联合国需要一个怎样的领导人?

 What makes a good UN secretary general, a secretary or a general? That is the age-old question.

Some diplomats¹ and observers, including Britain's UN ambassador Matthew Rycroft, believe the world body needs someone with the qualities of a military commander to do the job.

"The job is a big one. We want not a secretary but a general. And I hope this transparency that we brought in will increase the chance of doing that."

Under the UN Charter, the 15-member Security Council has the final say in who will be the next UN chief.

But there have been growing calls to overhaul² this rule. One rationale is that a more transparent³ and inclusive appointment process can help to pick a more capable candidate to deal with this rapidly changing world.

Hence the informal meetings with the candidates at the General Assembly this week.

联合国需要一个怎样的领导人?

Calling the process a potential game changer, current president of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, is an active promoter of the new procedure.

But he says the secretary-or-general debate is over simplified. He argues a qualified⁴ candidate should bear the qualities of both types.

"It is in order to increase the knowledge about the candidates in order to find the best candidate, the best person that can be the moral authority of the global community, a person with political skills, diplomatic skills, a person that will also be able to lead the reorganization of this organization."

There have also been many calls for the next holder⁵ of the position to be a woman. Both the president of the General Assembly and current UN chief Ban Ki-moon and some major countries including the US and the UK support this idea.

Political science lecturer with The City College of New York and Columbia University Jean Krasno is also a UN-issues observer. She says it is not just about gender⁶ equality. She believes a female UN chief would bring some unique perspectives to dealing⁷ with the world's problems.

"When we look at the crises around the world - whether it's civil wars in Africa and the Middle East or the massive migration⁸ into Europe - it's often women that bear the brunt of this. They need a voice, and what better way to give women a voice than have the top post at the U.N. be a woman?"

All four female candidates have strong resumes. Both UNESCO boss Irina Bokova and chief of the UN Development Program and former New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, were reelected during their terms.

Man or women, Clark says the fundamental question remains⁹ whether a candidate has the skills the post requires.

"When you look at the photo gallery, there is no women's name there that has been the secretary general. So has the time come? Of course it has come. But the key thing is that the person must have the skills for the job."

Some analysts¹⁰ say, regardless of the audition¹¹ process, pressure for gender equality and the traditional geographic¹² rotation¹³ when choosing a new head, the basic fact remains - the outcome of the contest will be decided¹⁴ by the Security Council, based on each candidate's ability to do the job.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi in New York.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

3 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

4 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

5 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

6 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

12 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

13 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。