An employee of the United Nations, Arora Akansha of Indian-origin has announced her candidacy for the Secretary-General of the intergovernmental organisation.
She would be competing against the incumbent chief, Antonio Guterres, 71, who is seeking a second five-year term beginning January 2022, news agency PTI reported. The 34-year-old is an audit coordinator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and took to Twitter to announce her candidacy.
‘We Deserve A UN That Leads Progress’
She also posted a campaign video online stating that people in her “position” aren't supposed to “stand up to the ones in charge.”
“We are supposed to wait our turn, hop on the hamster wheel, go to work, keep our heads down and accept that the world is the way it is,” she said, adding that those before her had “failed” to hold the UN accountable.
She asserted that the UN had not fulfilled its “promise” to the world in the last 75 years, which is why she chose to run for the Secretary-General, refusing to accept that “this is the best UN can do.”
“Refugees haven’t been protected, humanitarian aid has been minimal, and technology and innovation has been on the back-burner. We deserve a UN that leads progress,” she stated.
The spokesperson for UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir, Brenden Varma said that the “President's office had not received any formal communications on this matter,” according to PTI.
Further, the candidates have traditionally been presented by Member States but so far the General Assembly President had not received any notifications of candidacies for the position of Secretary-General from Member States, Verma added.
Guterres, who is the 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations, announced his candidacy last month. No woman has held the position in the 75-year history of the UN.
Who is Arora Akanksha?
Arora Akanksha holds a Masters in Public Adiministration from Columbia University and is a graduate of York University, Toronto with a Bachelor of Administrative Studies, according to her profile on UNOW.org
She was recruited by the UN to help with the financial reforms of the organisation. She was responsible for updating financial regulations and rules of the UN as well as managing the internal and external audits at UNDP.
The PTI report also states that Akanksha has an Overseas Citizenship of India and a Canadian passport.
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