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For a frontrunner for the post of the world's top diplomat, Vuk Jeremić is rather candid about how he thinks the United Nations should change. "If you look at the UN's speeches and compare it to an average Ted Talk, there's quite a difference. I would like more Ted Talk and less UN diplomatic niceties," he told IBTimes UK.
It is a tricky balance to strike because after incumbent Ban Ki-moon steps down, his replacement taking over at the beginning of 2017 will already have to tackle the criticism head-on – and public perception among many – that the UN is more talk than action.
Jeremić says: "One of the important reforms is to start calling a spade a spade, to do a little bit more straight talking. How are you going to return the credibility and the trust of the world if you are not prepared to talk openly about the world's problems, including the UN's problems?"
And those are not just problems with bureaucracy. Dealing with climate change, intractable differences in an imploding Syria, a belligerent North Korea are just some of the issues that will swell the in-tray of the ninth Secretary-General.
In addition, the UN brand has been tarnished in parts of the world such as Africa, especially after reports of peacekeepers allegedly abusing women and children in the Central African Republic. The head of an advocacy group told the IBTimes UK in March that the UN was guilty of failure in addressing the allegations.
Jeremić said: "This is one of the most dramatic hits that the credibility of the UN has suffered. This has to be addressed decisively and thoroughly and no brakes applied. If I get elected, I intend to do an external examination of internal reporting and make the results public."
The article's full-text is available here.
