in any nation within the area.
Amongst numerous reforms, she strove to place the navy so it could by no means be concerned in subverting democracy, whereas additionally searching for reconciliation between the armed forces and the victims of Pinochet’s dictatorship.
In her first time period as President (2006-2010), Bachelet launched a spread of reforms, together with strengthening social safety methods to supply extra help for kids and the aged. She additionally appointed a cupboard with equal illustration of women and men, and supported laws to legalize homosexual marriage and promote ladies’s reproductive rights.
After her first time period as President, Bachelet took a senior function on the UN. In 2010, UN Secretary-Common Ban Ki-moon introduced that Bachelet would develop into the primary government director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Girls.
Often known as UN Girls, the brand new entity was the results of a merger of a number of earlier UN teams. UN Girls’s function is to advocate for the rights of ladies and women and handle particular points resembling violence in opposition to ladies and LGBT folks. Bachelet held this place from 2010-2013.
Returning to Chilean politics, in late 2013 Bachelet was elected President of Chile for a second time period. Once more, Bachelet centered on strengthening human rights and supporting weak communities, in addition to selling environmental protections.
Some insurance policies—resembling an try to introduce free schooling to a lot of poorer college students—triggered controversy and opposition—though some progress was nonetheless finally achieved.
In 2018, Bachelet returned to the UN. Maybe appropriately contemplating her focus as President, she was appointed UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights, serving from 2018 to 2022. Bachelet spoke out strongly throughout this time on a quantity points, from alleged human rights violations within the Occupied Palestinian Territory, to the scenario within the Nagomo-Karabakh battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the detainment of Uyghurs and different Muslims in China, and the scenario in Yemen.
Assessing Bachelet’s Prospects
Might Michelle Bachelet develop into the subsequent UN Secretary-Common? Right here is our evaluation of her benefits and downsides, ought to she select to enter her identify into the competition.
Benefits
- Seniority: Bachelet has held the highest job in Chile not as soon as, however twice. Not solely that, however she has additionally held two senior roles inside the UN. Her expertise has been on the highest degree, and her networks are spectacular. It’s laborious to think about somebody with a extra acceptable combine of experience.
- UN Credentials: As a former head of each UN Girls and the UN Excessive Fee for Human Rights, Bachelet’s insider data is appreciable. She would know find out how to navigate the group successfully from her first day within the job.
- A Feminine Chief: As with different candidates featured in these articles, Michelle Bachelet could be a powerful candidate to interrupt the glass ceiling and develop into the primary feminine chief of the UN.
- A Latina Chief: With the custom that the UN Secretary-Common is chosen by rotating by the assorted UN areas, Bachelet would probably fulfill those that imagine it’s Latin America and the Caribbean’s “flip” to appoint Guterres’ successor.
- Confirmed Impression: There are few potential candidates who might level to such broad influence each as a nationwide chief and through two separate stints in high-level UN roles, particularly within the fields of human rights and supporting weak populations. Given the unprecedented uncertainty swirling round worldwide diplomacy lately, a determine with a status as a “doer” could also be welcomed.
Disadvantages
- A Risk to the Massive 5? Like Mia Mottley of Barbados, Bachelet has made feedback previously, notably throughout her time because the UN Excessive Commissioner Human Rights, that will not have been welcomed by some UN member states. It’s value taking into consideration that whoever emerges as Guterres’ successor might want to persuade all 5 everlasting Safety Council members—China, Russia, France, the US, and UK—that they’re the perfect particular person for the job. It is going to be a tough line for anybody to stroll, particularly when even a single veto might scuttle their hopes.
Despite Bachelet’s apparent credentials, if simply one of many “Massive 5” members of the Safety Council present indicators of sensitivity to her feedback on human rights previously, Bachelet might have her work reduce out to alter their standpoint. Nonetheless, her credentials are spectacular and even opponents may need a tough time making a case in opposition to her.
Prof. Felix Dodds and Chris Spence have participated in United Nations conferences and negotiations because the Nineties. They co-edited Heroes of Environmental Diplomacy: Profiles in Courage (Routledge, 2022), which examines the roles of people in inspiring change.
Earlier components
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/next-un-leaderpart-1/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/next-un-leaderpart-2/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/next-un-leaderpart-3/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/next-un-leaderpart-4/
https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/lead-united-nationspart-5/
IPS UN Bureau
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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