APEX, North Carolina / DUBLIN, Eire, Apr 22 (IPS) – Michelle Bachelet is a formidable candidate to be the subsequent UN Secretary-Normal. 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 relation to human rights.
“Violence in opposition to girls 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 in the course of the early a part of Augusto Pinochet’s interval as dictator, though not earlier than being tortured by Pinochet’s secret police. She studied medication 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 girl in any nation within the area.
Amongst numerous reforms, she strove to place the navy so it might by no means be concerned in subverting democracy, whereas additionally in search of reconciliation between the armed forces and the victims of Pinochet’s dictatorship.
In her first time period as President (2006-2010), Bachelet launched a variety of reforms, together with strengthening social safety programs to supply extra assist 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 girls’s reproductive rights.
After her first time period as President, Bachelet took a senior position on the UN. In 2010, UN Secretary-Normal Ban Ki-moon introduced that Bachelet would turn out to be the primary government director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Girls.
Also referred to as UN Girls, the brand new entity was the results of a merger of a number of earlier UN teams. UN Girls’s position is to advocate for the rights of ladies and women and handle particular points equivalent to violence in opposition to girls 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 targeted on strengthening human rights and supporting weak communities, in addition to selling environmental protections.
Some insurance policies—equivalent to an try and introduce free schooling to a lot of poorer college students—induced 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 state of affairs within the Nagomo-Karabakh battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the detainment of Uyghurs and different Muslims in China, and the state of affairs in Yemen.
Assessing Bachelet’s Prospects
May Michelle Bachelet turn out to be the subsequent UN Secretary-Normal? Right here is our evaluation of her benefits and drawbacks, 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 throughout the UN. Her expertise has been on the highest stage, and her networks are spectacular. It’s exhausting 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 the way 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 can be a powerful candidate to interrupt the glass ceiling and turn out to be the primary feminine chief of the UN.
- A Latina Chief: With the custom that the UN Secretary-Normal is chosen by rotating by means of the varied UN areas, Bachelet would seemingly 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 affect 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 today, a determine with a status as a “doer” could also be welcomed.
Disadvantages
- A Risk to the Large 5? Like Mia Mottley of Barbados, Bachelet has made feedback previously, significantly throughout her time because the UN Excessive Commissioner Human Rights, that will not have been welcomed by some UN member states. It’s price allowing for 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 troublesome 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 “Large 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 vary their perspective. Nonetheless, her credentials are spectacular and even opponents might 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 Nineteen 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
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