After his unveiling as Uganda’s candidate for Secretary-General of the United Nations, veteran diplomat Olara Otunnu gave a glimpse of what he intends to do if elected to the world body’s top diplomatic position.
The 75-year-old Ugandan, who was on Wednesday unveiled by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Vincent Bagiire, at the ministry’s headquarters in Kampala, said his agenda would broadly focus on 10 key issues, including ending conflicts, reforming the Security Council, and governing Artificial Intelligence (AI).
‘There are 10 of them, but let me highlight just a few. First, I say that the Secretary-General of the United Nations, by design, does not wield conventional power. That comes from military strength, a big base of resources, maybe popular support from the population,’ he said.
Adding: ‘The Secretary-General does not have that, but he has something else, which is moral authority. His or her moral authority flows directly from the principles of the UN Charter and the support of member states of the United Nations and the people of the world.’
According to Otunnu, the Secretary-General employs moral authority judiciously and carefully to lead the United Nations, but it has reportedly been eroded, prompting his proposal to do ‘several things’ to revive the role of the Secretary-General.
‘There is a debate about making the Security Council more representative of the world, and that is ongoing; we hope it comes to a successful conclusion soon. There is discussion about the UN bureaucracy, the functional organisation of the UN, and inefficiencies within the organisation that need to be addressed, and so on.’
‘I would thirdly say that all the roles of the UN are important, but perhaps the central mandate is ending conflicts and building peace. In short, we say the peace and security role or agenda of the UN. That is the central, most important role of the UN because the UN was born in the aftermath of the most devastating war the world has ever seen.
Otunnu said the world is in the middle of the information economy, while another transformation is emerging through the growing role and impact of AI, which he described as ‘an incredible blessing to the world’ if harnessed properly, but warned that it could become ‘a curse’ and begin to ‘dominate, rule and control us instead of the reverse.’
He said the UN is the only body that brings the entire world together, while AI affects the entire globe.
Consequently, his agenda is to immediately convene discussions bringing together the private sector, member states, scientists, and AI developers to establish a regime that will govern the development and deployment of AI.
Turning to the environment, Otunnu said there is no part of the world that is not feeling the effects of climate change.
‘The issue of addressing climate change should be nothing but a win-win solution that benefits the whole world. That is what we should work towards,’ Otunnu said, adding that he does not want the United Nations to become ‘a diplomatic ivory tower.’
‘There is need to weave a thread that connects the global to the local, and the local to the global. This time round, we should get somebody who is comfortable moving between these two worlds. So connect the global to the local, and the local to the global.’
The Otunnu Formula
On the attributes the Secretary-General should possess, Otunnu said he or she should be someone who is, by DNA, non-partisan, of goodwill to all, and humble ‘so that his or her ego doesn’t get in the way’, while remaining open to new ideas.
‘So, the Secretary-General should be a good, patient listener, hear everybody out, and not be afraid to put forward ideas. Secondly, obviously, the Secretary-General should be somebody with deep and very broad experience of the United Nations,’ he remarked in Kampala.
He added: ‘By the grace of God, I think there are very few people who have had the good fortune to work as broadly and as deeply at the United Nations as myself, across all sectors of the organization.’
Otunnu pointed to a track record of building consensus and proposing innovative solutions in situations of crisis and deadlock, including what is now known as the ‘Otunnu Formula’, which he said he developed in 1981 and which has since been used in the selection of the Secretary-General, helping to diffuse major confrontations between East and West, among other achievements.
Asked how he plans to advance the interests of the Global South amid concerns that multilateralism is being constrained by the West, and how he intends to promote equitable access to AI, particularly for developing countries, Otunnu described such notions as ‘shorthand’, saying poverty, the environment, climate change, and financing for development affect the entire world.
He said: ‘Similarly, if we are talking about conflict, does it matter whether it is in Ukraine, Iran, Asia, or Gaza? It doesn’t. The impact is devastating and tragic for the people there, and it affects the world. What matters is working together to come up with a common agenda, a common plan of action that benefits everybody.’