“We Need More UN’’, Bulgaria’s Irina Bokova Tells RFI

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova delivers a keynote lecture under the theme ‘Soft Power for Peace and Development: UNESCO and the Sustainable Development Goals’, Colombo, Sri Lanka 16 August 2016. Photo EPA/BGNES

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, Bulgaria's candidate for the post of United Nations Secretary-General, has said that “more UN , more negotiations, more diplomacy” are needed to tackle the multitude of crises in today’s world.

"All that we see today is a spectrum of crises: refugees, migrants, climate change, intolerance, extremism, terrorism,” Bokova told Radio France Internationale (RFI) on Friday.

The nature of conflicts has changed, Bokova said, explaining why in her view the UN should be more deeply involved in the prevention of conflicts, fostering a culture of peace in human relations.

Today’s conflicts occur not between states but within them, where various communities disintegrate and ethnic rivalry, antagonism and persecution on religious grounds emerge, Bokova added.

Bokova also said that the expertise she has gained at the helm of UNESCO, as well as during the transition period in Bulgaria, form the basis of her bid for the UN top job.

Irina Bokova has taken the fifth place among 11 candidates in the second round of informal polls for selecting the next Secretary-General held at the UN Security Council earlier this month.

The Security Council is expected to hold a third straw poll in the selection of a new UN chief on August 29.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is scheduled to step down at the end of the year after completing his second term at the helm of the world organization.

 

 

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