Dear friends,
Today, on the UN’s 80th anniversary, we filed a formal complaint against the United Nations, showing that the United Nations Secretary-General is chosen in a broken and undemocratic process, more opaque than presidential elections in China and Russia!
We did this not only because it’s right, but because it’s the only way for the UN to respond to the chaos our world is living through. From Israel’s genocide in Gaza, to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to the climate crisis threatening our very survival, we need a UN that acts. And it never will as long as it remains controlled by a handful of superpowers responsible or complicit in these very crimes.
First, a quick reminder!Â
I’m running to become the United Nations Secretary-General to finally tackle climate change, artificial intelligence, wars, dictatorships, pandemics, and poverty. Right now, the UN Chief is chosen behind closed doors by 5 superpowers that seek to enforce the status quo: let’s show them that the UN is Ours, not Theirs!
🇺🇳 ENDORSE THE CAMPAIGN & FIND OUT MORE 🇺🇳
Through this campaign, by mobilizing people across the world, raising awareness, getting support and shaking up the system, I aim to:
- Get our political programme implemented to quell survival threats,
- Start a reform of the United Nations for it to have the competencies, legitimacy and leadership to act and preserve peace and security,
- Bring the people’s voice to this institution by giving you a vote!
What did we do?Â
Back to what I was saying: Cristián GimĂ©nez Corte - my team member - and I submitted a communication to the UN’s Special Procedures.Â
If that sounds technical, it’s actually pretty simple.Â
- They are the UN’s system of independent human rights experts who investigate human rights violations. We used the UN’s own accountability mechanism against itself, by asking the very expert responsible for these rights to review the organisation’s own practices.
- Â If he takes up our case, he can ask the UN to respond and then issue recommendations on how to uphold these rights.Â
- That’s the goal: for an independent UN-appointed expert to tell the organisation that it must reform its most undemocratic process and ensure that all states and peoples can participate meaningfully in choosing the next Secretary-General.
You can find the communication here.
So, why this case?Â
Because the UN’s most important role is also the world’s most undemocratic election.
The Secretary-General is meant to represent “We the Peoples.” Yet only five countries - the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom - decide who gets the job. They meet behind closed doors, eliminate candidates they dislike, and hand one name to the rest of the world for approval. The other 188 countries, and billions of people, get no real say.
If this happened anywhere else, the UN would call it a human rights violation. We often mock authoritarian regimes for fake elections. In Russia or China, citizens at least get a ballot, even if the result is pre-ordained. At the UN, there isn’t even the illusion of choice. Five men in five capitals decide, and everyone else claps.
That’s not democracy. It’s hypocrisy. And it matters. The Secretary-General is meant to be the world’s moral compass, defending human rights, mediating wars, and standing up to power. But when that person is chosen by the very governments responsible for the crises they are supposed to solve, independence becomes impossible.
Our filing argues that the current selection process violates two rights recognised by the UN itself: the right of all peoples to participate meaningfully in international decision making, and the right of all to equitable participation.Â
What now?Â
While it may take time to hear back, we won’t stop! I’m campaigning actively to challenge the undemocratic and broken process to select the UN Chief, by running myself and seeking to expose the lack of transparency and democracy. As such, I’m engaging with member states, but most importantly, with citizens like you.Â
✊ Help me make it happen: Endorse my campaign, Spread the word, join my team! And of course, send me all your craziest ideas!✊Â
Eighty years after its creation, the UN still begins its Charter with “We the Peoples.” It’s time for those words to mean something. Because humanity doesn’t need another secret coronation. It needs a United Nations that truly belongs to the world.
Onward,Â
Colombe
--
Colombe Cahen-Salvador (she/her)
Co-Founder & Candidate for United Nations Secretary-General
Atlas
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