Det kan nok være, at der kom en overraskende vinder ud af opløbet om at blive ny eksekutivdirektør for UN Women, FNs tre år gamle enhed, der skal fremme kvinders globale stilling, og retteligt hedder “UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women”.
Vinderen optrådte ikke på noget tidspunkt i kandidatfeltet, endsige var opstillet som officiel kandidat, alligevel udpegede FNs generalsekretær Ban Ki-moon forleden sydafrikanske Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka som ny chef efter chileneren Michelle Bachelet (61), der gik af i marts for at koncentrere sig om (atter) at blive præsident i sit hjemland.
Feltet af angiveligt interesserede i den eftertragtede FN-post omfattede ellers både Finlands og Canadas tidl. præsidenter og andre fremstående kvinder, også to afrikanske, som begge blev forbigået, fremgår det af internationale presserapporter.
Ban og hans mest betroede medarbejdere holdt kortene tæt ind til kroppen til det sidste, og det eneste, der kom (uofficielt) frem, var, at FN-toppen foretrak en kvinde fra Syd-landene.
Mr. Ban noted that “Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka brings to her new position a wealth of experience in advocating for women’s issues, with a combination of strategic leadership, consensus building and hands-on management experience.”
She is expected to step into her new role next month as chief of the United Nations body tasked with promoting women’s rights and their full participation in global affairs.
Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka (57) served as deputy president of South Africa under president Thabo Mbeki between 2005 and 2008, after initially becoming a Member of Parliament in 1994 chairing the Public Service Portfolio Committee. She left Parliament in 2008.
She was appointed deputy president following Jacob Zuma’s ouster from the post by Mbeki. She was the first woman to hold the post and, at the time, the highest ranking woman in South African history.
Karrieren
Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka was Deputy Minister in the Department of Trade and Industry (1996-1999), Minister of Minerals and Energy (1999-2005) and briefly served as acting Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in 2004.
Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka was Young Women’s Coordinator for the World Young Women’s Christian Association in Geneva (1984-1986) and served as the first President of the Natal Organization of Women, an affiliate of the United Democratic Front, when it was formed in December 1983.
From 1990 to 1992 she was director of World University Service (WUS), a funding agency, as well as being involved in the management of funds donated to development organisations by Swedish and Swiss government development agencies.
She established Umlambo Foundation in 2008 to provide support to schools in impoverished areas in South Africa through mentorship and coaching for teachers and in Malawi through school improvements with local partners.
She holds a Master’s degree in Philosophy in Educational Planning and Policy from the University of Cape Town (2003) and a BA in Education from the University of Lesotho (1980). In 2003, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Western Cape.
She is married to Bulelani Ngcuka, the couple has four children, one biological and three adopted ones.
Skuffet kvinde-NGO
The Association for Women in Development, which was the only major women’s group engaged on the contest this year, issued a statement commending Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka´s choice, but added:
“We are disappointed with the UN, and particularly with the Secretary General, due to the lack of transparency in the selection process for such an important position to advance women’s rights around the world”.
“The lack of publicly available information about the candidates who were seriously being considered by the Secretary General for the position severely hindered the capacity of civil society organizations, particularly feminist and women’s rights organizations, to provide meaningful inputs to this process.”
UN Women was established in July 2010 by a unanimous vote of the General Assembly to oversee all of the world body’s programmes aimed at promoting women’s rights.
It is tasked with helping Member States implement standards, providing technical and financial support to countries which request it, and forging partnerships with civil society. Within the UN, it holds the world body accountable for its own commitments on gender equality.
Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile (2006-2010), stepped in as the first leader of UN Women in september 2010, and left the job in March 2013.
It was reported, that she only took up the UN-post after considerably pressure from Mr. Ban himself and that she consistently eyed her political future in Chile.
Kilder: FNs Nyhedstjeneste, UN Women m.fl.
Læs meget mere om hele opløbet til den ombejlede FN-post på
http://passblue.com/2013/06/29/its-down-to-latin-america-v-africa-to-lead-un-women
Se også
http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/directorate/executive-director#sthash.6lnKU0Dm.dpuf
Og mere om den nye eksekutivdirektør på
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phumzile_Mlambo-Ngcuka
