PRESS RELEASE - 20 MAY 2016
Secretaría de Comunicación Pública
President Macri presents Foreign Minister Malcorra's candidacy for UN Secretary-General position
President Mauricio Macri presented the candidacy of Susana Malcorra for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations and highlighted that the diplomatic experience of the Argentine Foreign Minister will contribute to finding "creative solutions" to the challenges faced by the organization.
Her candidacy was formally submitted through a letter sent by the Argentine Head of State to the President of the UN General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, and to the Chair of the Security Council CTC, Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta.
"Upon presenting this candidacy, the Argentine Government is convinced of Ms Malcorra's qualifications and abilities, which will enable her to perform the functions pertaining to the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations outstandingly", said Macri in his letter.
The President recalled that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship, aged 61, who was born in the Argentine city of Rosario and graduated as an electronic engineer from the National University of that city, has a long professional career in both the public and private sectors, including her work at the UN for more than one decade.
Malcorra performed various functions in her career as a UN official. Among other things, she served as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, and she was Chef de Cabinet to the Secretary-General.
She was involved in the design of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development from the outset, and she has the knowledge and capacity to promote its implementation around the world.
President Macri noted that the UN faces "big challenges in an increasingly complex world."
He further observed that "in this context, it is necessary" to find solutions that ensure "peace, security, development, and human rights." He also referred to the value of partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society, based on a "comprehensive and more integrated vision." "The double goal of prevention and sustainability should be the basis of all the agendas pursued by the UN," he added.
If elected, Ms Malcorra would be the first woman to serve as Secretary General of the UN since the organization was created in 1945, and the second Latin American appointee. The only representative of the region to serve as Secretary-General was Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (1982-1991).
Her nomination is in line with the vision of the Argentine Government, which aims at implementing a foreign policy that is more integrated into the world and promotes inclusive dialogue while respecting the diversity of approaches and interests.
This also ratifies the importance of multilateralism as a way of establishing relations between States, with common rules and obligations, and in furtherance of such essential goals as peace, progress and development with social inclusion.
Image: Presentation of the candidacy at the Casa Rosada.
