Interview with a global leader on organizational challenges

Interview with Ban Ki-Moon

Interview with a Leader:

Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations

The United Nations is perhaps the most widely known governmental organizations, and is one that is both hated and loved, at the same time, by various people. Critics, for example, state that the UN is ineffective, and inefficient, and therefore cannot truly help a nation in distress or in need, when it truly necessitates the help. Case and point: Rwanda, 1994, when hundreds of thousands perished at the hands of individuals whose power was not curbed by an international body that was supposed to act, and act quickly.

However, supporters of the organization state that, in fact, the UN is quite effective, especially in peace-building, and also argue that the body strives constantly to achieve transparency, accountability, and better technological innovations. As such, these latter individuals support an organization that must truly take into account each country's opinion in order to be successful which is hardly an easy task (i.e. Rwanda could not be stopped in time due to the fact that in the General Assembly and in various conference room negotiations, the leaders could not agree on a way to proceed). The man who heads all these hard tasks, in title, is Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General, who has been at the helm for four years and was re-elected for another term this year.

Ban Ki-moon, a South Korean, with experience in politics for quite some decades prior to coming to the United Nations, has been criticized, revered, and as mentioned above, re-elected at the UN. The man sees the good and the bad, every day. He has to deal with not only making sure countless of separate bodies function well, but also with making sure that within his office, hundreds of reports are prepared, translated, and finally sent to respective member states for perusal prior to the many important meetings held at the UN throughout the year.

One such meeting, for example, is the General Assembly session in each September, which is happening right now as well. As part of the UNGA sessions, many members attend and give speeches, and head of states are numerous. Ban Ki-moon has to sit, wait, and follow up such speeches, if necessary, with remarks that would be heard throughout the world. Thus, the leader must find himself in quite a pressure-full position. It is for this very reason that one must speak to him, and ask simply how he can handle such diverse, yet vital issues for the stability of the world.

Needless to say, there are many challenges in the UN and this is why a proper question with which to start would be:

1. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, what do you think are the major factors of the above-stated challenges, and how do resolve such important challenges daily?

From research, one will see that Ki-moon works with countless individuals to help smoothen the process, and make sure transitions, especially between the various departments that handle printing, publishing and translations of documents, for instance, goes as smoothly as possible.

However, the Secretary must deal with such processes directly as well, as often he is the one criticized for any mistakes. Thus, one can expect the answer to the above question to include an analysis of the various factors that lead to challenges, and one factor must undoubtedly be pressure. A second factor would perhaps be the fact that the organization is so big that it must include and contend with everyone. From leaders to staff, to delegates, the UN is a buzz of people daily, and all of them expect information quickly and efficiently, even though sometimes reports are not printed due to the fact that they have not been agreed upon by these very people.

Thus, Ban Ki-moon must, somehow, balance the fact that delegates do not agree with the fact that they must have the most up-to-date information, no matter what. Often times, the SG must mediate between powers, or must appoint someone to do so, and must do so efficiently, so such mistakes as Rwanda do not happen ever again.

For the above mentioned reasons, the SG can rarely take a vacation. His leadership must be both ever-present and dynamic in a way that few other global organizations must present. At the UN the issues are not just financial, not just political and not just socio-economic. They are all of these, at the same time, every day. Thus, the SG must have the ability to analyze these issue quickly, correctly, and make statements that are both diplomatic, but that also give a warning and encourage compromise.

The SG must also be very pragmatic, because he will deal with pragmatic, financially drive people, and money is one of the most important issues in the UN world as well as everywhere else, unfortunately. Thus, there is an inherent danger in delaying any process for too long, for money is always involved and with a long process loss of money is always the case.

Money is, in fact, one of the biggest problems at the UN; one huge problem arises out of the fact that each country has to pay a certain percentage, which is called the scale of assessments. This percentage varies by country, as poorer countries will pay less. However, there are countries, such as the U.S. who pay a huge amount (i.e. more than 20% of the total budget), and this is very unfair. Other countries, especially those with growing economies, and who should pay more, do not. These include:

Brazil

China

Russia

India

These four countries, also called BRIC countries are, at each budget session, pressured by the Western economies to contribute more; often to no avail. The SG must, and often he does not, step in and remedy this challenge. However, with all the other, above-described pressures that he faces, Ban Ki-moon often does not have the time to step in to every meeting, even if it's an important one dealing with budget. One could say that since money is so important to the functioning of this organization, that Ki-moon is not very effective in addressing this particular issue.

However, Ki-moon has enacted a few successful politics. One of these relates to his close cooperation with member states on the issue of peace keeping operations (PKOs). Another issue has included the UMOJA project, which focuses on UN reform, such as the process through which people are hired. For example, at the current point, to serve as an administrative assistant, one must go through quite a few steps:

1. one must go to the General Assembly HR office in New York and sign up for a general test

2. The next step includes coming back to the office to take a test that involves writing a short essay and answering a few short questions