Ugandan UN candidate stresses reform, invokes St Francis

Aug 19 - Ugandan diplomat Olara Otunnu, one of eight candidates seeking to succeed Antonio Guterres as U.N. secretary-general next year, on Wednesday called for continued reform of the world body and the restoration of its moral authority.

Otunnu, a former U.N. under-secretary-general who served as a special representative for children and armed conflict, invoked St. Francis of Assisi as he spoke of the need for the world body to help bridge growing global divisions.

"Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy," he said, quoting the Prayer of St. Francis.

Otunnu spoke in an informal dialogue with U.N. member states and civil society groups aimed at assessing the candidates to replace Guterres, who steps down at the end of the year after two five-year terms.

At 75, Otunnu is the oldest of the candidates. Ecuadorean diplomat Ivonne Baki, who joined the contest on Tuesday, is also 75, but was born several months later.

Guterres' successor faces the task of revitalizing an organization in crisis and declining stature amid pressure to reform what critics say is a bloated, costly bureaucracy and reduce duplication across its agencies.

Like other candidates, Otunnu stressed the need to continue the process of reform.

"Reform is no longer an optional choice. It is an imperative. Without it, the institution is at grave risk. We cannot continue to do business as usual," he said.

Denmark, the current chair of the 15-member U.N. Security Council, plans to hold a second informal poll among council members on Friday as part of the process of selecting the next U.N. head.

A first so-called straw poll took place at the end of July and showed former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan as a narrow early frontrunner, followed by former Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Argentina's Rafael Grossi, head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Precedent suggests multiple rounds of polling could continue in the coming weeks and conclude in late September or early October. Other candidates can still join the contest and the process could take longer if no consensus candidate emerges.

Avoiding a veto by any of the five permanent members of the Security Council – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – is vital, and the countries have widely differing worldviews.

The other candidates are former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, former Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa and former Senegalese President Macky Sall. REUTERS